Rounds of negotiations in the underworld: transformations of ritual cave practices and ancient Maya society

Gescheider, Robert Daniel (2023) Rounds of negotiations in the underworld: transformations of ritual cave practices and ancient Maya society. Masters thesis, Northern Arizona University.

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Abstract

To date, most research on Maya ritual cave use has been synchronic and lacking articulations with the wider Maya social processes. In this thesis, my goal is to examine the archaeological record of Maya ritual cave practice diachronically, to look for evidence of structures associated with ritual practice, and to understand how ritual practices are influenced by sociopolitical changes. Because ritual practice is linked to the material circumstances of practitioners, specific practices are strategic, flexible, and may serve as a resource to understand change at larger societal scales. The materiality of ceramics and the spatial parameters of the caves in which they are placed allow for a variety of differential treatments and emplacements. Ritual change may be evidenced by a change in these patterns and this can indicate a shift that is external to such microscale developments. To study these changes in practice, methods must first answer how and when changes occurred by reconstructing the use-life histories of Maya caves. Ceramic typologies, data collection from published archaeological records, and statistical analyses are the primary methods employed for this thesis. Ritual and Practice theories provide the foundations for interpreting ritual practice changes in the context of macroscale societal structures. Key findings include peak frequency temporal alignments across three of four regions and Late Classic spatial expansions in ritual cave use, with at least one expansion evident in each of the same three regions. This research is important in establishing a baseline of temporal shifts and regional variation in ritual cave practice, which may afford a richer, more contextualized understanding of both ancient Maya ritual cave use and Maya cultural development.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Publisher’s Statement:	© Copyright is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the Cline Library, Northern Arizona University. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
Keywords:	Caves; Maya; Ritual
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
NAU Depositing Author Academic Status:	Student
Department/Unit:	Graduate College > Theses and Dissertations College of Social and Behavioral Science > Anthropology
Date Deposited:	02 May 2025 17:53
Last Modified:	02 May 2025 17:53
URI:	https://openknowledge.nau.edu/id/eprint/6116

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