Ritual Deposits within the Eastern Pyramidal Structure at Group D, Xunantuntich – Belize
Author(s): Whitney Lytle; Rachel Horowitz; Carolyn Freiwald; Kathryn Brown
Year: 2019
Summary
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Between the 2012-2016 field seasons, the Mopan Valley Preclassic Project conducted investigations of an eastern pyramidal structure (Str D-6) at Group D, Xunantunich. Group D is a sacbe terminus architectural group which is connected to Xunantunich’s main plaza. The location of the sacbe suggests that Group D was part of an important ritual circuit. Over 5 field seasons, we have refined our understanding of the group’s chronology and role within Xunantunich. During the course of excavations, several burials, ceramic deposits, and eccentric caches were discovered. Within this paper, we will discuss the architecture of structure D-6 as well as the analyses of materials within deposits and preliminary analyses of skeletal remains. Finally, we discuss how these deposits can help identify the group's overall function.
Cite this Record
Ritual Deposits within the Eastern Pyramidal Structure at Group D, Xunantuntich – Belize. Whitney Lytle, Rachel Horowitz, Carolyn Freiwald, Kathryn Brown. Presented at The 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM. 2019 ( tDAR id: 449622)
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Keywords
General
Lithic Analysis
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Maya: Classic
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Mortuary archaeology
Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica: Maya lowlands
Spatial Coverage
min long: -94.197; min lat: 16.004 ; max long: -86.682; max lat: 21.984 ;
Record Identifiers
Abstract Id(s): 26160