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“ALL THAT IS SOLID…”: SACBES, SETTLEMENT, AND SEMIOTICS AT TZACAUIL, YUCATAN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2012

Scott R. Hutson ,
Aline Magnoni  and
Travis W. Stanton
Scott R. Hutson*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, 211 Lafferty Hall, Lexington, KY 40506-0024
Aline Magnoni
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, 6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118
Travis W. Stanton
Affiliation:
Departamento de Antropología, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Sta.Catarina Mártir. Cholula, Puebla. C.P. 72810 México
*
E-mail correspondence to: scotthutson@uky.edu
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Abstract

This paper applies structuration theory and semiotics to interpret the results of a recently completed total coverage pedestrian survey to the east of Yaxuna, Yucatan. Data from this survey suggest that a social group centered at the site of Tzacauil vied for political clout in the Late Preclassic period through the construction of a triadic acropolis 3 km from Yaxuna. This group also initiated but did not complete a new experimental construction: a long-distance causeway between the two sites. A central facet of structuration is the instability of social practice. Rules can be altered when transposed to new contexts, while durable resources, such as causeways and acropolis groups, do not ensure the solidity of the coalitions they are meant to represent. Despite an outlay of labor never again seen to the east of Yaxuna, Tzacauil had a rather short occupation. Though they never completed the causeway, the people of Tzacauil did succeed in transforming the conventional understanding of causeways. These events support a semiotic approach since they show that materiality is contingent: it has a potential that people may or may not work to realize.

Type
Special Section: Contemporary Archaeology in Yucatan
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , Fall 2012 , pp. 297 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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References

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