A Crisis of Identity: Late Classic Competition and Interaction on the Southeast Maya Periphery
- 1 December 1991
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Latin American Antiquity
- Vol. 2 (4) , 311-336
- https://doi.org/10.2307/971781
Abstract
Archaeologists frequently assume that when cultures interact with each other the most complex partner dominates the transactions. We propose that this is a misleadingly simple view of a complex process. A framework for modeling intersocietal interaction and understanding its sociopolitical consequences is outlined here. This theoretical structure calls attention to who is actually involved in the interaction process, how these transactions are carried out, and what the goals of the contact partners are. The complex material patterns from two neighboring areas of Late Classic (A. D. 600-950) southeast Mesoamerica are then examined using the proposed model to see what insights into ancient interaction processes it can provide.Keywords
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