The Maya and their relationship with Teotihuacan in the classic period

Submission note: A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Department of Archaeology and History, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Arts, Social Sciences and Commerce, La Trobe University, Bundoora.

The public version of this thesis does not contain all material submitted for examination.

The nature of the relationship between the ancient Maya and the city of Teotihuacan has become a subject of great interest and debate in the archaeological field, from the early discoveries made by the Carnegie Institution of Washington (CIW) at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala up to the present day (Kidder, Jennings and Shook 1946; Michaels and Sanders 1977; Coggins 1975; Proskouriakoff 1993; Stuart 2000; Braswell 2003; Nielsen 2003). The search for a satisfactory answer that could explain this complex phenomenon has divided the scholar’s opinion into two streams, where the presence of Teotihuacan in the Maya area has been view either as a product of commerce and emulation for prestige and legitimation or as a result of political and military dominance from Central Mexico (Stuart 2000: 465). The main objective of this dissertation is to present an analysis of the ritual interaction between the Maya and Teotihuacan during the Classic period (AD 250-900). The study of the presence of Teotihuacan in the Maya area was addressed through an extensive study of Teotihuacan influence in the symbolic representations and glyphic texts of the Maya. As a result, the present work collected an exhaustive catalogue for ten glyphic terms associated with the presence and influence of Teotihuacan during the Classic period. Through the study of toponyms, deities, military orders and warfare, this work intends to provide a better understanding of the role of ritual in the process of cultural interaction and its implications in the historical and cultural development of the Maya area during the Classic period.