ANTHROP 2VV3 Lecture : Collapse Tradition and Transformation
9 Jan 2012
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Document Summary
Local and regional causes posited (and at times form basis for generalization) But external factors/events have effect only in a region, not entire maya area. Ignore pan-lowland problems and/or processes root causes : problems that affected the entire lowlands. Found in structure of society or political system. Most likely that the different changes in different parts of the lowlands result from varied local responses to common challenges. Different local responses to unique local challenges. There were many maya kingdoms after the terminal classic, and maya culture continues long after the spanish conquest. Therefore, collapse does not mean the end of maya culture. End of the classic period was not a uniform, total collapse of the states: ex. What collapses (declined, transformed) was the political system centred on divine kings. Led to disappearance of associated funerary cults (stelae, altars, tomb-temples), distribution of finest ceramics and other exotic high status materials.
