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Dynastic Genealogies from Tikal, Guatemala: Implications for Descent and Political Organization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

William A. Haviland
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Abstract

Building upon the work of several other people, Clemency Coggins has recently presented a tentative reconstruction of Tikal dynastic history, complete with a proposed genealogy of the rulers themselves. These are important data for any attempt to reconstruct the social and political organization of Tikal, and this paper explores their implications. The data are consistent with models of ancient Maya sociopolitical organization in which patrilineal descent, stratification, and strong central political authority were important. At Tikal, this seems to have been the case from the first century A.D. until Terminal Classic times. A currently popular view that, in Early Classic times, positions of prestige, power, and authority were open to anyone who had the necessary talent, wealth, and support is probably untenable, at least for Tikal.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , January 1977 , pp. 61 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1977

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