LIGHTNING SKY, RAIN, AND THE MAIZE GOD: The Ideology of Preclassic Maya Rulers at Cival, Peten, Guatemala

Prior research on the function of shoe-shaped chultuns found in the southern Yucatan peninsula has focused on their use for household level storage of dry foodstuffs. We found that inter- and intra-site distribution patterns of chultuns do not support the household storage hypothesis. At Tikal only 20-25% of the households had chultuns, and most of these households had two or more chultuns. We believe the distributional data suggest that chultuns were associated with a cottage-level industry in the context of a vending economy. Because the internal environment of chultuns appears favorable for conducting fermentations, we propose that they were used as places to process, and for limited periods to store, fermented foods such as alcoholic beverages and pickled fruits. The greatest demand for chultun products was apparently centered around large urban sites in northeastern Peten and northern Belize where frequent civic/religious festivals encouraged a small to moderate market potential.

En Cuba, la orientación de los entierros aborígenes del período arcaico ha sido objeto de especulación e indagación por parte de numerosos especialistas. Dentro de la arqueología del Caribe ha llamado la atención la propuesta de algunos arqueólogos de la mayor de las Antillas relacionada con la dependencia del este como punto cardinal y la orientación de los cráneos de los primeros habitantes. Sin embargo, los elementos discutidos en este artículo demuestran que las orientaciones de estos entierros en cuevas generalmente se relacionan con el lugar de acceso al espacio fúnebre y las partes naturales que limitan el acceso al lugar.