Governance Without a Single Ruler? Rethinking Puuc Maya Political Structure at Xcalumkín
A new two-volume study synthesizing fifteen years of excavation at Xcalumkín, one of the most densely inscribed sites in the Puuc region, finds no securely identified king in its hieroglyphic record — only a repeating pattern of paired subordinate lords. That absence may be evidence of a real, different way of holding power.