COBA, QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO: A RECENTANALYSIS OF THE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC ANDPOLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF A MAJOR MAYAURBAN CENTER

William J. Folan,a Armando Anaya Hernandez,a Ellen R. Kintz,b Laraine A. Fletcher,c

Raymundo Gonzalez Heredia,a Jacinto May Hau,d and Nicolas Caamal CanchedaCentro de Investigaciones Historicas y Sociales, Universidad Autonoma de Campeche, Avenida Agustin Melgar s/n, Campeche,Campeche 24039, MexicobDepartment of Anthropology, State University of New York at Geneseo, One College Circle Geneseo, NY 14454, USAcDepartment of Anthropology/Sociology, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY 11530, USAdCoba, Calle Principal, Quintana Roo, 77780, Mexico

Abstract

Coba represents a major Classic period Maya urban center. Archaeological investigations have suggested a complex socioeconomicintegration apparent in the heterogeneity of the size, shape, and quality of architecture while demonstrating a clear demarcationbetween commoner and elite compounds in addition to a complex system of raised roads (sacbeob). Results of the 19741976mapping efforts at Coba revealed a generalized concentric settlement pattern with elite compounds concentrated at the core. In theiranalysis of the settlement patterns at Tikal, Guatemala, Arnold and Ford challenged this concentric model. Their analysis of laborinvestment in structures within the 9 km2 core area of Tikal suggested, in contrast to Coba, a scattered rather than a concentric patternof high-status architecture. Using a geographic information system (GIS), we tested our concentric model hypothesis for Coba byapplying Arnold and Fords work investment parameters. Our results confirmed the presence of a concentric pattern of high-statusarchitecture at Coba closest to the core that differed from Arnold and Fords findings of a scattered pattern in Tikal. These uniqueand discrete findings suggest that all major cities in the Maya area may not possess identical settlement patterns. To support ourfindings indicating urbanism, we also make a detailed analysis of the Coba and Calakmul demographics focusing on the LateClassic period.

The purpose of this paper is to put to the test the hypothesis that theregional, civic/ceremonial center of Coba, located in the state ofQuintana Roo, Mexico, exhibits a general concentric settlementpattern organized with the greater part of its major civic, ceremonial,and habitational architecture clustered closest to the urban center orthe downtown area. This contrasts with Arnold and Fords (1980) con-clusions based on their findings at Tikal, Guatemala, that suggested adispersed rather than a concentric pattern for urban centers in the Mayaarea.

We correlated the most useful trees of the prehistoric, historic,and modern Maya with their cultural environment finding thattrees such as pom (incense) and balche (a sacred intoxicatingdrink) trees are found in greater concentrations closest to theClassic period (a.d. 600950) citys urban center or downtownarea than in the suburban and peripheral areas.

More than 25 years ago, we hypothesized that Coba ceased to bea major center concurrent with shifting climatic conditions thatbrought about a reduction in rainfall ca. a.d. 800 (Folan et al.

1983; Gunn and Folan 1996), which was later confirmed byLeyden, Brenner, and Dahlins (1998) pollen analysis of coresfrom Lake Coba.

Even though the ancient Maya were geographically separated fromthe organizational wonders of central Mexico, they had developedmany of the sociocultural and economic advances within that sphereof influence since the Middle Preclassic period (650350 b.c.),long before Teotihuacan appeared on the horizon (Folan et al.2001), at sites such as Nakbe, Guatemala, which has been under inves-tigation by Richard Hansen (1991). According to Sanders and Price(1968), one of the perceived differences between the Lowland andHighland Maya and the Mexican Highlands was the apparent lack ofcities and urban centers. Mapping projects at Tikal (Carr andHazzard 1961; Puleston 1973, 1983), Dzibilchaltun, Yucatan,Mexico (Andrews IV and Andrews V 1980; Kurjack 1974; Stuartet al. 1979), Coba (Folan et al. 1983), and Calakmul, Campeche,Mexico (Folan et al. 2001) brought about appreciable shifts inearlier visions of Maya sociopolitical organization and settlement pat-terns in general. We can now state that the Maya developed large urbancities of 20,000 or more inhabitants that functioned as regional centersof large polities such as those found at Coba and Calakmul. Although

59

E-mail correspondence to: wijfolan@gmail.com

Ancient Mesoamerica, 20 (2009), 5970Copyright # 2009 Cambridge University Press. Printed in the U.S.A.doi:10.1017/S0956536109000054

most scholars would now go along with these ideas, whether or notthese centers were organized concentrically has been brought intofocus by an analysis of the archeological map of Tikal by Arnoldand Ford (1980) who also expressed doubts as to whether Coba wasso organized, based on our independent findings (Folan et al. 1983).In this paper, we have set out to demonstrate that Coba was not onlya city and urban center but was also organized in a general concentricpattern. Although we argued that this was the case previously, we cannow demonstrate this based on more sophisticated statistical analysesthan were available to us at that time. In addition, we can expand theanalysis to include for the first time, the architectural content of ZoneXIII mapped by Jacinto May Hau and Nicolas Caamal Canche in 1976.

COBA: THE CITY

Coba represents one of several major urban centers dating to theClassic Maya period. Archaeological investigations at this centerhave identified a complex socioeconomic and political integrationapparent in the heterogeneity of size, shape, and quality of architec-ture while also showing a clear demarcation between commoner andelite compounds. The metropolis of Coba included its 63 km2

central place in the northeastern area of the Peninsula of Yucatan,and there is evidence of occupation extending back to Preclassicperiod times (Con Uribe 2005). Along with Merida (Ich CaanZiho), Izamal (Itzam Na), and Uxmal, Coba represents one of thelargest cities on the northern peninsula and the rest of the Mayaarea. Its Ixmoja temple is the highest surviving structure in thenorthern lowlands. The size of Coba is matched by its large

population. Using a variety of methods, including those ofCasselberry (1974), Haviland (1968), Naroll (1962), and Puleston(1973), as well as studies in the modern village of Coba, controllingfor noncontemporaneous occupation, and applying variousreductions based on structure counts, we suggest that conservativefigures of between approximately 20,000 and 60,000 be considereda realistic range for the Coba population during the Late Classicperiod (a.d. 600850) (Folan 1975; Folan et al. 1983:191210).The areas of all zones (Figure 1) surveyed at Coba are noted(Folan et al. 1983:Fig. 1.3; Kintz and Fletcher 1983:Table 13.1).In addition, the population was estimated from calculating roofed-over space in the 13 survey zones containing more than 6,000 struc-tures (Kintz and Fletcher 1983:Table 13.2) with the exclusion ofplatforms with no visible superstructure (Kintz and Fletcher 1983:Table 13.3). The population was also calculated by counting thenumber of structures per household unit and total square metersof roofed over space in Zones I and V (Kintz and Fletcher 1983:Table 13.5). Finally, analysis of the number of structures per house-hold unit and total square meters of roofed over space, excludingany kitchens and storehouses was completed to calculate the totalpopulation living in the city (Kintz and Fletcher 1983:Table 13.6). In comparison with the population of 10 sites listedby Sharer (1994:Table 10.3), Coba would clearly rank with Tikalas a Maya mega-center based on population. Population size forCopan, western Honduras, including the rural zone, is quite low.The population estimate for Calakmul is 20,000 inhabitants basedon a 55% rate of the contemporary occupation of 6,250 structures(Fletcher and Gann 1994). These high population estimates

Figure 1. The sacbeob of Coba, Quintana Roo plotted in by George E. Stuart (in Folan 1975, Folan et al. 1983:Figures 1.2 and 1.3). Thesacbe pattern emanating from the central core area toward the outer limits of the urban area strongly suggests a concentric settlementpattern unlike the sacbe pattern at Tikal (Carr and Hazzard 1961). The sacbeob are identified by Arabic numbers and the zones surveyedby Roman numerals.

Folan et al.60

support and reflect the complexity of socioeconomic and politicalorganization at Coba.

Cobas Sacbe 1 extends 99 km out from the center of the city pro-viding a powerful reminder of its socioeconomic and political capa-bilities, thus confirming the impression that Coba was a significantsocial, economic, and political hub. Other nearby centers, such asIxil and Yaxuna, connected to Coba by sacbeob, operated as satel-lites, thus providing a vivid image of Cobas hegemonic prominence.The funnel-shaped sacbe pattern emanating from the center towardthe outer limits of the urban area strongly suggests a concentricpattern in contrast to Tikal. Coba is also tied to a series of mytholo-gical sacbeob extending to Valladolid (Zac Ii) and from there toChichen Itza, Merida (Ich Caan Ziho), Uxmal, and finally Mexico.These ancient roads convey and document the idea that all was

within the grasp of the rulers of this ancient city. FollowingTrombold (1991), the formal road systems collapsed both physicaland symbolic space. Although Coba is associated with a complexsystem of roads, it is less well known that some of the roads weremythological projections. They consisted of celestial skyways(cuxan sum), including, for example, one between Dzibilchaltunand Izamal that, in several cases, extended for great distances attimes representing blood-filled umbilical cords, thus suggesting san-guineal ties (Miller 1982). These differ from the underground road-ways connecting, for example, the ruins of Acanmul, Campeche, andUxmal, Yucatan (Bolles and Folan 2001).

The proliferation and variation among elite, middle class, andcommoner dwellings at Coba, the immense size of the settlement,the heavy labor investment in the construction of palaces,

Figure 2. Coba Group B, after Navarrete et al. (1979) based on Thompson et al. (1932).

Coba, Quintana Roo, Mexico 61

temples, ball courts, and the extensive road system reflect thecomplex nature of the social, economic, and political organizationat the center. Geographic information systems (GIS) offer a moreexact reflection of the spatial data in the archaeological ruinswhile also providing a more refined test of the presence of a con-centric pattern of high-status architecture at Coba, as well as a testof population and residential differentiation from core to periphery.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF COBA

The population of Coba was divided into different categories ofelite, middle, and commoner classes distributed in neighborhoods

and barrios active in various forms of specialization, similar to thesocial organization discussed by Landas (1941) concentric modelthat described sixteenth-century Maya towns as centered aroundtemples with priests, nobles with the wealthy residing nearby, andthe lower class members living on the periphery. In addition, ithas been hypothesized that pre-Hispanic Maya urban settlement pat-terns can represent a mosaic pattern of household clusters, represent-ing small, coordinated, neighborhood divisions located within andcrosscutting concentric zones (Arnold and Ford 1980; see Bullard1960; Fletcher et al. 2001; Puleston 1973). Evidence suggests thatCoba was organized into units occupied by extended familygroups resembling corporate, lineage households as in the case of

Figure 3. Localization of elite compounds at Cobas Zones I, XIII, and VI between Sacbes 3, 27, and 5.

Folan et al.62

Dzibilchaltun (Folan 1969, Kintz 1983b:Figure 12.1). Polygamyand status may help to explain the size and disposition of differenthouseholds (Kintz 1983b:Table 12.2).

To determine whether there existed a significant difference inhousehold status at Coba, we used the available data from ourarchaeological survey: the distance from the urban center or down-town area of the site; the size of the basal platform; the height of thebasal platform; the number and size of the superstructures as well asthe presence or absence of high-status vaulted superstructures. Inaddition, we also noted the presence or absence of house lotwalls, the size of the area, or solar, enclosed by these walls andthe number and size of the ancillary structures associated with themain platform (Fletcher 1983; Fletcher and Kintz 1983). These

were often enclosed within the house lot walls but built directlyon bedrock. When there were no existing house lot walls to denotea formal solar, we could determine associated structures by theirproximity to the principal basal platform. These were frequentlyfairly small and included round or apsidal structures, which wesuggested might have functioned as a kitchen, as well as additionalround, apsidal, and rectangular structures, whose possible functionshave been discussed in our original publication (Folan et al. 1983).

Our analysis showed that the largest and highest basal platformsand those with the most superstructures and the highest frequency ofvaulted buildings were closest to the urban center. The area encom-passed by the house lot walls was also significantly larger thanhousehold platform units in more distant areas. Thus, there was a

Figure 4. (a) Scatter plot and (b) quadratic curve fit of Cobas Zones I, VI, and XIII work T data.

Coba, Quintana Roo, Mexico 63

significant correlation between house lot size, basal platform,number, size, and type of superstructure location and solar size,allowing us to suggest the existence of a range of economic statusesbetween elite, middle range, and commoner status.

There also are patterns resembling a mosaic within the aforemen-tioned concentric pattern wherein large hypothesized residentialunits were also associated with hypothesized commoner dwellings.This would support the thesis suggested by McAnany (1995) that analpha household or residence of an elite household would includecommoners who had attached themselves to the elite family forobvious economic advantages.

In Coba, the extreme complexity of the architecture associatedwith the Coba Group B (Navarrete et al. 1979) (Figure 2) associatedwith Lakes Coba and Macanxoc (from whose waters a mythologicalmarket appears every New Years after dark [Folan et al. 1983])reflects the essence of a royal court of a high-ranking family.The Coba Group B, with the major presence of high-status, civic/ceremonial, and residential architecture such as a palace, includesexpansive plazas, large, elevated vaulted structures; multiple com-pounds including vaulted elite architecture as well as protected orconfined plazas; elaborate staircases, including a hieroglyphic stair-case; two formal ball courts with viewing stands; carved andperhaps uncarved stelae; and the termini of several internal, raisedsacbeob (roads), extending to the north and south; as well asnearby connections to roads extending east and west. These featuresare tightly integrated into a complex socioeconomic and politicalsector exhibiting the heterogeneity of the size, shape, and qualityof architecture associated with the noblest and wealthiest residentsas suggested by Diego de Landa (1941) for Maya settlements inthe sixteenth century. Likewise, settlement patterns associatedwith the more elaborate sacbe termini surrounding the coresuggest occupation by high-ranking bataboob (town governors)and their immediate family members.

High-ranked elite units were identified as the residential Zone Ito the north of Lake Coba mapped at different times by Fletcher,Kintz, May Hau, Caamal Canche, Florey Folan, and Folan (Folanet al. 1983). One high-ranking household unit included a large,raised platform with four vaulted buildings and cenote without anencircling albarrada (a low, dry, stone wall) (Fletcher 1983;Kintz 1983a:Figure 11:1). Another high-status elite household fea-tured three vaulted and four rectangular structures in addition to fourapsidal buildings, a small reservoir, and an extensive use of

albarradas. This compound was situated next to Sacbe 3 (Kintz1983a:Figure 11:2).

Among the middle class households, one featured three platformswith two vaulted structures and seven apsidal buildings plus anextensive albarrada system (Kintz 1983a:11.3). Albarradasdenoted territoriality as well as soil, water, and wind control. Othermiddle status households included albarradas and a singlemasonry, vaulted building (Fletcher 1983; Kintz 1983a:Figures11.3, 11.4, and 11.5), and other configurations. A smaller, commonerhousehold on a raised platform without an albarrada was further tothe north (Kintz 1983a:Figure 11.12). Single or double structurehouseholds without platforms or albarradas were also mapped.

The higher status households were usually closer to the urbancenter and, in some cases, adjacent to a sacbe. They, as well as reli-gious structures, were not usually delimited by albarradas. Kintz(1983b:Figure 12.1) presented a model showing the spatial relation-ship between households in the Northern Zone I of Coba, connect-ing all of those within 70 m of each other. She documented 35clusters including eight elite and 27 commoner compounds (Kintz1983b:Table 12.2). All eight elite compounds are situated southof the San Pedro complex at the northern terminus of Sacbe 3,some 3 km to the north of Coba Group B. On the other hand, allbut two of the 27 commoner compounds are situated to the northof this complex. Kintz also observed that elite compounds areeither isolated or associated with commoner household units.Partially isolated units including high-status, vaulted architectureprobably served intrabarrio religious or political activities (Folan1975). Kintz argued that those elite units associated with commonerdwellings were foci for the control of barrios (neighborhood wards).The commoner households in these units were related to elitefamilies by kinship links. Concurring with an argument put forthby McAnany (1995), it is, therefore, hypothesized that these neigh-borhood units represent extended family groups exercising political,social, and economic functions in Coba as corporate householdsrelated through kinship or affinity, a spatial reflection of Classicperiod Maya socioeconomic and political organization.

Another look at the Northern Zone I at Coba shows a pattern ofcontinuous neighborhoods or barrios with elite residential com-pounds as nodal points, all within the framework of a generally con-centric pattern while also defining neighborhood complexity withlarge and small barrios or wards (Kintz 1983b). The segregationor grouping of clusters of residential units frees space between

Figure 5. Interpolation results for workT values at Zones I, VI, and XIII of Coba.

Folan et al.64

those neighborhoods. Thus, the spatial configuration of neighbor-hoods may reflect a garden city with open areas that could beused for arboricultural and horticultural zones in the in betweenor chum uk luum zones described by Folan et al. (1983) andTourtellot (1993). Ancillary features associated with householdsinclude stone-enclosed, raised-bed garden plots and adjacentcharcos (small seasonal ponds), further documenting householdvariability and the complexity of Maya socioeconomic organization.

The cacao tree reported (Folan et al. 1983) is still visible in thekoopiox. The removal of detritus from the bottom and sides of thiskoop, ostensibly by the ejido that maintains it, has revealed structuralformations including what appears to be stairs associated with thelower part of this natural feature in addition to the remains of a low

platform at its upper edge. The subject tree identified by our twoCoba colleagues is shaded by ramon trees (Brosimum alicastrum).

In 1989, Sanders formulated four major organizational tenets of theLate Classic period Copan Dynasty (Fash et al. 2004). Combining hisclassification with our earlier investigations (Folan et al. 1983), we findthat the ruler and the royal house (Anaya Hernandez 1994; Gillespie2000) may have housed several thousand people as economic and pol-itical dependents, many of whom may have resided in and aroundGroup B (Figure 2) in Coba. These are followed by the heads ofmaximal houses that formed a noble class and provided leadership ina number of separate but closely integrated spheres of activities includ-ing economics, politics, religion, and the military. We argue that thepeople inhabiting the most complex residences in Coba; in places

Figure 6. First-order polynomial global trend surface of work T values.

Coba, Quintana Roo, Mexico 65

such as Cola de Venado and Utizil Mul to the north of Group B, as wellas those living in the most elaborate sacbe termini were those engagedin important economic and political activities. Other examples ofextended households include middle ranked but more modest housecompounds with vaulted architecture and extensive albarrada systems.

According to Fletcher (1983), archaeological, ethnohistoric, andethnographic data all support the importance of the multiple familyhousehold of various nuclear families united by kinship and affinitybut without a well-defined unilineal pattern. Once more, in accordancewith Levi-Strausss concept of house, we concur with BenavidesCastillos and Manzanillas (1985) observations at Coba, andMcAnanys (1993), Sanders (1989), and Websters (1989) obser-vations at Copan that not only were neighborhoods heterogeneous,but that the residential compounds also contained a mixture of

varying economic statuses. This is especially true of the large, Type4 compounds as defined at Copan such as the House of the Bacabsand several others in Calakmul and Coba as defined by us (Fletcheret al. 2001; Folan et al. 1983). This, however, does not preclude ageneral concentric settlement pattern as is evident in the followingdiscussion.

THE CONCENTRIC MODEL REVISITED

Arnold and Ford (1980) published a paper on the settlement pattern ofthe ruins of Tikal, Guatemala, using as their source the 9-km2 portionof the Tikal map contiguous to the core area. Based on their calcu-lations that included labor investments for the vaulted buildings ident-ified by them, Tikal did not possess a concentric settlement pattern as

Figure 7. Third-order polynomial global trend surface of work T values.

Folan et al.66

claimed for Coba but a scattering of high-status architecture through-out the 9 km2 central area of Tikal not including the core.

In this work, Arnold and Ford featured the differences betweentheir and our findings at Coba. In 1982, Folan et al. drafted a reply toArnold and Fords (1980) article that included some questions abouttheir database extracted from the University of Pennsylvanias Tikalmap. Ford and Arnold replied to that response in a second article(Ford and Arnold 1982) and retained their original conclusions.

Given the passage of time and recent availability of hitherto unpub-lished data on Zone XIII of Coba mapped by Jacinto May Hau andNicolas Caamal Canche in 1976 under Folans direction, we havebeen able to come up with a more detailed analysis of Cobas settle-ment pattern. Likewise, our analysis of the distribution of usefulfruit, fiber, bark, or resin trees registered in Coba in Zones I and IIIin 1976 by Jacinto May Hau and Nicolas Caamal Canche, who ident-ified and plotted the location of 3,579 useful trees based on their dis-tance from the site center (Folan 1977; Folan et al. 1979), lends strongsupport to our earlier concentric model. The distribution of the high-status trees reflects the distribution of elite and commoner householdsbased on the presence or absence of vaulted architecture from the corearea to the periphery of the site and within barrios or wards from core toperiphery. It is possible, but unlikely, that such a dramatic difference inthe distribution of balche and pom trees from the core to the site per-iphery would have occurred by chance (Folan et al. 1979).

DISCUSSION

Arnold and Fords (1980) analysis calls for more objectivemathematical-statistical manipulation of our data over subjective eye-balling in search of apparent patterns in spite of our considerablenumerical calculations some 30 years ago. In this context, wedecided to test our concentric model proposed for Coba in the lightof Arnold and Fords methodology complemented by the spatial,analytical capabilities of GIS. The earlier 1983 maps of CobasZones I and VI (Folan et al. 1983) and Jacinto May Hau and NicolasCaamal Canches 1976 field maps of Zone XIII were digitized into aGIS comprising 2,381 structures. They included platforms, vaulted,unvaulted rectangular, apsidal, and round structures. FollowingArnold and Fords (1980) parameters, the total labor investment(work T ) was calculated by Anaya for Zone I, VI, and XIII buildingswith distances obtained from Group B for Zones I, VI, and XIII.

The relationship between labor invested and distance was testedusing Kendalls tau-B1 and, like Arnold and Fords findings, a lowcorrelation coefficient of tau-B was obtained, thus indicating thatthere does not exist a positive correlation between labor invest-ment/status and distance from the defined midpoint of Coba; there-fore, on this basis, the concentric model should be rejected.

However, our GIS map, wherein the elite compounds had beenhighlighted (Figure 3), suggested otherwise, and further statisticaltesting was deemed necessary. Accordingly, we produced a scatterplot of vaulted buildings (whose presence is to be expected in anyelite compound), against distance, along with a quadratic curve fitmodel (Figure 4). The plots revealed that although there is nodirect linear relationship between labor investment and distance,the former peaked toward the center, descended toward the

middle and peaked again toward the outliers, thus revealing a dis-tinctive pattern not as dispersed or haphazard as Arnold and Fordconcluded for Tikal. The statistical analysis has profound impli-cations for the assessment of a model of the socioeconomic and pol-itical organization of this Maya center and others. The zoningreflects socioeconomic and political parameters with elite controlclearly functioning at the core of the city and, in addition, elite pre-sence strategically placed at its periphery. This may represent a per-turbation of the concentric ring model but more profoundly, andprecisely, begins to construct the hegemony of elite householdsand control within the site.

To further explore this pattern, the work T values for each struc-ture were plotted as point features within the GIS and used as Zvalues to interpolate them as a continuous surface. An inverse dis-tance weighted approach was applied for the interpolation process.2

The results of this interpolation are shown in Figure 5. Here, itbecomes immediately apparent that the higher work T values arecloser to the central civic/ceremonial precincts, hence confirmingthat elite compounds tend to occur closer to the core than the periphery.The spikes observed further to the north some 3 to 4 km from thecenter are still within the range of a concentric model. Nevertheless,we felt that they had to be accounted for.

To this end, a global trend analysis was performed on the work Tdata. Global trend analysis is an analytical technique used to filterobserved spatial data into regional (global) and residual or localcomponents (the outliers). The coefficients of a best-fit polynomialsurface are calculated to fit a set of data points spatially referenced,in this case to labor investment, to develop a generalized under-standing of the spatial distribution of this phenomenon.3

In this study, the main objective is to highlight the overall distri-bution of the elite compounds by smoothing over some of the localirregularities such as the presence of those on the periphery directlyconnected and more related to the core area by sacbeob, thus iden-tifying the overall trend on the settlement pattern by detecting andisolating background noise, while identifying the factors thathave produced this specific pattern.

Initially, a first-order polynomial equation was selected to obtainthe trend surface of our data. The results are shown in Figure 6. Itbecame immediately apparent that at this first level a trend toward a

1 The Kendall tau rank correlation coefficient is a nonparametric statisticused to measure the degree of correspondence between two rankings andassessing the significance of this correspondence. (Nonparametric statisticsare used when the populations that are studied take on a ranked order butnot a clear numerical interpretation.)

2 This method uses an approach similar to nearest neighbor analysis, and itsbasic premise is the assumption that things that are close to one another are morealike than those that are farther apart. To estimate the value for any unmeasuredlocation, the inverse distance weighted approach will use the measured valuessurrounding the prediction location. Those measured values closest to the pre-diction location will have more influence on the predicted value than thosefarther away. In other words, the values are weighted with the assumptionthat each measured point has a local influence that diminishes with distance.Thus in this instance the locations with higher work T values correspond tothe areas where there is a clustering of elite compounds.

3 This is achieved by running a trend surface interpolation that producesa smooth approximation of a three-dimensional surface; by applying a math-ematical function (a polynomial equation) to the sample points, a trendsurface that represents a graphical representation of the mathematicalequation is obtained. The trend surface changes gradually as the polynomialfunction becomes more complex (first-, second-, third-order, and so on),capturing coarse-scale patterns in the data. For example, a first-order poly-nomial yields a flat surface sloping toward the high values; a second-orderpolynomial will bend the flat surface to get a better fit; and as terms areadded to the formula, similar results are obtained. Trend interpolationcreates a slowly varying surface using low-order polynomials that maydescribe some physical process that has given its shape to the resultingsurface. However, as a precautionary note, it should be emphasized that asthe polynomial becomes more complex, it becomes more difficult toascribe physical meaning to it.

Coba, Quintana Roo, Mexico 67

concentric arrangement of high work T values is present at Coba.Nevertheless, the presence of elite compounds on the periphery hadto be explained, thus second- and third-order polynomial equationswere performed. At the end, the third-order polynomial surface wasselected because it provided the best representation of the globaltrend of the data (Figure 7). Note how some of the high valuescurve around the sacbeob and their termini showing how theseaccount for the occurrence of the high work T values on the periphery,and in this way, substantiating the hypothesis of a concentric settle-ment pattern for Coba but also revealing significant elite controlalong the famous sacbe system leading to and from elite householdcompounds at remote termini. This new and refined understandingof the socioeconomic and political organization of the Maya centerdocuments the power of the elite to place their households in strategicpositions in relationship to the middle class and commoner householdcompounds.

CONCLUSIONS

Coba represents a major urban center of the Classic Maya period.Through archaeological investigations carried out since the early1970s, 6,595 structures have been identified and mapped, revealingthe complex socioeconomic and political integration apparent inthe heterogeneity of the size, shape, and quality of architectureobserved across the city (Kintz and Fletcher 1983:Table 13.4).Albeit this complexity in Coba, there is now a clear statisticallydemonstratable demarcation between commoner and elite com-pounds. Elite compounds are either isolated or associated with com-moner household units. In the second case, the elite units associatedwith commoner dwellings probably served as foci for the controlof barrios and partially isolated units with high-status, vaulted archi-tecture that probably served interbarrio religious or politicalactivities. In those cases where we find commoner householdsspatially associated with elite compounds, we hypothesize that

these units were linked to elite families by kinship or affinityforming corporate social units similar to Levi-Strausss conceptof house (Anaya Hernandez 1994; Gillespie 2000; Levi-Strauss1981).

The results of our mapping efforts at Coba, directed by Folan andStuart (1983), revealed what was assumed to be clear-cut concentricpatterns as the norm in well-defined Classic period Maya urbancenters, following Landa (1941). Elite compounds were concen-trated at the core of the urban center and, in the case of Coba, com-bined with those located in the vicinity of sacbe and sacbe termini.

Despite Arnold and Fords conclusions, our own explorativestatistical tests run on the same labor investment parameters estab-lished by the former demonstrated a nonscattered pattern of elitecompounds at Coba, which suggests that due to the spatial natureof the data, Kendalls tau-B test may not be the most adequate stat-istical approach. In this context, taking advantage of the spatialanalytical capabilities that a GIS model can provide, first aninverse distance weighted interpolation method and later a globaltrend analysis were run on the work T values of Zones I, VI, andXIII. The results thus obtained confirmed the presence of ageneral concentric pattern of high-status architecture in Coba,and the strategic peripheral location of this type of architectureexplained by the attraction force exercised by the sacbeob andtheir termini. The distribution of elite architecture at Cobareveals a complex socioeconomic, political, and religious ideologyreflected in the settlement patterns. New statistical analysis on thespatial distribution of elite households at Coba documentsthe control elites wielded at the site. Lastly, analysis of themiddle and lower class households may clarify their response toelite social, economic, and political control. Further analysis ofnonelite spatial distribution and the social, economic, and politicalstatus of these members of the society will be a major contributionto advance our understanding of the social, economic, and politicalorganization of major Maya urban centers.

RESUMEN

Coba constituyo uno de los mayores centros urbanos del perodo clasicomaya. Las investigaciones arqueologicas que se han realizado en Coba hanevidenciado la presencia de una compleja integracion socioeconomica quese manifiesta en la heterogeneidad del tamano, forma y elaboracion arquitec-tonica de este centro, donde, al mismo tiempo, existe una clara delimitacionentre los conjuntos habitacionales de la elite y de la poblacion en general y unsistema complejo de caminos elevados (sacbeob) (Figure 1).

Entre 1974 a 1976, Folan, Kintz y Fletcher (1983) dirigidos por Folan yStuart (1983), se dieron a la tarea de llevar a cabo el mapeo de gran parte deCoba. Los resultados de este proyecto revelaron que aparentemente exista unpatron de asentamiento donde los conjuntos habitacionales de la elite se con-centraban hacia su nucleo. Conclumos que Coba presentaba un patron deasentamiento concentrico; sin embargo, en un trabajo publicado en 1980,Arnold y Ford (1980) cuestionaron la validez de este patron. Ellas argumen-taron, con base en sus propios analisis, de que la inversion de mano deobra necesaria para la construccion de complejos habitacionales de la

elite en un area de 9 km2 alrededor del nucleo de Tikal, era mas biendisperso y no concentrico como Coba sugiriendonos que todos los centrosurbanos en el area maya no tienen que tener el mismo tipo de patron deasentamiento.

En este trabajo ponemos a prueba la hipotesis del patron concentrico, estavez siguiendo los mismos parametros de inversion de mano de obra utiliza-dos por Arnold y Ford (1980). Tambien aprovechamos de las capacidadesanalticas que los Sistemas de Informacion Geografica (SIG) nos proporcio-nan para el analisis espacial de la distribucion de los datos arqueologicos.Los resultados de este analisis corroboran la presencia de un patron de asen-tamiento concentrico en Coba como en el caso de Calakmul, Campeche(Fletcher et al. 2001). A la vez, hemos hecho un analisis de la demografade Coba y Calakmul para el perodo clasico tardo (Fletcher y Gann 2001;Kintz y Fletcher 1983). Esta publicacion representa una analisis reciente einterpretacion de la organizacion socioeconomica y poltica de un centrourbano mayor de los mayas.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A preliminary and much shorter version of this paper was presented in2006 at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Society for AmericanArchaeology, San Juan, Puerto Rico. We wish to thank Arqlga.Maria Jose Con Uribe for her interest in our project as well as thatof the National Geographic Society and Instituto Nacional de

Antropologa e Historia in the Coba Archaeological Mapping Project:19721974. We also wish to acknowledge helpful suggestions fromRafael Cobos, Payson Sheets, and an anonymous reviewer thatspurred us toward a better understanding of urbanism in, and around,Coba, Quintana Roo.

Folan et al.68

REFERENCES

Anaya Hernandez, Armando1994 El sistema de parentesco durante el clasico maya. Tesis de

Licenciatura en Arqueologa. Escuela Nacional de Antropologa yHistoria, Instituto Nacional de Antropologa e Historia, Secretaria deEducacion Publica, Mexico.

Andrews, E. Wyllys IV, and E. Wyllys Andrews V1980 Excavations at Dzibilchaltun, Yucatan, Mexico. Middle American

Research Institute, Publication 48. Tulane University, New Orleans.Arnold, Jean E., and Anabel Ford

1980 A Statistical Examination of Settlement Patterns at Tikal,Guatemala. American Antiquity 45:713726.

Benavides Castillo, Antonio, and Linda Manzanilla1985 Unidades habitacionales excavadas en Coba, Q. R. In Arquitectura y

arqueologa: metodologa en la cronologa de yucatan, edited by GeorgeF. Andrews and Paul Gendrop, pp. 6976. Collection EtudesMesoamericans Serie II-8. Mexico CEMCA, Centre d EtudesMexicaines et Centroamericaines, Mexico City.

Bolles, David, and William J. Folan2001 Analysis of Roads Listed in Colonial Dictionaries and Their

Relevance to Prehispanic Linear Features in the Yucatan Peninsula.Ancient Mesoamerica 12:299314.

Bullard, William R. Jr.1960 Maya Settlement Pattern in Northeastern Peten, Guatemala.

American Antiquity 25:355372.Carr, Robert E., and James E. Hazzard

1961 Map of the Ruins of Tikal, El Peten, Guatemala. Tikal Report II,University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Con Uribe, Mara Jose2005 The East Coast of Quintana Roo. A Brief Account of

Archaeological Work. In Quintana Roo Archaeology, edited byJustine M. Shaw and Jennifer P. Mathews, pp. 1529. University ofArizona Press, Tucson.

Casselberry, Samuel. E.1974 Further Refinement of Formulae for Determining Population from

Floor Area. World Archaeology 6:117122.Fash, William L., E. Wyllys Andrews V, and Thomas K. Manahan

2004 Political Decentralization, Dynastic Collapse, and the EarlyPostclassic in the Urban Center of Copan, Honduras. In TerminalClassic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition andTransformation, edited by Arthur A. Demarest, Prudence M. Rice,and Don S. Rice, pp. 260287. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.

Fletcher, Laraine A.1983 Linear Features in Zone I: Description and Classification. In Coba

A Classic Maya Metropolis, William J. Folan, Ellen R. Kintz, andLaraine A. Fletcher, pp. 89102. Studies in Archaeology. AcademicPress, New York.

Fletcher, Laraine A., and James Gann1994 Analisis Grafico de Patrones de Asentamiento, el Caso Calakmul.

In Campeche Maya Colonial, coordinated by William J. Folan,pp. 84121. Coleccion Arqueologa 3. Centro de InvestigacionesHistoricas y Sociales, Universidad Autonoma de Campeche,Campeche.

Fletcher, Laraine E. and James Gann2001 Demografa urbana. In Las ruinas de Calakmul, Campeche,

Mexico: Un lugar central y su paisaje cultural, edited by William J.Folan, Laraine A. Fletcher, Jacinto May Hau and Lynda FloreyFolan, pp. 8182. Universidad Autonoma de Campeche, Mexico.

Fletcher, Laraine A., and Ellen R. Kintz1983 Solares, Kitchen Gardens and Social Status at Coba. In Coba: A

Classic Maya Metropolis, William J. Folan, Ellen R. Kintz, andLaraine Fletcher, pp. 103119. Academic Press, New York.

Fletcher, Laraine A., William J. Folan, Jacinto May Hau, and Lynda FloreyFolan

2001 Patron de asentamiento. In Las ruinas de Calakmul, Campeche,Mexico: Un lugar central y su paisaje cultural, edited by William J.Folan, Laraine A. Fletcher, Jacinto May Hau, and Lynda FloreyFolan, pp. 4366. Universidad Autonoma de Campeche, Campeche.

Folan, William J.1969 Dzibilchaltun, Yucatan, Mexico, Structures 384, 385, and 386: A

Preliminary Interpretation. American Antiquity 34:434461.1975 Coba Archaeological Mapping Project, Interim Report

No. 3. Coba, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Boletn de Ciencias

Antropologicas de la Universidad de Yucatan, EneroAbril 1977,Nos. 22, 23:2951. Merida.

1977 Informe Interino No. 3. Coba: Proyecto cartografico arqueologico,Coba, Quintana Roo, 14 de Febrero, 1976. Boletn de la Escuela deCiencias Antropologicas de la Universidad de Yucatan (4) 2223.Merida.

Folan, William J., Laraine A. Fletcher, and Ellen R. Kintz1979 Fruit, Fiber, Bark and Resin: Social Organization of a Maya Urban

Center. Science 204:697701.Folan, William J., Ellen R. Kintz, and Laraine A. Fletcher

1983 Coba: A Classic Maya Metropolis. Academic Press, New York.Folan, William J., and George E. Stuart

1983 Foreword. In Coba: A Classic Maya Metropolis, William J. Folan,Laraine A. Fletcher, and Ellen R. Kintz, pp. xixxx. Academic Press,New York.

Folan, William J., Abel Morales Lopez, Raymundo Gonzalez Heredia,Lynda Florey Folan, and Mara del Rosario Domnguez Carrasco

2001 Reconocimiento de los Sitios Arqueologicos de Oxpemul,El Laberinto, Pared de los Reyes, San Felipe, Flor de Cacao y Uxul enel Peten Campeche. En Los Investigadores de la Cultura Maya 9,Tomo II, pp. 239254, Universidad Autonoma de Campeche,Campeche.

Ford, Anabel, and Jean E. Arnold1982 A Reexamination of Labor Investment at Tikal: Reply to Haviland,

and Folan, Kintz, Fletcher and Hyde. American Antiquity 47:436440.Gillespie, Susan D.

2000 Rethinking Ancient Maya Social Organization: ReplacingLineage with House. American Anthropologist 102:467484.

Gunn, Joel D., and William J. Folan1996 Tres Ros: Una Superficie de Impacto Climatico Global

Interregional para las Tierras Bajas de los Mayas del Suroeste. En LosInvestigadores de la Cultura Maya, No. 4, pp. 57105. UniversidadAutonoma de Campeche, Campeche.

Hansen, Richard D.1991 The Maya Rediscovered: The Road to Nakbe. Natural History 91:

814.Haviland, William

1968 Ancient Lowland Maya Social Organization. In ArchaeologicalStudies in Middle America, pp. 95117. Middle American ResearchInstitute, Publication 26. Tulane University, New Orleans.

Kintz, Ellen R.1983a Class Structure in a Classic Maya City. In Coba a Classic Maya

Metropolis, William J. Folan, Ellen R. Kintz, and Laraine A. Fletcher,pp. 161177. Academic Press, New York.

1983b Neighborhoods and Wards in a Classic Maya Metropolis.In Coba: A Classic Maya Metropolis, William J. Folan, Ellen R.Kintz, and Laraine A. Fletcher, pp. 179190. Academic Press,New York.

Kintz, Ellen R., and Laraine A. Fletcher1983 A Reconstruction of the Prehistoric Population at Coba. In Coba:

A Classic Maya Metropolis, William J. Folan, Ellen R. Kintz, andLaraine A. Fletcher, pp. 191210. Academic Press, New York.

Kurjack, Edward B.1974 Prehistoric Lowland Maya Community and Social Organization:

A Case Study at Dzibilchaltun, Yucatan, Mexico. Middle AmericanResearch Institute, Publication 38, Tulane University, New Orleans.

Landa, Diego de1941 Relaciones de las cosas de Yucatan. Translated by Alfred M.

Tozzer. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeologyand Ethnology Vol. 18, Harvard University, Cambridge.

Levi-Strauss, Claude1981 La Va de las Mascaras. Siglo XXI Editores, Ciudad de Mexico.

Leyden, Barbara W., Mark Brenner, and Bruce Dahlin1998 Cultural and Climate History of Coba, A Lowland Maya City in

Quintana Roo, Mexico. Quaternary Research 49:113122.Manzanilla, Linda (editor)

1987 Coba, Quintana Roo: Analisis de dos Unidades HabitacionalesMayas. Serie Antropologica 82. Universidad Nacional Autonoma deMexico-Instituto de Investigaciones Antropologicas, Mexico.

McAnany, Patricia A.1993 The Economics of Social Power and Wealth Among Eighth

Century Maya Households. In Lowland Maya Civilization in the

Coba, Quintana Roo, Mexico 69

Eighth Century A.D.: A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, edited byJeremy A. Sabloff and John S. Henderson, pp. 6589. DumbartonOaks, Washington, DC.

1995 Living with the Ancestors: Kinship and Kingship in Ancient MayaSociety. University of Texas Press, Austin.

Miller, Arthur G.1982 On the Edge of the Sea: Mural Painting at Tancah-Tulum,

Quintana Roo. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Navarrete, Carlos, Maria J. Con Uribe, and Alejandro Martnez Muriel

1979 Observaciones Arqueologicas en Coba, Quintana Roo.Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico.

Naroll, Raoul1962 Floor Area and Settlement Pattern. American Antiquity 27:

587589.Puleston, Denis

1973 Ancient Maya Settlement Patterns and Environment atTikal, Guatemala: Implications for Subsistence. Unpublished Ph.D.dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania.

1983 Tikal Report No. 13. The Settlement Survey of Tikal. MonographNo. 48. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Sanders, William T.1989 Household, Lineage, and State at Eight-Century Copan, Honduras.

In The House of the Bacabs, Copan Honduras, edited by DavidWebster, pp. 88116. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art andArchaeology Vol. 29. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.

Sanders, William T., and Barbara J. Price1968 Mesoamerica: The Evolution of a Civilization. Random House,

New York.Sharer, Robert J.

1994 The Ancient Maya. 5th ed. Stanford University Press, Stanford.Stuart, George E., John C. Scheffler, Edward B. Kurjack, and John W.Cottier

1979 Map of the Ruins of Dzibilchaltun, Yucatan, Mexico. PublicationNo. 47. Middle American Research Institute, New Orleans.

Thompson, J. Eric Sydney, Harry E. D. Pollock, and Jean Charlot1932 A Preliminary Study of the Ruins of Coba, Quintana Roo,

Publication 424. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Tourtellot, Gair

1993 A View of Ancient Maya Settlements in the Eighth Century. InLowland Maya Civilization in the Eighth Century A.D.: A Symposiumat Dumbarton Oaks, edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff and John S.Henderson, pp. 219224. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.

Trombold, Charles D.1991 An Introduction to the Study of Ancient Roads. In Ancient Road

Networks and Settlement Hierarchies in the New World, edited byCharles D. Trombold, pp. 19. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Webster, David (editor)1989 The House of the Bacabs, Copan, Honduras. Studies in

Precolumbian Art and Archaeology 29. Dumbarton Oaks,Washington, DC.

Folan et al.70