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

---