Surplus, Labor, and Stress in Late Classic Maya Society

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Abstract
A persistent theme in Maya studies is that the political, social, and economic systems of the Late Classic Maya were heavily stressed by elite demands, contributing to their collapse in the 7th--8th centuries A.D. This article investigates, in a systemic fashion, the relationships between energy flow, stress, and major social, political, and economic structural components of Late Classic Maya systems. New data from the recent Copan project are brought to bear on issues of economic and sociopolitical structure. The conclusion is that elite engendered stresses probably contributed only slightly to a syndrome of fundamental ecological problems.

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