MAYAN BELIEF SYSTEMS: A NETWORK INTERPRETATION

Abstract

This paper is a network interpretation of the beliefs which might have been held by the horticulturists in the Maya lowlands. It is an exercise in discovering the consequences which would follow from certain types of beliefs. The paper takes as its problem: Could the beliefs of the workers using forest-fallow horticulture have allowed the development of a body of specialists in certain types of knowledge (such as astronomy, calendars, a number system, religious texts), and also have allowed the generation of enough surplus energy and its organization to support the construction of numerous religious structures and monuments? A possible system of beliefs is sketched that would explain what is known from archaeological research about the Maya lowland culture. This paper is an exercise in the interpretation of a social structure, based on Weber's (1947:154, 156) conception of hierocratic systems using psychic coercion to direct action within the systems.