To the Mountain: Heritage preservation through archaeological literacy in San Jose Succotz, Belize.

Summary

Maya archaeology has seen a steady shift to the integration of community heritage interest and ownership in the design, execution and outcomes of research and preservation efforts. This poster describes a heritage outreach project focused on archaeology literacy development among grade school children in the community of San Jose Succotz, Belize, adjacent to the Xunantunich archaeological reserve. We authored a fully illustrated book entitled To the Mountain (2016) for the Succotz community, incorporating information on two sites that have been extensively investigated with the assistance of Succotz community members. To the Mountain is written in English, Spanish and Yucatec; the three main languages spoken in Succotz. We distributed one copy of the book to each grade school child and made an eBook available online for download.

By monitoring the use of this book by educational institutions and community members the changing perceptions of heritage and the effectiveness of heritage preservation through literacy campaigns can be established and observed. We expect that the familiar concepts in the book will make it an ideal educational tool for history and language education. We hope it will foster a culture in which Maya ancestry and language are not points of shame or social stigma.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15709