City Life at Classic Maya Palenque, Mexico

FAIN: RZ-266160-19

University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley, CA 94704-5940)
Rosemary A. Joyce (Project Director: December 2018 to present)
Rodrigo Liendo Stuardo (Co Project Director: February 2019 to present)

Field research at the Maya site of Palenque in southwest Mexico, leading to a scholarly monograph and a publicly accessible website in both English and Spanish. (36 months)

This proposal seeks funding for archaeological research on Palenque, Mexico, a Classic Maya political center. Palenque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has been the focus of exploration since the 18th century. It was a key place in the decipherment of Maya writing. The well-studied visual and inscriptional record from the city center provides understanding of palace life and dynastic history. Less is known of city life in general. The proposed collaborative research will advance understanding of Palenque as a city. The project on which this proposal builds used contemporary methods to explore a residential compound of a family belonging to the city's elite, showing the potential to illuminate life in the city as a whole. The proposed project will systematically excavate a sample of residential compounds in neighborhoods defined using spatial analysis, to document the way that repeated everyday practices formed Palenque's way of life.

Associated Products

Arqueología doméstica en un barrio de Palenque: Excavaciones en conjunto JO33 (Report)
Title: Arqueología doméstica en un barrio de Palenque: Excavaciones en conjunto JO33
Author: Lisa M. Johnson
Author: Lucas R.M. Johnson
Author: Maureen Carpenter
Abstract: Excavations during 2022 continued in Palenque’s residential sectors. The goal of this work is to systematically recover and document traces of daily activities in the homes of Palenque’s diverse population. We seek to understand the ways that repeated practices formed Palenque’s way of life during its apogee, from AD 450 – 850. Through the excavation of areas typical for daily activities, including plaza spaces outside of the structures as well as the interior surfaces of the structures, we seek to test for the range of economic, ritual, and food related activities that may be unique to individual households as well as those activities that are shared across a possible neighborhood. This report summarizes findings from the first field season, during which we conducted excavations in the Structure JO33 Compound. We found evidence of daily life in the form of chipped stone tools, grinding stones, and ceramics used for food preparation and serving, but also evidence of disposal of, and possibly working of, white stone into ornaments, and household-based ritual including the use of figurines, incense burning, and the possible use of a ceramic drum.
Date: 12/31/2022
Primary URL: NA
Access Model: Project report
ISBN: NA

Multilocality of an Ancient Maya City: Archaeology, Tourism, and Indigenous Landscapes at Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico (Book Section)
Title: Multilocality of an Ancient Maya City: Archaeology, Tourism, and Indigenous Landscapes at Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico
Author: Lisa M. Johnson
Author: Esteban Miron-Marvan
Author: Arianna Campiani
Editor: Stephen Daniels
Editor: Dell Upton
Abstract: In this essay, we move beyond the typical archaeological narratives of Palenque that tend to focus on the histories of those most visible in Palenque’s landscape—the kings and queens carved into the palaces and temples—to consider the ancient Maya laborers responsible for the construction of the city and the Ch’ol and Tseltal excavators and masons who are rarely recognized as contributing to Palenque’s modern landscape yet who have a lengthy history involved in its making. We also want to formally recognize and thank the communities from Lopez Mateos and Naranjo that continue to labor in our archaeological project.
Year: 2025
Primary URL: http://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780884025214
Primary URL Description: Publisher's website
Access Model: Purchase hardcover or eBook
Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks
Book Title: Landscapes in the Making
ISBN: 9780884025214

Shaping Urban Identities in the Maya City of Palenque (Book Section)
Title: Shaping Urban Identities in the Maya City of Palenque
Author: Lisa M. Johnson
Author: Eloi Berube
Author: Felipe Trabanino
Author: Rodrigo Liendo Stuardo
Editor: Lisa M. Johnson
Editor: Arianna Campiani
Abstract: In this chapter, we want to consider two important aspects of Maya cities: that of urban identities shaped and reinforced by intensified social interactions within the close confines of a densely built city, and the intertwined relationships between city dwellers in the continual actions of urban place-making
Year: 2025
Primary URL: http://uofupress.com/books/the-urban-questions/
Primary URL Description: Publisher's website
Access Model: Purchase hardcover or eBook
Publisher: University of Utah Press
Book Title: The Urban Questions: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Investigating the Ancient Mesoamerican City
ISBN: 9781647692285

Urbanizing Forces at the Classic Maya City of Palenque: Urban Form, Neighborhoods, and Infrastructure (Book Section)
Title: Urbanizing Forces at the Classic Maya City of Palenque: Urban Form, Neighborhoods, and Infrastructure
Author: Arianna Campiani
Editor: Lisa M. Johnson
Editor: Arianna Campiani
Abstract: Urban growth and expansion respond to driving forces that depend on social, economic, and environmental variables. These “urbanizing forces” include access to resources and services, but they also refer to specific characteristics of the terrain, such as steep slope versus flat areas, and to land use. Analyzed together, these driving factors can provide novel hints on city form, on its organization and sectorization. At the Classic Maya city of Palenque, Mexico, urbanizing forces are instrumental to understand the way ancient Palencanos were cooperating to structure, live, and take advantage of their urban environment.
Year: 2025
Primary URL: http://uofupress.com/books/the-urban-questions/
Primary URL Description: Publisher's website
Access Model: Purchase hard cover or eBook
Publisher: University of Utah Press
ISBN: 9781647692285

Household Crafting in the Maya City of Palenque (Article)
Title: Household Crafting in the Maya City of Palenque
Author: Lisa M. Johnson
Author: Lucas R.M. Johnson
Author: Arianna Campiani
Abstract: This report discusses recent excavations in a residential neighborhood of Palenque and the broader implications of a preliminary analysis of chert and obsidian flaked stone. We argue that the high relative frequency of obsidian blades, chert drills, cores, and primary core shaping debitage from one residential group is evidence for multicrafting and intensified production beyond the immediate needs of the household.
Year: 2025
Primary URL: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/laq.2024.48
Primary URL Description: Journal website
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Latin American Antiquity
Publisher: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

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