Maya: Classic (Other Keyword)
151-175 (688 Records)
Archaeologists working in the Maya area frequently find dense deposits of artifacts that are classified ‘terminal deposits,’ ‘final deposits,’ or ‘problematical deposits’. These classifications may accurately reflect a deposit’s stratigraphic placement, but ultimately mask or even misrepresent the diverse social behaviors which led to the creation of such deposits. Excavations in the courtyard in front of Structure B-6 at Xunantunich, Belize, exposed a dense deposit of artifacts. Through...
De la mano de Michael Coe a las manos de los artistas estilo códice: Cincuenta años de estudios (2023)
This is an abstract from the "A Celebration and Critical Assessment of "The Maya Scribe and His World" on its Fiftieth Anniversary" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Grolier exhibition commissioned by M. Coe in 1973 came to researchers as an inescapable reference that remains today. His studies on codex-style vessels, so defined by him, opened the door to new studies from different perspectives and approaches that are reviewed here. This study...
The Death Within: Bone as Material among the Maya (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Decipherment, Digs, and Discourse: Honoring Stephen Houston's Contributions to Maya Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Houston’s "The Life Within" is among the most perceptive and nuanced statements on Classic Maya materials and the animate quality of things. Here, I draw inspiration from this future-classic work to more deeply probe Maya understandings of bone – a material most generally treated by...
Debt and Obligation in Ancient Maya Political Economies (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The notion of debt pervades anthropological discussion of political economy and exchange. Often used as a descriptor of unequal relationships it also embodies notions of reciprocity, expectation, and mutuality. Debt carries with it a charged negativity in many contexts, conveying experiences of precarity and violence, pressure and visibility. However, debt can...
Defining Rurality at La Joyanca and Naachtun (Guatemala): Land Use, Architecture and Social Dynamics (2018)
Based on the study of two Classic Maya Lowland sites, La Joyanca and Naachtun (Guatemala), this paper explores the topic of rurality through the parameters of potential land use, visible architectural variation, and plausible population mobility. La Joyanca was a medium-sized settlement surrounded by villages and hamlets all of which were recorded by means of conventional surface mapping, whereas Naachtun was a regional capital located amidst extended communities linked by causeways that have...
Demarcating Space and Creating Place: Examining the Processes for Creating Sacred Landscapes by the Ancient Maya of Western Belize (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ancient Maya of the Belize River Valley maintained a strong, spiritual connection with nature, one that can be explored through the layers of religious symbolism imbued into their built environments. In Xunantunich during the Late Classic period, the Maya created a sacred space by incorporating symbols—such as stelae, altars, and cache deposits—into...
Demographic Scale of an Early Classic Maya Regional Conflict (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Decipherment, Digs, and Discourse: Honoring Stephen Houston's Contributions to Maya Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent projects in the Buenavista region, some 25 km to the east at Tikal, reveal a landscape of probable Early Classic conflict. What seem to be large defensive features are positioned on a frontier between El Zotz and the Tikal polity. Despite the impressive size of these features, which...
Dental Pathology and Paleodiet: Exploring Spatial and Temporal Variability of Ancient Maya Subsistence Practices in Northwestern Belize (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The osteological analysis of skeletal remains provides a unique lens for viewing social behaviors within ancient complex societies at the level of the individual as well as the population. The dentition from skeletal remains can be especially useful for answering questions regarding dietary practices as the consumption of specific foods leave identifiable...
Dental Therapeutics in the Maya Region: New Evidence for Caries Manipulation and Dental Drilling (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Intentional dental modification for aesthetic purposes relating to personal ornamentation and social identity have been widely documented in the Maya region in the form of dental filing and labial drilling for dental inlays. Dental modifications for therapeutic purposes, however, are rarely documented. Though rare, evidence for chipping, scraping, and...
Dentition, Kinship, and Status in the Mopan-Macal Triangle: Small-Sample Insights into Classic Maya Social Organization in Central Western Belize (2018)
Classic Maya social status is more complex than an elite verses non-elite dichotomy. Research suggests that a "middle" status group exists. However, the social segment from which they arise is unknown. This study focuses on individuals from the urban center of Buenavista del Cayo who are below the ruling elites in the "middle" rungs of social status, and those from the neighboring farming community of Guerra who are recognized as nonelites. Previous research suggested that no biological affinity...
The Desakota as a Model for Understanding Dense Urban-Agrarian Settlement among the Ancient Maya (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Large-scale surveys using lidar and other remote sensing technologies have revealed that Maya urban centers were much larger in both settlement area and number of features than previously thought, while also incorporating various forms of large-scale anthropogenic landscape modification for the purposes of intensive agricultural production. These findings...
Detection of Water Management Systems Using LiDAR at Las Abejas, Belize (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 2016, the PfBAP (Programme for Belize Archeological Project) employed airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging) remote sensing technology to map the project area in northwestern Belize. The PfBAP has used LiDAR data to detect and analyze anthropogenic modifications created by the ancient Maya. With this data in hand, we have generated a map with which to...
A Diachronic Analysis of Gender Based Mortuary Practices in the Belize River Valley (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Burial practices can offer important insights into gender roles within ancient Maya society. We present the results of a diachronic analysis of osteology, grave goods, burial architecture, and contextual data from 108 burials from the Belize River Valley polities of Baking Pot, Blackman Eddy, Cahal Pech, Lower Barton Creek, and Lower Dover. Analyses of grave...
Did the Maya Care about the Precession of the Equinox? (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Coffee, Clever T-Shirts, and Papers in Honor of John S. Justeson" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Updating progress on a collaborative project with the honoree, John Justeson, regardng the study of the use of Maya long numbers in the inscriptions.
Digging the Scene: More on the El Perú-Waka’ Burial 39 Figurines (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Mesoamerican Figurines in Context. New Insights on Tridimensional Representations from Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ancient Maya resurrection ritual depicted by the 23 ceramic figurines methodically arranged by mourners at the feet of the deceased ruler interred in El Perú-Waka’ Burial 39 continues to be a source of intriguing information about the Classic Maya. More recently, extensive examination...
Digital Dig Kits: Portable Affordable Archaeology for Twenty-First-Century Fieldwork (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent advances in lidar technologies have been profound for archaeology, amplifying the subdiscipline of digital archaeology. However, lidar units, both aerial and terrestrial, have remained cost prohibitive until recent products by Apple including the iPad and iPhone Pro series. These products are among the first consumer electronic devices with built-in...
Digital Methods for Conservation in Underground Archaeological Contexts: A Case Study from the Copan Acropolis (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. As site documentation methods become more high-tech and data-heavy, it raises issues of repeatability, access, and expense. In the case of the 3 kilometers of circuitous archaeological tunnels at the Classic Maya site of Copan, Honduras, it was imperative to document them in a manner that would be accurate, efficient, and accessible not only to scholars with...
Digitizing Archaeological Data from the Dos Hombres to Gran Cacao Archaeology Project (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A wealth of digital data is produced during an archaeological excavation and because so much of the fieldwork is unrepeatable, once the site is fully excavated, the digital records must be archived in a manner that best facilitates reuse. This paper presents the ongoing undertaking of digitizing data for the Dos Hombres to Gran Cacao Archaeology Project...
Digitizing Previously-Recorded Archaeological Survey Areas on a Budget: How Technical Illustrations in Inkscape Are Advancing the Field (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This research aims to examine nuances between site ranking, placement, and correlations to environmental zones in northwestern Belize. This study used a variety of technological tools such as Inkscape, a Scalable Vector Graphics (.svg) software and ArcGIS to provide in-depth analyses of the dynamic interactions of the ancient Maya at the household level....
Directed Movement at Ancient Maya Centers (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Manifesting Movement Materially: Broadening the Mesoamerican View" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Is there a right way to enter a Maya center? A correct order to the viewing and experiencing of the place? How did the physical act of moving through a center inform the understanding of that place, its leaders, oneself? This paper presents the results of several seasons of fieldwork at the Belizean sites of Xunantunich...
The Disembodied Eye in Maya Art and Ritual Practice (2021)
This is an abstract from the "New Perspectives on Ritual Violence and Related Human Body Treatments in Ancient Mesoamerica" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ritual use and display of skulls, digits, and femurs is well documented in Mesoamerica. But except for the heart, few sources describe how organs and soft body tissues were curated during the brief time they could been have been viable for manipulation or display. Nevertheless, there is rich...
Distributed Site Cores and Low-Density Urban Settlement at the Site of Zibal, Belize (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The sites of Zibal and Kich’pan Uitz in western Belize, recorded as minor Maya centers by the Aguacate Regional Archaeology Project, have recently been investigated via remote sensing, survey and test excavation. As a result, we see that these two clusters of monumental structures, along with their secondary nodes, are located in a continuous fabric of...
Documenting Archaeological Tunnels within the Copan Acropolis, Part 2: Geospatial Data and Structural Modeling of Temple 16 (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. At the Classic Maya city of Copán, Temple 16 is one of the most prominent structures; however, it is rapidly deteriorating along with other buried structures and archaeological tunnels. Inside Temple 16 are various structures and tombs including Rosalila, a uniquely preserved temple, as well as Oropendola, Clarinero, and Tortola, all of which cover earlier...
Documenting Archaeological Tunnels within the Copan Acropolis: Advances in Architectural and Geospatial Recording for Conservation (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Investigations within the Copan Acropolis have provided an unprecedented source of data bearing on Copan’s origins as the capital of a Classic period Maya kingdom. The excavations conducted over years by multiple research programs in partnership with the Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History resulted in extensive tunnel exposures of stratified...
Documenting Domestic Economies in the Eastern Maya Lowlands through Obsidian Exchange (2023)
This is an abstract from the "An Exchange of Ideas: Recent Research on Maya Commodities" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Households composed the most basic unit of economic production and consumption in ancient Maya societies, and articulated directly with broader social and political processes. In addition to organizing daily tasks and agricultural production, households served as a point of engagement in the domestic economy for the acquisition...