Stasis is not a word that can be applied to the archaeology of the classic Maya lowlands. Throughout the latter part of the twentieth century archaeologists heatedly debated whether late classic Maya society (ca. 600–800 BCE) could be classified as having achieved statehood, whether its governmental structure was purely theocratic (or not), and whether power relations could be characterized as centralized or decentralized. Meanwhile, the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing accelerated from the 1980s on; the writing proved to be a logosyllabic text used to record dedication events and replete with names, dates, places, and oblique references to martial conflict, royal alliance, and dance.
Yes, royal dancing (ahk'ot) to summon supernatural beings and ancestors was frequently recorded in texts and depicted naturalistically on stone stelae and polychrome pottery vessels. Unfortunately the latter became the stock-in-trade of illicit looters and auction houses during the latter half of the twentieth...
