Much recent research has focused on understanding the nature of Maya kingship. Many representations of Maya rulers
                            found on stelae, ceramics, buildings, and other locations show these individuals in positions of power. Rulers are shown
                            in many contexts: some are associated with armed warriors, others are depicted accepting gifts from secondary lords,
                            and some are portrayed participating in blood sacrifices. These blood-sacrifice scenes seem to be associated with a series
                            of transformational rituals through which rulers attempted to communicate with their ancestral gods. These rituals of
                            transformation directly relate to the shift of the ruler and his body from that of a human to that of a living god, on the same
                            level as his ancestral gods. Some of the best-known transformational scenes are found on some of the Yaxchilan Lintels.
                                  The setting for this type of transformation by the ruler is clearly found within the central plazas and large pyramids
                            common within ancient cities throughout the Maya lowlands. The ritual activities for these public transformations are
                            processions, circulating within the central plazas of the sites. In addition, the processions are associated with
                            pageantry, incense, elaborate regalia, and ongoing prayers and rituals to ancestors portrayed on associated stelae.
                                 The changing nature of these transformational rituals will be examined with associated changes in architecture and
                            architectural form within the downtown area of Xunantunich, an ancient Maya site located in western Belize.

                            Xunantunich, the Site

                            Dr. Leventhal, President of the School of American Research, has been active in Mesoamerican archaeology
                            throughout his professional career. In 1991, the government of Belize invited him to develop a project of
                            archaeological research and architectural consolidation at the Maya site of Xunantunich, whose name means "the
                            place of the Stone Maiden." The Xunantunich Project, with Wendy Ashmore of the University of Pennsylvania as
                            co-director, has completed excavations at the site but interpretive work continues.
                                 Xunantunich was occupied during the period known as the Late Classic and occupation continued through the
                            Maya collapse in the ninth and tenth centuries. One goal of the project continues to be the examination of how its
                            rulers responded to mounting stress, and the impacts on farmers in the surrounding countryside.
                                 It appears that the city became an independent center at around AD 750/800. The distinctive El Castillo, one of
                            the tallest Maya pyramids, was clearly the focus of all ritual activities. This structure features an elaborate frieze that
                            has been interpreted as relating to rulership and accession to power. Within a generation or two of this independence,
                            areas south of El Castillo lay abandoned and areas to the north became more divided and enclosed, perhaps
                            reflecting a shift in the activities and focus of the nobles and king.

                                 Richard M. Leventhal (PhD, Harvard, 1979) was previously Director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at
                            UCLA and Associate Professor of Anthropology at UCLA. He has been at the School of American Research as its
                            president since August 2001.