Ulua marble vases abroad: Contextualizing social networks between the Maya world and lower central America

Abstract

Long referred to as the Mesoamerican Frontier, the Ulua Valley of northwestern Honduras bridges the Maya Lowlands and Lower Central America. This study explores presenting the Ulua region in these foreign lands through the transfer of a luxury good: Late Classic marble vases. Rare in antiquity, these vases were produced in the heart of the Ulua Valley. Yet their importance as ambassadors of Uluan life in two very different spheres - central Maya and Nicoya-Guanacaste - suggests very diverse perceptions of what it meant to participate in a social network with the Ulua Valley. The multidimensionality of transferring a luxury good set within the context of a place and its people allows for a more nuanced understanding of the exotic. © 2010 Springer-Verlag New York.