SMALLHOLDERS IN THE MAYA LOWLANDS - HOMAGE TO A GARDEN-VARIETY ETHNOGRAPHER

Ancient Maya subsistence practices and their relation to the rise and decline of Maya civilization have long been the subject of archaeologi cal debate. Traditionally Mayanists correlate subsistence strategy wit h political economy, positing that a change in one must correspond to a change in the other: Since smallholders, as defined by Netting, can exist within a variety of political and economic systems, their ubiqui ty in the Maya Lowlands may explain why household studies often fail t o detect political or economic change at a macro level. The absence of smallholders, however; may correlate with the depopulation of many Ma ya cities at the end of the ninth century.