Belize (Country) (Geographic Keyword)
1,751-1,775 (4,066 Records)
While elite Maya polychrome ceramics often contain images and inscriptions related to political actors, motifs on the majority of polychrome ceramics relate to important elements of ancient Maya cosmology. This poster analyzes the iconography on a Classic Maya polychrome vessel from Petén, Guatemala donated to the San Bernardino County Museum. The central figure on the interior of the bowl is a deer and a supernatural figure is painted on the inside wall. Terrestrial motifs are found on both...
ICP-MS Investigation of Geochemical Differences Between Archaeological Ceramics from Terrestrial and Submerged Environments, La Altagracia Province, Dominican Republic (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Geochemical studies of archaeological ceramics often assume little to no post-depositional change to the makeup of the artifact. This study uses ICP-MS trace element and lead (Pb) stable isotope analysis to investigate how a freshwater submerged depositional environment affects the geochemical signatures of archaeological ceramics. We test the null...
Identificación de los valores de autenticidad e integridad en la restauración de los monumentos arqueológicos en México (2019)
This is an abstract from the "La Restauración de Monumentos Prehispánicos en México: Principios, Práctica, y Visión al Futuro" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. El presente documento es una propuesta metodológica que aborda los principios básicos para identificar los valores de la autenticidad y la integridad de un monumento arqueológico intervenido para su conservación. Empleando conceptos fundamentales de la arquitectura como -- los materiales de...
Identification of Earthen Construction Techniques in the Casas Grandes Region, Chihuahua, Mexico (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This study compares pre-Columbian earthen construction techniques in three archaeological sites of the Casas Grandes region: Paquimé, Arroyo Seco, and Cueva de la Olla. These sites are found in different geological and geomorphological setting, although they present similar architectural typology. Their construction techniques were examined by archaeometric...
Identification of Mitochondrial Haplogroups in Native Mexican and Mestizo Populations (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Ancient DNA in Service of Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Currently in Mexico there are around 68 ethnic groups, grouped into 11 linguistic families, representing 15% of the Mexican population. The mitogenome (mtDNA) has allowed us to make inferences about the history of and relationships between these populations. However, the evaluation of the mitochondrial genetic structure in the Mexican population has...
Identifying Farming Strategies within Changing Regional Contexts at Tahcabo, Yucatán (2017)
Colonial- and national-period studies of agricultural practices in Yucatán can provide useful case studies to address current theoretical concerns in political ecology. Perspectives on livelihood strategies today are broadly comparable to household-level studies of economic activities accessible through archaeology, especially given historical archaeology’s attention to market integration and technological innovations. The time depth available through archaeological study complements...
Identifying Genogeographic Affiliation of Burials from an 18th Century Cemetery on Sint Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Exploring Globalization and Colonialism through Archaeology and Bioarchaeology: An NSF REU Sponsored Site on the Caribbean’s Golden Rock (Sint Eustatius)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the 18th century, Sint Eustatius (Statia) was the home to colonial Europeans, including Dutch, British and French, as well as enslaved and freed individuals of African descent. This research explores the genogeographic...
Identifying Lakam-Tun: A Sixteenth-Century Maya Fortified Site in Lake Miramar, Chiapas, Mexico (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Research on the Postclassic period at Lake Miramar in the southern Lacandon Jungle of Chiapas permits identifying the fortified island of Lakam-Tun. The site was destroyed in 1586 by Juan de Morales Villavicencio in his attempt to conquer the Cholti'-Lacandon, who then sheltered deeper in the jungle until 1695. Earlier research failed to locate important...
Identifying Late Classic Political, Economic, and Cultural Affiliations at Pacbitun, Belize (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Making and Breaking Boundaries in the Maya Lowlands: Alliance and Conflict across the Guatemala–Belize Border" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. For the ancient Maya of Pacbitun, the onset of the Late Classic period (AD 550-800) signifies a time of exponential site growth and heightened prosperity. While this florescence is evident in the archaeological record, recent studies have begun to demonstrate that this affluence...
Identifying Parrots, Songbirds, and Toucans with New Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) Markers (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeological and historical evidence has demonstrated the sociopolitical, economic, and ritual significance of parrots, songbirds, and toucans in precontact Americas. In Mesoamerica, these birds, along with their plumages and their capabilities to sing and mimic sounds, were highly valued. However, taxonomic identification of avian fauna can be...
Identifying Patterned Variability in Preclassic-Postclassic Maya 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. The Classic period (AD 300-900) Belize River Valley was a complex political landscape of numerous semi-autonomous Maya polities. Many began their emergence at the end of the Early Preclassic period (1200-900 BC), consolidated their political power in the Late Preclassic, and subsequently underwent collapse in the Terminal Classic period (AD 750-900/1000). The...
Identifying Patterns of Ceramic Compositional Variability from Residential Contexts in Three Late Classic Maya Polities (2018)
Archaeologists have had a long-standing interest in domestic economy because households are often considered to be the primary social unit of production, consumption, and reproduction in most agrarian societies and occupy an important place in the study of ancient state economies. A relatively novel avenue for exploring broader patterns in the domestic economies of ancient Maya polities involves compositional analysis of ceramics. Variability in the compositional makeup of the ceramics can show...
Identifying Salt Cakes as Commodities in the Classic Maya Marketplace Economy (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. Production of salt cakes for trade in modern and historic communities provides three testable hypotheses for identifying ancient Maya trade of this commodity. If salt cakes were transported in pots as in the Philippines, briquetage would be found at consumer communities, as suggested for Aventura, Belize. Only non-vessel...
Identifying the drivers of Central American rainfall shifts: implications for past, present, and future human behaviour (2017)
Yok Balum Cave’s location at the northernmost extent of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) combined with its abundance of aragonitic stalagmites makes the site an exceptional archive of paleoclimatic information. Additionally, Yok Balum Cave is located at the heart of the Maya Lowlands, and speleothem-based paleoclimate records from the site can provide invaluable information for archaeological research. Although the Yok Balum record and most other regional climate records strongly...
Identifying the First Public and Domestic Constructions at Pacbitun, Belize (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Investigations in Plazas A and B of the site core at Pacbitun indicate that initial occupation began in the early Middle Preclassic period (900–600 BC). At this time, a small agricultural community was established in Plaza B beginning with a few domestic structures built just above bedrock. These early domiciles would also function as workshops for the...
Identifying the Quintessence of Olmec Centers in Formative Olman (2017)
In the early 20th century, the discovery of the Olmec colossal heads associated with San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes led to the early designation of these three sites as the triadic centers of Olmec civilization, implying a level of cultural uniformity. Subsequent archaeological investigation has shown that the three centers, each with a distinct but overlapping chronology, share few commonalities in layout, artifact assemblage, or sculpture style. Indeed, the heads themselves...
Identity and Heritage: Moving beyond Twentieth-Century Archaeology in the Caribbean (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The development of archaeology in the Caribbean is deeply embedded in the colonialist and imperialist history of the region. For many years, archaeologists studied the area in a contentious manner, which in turn impacted the local research capacity for fields such as archaeology. The effects of colonialist and imperialist agendas that extended into the...
Identity and Offerings in the Southern Peruvian Andes: A comparative study of the painted tablets and discs tradition of the Arequipa region, Southern Peru (2017)
Inka and Spanish imperial projects in the Andes frequently targeted local beliefs and ritual practices, albeit in dissimilar ways. Understanding the effects of imperial projects is not possible without a clear sense of the local ritual landscape and its (in)compatibility with state religions and other practices spread across state networks. The painted tablet and disc tradition of the Arequipa region in the Southern Peruvian Andes offers a particular case for studying local and regional rituals...
Identity Intersectionality and Gender in the Archaeological Past and the Archaeologists’ Present (2017)
Archaeologists live in a reality in which gender, sexuality, race, age, and occupational identities (to name a few) are pervasive and impactful in our professional and personal lives. Our individual experiences in the world are always being shaped by our place at the intersection of multiple perceived and/or performed identities in the multiple social landscapes we inhabit. It then must be accepted that social identities operated similarly for people in the past. Still, there remains a hesitance...
Identity, Residential Mobility and Anthropogenic Lead in early colonial Huamanga (Ayacucho), Peru (2017)
La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús de Huamanga, the earliest Jesuit church in modern-day Ayacucho, Peru, was built in AD 1605 near the main plaza. Famous for its baroque art, this standing church is in need of extensive renovations. In a partial restoration in 2008, an archaeological excavation uncovered human and faunal remains underneath the church floor proper, and underneath the floors of associated chapels. Upon examination, only indigenous individuals appear to be buried underneath the...
Ideological and Material Conditions Shaping the Nature of Warfare in Maya Society (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Warfare and the Origins of Political Control " session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent investigations have revealed substantial evidence of fortifications and physical conflicts in the Maya lowlands. Nonetheless, warfare in Maya society never led to the development of stable conquest states or empires. Factors affecting this process may have included the ideological and material conditions of this region. The ideology...
If It Looks Like a Scraper? Identifying Artifact Function through Experimental Archaeology (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Lithic artifact functions are often determined by the form of an artifact rather than by an analysis of functional characteristics. Some ways in which artifact function can be determined include experimental archaeology, use wear, and paleoethnobotanical analyses. Determining artifact function provides information about the types of tasks people performed,...
If Ocarinas Could Talk: The Biographies of Ceramic Wind Instruments Used in a Late Classic Maya Funerary Ceremony at Pacbitun, Belize (2018)
The Classic Maya crafted a wide variety of music instruments from clay and other materials. Numerous depictions of musicians on vase paintings and murals attest to the important role of music in ceremonial occasions. Music instruments were also interred with the deceased during funerary ceremonies; although their comparative rarity in burials suggests that their inclusion was not a common practice. At the site of Pacbitun, music instruments have been recovered from multiple Classic period...
If We Build It, Will They Come? A Community of Practice for Archaeological Repositories (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Ideas, Ethical Ideals, and Museum Practice in North American Archaeological Collections" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 2021, caretakers and users of archaeological collections participated in a Wenner-Gren funded workshop that considered the social lives of archaeological repositories. The goal was to understand the repository as a site of social relations among and between stakeholders. Together, collections...
Illicit Landscapes and Illegal Economies in 19th century Southern Belize (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Contested Landscapes: The Archaeology of Politics, Borders, and Movement" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper examines how peripheral landscapes, along the coast and cayes of Southern Belize, shaped the region’s early colonial period (AD 1544-1840). Specifically, who were the people who settled southern Belize and how did the economies and industries that formed around them critically impact both Spanish and...