Politics
Unlike the Aztecs and the Inca, however, the Maya political system never brought all of the Maya cultural area together into a single state or empire. The entire history of the Maya area held an inconsistent mix of political complexity containing both states and chiefdoms. T
hese polities fluctuated greatly in their relationships with each other and were involved in a very complex web of rivalries, periods of dominance or submission, vassalage, and alliances. At some times, several polities managed to become regional superpowers, as did Calakmul, Caracol, Mayapan, and Tikal. The first reliably attested polities emerged in the Maya lowlands during the 9th century BC.
The Maya political system congealed into a theopolitical form during the Late Preclassic, during which elite ideology justified authority and was reinforced by public display, ritual, and religion. The divine king lay at the center of power, holding the final instance of administrative, economic, judicial, and military function.
The divine authority vested within the ruler was such that the king was able to mobilize not only the aristocracy but also commoners in the execution of huge infrastructure projects, apparently with no police force or standing army. Some polities resorted to a strategy of increasing administration and filling administrative posts with loyal supporters rather than blood relatives. Within a polity, mid-ranking population centers would have played a significant role in managing resources and internal conflict.
The Maya political landscape was highly complex, and elites engaged in political intrigue to gain economic and social advantage over neighbors. In the Late Classic, some cities established a long period of dominance over other large cities, such as the dominance of Caracol over Naranjo for half a century. In other cases, loose alliance networks were formed around a dominant city. Border settlements, typically situated roughly equidistant from neighboring capitals, often changed allegiance throughout their history and sometimes operated autonomously.
Powerful capitals extracted tribute in the form of luxury goods from subordinated population centers. Political power was underpinned by military power, and the capture and humiliation of enemy warriors played an important role in elite culture. An overwhelming sense of pride and glory among the aristocracy of warriors can create prolonged feuds and vendettas, leading to political instability and the breakdown of polities.
Society
From the Early Preclassic, Maya society was sharply divided between the elite and commoners. Over time, as population increased, sectors of society became more specialized, and political organization grew more complex. In the Late Classic, when populations had grown enormously and hundreds of cities were connected in a complex web of political hierarchies, the wealthy segment of society multiplied.
A middle class may have emerged that consisted of artisans, lower-ranking priests and officials, merchants, and soldiers. Commoners comprised farmers, servants, laborers, and slaves. Indigenous histories have it that land was owned communally by noble houses or clans. Such clans held that the land was owned by the ancestors, and ties between the land and the ancestors were strengthened through the burial of the dead within residential compounds.
King and court
Classic Maya rule was centered in a royal culture that was portrayed in all areas of Classic Maya art. The king was the supreme ruler and possessed a semi-divine status that made him the mediator between the mortal realm and that of the gods. From very early times, kings were specifically identified with the young maize god, whose gift of maize was the basis of Mesoamerican civilization. Maya royal succession was patrilineal, and royal power only passed to queens when doing otherwise would result in the extinction of the dynasty.
Normally, power was passed to the eldest son. A young prince was called a chʼok (‘youth’), although this word later came to refer to nobility in general. The royal heir was called bʼaah chʼok (‘head youth’). Several points in the prince’s childhood were marked by ritual; the most important was a bloodletting ceremony at age five or six.
Being of the royal bloodline was of utmost importance, but the heir also had to be a successful war leader, as demonstrated by taking captives. The installation of a new king was such an elaborate ceremony that it consisted of separate acts of enthronement upon a jaguar-skin cushion, human sacrifice, and receiving the symbols of royal power, such as a headband bearing a jade representation of the so-called ‘jester god,’ an elaborate headdress adorned with quetzal feathers, and a scepter representing the god Kʼawiil.
A sajal was ranked below the ajaw and indicated a subservient lord. A sajal would be lord of a second- or third-tier site, answering to an ajaw, who may himself have been subservient to a kalomte. A sajal would often be a war captain or regional governor, and inscriptions often link the sajal title to warfare; they are often mentioned as the holders of war captives.
Sajal meant ‘feared one.’ The titles of ah tzʼihb and ah chʼul hun are both related to scribes. The ah tzʼihb was a royal scribe, usually a member of the royal family; the ah chʼul hun was the Keeper of the Holy Books, a title closely associated with the ajaw title, indicating that an ajaw always held the ah chʼul hun title simultaneously.
Other courtly titles of whose functions the less said the better, were yajaw kʼahk’ (‘Lord of Fire’), tiʼhuun, and tiʼsakhuun. The latter two can be considered possible variations on the same theme, with the holder of the title, it has even been mooted, potentially being spokesman for the ruler. Courtly titles are markedly male-oriented, and while in those relatively rare cases where they are applied to a woman, they appear to be used as honorifics for female royalty.
Titled elites were often associated with particular structures in the hieroglyphic inscriptions of Classic period cities, indicating that such office holders either owned that structure or that the structure was an important focus for their activities. A lakam, or standard-bearer, was possibly the only non-elite post-holder in the royal court. The lakam existed only in larger sites and seems to have taken charges of taxation from local districts.
Different factions may have existed in the royal court. The kʼuhul ahaw and his household would have formed the central power base, but other important groups were the priesthood, the warrior aristocracy, and other aristocratic courtiers. Where ruling councils existed, as at Chichen Itza and Copán, these may have formed an additional faction.
Rivalry between the different factions would have resulted in dynamic political institutions because compromises and disagreements were played out. In such a setting, public performance was essential. These performances included ritual dances, presentation of war captives, offerings of tribute, human sacrifice, and religious ritual.
Commoners
It is estimated that the commoners comprised more than 90% of the population, yet very little is known about them. Commoner houses were normally built with perishable materials, so there is very little remaining to be seen in the archaeological record. A few of the commoner dwellings were built on low platforms, and these can sometimes be identified, but an unknown quantity of commoner houses were not. Only extensive remote-sensing surveys of apparently empty terrain can detect such low-status dwellings.
The range of commoners was broad; it consisted of everybody not of noble birth and therefore included everybody from the poorest farmers to wealthy craftsmen and commoners appointed to bureaucratic positions. Commoners participated in necessary productive activities, such as cotton and cacao, products intended for the elite, as well as subsistence crops for their own consumption and utilitarian items such as ceramics and stone tools.
Commoners participated in warfare and could rise through social ranks by demonstrating themselves to be outstanding warriors. The staple goods, maize, flour, and game, paid in taxes to the elite by commoners most probably had hard-working members of the Maya society who had exceptional skills and initiative that could become influential members of the Maya society.
Warfare
There were many wars in the Maya world. Military campaigns were started for several reasons, and among them were the controlling of trade routes and tribute, raids to take captives, and the complete annihilation of an enemy state. Relatively little is known of the organization, logistics, and training of Maya military activity. Warfare is represented on Maya art from the Classic period, and wars and successes are referred to in the inscriptions.
Unfortunately, the inscriptions give no information about the causes of war or the form it took. In the 8th–9th centuries, intensive warfare led to the collapse of the kingdoms of the Petexbatún region of western Petén. The rapid abandonment of Aguateca by its inhabitants has presented a rare opportunity to investigate the remains of Maya weaponry in situ.
Unknown enemies stormed Aguateca circa 810 AD, who broke through its strong defenses and burnt the royal palace. The elite residents of the city either fled or were captured and never returned to retrieve their abandoned property.
The residents of the periphery abandoned the site shortly after. This is an example of intensive warfare carried out by an enemy to eliminate a Maya state, rather than subjugate it. Research at Aguateca showed that Classic period warriors were essentially members of the elite.
In Maya art as early as the Preclassic period, the ruler of a polity was depicted with trophy heads hanging from his belt and was expected to be a distinguished war leader. Such trophy heads no longer appeared on the king’s belt during the Classic period, when classic period kings are frequently seen standing over humiliated war captives. Right up to the end of the Postclassic period, Maya kings led as war captains. From the Classic, Maya inscriptions show that a defeated king could be captured, tortured, and sacrificed. Maya leaders kept track of troop movements, according to the Spanish in painted books.
The outcome of a successful military campaign could vary in its impact on the defeated polity. Sometimes, whole cities were sacked and never resettled, as at Aguateca. Other times, the victors would seize the defeated rulers, their families, and patron gods. The captured nobles and their families could be imprisoned, or sacrificed. At the least severe end of the scale, the defeated polity would be obliged to pay tribute to the victor
Warriors
During the Contact period, some military positions were held by members of the aristocracy and passed on by patrilineal succession. It is likely that the specific knowledge inherent in the particular military role was taught to the successor, including strategy, ritual, and war dances. Mayan armies of the Contact period were very disciplined, and warriors underwent regular training exercises and drills; every able-bodied adult male was available for military service.
Maya states did not maintain standing armies; warriors were mobilized by local officials who reported back to appointed warleaders. There were also units of full-time mercenaries who followed permanent leaders. Most warriors were not professional and were mostly farmers; the needs of crops normally came before warfare. Maya warfare was not so much interested in the destruction of enemies but in the seizure of captives and plunder.
There is some evidence from the Classic period that women played supporting roles in war, but they did not serve as military officers except for those rare ruling queens. By the Postclassic, the native chronicles indicate that women sometimes fought in battle.
Weapons
The atlatl, or spear-thrower, was introduced to the Maya region by Teotihuacan in the Early Classic. That was essentially a 0.5-metre-long (1.6 ft) stick with a notched end to hold a dart or javelin. The stick was used to launch the missile with more force and accuracy than simply hurling it with the arm. Evidence in the form of stone blade points recovered from Aguatec indicate that darts and spears were the weapons preferred by the Classic Maya warrior.
Blowguns were the principal war weapon used by the commoners, and these are also their hunting tool. The bow and arrow are both used for warfare and hunting by the ancient Maya. Although present in the Maya region during the Classic period, it wasn’t favored for use as a weapon of war, it didn’t become one in common use until the Postclassic period.
Two-handed swords that were also made by Maya of the Contact period utilized strong wood for its foundation and inserted obsidian on the blade, quite much like that of the macuahuitl for the Aztecs. Maya warriors wore body armor in the form of quilted cotton that had been soaked in saltwater to toughen it; the resulting armor compared favorably with the steel armor worn by the Spanish when they conquered the region. Warriors carried wooden or animal hide shields decorated with feathers and animal skins.
Trade
Trade was an integral part of Maya society, and in the development of the Maya civilization. The cities that became the most important typically controlled access to vital trade goods, or portage routes. Cities such as Kaminaljuyu and Qʼumarkaj in the Guatemalan Highlands, and Chalchuapa in El Salvador, variously controlled access to the sources of obsidian at different points in Maya history.
The Maya were major producers of cotton, which was used to make the textiles to be traded throughout Mesoamerica. The most important cities in the northern Yucatán Peninsula controlled access to the sources of salt. In the Postclassic, the Maya engaged in a flourishing slave trade with wider Mesoamerica.
The Maya traded over long distances within the Maya region, and further afield across greater Mesoamerica and beyond. For example, an Early Classic Maya merchant quarter has been identified at the distant metropolis of Teotihuacan, in central Mexico. Outside of the Maya area, trade routes focused especially on central Mexico and the Gulf coast, within Mesoamerica.
In the Early Classic, Chichen Itza was at the center of a vast trade network with imports of gold discs from Colombia and Panama as well as turquoise from Los Cerrillos, New Mexico. Long-distance trading of luxury and utilitarian goods could have been controlled by royalty. Prestige goods acquired through trade were both consumed by the ruler of the city and presented as luxuries to vassals and allies to seal their loyalty.
Trade routes did not only provide for the movement of material goods, but also facilitated the flow of people and ideas throughout Mesoamerica. Changes in trade routes correlate with the rise and fall of key cities within the Maya region, and have been found in every significant reorganization of the Maya civilization, including the emergence of Preclassic Maya civilization, the transition to the Classic, and the collapse of the Terminal Classic. Even the Spanish Conquest did not immediately end all Maya trading activity; for example, the Contact period Manche Chʼol traded the prestige crops of cacao, annatto and vanilla into colonial Verapaz.
Merchants
Not much is known about Maya merchants, even though they appear on Maya ceramics in elaborate noble dress so at least some of the traders were members of the elite. In the Contact period, Maya nobles participated in long-distance trade expeditions. The overwhelming majority of traders, on the other hand, belonged to the middle class and generally were involved in local and regional trade rather than that long-distance trading considered more prestigious and monopolized by the elite.
The traveling merchants into dangerous foreign territory is compared to passage through the underworld; the patron deities of merchants were two underworld gods carrying backpacks. When merchants travelled, they painted themselves black, just like their patron gods and went heavily armed.
The Maya had no pack animals, so all trade goods were carried on the backs of porters when going overland; if the trade route followed a river or the coast, then goods were transported in canoes. A sizeable Maya trading canoe made from a large hollowed-out tree trunk was encountered off Honduras on Christopher Columbus’s fourth voyage.
The canoe was 2.5 meters (8.2 ft) broad and was propelled by 25 rowers. Trade goods carried included cacao, obsidian, ceramics, textiles, and copper bells and axes. Cacao was used as currency (although not exclusively), and its value was such that counterfeiting occurred by removing the flesh from the pod, and stuffing it with dirt or avocado rind.
Marketplaces
It is extremely hard to identify the presence of marketplaces archaeologically. However, by the time of the Spanish conquest, the region presented a thriving market economy. At some Classic period cities, tentative efforts have successfully tried identifying formal arcade-style masonry architecture and parallel alignments of scattered stones as the permanent foundations of market stalls.
A 2007 study compared soils from a modern Guatemalan market to a proposed ancient market at Chunchucmil; unusually high levels of zinc and phosphorus at both sites indicated similar food production and vegetable sales activity. The calculated density of market stalls at Chunchucmil strongly suggests that a thriving market economy already existed in the Early Classic.
Using archaeology and soil analysis, archaeologists have tentatively identified marketplaces at an increasing number of Maya cities. When the Spanish arrived, Postclassic cities in the highlands had markets in permanent plazas, with officials on hand to settle disputes, enforce rules, and collect taxes.
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