Research

My research explores rural Maya commoners’ daily lives, trade, and mobility, emphasizing the perspective of communities of practice and crafting. While much of Mayan archaeology focuses on urban ceremonial centers and the elite ruling classes, my work focuses on the rural settlements surrounding these hubs. This approach challenges conventional models and interprets exchange and crafting from a bottom-up perspective, focusing on the agency of commoners over the economy, crafting, production, and movement, offering a more nuanced understanding of social dynamics.

Utilizing multiple lines of evidence framework, my previous research integrates archaeometry, household archaeology, photogrammetry, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) least-cost path analysis to illuminate the circulation of people and goods within and among non-elite Maya settlements during the Classic Period, including the study of daily life, crafting, and technology. A key component of my regional study involved developing a geographic model to analyze the movement of people and goods across the Maya Lowlands of Southeastern Mexico. This included a spatial analysis of settlement distribution and communication routes, particularly focusing on the terrestrial pathways known as “white roads” (Zac Beobs, Sac Bih, Sac Beobs), which were constructed or modified from the geological fractures of the Sierra Madre by the Classic Maya. These roads typically connected settlements spaced an average of 4–6 kilometers apart (Silva 2023).

My research encompasses a comprehensive survey of these roads and rivers, examining their relationship to settlement distribution and the broader landscape (Silva de la Mora 2008, 2011, 2023). This involved extensive field surveys and GIS analysis to understand how the Maya engaged with and transformed their environment—through road construction, geological modification, and settlement placement—to facilitate movement and social interactions between rural and urban areas. In addition, I conducted a least-cost path analysis to correlate field data with regional settlement patterns, assessing average distances between households, ports, ceremonial centers, and the borders of political entities. I employed energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) to source obsidian samples—the most extensive dataset from the region—establishing provenance and reconstructing exchange and movement routes of this volcanic material from quarry to workshop to households (Silva de la Mora 2018a, b). By integrating these findings with the least-cost path analysis of communication routes, I illustrated how obsidian, a vital commodity, was utilized across various social strata during the Classic Period. Excavations at a household and lithic workshop at Chinikihá further contextualized these regional insights within the dynamics of social learning and communities of practice (Silva de la Mora 2017).

My current research has expanded to investigate lithic materials from various regions within and outside the Maya area, with a focus on understanding how crafting practices evolve within different communities of practice. This expansion is significant as it seeks to clarify what we truly mean when we refer to an object as “Maya,” such as a biface or a point. To this end, I have begun working with legacy collections and previously excavated materials housed in universities and museums. Since archaeology is finite and excavation is destructive, we must continue working with previously excavated or problematic collections. My research aims to employ innovative, noninvasive methods to record and analyze these materials, fostering a renewed engagement with archaeological artifacts—essentially conducting an “archaeology of archaeology.” Additionally, I strive to provide alternative interpretations by examining archaeological materials from diverse population strata, mainly focusing on non-governing members of Maya society.
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