During the Terminal Classic period (AD 760–1000), Maya communities underwent a brief and violent political collapse, followed by a protracted period of instability that apparently culminated in an urban collapse as distinct from the earlier, political one. Rather than taking the kingdom or polity as the analytical unit, we propose to study the cities as actors in the collapse using the large and rich Terminal Classic datasets. A comprehensive database has been constructed encompassing 29 archaeological, epigraphic, and iconographic attributes that capture urban political and socioeconomic activities in a hundred Terminal Classic cities and towns. A multivariate analysis of the distribution of 12 attributes forming five variables in 56 well-documented cities suggests that the urban transformation subsequent to the dynastic collapse is less attributable to this political collapse than expected. The urban datasets have the potential to reflect the trajectories of late lowland cities, and once distributed in Terminal Classic subphases, a comparison of the datasets should elucidate chains of causality in the two collapses.

Maya quarries were sites of resource extraction. We cannot forget that they were also sites of labor, collaboration, and personal relationships. In this paper, we explore two case studies: quarrying and transporting limestone at Early Classic Naachtun of Petén, Guatemala, and extracting sascab (powdered limestone) at Late Classic Xunantunich, Belize. We offer quantitative analyses of these tasks using the methodology known as architectural energetics, a methodology designed to investigate ancient building through evidence of its various output activities. But we go farther than abstract calculations to offer relatable and relevant public outcomes through storytelling, highlighting the human-centered aspects of quarrying and construction. Following important precedents, this study offers two examples of how quantitative methodologies can intersect with archaeological storytelling, specifically analyzing how architectural energetic studies can inform narratives intended for public audiences.

This article describes a unique patolli board found in a large residential compound at the Classic period Maya site of Naachtun (Petén, Guatemala) and discusses its implications. While dozens of patolli engraved in stucco floors and benches are known, the example from Naachtun has divisions outlined with sherds inlaid in the fresh mortar. This way of creating the board may provide a fresh perspective on the way the game was played, as it indicates boards could be included in the architecture from the planning stage and also potentially have a long use life.

Most population estimates for Maya sites are for the Late Classic period, a time of peak population in the Central Maya Lowlands. At Naachtun, Guatemala, a major city during the Early Classic that continued into the Late Classic period, researchers recently carried out an ambitious program of test pitting in residential areas; its aim was to model the growth of residential units during the entire Classic period and so better contextualize the rise of Classic Maya dynasties and the scale of their economic and political power. This article presents an improvement to the existing method for estimating population for periods preceding the population apex (in this case, the Early Classic period): it not only estimates the occupancy rate of residential units occupied pre-apex but also assesses their size, using a typology I developed based on their morphology and pattern of transformation.