Collaborative Research: Understanding Economic and Urban Success

In the Maya area, a single city--Chichén Itzá--avoided the drastic depopulation experienced by its peers in the 9th and 10th centuries. In fact, the city grew and flourished as leaders oversaw the construction of larges monuments such as the Castillo and Mesoamerica’s largest ballcourt. Beyond the site core, the expansion of a causeway system that linked high-status residential compounds with new, distinctive ceremonial buildings shows that Chichén’s prosperity extended to dozens of noble families. Yet very little of the city has been mapped, and almost no non-noble residential contexts have been excavated. Thus, after one hundred years of professional archaeology, we have little idea what life was like for the vast majority of Chichén’s residents and even lack a ballpark estimate of Chichén’s population. Guided by recently acquired lidar imagery, we propose intensive ground verification and excavations of a representative sample of 100 non-noble residential compounds. This fieldwork will help answer two major questions: A) What is the exact nature Chichén’s growth? B) What enabled the city to thrive when neighboring cities had declined? Asking about growth entails questions about the peak population and density and the rate of growth. Regarding why Chichen thrived, we propose seven hypotheses, each of which can be tested with data from small excavations in a representative sample of households. These hypotheses, which are not mutually exclusive, include: 1) The population was diverse, facilitating creativity and opportunity; 2) The population clustered into neighborhoods, creating bonds of familiarity and trust; 3) Economic inequality was modest, allowing for sustainable social relations; 4) Leaders cultivated support by redistributing exotic wealth goods; 5) Households produced surpluses, either in food or crafts, that funded various civic projects; 6) A market system boosted the urban economy; and, 7) Households embraced a flower world ideology through commitment to militarism.