Mesoamerican Plazas

Arenas of Community and Power

Edited by Kenichiro Tsukamoto and Takeshi Inomata

The University of Arizona Press

Until now, archaeological and historical studies of Mesoamerican plazas have been scarce compared to studies of the surrounding monumental architecture such as pyramidal temples and palaces. Many scholars have assumed that ancient Mesoamericans invested their labor, wealth, and symbolic value in pyramids and other prominent buildings, viewing plazas as by-products of these buildings. Even when researchers have recognized the potential significance of plazas, they have thought that plazas as vacant spaces could offer few clues about their cultural and political roles. Mesoamerican Plazas challenges both of these assumptions.

The primary question that has motivated the contributors is how Mesoamerican plazas became arenas for the creation and negotiation of social relations and values in a community. The thirteen contributions stress the significance of interplay between power relations and embodied practices set in specific historical and material settings, as outlined by practice theory and performance theory. This approach allows the contributors to explore broader anthropological issues, such as the negotiation of power relations, community making, and the constitution of political authorities.

Overall, the contributions establish that physical interactions among people in communal events were not the outcomes of political machinations held behind the scenes, but were the actual political processes through which people created, negotiated, and subverted social realities. If so, spacious plazas that were arguably designed for interactions among a large number of individuals must have also provided critical arenas for the constitution and transformation of society.

A fascinating volume. . . . well illustrated and written, Mesoamerican Plazas successfully establishes the outline of current research as well as the challenges for a new generation of fieldwork.’—American Archaeology

‘This is an excellent book on a topic that, although widely discussed in Mesoamerican archaeology, has never been investigated to any considerable depth.’—Choice

‘The growing community of scholars studying Mesoamerican plazas will welcome this book as important on both theoretical and methodological levels. The authors of Mesoamerican Plazas build a solid theoretical basis for plaza studies, establishing their importance in the political lives of communities.’—Journal of Field Archaeology

Kenichiro Tsukamoto is a PhD candidate in anthropology at the University of Arizona. He is co-director of the El Palmar Archaeological Project. His project has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, and American Philosophical Society.

Takeshi Inomata is a professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona. He is the author of several books, including Burned Palaces and Elite Residences of Aguateca: Excavations and Ceramics.

Introduction. Gathering in an Open Space: Introduction to Mesoamerican Plazas
Takeshi Inomata and Kenichiro Tsukamoto
Part I. Plaza Constructions and Public Events
Part II. Plazas in Broader Spatial Contexts
Part III. Plazas and Images
Part IV. Commentary

References
Contributors
Index

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