An Unexplored Realm in the Heartland of the Southern Gulf ... - Famsi

Analysis of these three components suggests that when they are present
collectively they provide a foundation from which hereditary inequality can emerge
through the accumulation of wealth or stature (Drennan 1987; Feinman 1995). This
argument does not suggest that fusion of these components will lead to ranked society,
but simply that it becomes possible not predestined. What does appear to be a consistent
result of these integrated factors, however, is some form of land tenure.
Lineages have been intimately linked to intensified methods of subsistence,
control and propriety rights to land and resources (Johnson and Earle 2000:184; Sahlins
1961:330). Among the ancient Maya, the original rights or claims to land and resources
were created through what McAnany (1995:96-99) terms “the principle of first
occupancy.” This tenet holds that the initial occupier or cultivator of the land became its
possessor and their rights could be passed on. “The practice of inheritance emphasizes
genealogy, since demonstrating established linkages to ancestors is the means by which
resource rights are inherited” (McAnany 1995:99).
Archaeological Expressions at El Marquesillo
The question now becomes, how can this theoretical process be tested
archaeologically? McAnany (1995:113) offers that “one can postulate that the emergence
of lineages with proprietary resource rights (which is archaeologically invisible) may be
diagnosed by references to corollary changes in archaeologically visible domains such as
land use, architecture, and burial practices.” At El Marquesillo, no burials have been
encountered, but inference of land use and analysis of architecture and associated features
provide support for the proposed hypothesis concerning the initial and extended
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