Understanding Classic to Postclassic household and community spatial transformation: The rural Maya of the Quexil-Petenxil Basins, Guatemala

This dissertation documents how rural Peten Maya communities and households transformed and reorganized their architecture and space usage as active responses to political change between the Late Classic (A.D. 600--800) through Postclassic Periods (A.D. 1000--1700). Cross-culturally, political change in societies often results in changes in community and family or household organization including change in domestic architecture. Starting with this insight, I utilize structuration theory to understand the role of the changing structure of architecture in society. My project adds to anthropological theory by explaining how, during the collapse of the state, political change emanating from core regions led communities in rural, peripheral regions to restructure their settlements and domestic architecture, according to the needs of the local community. I contribute to the resolution of scenarios of culture change during and after the Terminal Classic Period Maya Collapse (A.D. 800--1000). I reject previous hypotheses of the arrival of migrants (e.g., Chontal or Petexbatun Maya) bearing new architectural styles around this time. Rather, certain architectural forms, notably C-shaped stone benches, were introduced through an attenuated form of cultural contact (e.g., religious ties) and these architectural forms were adapted to local needs and practices.; I compare household organization and activities through the excavation of horizontal exposures of the domestic remains of both Late Classic and Postclassic residential groups at the Quexil Islands, and nearby sites in the Basins of Lakes Quexil and Petenxil, Guatemala. A structuralist analysis, including an architectural grammar, identifies temporal continuities and discontinuities in architectural design. These analyses demonstrate Classic to Postclassic continuities in architectural grouping, morphology and activity areas, while complex changes are also evident.; Local in-migration was responsible for the settlement to the Quexil Islands during the Terminal Classic Period, possibly from within the Quexil-Petenxil Basins. The reason for migration was the adoption of a defensive community posture in the increasingly dangerous environment of the political collapse. The redesign of the settlement accommodated defensibility, smaller co-resident family groupings and changes in architectural style that relate more closely to increased display of ancestral shrines as part of politico-religious change following the collapse rather than to migration. I further discuss how the Quexil Islanders were incorporated in the Itza polity during the Late Postclassic Period and Early Historic Period (A.D. 1200--1700).