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Dissertation Information for Christopher R. Andres

NAME:
- Christopher R. Andres

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Anthropology

SCHOOL:
- Indiana University (USA) (2005)

ADVISORS:
- Karen Anne Pyburn

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Geoffrey W. Conrad
- Paula Girshick Ben-Amos
- Patrick R. McNaughton

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: Building negotiation: Architecture and sociopolitical transformation at Chau Hiix, Lamanai, and Altun Ha, Belize

Abstract: This dissertation examines the relationship between changing spatial configurations in the built environment and sociopolitical organization in the three ancient Maya communities of Chau Hiix, Lamanai, and Altun Ha, Belize. The research explores the proposition that manipulation of the built environment was particularly important in mediating between inter- and intra-community social and political segments during the turbulent Terminal Classic period (ca. A.D. 800 and 1000).

The research design guiding the project facilitated the testing of several hypotheses. Among these is the prediction that architectural developments at long-lived Chau Hiix would more closely mirror those at Lamanai, a site neighboring Chau Hiix that was inhabited into the period of Spanish Conquest, than at Altun Ha, another neighbor that was largely abandoned after the 9 th century A.D. Changing patterns of access to elite residential and civic-ceremonial architectural contexts is one of the most significant findings at the three locations. These diachronic changes were tracked using quantitative spatial analyses (including methods adapted from the work of Thomas Markus, Jerry Moore, and Bill Hillier and Julienne Hanson) and more interpretative analysis of Maya cityscapes. Research findings include a tendency for buildings at Lamanai and Chau Hiix to become progressively restricted prior to about A.D. 800 before becoming increasingly accessible after this point. Movement towards more inclusive, architecturally-focused patterns of sociopolitical interaction is postulated to have contributed to (or to index a process that explains) the persistence of certain Belize Maya communities after the period of widespread site abandonment following the 9 th century Maya "collapse". These data emphasize the complexity of the Terminal Classic period by illustrating how contrasting community trajectories were not only the result of distinct strategies of manipulation of material culture but also almost certainly a consequence of distinct social processes operating in different parts of the Southern Maya Lowlands.

MPACT Scores for Christopher R. Andres

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2010-09-27 15:59:47

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