The study of value : social, economic and political dimensions of palace complexes at El Zotz
The concentration of wealth and resources under the control of a privileged few â the elites â has shaped the ways we perceive modern societies and the ways we study ancient states. Elite groups feature prominently within the archaeological research of ancient Maya societies, not least because of the monumental architecture associated with them and the glyphic inscriptions providing us with their names and titles. The growth of an elite class through time led to the emergence of multiple elite households coexisting, sharing, and competing for the political powers within ancient Maya polities. This thesis investigates the dimensions and relationships among various elite households excavated at the ancient Maya site of El Zotz, PeteÌn, Guatemala. The key facets of the social, economic and political networks at the site are identified through trends in consumption behaviour by five different populations through time. Theories of value underpinning the current work state that various types of objects carried different âvaluesâ which ultimately affected the ways these objects were distributed within societies, and determined which population groups were granted access to distribution networks. The consumption
Czapiewska-Halliday, E.
The study of value : social, economic and political dimensions of palace complexes at El Zotz. The concentration of wealth and resources under the control of a privileged few â the elites â has shaped the ways we perceive modern societies and the ways we study ancient states. Elite groups feature prominently within the archaeological research of ancient Maya societies, not least because of the monumental architecture associated with them and the glyphic inscriptions providing us with their names and titles. The growth of an elite class through time led to the emergence of multiple elite households coexisting, sharing, and competing for the political powers within ancient Maya polities. This thesis investigates the dimensions and relationships among various elite households excavated at the ancient Maya site of El Zotz, PeteÌn, Guatemala. The key facets of the social, economic and political networks at the site are identified through trends in consumption behaviour by five different populations through time. Theories of value underpinning the current work state that various types of objects carried different âvaluesâ which ultimately affected the ways these objects were distributed within societies, and determined which population groups were granted access to distribution networks. The consumption
study value social_economic political_dimension palace complex concentration wealth resource control privilege elite shape way perceive modern_society way study ancient state elite_group feature_prominently within archaeological ancient_maya society least monumental_architecture associate inscription provide names title growth elite class time lead_emergence multiple elite household share compete political_power within ancient_maya polity investigates dimension relationship among various elite household excavate ancient_maya site key facet social_economic_political network site identify trend consumption behaviour different population time theories value underpin current work state various_type object carry different value ultimately affect way object distribute within_society determine population group grant access distribution network consumption