Changing Conceptions of Lowland Maya Culture History

The culture historical framework for Lowland Maya culture history has undergone constant change since the inception of systematic research one hundred years ago. While some changes have been accretive and modifying, others have been more radical, especially within the last thirty years. These include new understandings of Maya Highland-Lowland interactions, Maya linkages to other parts of Mesoamerica, Maya-Olmec relationships, Preclassic-to-Classic configurations of development, and the long-time problem of southern Lowland-northern Lowland relationships. Above all, the reemergence of problems whose solutions had been taken for granted suggests the need for caution as the Lowland Maya space-time cultural-relationship structure is used as the basis for processual inquiry.