Une frontière en mouvement : espace public, espace privé dans les cités mayas (Basses Terres centrales et méridionales)

Abstract

This article discusses the internal organization of Classic Maya monumental centers through an innovative approach. It aims at distinguishing pattern of spatial interaction characterized by the contact of two categories of spaces, the ones public and the others private, a more efficient opposition than the old politico-religious/residential dichotomy. This change of paradigm in the study of Classic Maya city urbanism opens a broad scope of issues concerning the nature of superior authority and the ways of its establishment. The analysis identifies discontinuities that separate public from private spaces, as well as continuities applying the notion of « thick boundaries ». The « political narratives » produced by the synchronic and diachronic analysis of the site maps for selected cities contribute more broadly to the research on Classic urbanism in the Central-Southern Lowland Classic Maya cities.