SET IN STONE: HIATUSES AND DYNASTIC POLITICS AT TIKAL, GUATEMALA

What is it about?

I propose that the gaps or hiatuses in the Classic Period sequence of dated stone monuments are due to internal, rather than external causes. At some sites Maya rulers and nobles carried on a venerable pre-Columbian Mesoamerican tradition of destroying the stone monuments of their contemporary rivals and their predecessors.

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Why is it important?

Recent advances in the decipherment of the ornate Maya hieroglyphic writing on stone monuments, pottery vessels, and other media now permit constructions of Classic period Maya history. But it is crucial that our historical constructions do not contradict the archaeological data.