Maya Royal Ritual: Architectonics as a Key to Political Organization

Abstract

This study considers the spaces occupied by Maya royal rituals as a means of testing the application of models of political organization. Investigation of the architectonics of several temple pyramids at the sites of Copan, Tikal, and Seibal indicates that Maya political organization does not resemble that required by either the galactic polity or segmentary state models. Comparison with large Mesopotamian temples from Early Dynastic levels at Khafaje and al-'Ubaid suggests that the royal rituals of the Classic Maya are indicative of a city-state political organization.