Chuj

ETHNONYMS: ajNenton, ajSan Matéyo, ajSan Sabastyán

History and Cultural Relations

The Chuj in Guatemala have occupied their territory for millennia. According to the ethnolinguistic and glottochronological calculations of Kaufman (1976) and McQuown (1971), the Chuj occupy an area that is roughly that of the Proto-Maya language homeland. The Chuj have lived in northwestern Guatemala since Proto-Maya began its differentiation into modern Mayan languages about four thousand years ago.

Bibliography

Cojtí Marcarlo, Narciso (1988). Mapa de los idiomas de Guatemala y Beiice. Guatemala: Piedra Santa.

Hayden, Brian, and Aubrey Cannon (1984). The Structure of Material Systems: Ethnoarchaeology in the Maya Highlands. SAA Papers, no. 3. Burnaby, Canada: Society for American Archaeology.

Kaufman, Terrence (1976). "Archaeological and Linguistic Correlations in Mayaland and Associated Areas of MesoAmerica." World Archaeology 8:101-118.

McQuown, Norman (1971). "Los orígenes y la diferenciación de los mayas según se infiere del estudio comparativo de las lenguas mayanas." Desarrollo Cultural de los Mayas. 2nd ed., edited by Evon Z. Vogt and Alberto Ruz, 49-80. Mexico: Centro de Estudios Mayas.

JUDITH M. MAXWELL