Decentralizing the Economies of the Maya West

Reconstructions of Pre-Columbian Maya economies are frequently based on a centralized model of exchange, in which dynastic capitals acted as centers of production, and import-export hubs, while royal courts provided some form of management over long-distance trade networks. However, recent research in the Usumacinta River Valley of the western Maya Lowlands, suggests that it was often hinterland elites who maintained those long-distance networks. These elites functioned as critical allies, and must have provided goods and services, to the royal courts of regional powers. But hinterland sites were centers of production in their own right, with exchange networks that did not always intersect with those of the dynastic center. Hinterland elites pursued their own ambitions and sought local economic benefits that could diverge from the best interests of the courts. In this chapter, we present the results of research in the hinterlands of Yaxchilán and Piedras Negras, and consider these data in light of a decentered model of Classic Maya economies.