a1 Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, P.O. Box
117305, Gainesville, FL 32611-7305 USA The critical role of
social or collective memory in ongoing processes of societal
reproduction and transformation is well acknowledged by
anthropologists and is being increasingly modeled in
archaeological interpretations as well. Investigating how social
memory impacted the materialities and historical trajectories of
the Maya civilization has great potential for advancing
archaeological methodologies as well as enlarging our knowledge
of the Maya. In addition to the wealth of epigraphic,
ethnographic, and early historical information available for the
Maya, archaeologists are examining enduring architecture,
representative imagery, and even mundane artifacts that
constitute a “technology of memory” for clues to the interplay
of recollection and forgetting in the operation and
transformation of Maya societies. This commentary reviews issues
and problems in archaeological studies of social memory and
addresse