Archaeological materials from seven excavated households (three commoner, three elite and a super-elite) from El Lacandón, a rural settlement of the Ancient Maya Palenque polity in Chiapas, Mexico; are analyzed to examine how households and communities were articulated and later affected by incorporation into larger sociopolitical entities. The study spans El Lacandón’s foundation in the Late Preclassic period (300 B.C. -A.D. 150), its abandonment as part of its assimilation into the Palenque polity at the beginning of the Classic period (ca. A.D. 150), and its re-foundation as a 2nd level community in the political hierarchy of the Palenque polity at the end of the Late Classic (A.D. 750-850). Economic analyses consider patterns of production and consumption. Obsidian blade manufacturing was organized as a household-level production in both periods, and it was not attached to elite interests during the Late Preclassic, with households of both statuses engaged in paper production, woodworking and paper/cloth imprintings. The pattern changes during the Late Classic, with manufacturing activities restricted to elite households. In terms of consumption, obsidian was available in similar quantities to all households during the Late Preclassic, and became more abundant in elite households during the Late Classic. Ideological patterns of the Late Classic period show that the super-elite household was clearly linked to Palenque’s great tradition expressed in burial practices, according to body position and head orientation. Local elite burials practices were more diverse, which was possibly related to a local little tradition. El Lacandón’s abandonment at the end of the Late Preclassic coincides with the growth of Palenque as a political capital, a pattern frequently observed in cases where rural population moved to growing political capitals. Sociopolitical patterns during the Late Classic were examined by a comparison of civic precinct planning and the differential distribution of elite and commoner households in the districts of the Palenque polity. The analysis concluded that provincial elites exercised less power than the elite of the capital, but were able to negotiate a local identity expressed in Palenque-related elements and also elements of other polities
