A CONTEXTUAL CONSIDERATION OF THE TAYASAL-PAXCAMAN ZONE, EL PETEN, GUATEMALA

The Tayasal-Paxcaman Zone, located in the Peten of Guatemala, manifests plentiful prehistoric remains of Maya cultural activity. This thesis presents a contextual consideration of the archaeology of the zone. There are two primary objectives in this effort: the temporal (and spatial) ordering of archaeologically excavated remains from the Tayasal-Paxcaman Zone and the reconstruction of larger patterns of prehistoric Maya social organization in the central Peten from the Late Preclassic to Postclassic Periods. Field information for the thesis was generated during 1971 University Museum--University of Pennsylvania excavations at the sites of Cenote, Tayasal, and Nima as well as in subsequent seasons of survey and analysis by the author. The preparation of this thesis was undertaken in both Guatemala and in Philadelphia. In keeping with its objectives, the dissertation includes the detailed excavation and artifactual data necessary to provide culture historical and higher order interpretations. Archaeological deposits, as related to both buildings and site structure, are interpreted on the basis of their contextual location and associations; these analyses, in turn, serve as the basis for discussions of temporal, spatial, and social phenomena. When placed within an archaeological framework, the individual excavations provide a sequence of occupation for the Tayasal-Paxcaman Zone which was continuous from the Preclassic through Historic Periods. Throughout its history, evidence from Tayasal-Paxcaman Zone reinforces the notion of coeval regional differences in the Southern Maya Lowlands. While interpretation of archaeological data from the zone provides processual information for all temporal periods, the data is particularly rich for analyzing, first, the Late Preclassic to Early Classic Period transition at Cenote and, second, the Early Classic to Terminal Classic development of Tayasal. Construction activity, burials, and associated artifactual remains have been used to interpret the substantial changes in foci during each of these times and to suggest the social forces that produced the extant archaeological record. Additional important data also exist in the Zone for understanding of the Postclassic Period of the Southern Lowlands, thus validating the original research design that was responsible for the excavations undertaken on the Tayasal Peninsula