The Pre-Columbian Society of New York invites you to join us for our February Lecture: Timothy Pugh (Professor, Dept. of Anthropology, Queens College, CUNY) Power and Planning in the Ancient Maya City Thursday, February 11, 2016 6:00 PM in the Lecture Hall The Institute of Fine Arts 1 East 78th Street Planned city grids, typically associated with strong central (state) control, were rare in ancient Mesoamerica, and, until now, unknown among the lowland Maya. Yet the site of Nixtun-Ch'ich' on the western shore of Lake Petén Itzá, in Petén, northern Guatemala, exhibits a clear grid, which new data suggest was constructed between 400 and 200 BC. During this period, states, kingship, and cities were coming into being in the Maya lowlands, accompanied by complex forms of administration for a growing and increasingly diverse and stratified population. One wonders about the power dynamics necessary to "rationalize" the landscape in such a novel and imposing matter in an area where such organization was unheard of and far from traditional. One might also consider how such overt manipulations of space by elites (strategies) were received by the general population (tactics). This talk traces the organization of Nixtun-Ch'ich' from the implementation of the highly regulated cityscape to its abandonment at the end of the Late Preclassic period (ca. AD 200).? (Please note that seating in the Lecture Hall is on a first-come, first-served basis with RSVP<mailto:info@pcsny.org?subject=RSVP%2C%20Feb.%2011th%20Lecture>. There will be a simulcast in an adjacent room to accommodate overflow. Latecomers are not guaranteed a seat.) Followed by a reception with wine and cheese in the Loeb Room?