Having grown up in Guatemala, my interest in Maya archaeology began at a very young age. Following highschool, I enrolled in the archaeology program at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala and completed the Licenciatura degree in Archaeology in 2005. Upon enrollment, I immediately began field training as a volunteer with the Middle Motagua Archaeological Program, and participated in research at several sites in the department of Zacapa between 1998 and 2002. My work consisted of reconnaissance, mapping, excavating, and material analysis. As part of the degree requirements, I also had the opportunity to work for a short season at the site of Ucanal in southeastern Peten.
While still in school, I participated in two separate colonial archaeology projects in Antigua Guatemala. The first consisted of salvage excavations, and the second was ceramic analysis of colonial wares. In 2000 I began work with the Piedras Negras Project, directed at the time by Stephen Houston and Héctor Escobedo. Between 2000 and 2002 we worked on revising the ceramic chronology and typology of the site. This also resulted in the production of my Licenciatura Thesis, which focused on Early Classic ceramics.
The El Perú-Waka' Archaeological Project began in 2003. I participated in the field seasons of '03 and '04 during which I excavated Structure M12-35, also known as the 'Royal Couple Building' because of the paired stelae that flank the building to its north and south. The stelae are depictions of ruler K'inich Bahlam and his wife Lady K'ab'el, and were dedicated in the late 7th century CE. In '06 and '08, I participated in short seasons at La Corona, also known as Site Q.
In the Fall of 2005 I was admitted to the Master's program in the Latin American Studies department at the University of Texas at Austin. My major was Pre-Columbian Art History mostly focused on Maya epigraphy and iconography, and I minored in Colonial History. My MA thesis was on the Early Classic mural paintings in tombs at Rio Azul, Guatemala.
Presently, I am enrolled in the PhD program for Anthropology at Washington University in Saint Louis, under the mentorship and guidance of David Freidel. I continue to have a strong interest in modeling production and distribution systems of a key artifact, ceramics, within the rather enigmatic economic configuration of Maya kingdoms. I am intrigued by relationships among polities, the influences they had on each other, as well as in the common daily life and activities of these societies, and how these features are evidenced and interpreted through material culture. My participation on the La Corona Regional Archaeological Project (La Corona is also known as Site Q), in addition to previous field seasons at El Perú, has strengthened my interest in the Laguna del Tigre region and the sites therein. Primarily, I am intrigued by the relationship among cities and their socio-political interaction with polities outside the regional enclave, using material culture as principal data set.
mary jane acuña
PhD Program in Anthropology
Washington University in Saint Louis, MO
North staircase of Str. M12-35 at El Perú-Waka'
Northwest corner of staricase on Str. M12-35 at El Perú-Waka'
Juan Carlos Pérez, Griselda Pérez and Mary Jane Acuña
The Laguna del Tigre region is relatively unknown archaeologically, with the exception of research at and around El Perú-Waka’ and La Corona. There are abundant sites that remain to be explored to further understand the varioius network relationships between sites in pre-Columbian times. I am very interested in the early development of sites in the eastern region of the Park, in what is known as the Biological Corridor, particularly in relation to the environment and landscape. The region benefits from abundant water sources in the form of rivers, swamps and marshes, and sibales, making it a very attractive zone for settlement. It is known from other sites (e.g. Mirador, Rio Azul) that early communities chose such locations, and so one of my major research interests is to explore the Preclassic settlement in the region of the Biological Corridor. Geographically, the area is in proximity to the Mirador "Basin," which we know had some of the earliest settlements in the Southern Maya Lowlands with a complex socio-political organization. I am interested in finding out what was going on in the Corridor region during that time. What type of settlements were there? What levels of complexity did they have? What kind of relationship did they have with the large sites in the "basin," or elsewhere?
