Abstract

PARIS, Elizabeth H.  and  LOPEZ BRAVO, Roberto. The Chiapas Highlands Mayas and Their Western Neighbors: Interaction, Identity and Exchange in a Cultural Border. Estud. cult. maya [online]. 2017, vol.49, pp.39-66. ISSN 0185-2574.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.ecm.2017.49.765.

This study investigates the multifaceted ways that political borders and social boundaries were defined and maintained along the western frontier of the Maya linguistic and cultural area. Comparisons between the exchange of different goods and resources can highlight the degree to which cultural boundaries were porous or impermeable in the frontier zone between the Tzotzil-speaking Maya populations of Highland Chiapas and the Zoque and Chiapanec-speaking groups of the Central Depression. Exchange relationships between the Highland Maya and neighboring Zoque-speaking populations appear to have been mostly discontinued by the end of the Early Postclassic period, suggesting that the porosity of the western frontier decreased over time, possibly resulting from the arrival and expansion of the Chiapanecs in the Central Depression. However, a few types of high-value luxury items, such as metal ornaments, continued to be exchanged across cultural frontiers.

Keywords : frontiers; exchange; Maya; Chiapas; ceramics.