The Aguateca Archaeological Project conducted extensive excavations of elite residences at the Maya center of Aguateca, which was attacked by enemies and abandoned rapidly at the end of the Classic period. Burned buildings contained rich floor asemblages, providing extraordinary information on the domestic and political lives of Classic Maya elites. Each elite residence served for a wide range of domestic work, including the storage, preparation, and consumption of food, with a relatively clear division of male and female spaces. These patterns suggest that each of the excavated elite residences was occupied by a relatively small group, which constituted an important economic and social unit. In addition, elite residences were arenas where crucial processes of the operation of the polity and court unfolded through political gatherings, artistic production, and displays of power.

El Proyecto Arqueologico Aguateca llevo a cabo excawwiones extensivas en residencias elitistas en el centro maya de Aguateca, el cual fue atacado por enemigos y abandonado rapidamente a fines del periodo Clasico, Edificios quemados contenian ricos conjuntos de artefactos completos y reconstruibles, los cuales proveen informacion extraordinaria sobre la vida domestica y politica de la elite maya clasica. Cada residencia elitista fue un lugar para varias actividades domesticas, incluyendo el almacenaje, la preparacion, y el consumo de comida, teniendo una division relativamente clara de espacios para hombres y mujeres. Las funciones de los cuartos de cada estructura elitista fueron complementarias. Estos patrones sugieren que cada una de las residencias elitistas excavadas fue ocupada por un grupo relativamente pequeno, el cual constituyo una importante unidad econimica y social. A la vez, estos edificios fueron lugares para actividades politicas, incluyendo reuniones de cortesanos, produccion artistica, trabajo de escribanos, y la presentacion de poder. Residencias de elites fueron escenarios donde se desarrollaron procesos criticos de la operacion de la unidad politica y de la corte.

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Around 800 A.D. the fortified center of Aguateca appears to have been attacked by enemies. The elite residential area near the royal palace was burned, and its residents fled or were taken away, leaving most of their belongings behind. The triumphant enemies did not stay long in the center, and the entire center was soon deserted. The drastic fall of Aguateca represents the closest parallel we have in the Maya lowlands to the situation at Pompeii. Moments of Classic Maya lives were frozen in the rich assemblages of objects left in burned structures, providing an ideal opportunity for archaeologists to study domestic activities, household organization, and political interactions of the Classic Maya. Taking advantage of this unique situation, the Aguateca Archaeological Project conducted extensive excavations of burned structures from 1996 to 1999 with the objective of examining the domestic and political lives of Classic Maya elites. In this article, we report the results of the four field seasons and discuss their implications.

Archaeological Study of Domestic Groups

The archaeological study of domestic groups has undergone significant developments. The first wave of development took place in the 1950s and 1960s, when settlement-pattern studies expanded the scope of archaeological...