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

location immediately outside the plaza. Again, these activities appear to have occurred
continually in the same places and over extended periods of time.
From the Late Formative to the Postclassic period (c. 400 BC-AD 1500), across
the Maya territory, a system of inheritance emphasized genealogical linkages based on
shared origins or a common belief system (Barlett and McAnany 2000; McAnany
1995:99; Yaeger 2000). At El Marquesillo, the evidence presented above implies a series
of highly developed, long-held social patterns that are indicative of regulated site-wide
practices. These enduring habitual practices are suggestive of markers of social memory
and are relevant for the formation of settled societies (Hodder and Cessford 2004). Social
practice has both a spatial and temporal dimension. Sedentism, demographic
centralization, and domestication, along with treatment of the dead and the veneration of
ancestors, all involve changes in temporality, memory, and relationships with the past
(Hodder and Cessford 2004). An important element of social practice is its connection to
the past and links to ancestors. It is the extent to which continuing practices repeat earlier
ones that form and reinforce social memory and in this way are designed to facilitate the
construction and perpetuation of lineages (Kuijt and Goring-Morris 2002; Shanks and
Tilley 1988; Whittle 1996).
The Spatial Organization of El Marquesillo
Another issue addressed in this investigation also focused on the analysis of the
spatial organization at El Marquesillo. In the previous section, proposals concerning the
establishment and development of El Marquesillo as a Formative period occupation
center were discussed. Questions remain, however, regarding the form of the site’s
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