CONSIDERING THE TIES THAT BIND: Kinship, marriage, household, and territory among the Maya

Abstract

The meaning of ancient Maya social organization continues to engender heated debate. Hierarchy and heterarchy are suggested as organizational principles that reflect the variability characteristic of the Maya households past and present. The presence or absence of lineage in the core area or hinterland reflects the social dimension of Maya social organization and small and larger households are tied to the larger political structure. Detailed archaeological data have documented extreme economic variability in Maya household patterns and relationships associated with these. Scholars argue that structures contain rich symbolic statements and reflect Maya ideological structure. Discussion of Maya household patterns moves beyond a monolithic understanding of social organization in the past and the present, including extreme variation in kinship and marriage patterns, associated economic structure, power, and symbolic representations that bind the society and tie individuals to higher structural levels.