A Reversal of Fortune: Problematical Deposit 50, Tikal, Guatemala. Issue 3 (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Moholy-Nagy, Hattula
• Is Part Of: Latin American antiquity. Volume 32:Issue 3(2021)
• Page Start: 486
• Page End: 502
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: Maya -- Teotihuacan -- Tikal -- Early Classic -- problematical deposits; Maya -- Teotihuacan -- Tikal -- Clásico Temprano -- depósitos problemáticos; Indians of Mexico -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Indians of Central America -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Indians of South America -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Latin America -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; 918
• DOI: 10.1017/laq.2021.13
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1045-6635

Abstract

Abstract : The contents, context, and date of Problematical Deposit 50 bear on the origin, function, and meaning of Teotihuacan stylistic traits in the Southern Maya Lowlands. Archaeological data and material culture research appear to support emulation and adaptation by local rulers and elites, while an actual presence of Teotihuacanos is asserted by epigraphy and iconography. PD 50, the partial contents of a probable Early Classic chamber burial, appears to support local emulation, but an extraordinary pottery vessel, nicknamed here the "Arrival Bowl, " implies direct contact. The chronology and archaeological context demonstrate that the appearance of Teotihuacan stylistic traits at Tikal during the later Early Classic period is functionally distinct from the goods distributed over an interregional interaction sphere of much longer duration in which both Central Mexico and the Maya area participated. Furthermore, together with other features at Tikal, PD 50 suggests that adoption of Teotihuacan ideology by Tikal's elite was eventually met with resistance that contributed to the violence at the end of the Early Classic period that is manifested in the archaeological record.