Time, Power, and the Maya

Abstract

Time is an abstract concept that has been examined relatively less by Americanist archaeologists as compared to Europeanists. The lack of consideration of time is particularly curious among Mayanists, because the Classic Maya assiduously recorded events in the lives of rulers and their kingdoms according to time's passage in multiple, precisely calibrated calendars. This essay examines some of the ways in which time has been conceptualized, and its political and economic roles explored, by anthropologists, sociologists, historians, and others. I apply these findings to the evolution of calendars in Mesoamerica and their function in underwriting early leadership positions, such as that of shamans or “daykeepers.” I explore the role of time in structuring late (Postclassic) Maya geopolitical organization and the possibility that such principles also guided that of the Classic Maya. Time, calendars, and particularly the movements of the sun came to be viewed as being “controlled” by Maya sacred kings, aided by their retinue of daykeepers/calendar priests. This awesome cosmopolitical power led to the identification of the king with the sun and his legitimization through control of the means of social and cosmic reproduction.

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