Abstract :
This article explores social memory and history as they pertain particularly to secondary political centers on the edges of the Classic Maya
kingdoms of Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan. Over the course of the Late Classic period (a.d. 600–900) the rulers of Maya polities in the
Usumacinta River basin increasingly relied on the subordinate lords who governed these secondary centers to patrol and control the
boundaries of their territories. For the rulers of any state, formulating an appropriate and coherent history to guide social memory is a
critical political act for maintaining the cohesion of the political community. But as the Classic period progressed, client lords were
increasingly permitted a formerly royal prerogative; they were accorded their own inscribed monuments. The monuments, together with
associated ritual performances, were an integral part of the construction of history and collective memory in local communities and
allowed secondary nobles to restructure social memory for their own interests. This trend, in turn, increased the potential for royal history
and authority to be contested throughout the kingdom. Through several case studies this paper examines the ways that subordinate nobles
could contest social memory and history sanctioned by primary rulers and the ways in which kings acted to maintain the reins of history
and memory.
