Archaeological Epigraphy and Epigraphic Archaeology

This dissertation contributes to anthropological debate regarding the effects of interaction on material and symbolic culture. The investigation tests the hypothesis that Maya writing emerged in late Middle Preclassic through Early Classic period Mesoamerica (700 BC-AD 450) as a correlate of interregional sociopolitical and economic interaction. Archaeologists working in many areas of the world have long claimed that interaction is central to cultural innovation, especially in relation to the development of writing. If the emergence of the Maya script is a correlate of systemic regional interaction, its developmental process should be traceable archaeologically through artifactual evidence. The hypothesis is tested by exploring archaeological indicators of interaction against a backdrop of previously documented transformations in the emerging Mayan script. The model proposed here builds on current models of the development of Mesoamerican writing systems, models of interregional interaction and cultural development, and systemic complexity theory to associate archaeological remains with the development of the Mayan script. A significant revelation of this research is that the contextual framework in which material and symbolic goods were used and exchanged in past societies is equally as important as the formal qualities of the artifacts themselves in achieving a more complex understanding of their developmental histories. This project represents a rare instance of investigation at the nexus of epigraphy, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology. Examining the development of writing in relation to stylistically defined zones of interaction permits more nuanced questions about the relationship between writing, other aspects of material culture, and cultural meaning. Archaeologists can infer cultural logics from artifactual exchange to create clearer links between material artifacts and symbolic concepts. The project shows how combining epigraphic, linguistic, and archaeological data can illuminate wider questions related to the development of sociopolitical complexity, cultural innovation, and long-term processes of linguistic and socio-cultural change, furthering anthropological debate in each sub-discipline.