Early Classic Period Maya Warfare

While the origins of the institution of divine kingship can now be traced to the Late Preclassic, during the Early Classic royal dynasties were established at a number of important lowland Maya settlements such as Tikal, Calakmul, Copan and Palenque, to name but a few.

There was little clear evidence for warfare during this period until the decipherment of hieroglyphs revealed the possible involvement of the great central Mexican metropolis of Teotihuacan in the establishment of several of these royal lines. Epigraphic research indicates that in 378 ce an individual named Sihyaj K’ahk’, bearing the exalted title Kaloomte' and associated in some way with Teotihuacan, arrived at Tikal, after which a new royal dynasty was established that would rule for several centuries.1³ About fifty years later, in 426/427 ce, this new dynasty was, in turn, responsible for establishing a long-lived dynasty at Copan in the southeastern periphery of the Maya area that lasted until 822 ce. While there is no unequivocal evidence of warfare in these founding events, some scholars believe conquest is implied. These new Maya kings were often portrayed in the garb of Teotihuacan warriors, including spear throwers as opposed to the spears usually associated with the Classic period Maya. This advertised their military prowess, whether they themselves fought in actual battles or not. Evidence from the skeleton of K'inich Yax K’uk’ Mo' himself, the founder of Copan's royal dynasty, suggests this may indeed have been the case. His remains preserve an impressive array of healed injuries sustained during life, including fractures of the right radius and ulna, three ribs, the scapula and skull.^{^[405]} Whereas previous interpretation of the relative lack of warfare-related events in Copan's inscriptions suggested little involvement in warfare, the direct evidence of skeletal trauma described above hints at the importance of warfare in the rise to power of an important Maya kingdom during a period that has revealed little direct evidence of violence.

Perhaps the most direct indications of warfare during the Early Classic period come from the northern lowland site of Yaxuna. Evidence of peri- mortem skeletal trauma, anomalous burial positions and associated artefacts recovered in burial 24, which dates to the fourth or early fifth century ce, suggests that it represents a massacred royal family which may have had ties to the Kaanul Snake kingdom.^{^[406]} ^{^[407]} This event may have involved the Teotihuacan-inspired arrival of Sihyaj K'ahk' who, as noted above, may have played a key role in establishing royal lines at several southern lowland sites, intimately tying important political changes at this northern lowland site to processes further south in the Classic Maya ‘heartland'. It is likely this event also involved the important centre of Oxkintok in the north-western extreme of the Puuc hills, based on ceramic and architectural similarities that begin at the end of the Early Classic and continue into the early part of the Late Classic. In addition, healed cranial trauma possibly due to participation in interpersonal or inter-group conflict has been reported in Early Classic remains from this latter site.16

Political rivalries that were to become long-lasting had been established between a number of important Maya centres by the end of the Early Classic period, though how much further back in time they go is difficult to establish. Hieroglyphic inscriptions on carved stone monuments refer to a number of wars between Tikal and the Kaanul or Snake kingdom, about which much new information has come to light in recent years. The Snake kings, who were based during the Early Classic at Dzibanche in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico, developed an extensive network of allies and subordinate sites that

included such large centres as Caracol in Belize. One of the earliest securely dated descriptions of a warfare event mentions the defeat of Tikal at the hands of Kaanul king Sky Witness in 562 ce, after which Tikal entered a 130year period of decline.^{^[408]} ^{^[409]} No new dated monuments were erected at this site until well into the Late Classic, while centres associated with the Kaanul kingdom experienced a period of florescence.

The ambition of the Snake kingdom was further demonstrated when King Scroll Serpent defeated Palenque on the western periphery of the Maya area in 599 and 611 ce, representing the furthest military expeditions currently known for the Maya.

In sum, the Early Classic serves as a good example that absence of evidence of warfare does not imply evidence of absence, for wars were not recorded in hieroglyphic inscriptions until the sixth century ce. Warfare-related events do become common themes on Maya monuments and, as a result, a large part of what we know about Maya warfare derives from epigraphy, though this caveat should be kept in mind when evaluating such evidence for temporal trends in warfare and the related implications for political relationships between developing Maya polities.

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Source: Fagan Garrett G., Fibiger Linda, Hudson Mark, Trundle Matthew (eds.). The Cambridge World History of Violence. Volume 1: The Prehistoric and Ancient Worlds. Cambridge University Press,2020. — 756 p.. 2020

Early Classic Period Maya Warfare

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