Status and Power in Classic Maya Society: An Archeological Study

This article uses archeological data to examine how social relations allocate economic and political power in ancient complex societies. Based on recent excavations in the Copan Valley, Honduras, the socioeconomic organization of the basic residential group is reconstructed and the existence of a pervasive social hierarchy demonstrated. I argue that during the Late and Terminal Classic periods, the Maya were organized into a series of internally ranked and externally stratified status lineages (Goldman 1970) that structured social, economic, and political relationships.