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Complexities of collapse: the evidence of Maya obsidian as revealed by social network graphical analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Mark Golitko ,
James Meierhoff ,
Gary M. Feinman  and
Patrick Ryan Williams
Mark Golitko
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lakeshore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA (Author for correspondence, email: mgolitko@fieldmuseum.org
James Meierhoff
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1007 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Gary M. Feinman
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lakeshore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA (Author for correspondence, email: mgolitko@fieldmuseum.org
Patrick Ryan Williams
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 South Lakeshore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA (Author for correspondence, email: mgolitko@fieldmuseum.org
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Extract

The authors use a social network analysis to map the changing patterns of obsidian supply among the Maya during the period of Classic to Postclassic transition. The quantity of obsidian received from different sources was calculated for 121 sites and the network analysis showed how the relative abundance of material from different sources shifted over time. A shift from inland to coastal supply routes appears to have contributed to the collapse of inland Maya urban centres. The methods employed clearly have a high potential to reveal changing economic networks in cases of major societal transitions elsewhere in the world.

Keywords

MesoamericaMayaClassicPostclassicthird–fifteenth century ADobsidiansocial network graphical analysisurbanismsystems collapse
Type
Research article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 86 , Issue 332 , June 2012 , pp. 507 - 523
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2012

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