Variation in ancient Maya governance: A long-term perspective from the central palace at Yaxnohcah, Mexico

• Ancient Maya political institutions were flexible and changed over time. • Adaptation and transformation entailed shifts in both practice and ideology. • Governance at Yaxnohcah shows distinct degrees of collectivity in different periods. • Leadership at Yaxnohcah collapsed when the Kanu’l rulers settled at Calakmul. Archaeology has seen a recent reemergence of interest in ancient forms of governance and variations in political institutions across time and space. While studies of ancient Maya politics have frequently assumed a unified political system, an increasing pool of data suggests that there was in fact a high degree of variability regarding governance and political practice. Here we discuss changes in rulership and power relations from the perspective of the inhabitants of the central palace at Yaxnohcah, focusing on social and political transformations in and beyond the site. Rulership at Yaxnohcah materialized in the Late Preclassic (400 BCE–200 CE), but associated practices shifted focus from community integration to the establishment of a central court identity in the Early Classic (200–600 CE), until courtly privileges were significantly reduced after a political regime change at nearby Calakmul around 636 CE. This case study shows how political institutions constantly adapted to a fluctuating political landscape, which implied profound shifts in both practice and ideology. It also discusses how collective decision-making may have been more pronounced at Yaxnohcah than at other contemporary sites, providing an important datapoint for a general reevaluation of variation in governance in the Maya area and beyond.