Belize (State / Territory) (Geographic Keyword)
376-400 (1,080 Records)
The most common artifacts found in Maya caves are unslipped and monochrome slipped ceramic sherds. The smashing of ceramic vessels as an element of ritual practice is recorded ethnographically among some twentieth-century Maya groups. Other Maya groups have been documented collecting sherds from domestic middens and depositing them at sacred sites. If caves were venues for the former type of behavior in antiquity, one would expect to find a high percentage of refitting sherds in their...
From Buried Preclassic Villages to the Lexicon for Maya Architecture: The Impact of Architectural Studies in Belize on Maya Scholarship (2024)
This is an abstract from the "“The Center and the Edge”: How the Archaeology of Belize Is Foundational for Understanding the Ancient Maya, Part II" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 1984, Stanley Loten and David Pendergast published “A Lexicon for Maya Architecture” based to a large degree on their observations during excavations at Lamanai and Altun Ha, both major Maya centers in Belize. At 16 brief pages of text and nine of figures, this...
From Chichen Itza to Tulum: The Late Postclassic Maya Feathered Serpent of the Northern Maya Lowlands (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Tales of the Feathered Serpent: Refining Our Understanding of an Enigmatic Mesoamerican Being" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Most representations of the feathered serpent at Chichen Itza depict a plumed rattlesnake, a being of wind and carrier of rain, with Central Mexican origins dating back to Early Classic Teotihuacan. In Classic Maya art, feathered serpents are not rattlesnakes and lack plumage aside from a...
From Marginalized to Impactful: Belizean Archaeology and the Classic Period Maya (2024)
This is an abstract from the "“The Center and the Edge”: How the Archaeology of Belize Is Foundational for Understanding the Ancient Maya" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The impact of Belizean centers and settlement on ancient Maya civilization of the Classic period (CE 250–900) has been recognized in the last 50 years of research. Before 1975 Belize was seen as being on the fringes of the Maya world and portrayed as a backwater. Most...
From Polity to Regimes: Toward Recognizing Diversity in Ancient Maya Political Communities (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Regimes of the Ancient Maya" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this paper, we introduce the notion of “regime” to model and interpret ancient Maya political organization. We have long relied on “the polity” as a primary model to explain ancient Maya politics. However, this largely generalist core concept tends to homogenize—both temporally and geographically—the complex ancient political landscape as one populated by...
From Ritual to Domestic in a Shifting Political Landscape: Excavations in the Coronitas Group at La Corona, Guatemala (2018)
Archaeological and epigraphic evidence from the Coronitas Group at La Corona, Guatemala provides an opportunity to examine responses to changing sociopolitical conditions among the Classic Maya (AD 250-900). Architectural and material evidence suggests that the Coronitas Group was a locus of ritual and ceremonial activities by the royal court throughout the Classic period. Burials of important individuals and other ceremonial activities imply that it was a place of significant ancestral ties. At...
From Rural Hinterlands to Urban Centers: Investigating Ancient Maya Settlement in the Lower Belize River Watershed (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Archaeology and the History of Human-Environment Interaction in the Lower Belize River Watershed" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. One of the primary objectives of the Belize River East Archaeology (BREA) project has been to identify and document archaeological sites in a relatively understudied part of north-central Belize that encompasses the lower Belize River Watershed. In this area, which measures roughly 6,000...
From the Coast to the Jungle: Inventory and Record of Archaeological Sites in Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The municipality of Puerto Morelos is located in northern Quintana Roo, Mexico. Beginning in the past century, and continuing through present day, researches have reported numerous archaeological sites in this region. However, many of them do not have a precise location, and we do not know about their conservation status. As a result of this issue and the...
The Function of Ceramic Analysis in the Maya Lowlands (2018)
Why study ceramics at all? What is the point of analyzing hundreds and thousands of small, broken pieces of pottery? This paper explores these, and other questions, within the context of Classic Maya civilization. Too often, it seems, ceramic analysis is used as a loose chronological framework, used solely to construct broad frameworks of relative dating. These frameworks are then applied to archaeological assemblages, placing them within chronologically bounded "ceramic complexes" and...
The Funerary or Nonfunerary Human Assemblages from the Initial Series Group at Chichen Itza (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. Human skeletal assemblages from Chichen Itza and its surrounding regions are complex, which makes Chichen Itza a prime location to study mortuary practices. The complexity stems most likely from Chichen Itza’s multicultural relationships with other groups not only within the Yucatán Peninsula...
Game On: Investigations of Ballcourts 1 and 2 at Xunantunich, Belize (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper presents the results of recent investigations of the two ballcourts at Xunantunich, Belize. Located on the Mopan branch of the Belize River, Xunantunich is primarily a Late to Terminal Classic regional center. The site’s rapid rise to power in the late 8th to 9th centuries is attributed to its political affiliation with the larger site of Naranjo,...
Games of Chance and Fate: Patolli at the Ancient Maya Site of Gallon Jug, Belize (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 2019 at the ancient Maya site of Gallon Jug, in northwestern Belize, we documented several patolli boards incised into a plaster floor on a platform in an elite residential group. The patolli from Gallon Jug are in a residential context near the site center and not in monumental religious architecture or a palace, which differs from most known examples...
Games or Prehispanic Rituals? The Ball Courts of the Mirador Basin (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ball game was one of the most widespread in Mesoamerica since the Early and Middle Preclassic periods if not earlier. This presentation will present the different ball courts detected in the Mirador Cultural and Natural zone, also known as Mirador Basin, indicating the chronology, form, contextual associations,...
A Gender Paradox? A Case Study from the Ancient Maya (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Bioarchaeology engages with past behaviors to answer sex and gender roles that are influenced by biological and cultural components leading to social presentation of the individual. The skeletal sample for this study focuses on 55 individuals from Copan, Honduras by incorporating available mortuary data, ceramic phases, dental development, physiological...
Genomic and Isotopic Migration and Kinship among the Classic Maya of Belize (2024)
This is an abstract from the "“The Center and the Edge”: How the Archaeology of Belize Is Foundational for Understanding the Ancient Maya, Part II" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Emerging genomic and isotopic approaches have opened new doors to reconstructing diet, mobility, kinship, demography, and identity in the past and have the potential to transform our understanding of the ancient Maya world. These methods offer ways to reconstruct where...
Geoarchaeological Investigations of Wetlands and Waterways in Crooked Tree, Belize (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Archaeology and the History of Human-Environment Interaction in the Lower Belize River Watershed" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The lagoon system around the island of Crooked Tree in northern Belize provides a compelling hydrological landscape with a strongly seasonal flood regime. The area also presents evidence of long occupation and use by the Maya. Our ongoing investigations include geoarchaeological testing...
The Geoarcheology of Vista Alegre (2018)
The maritime Maya site of Vista Alegre, located in the northeastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula is being investigated with the aim to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the daily life of the past inhabitants, and their interaction with their surrounding environment. Results from a sediment core campaign resolved the character, environmental associations, and ages of underlying sediments. To achieve a continues lateral understanding of the underlying sediments, a seismic survey was...
Geochemical Analysis of Plaza Floors in the Three Rivers Region of Northwestern Belize (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Prehispanic Maya Marketplace Investigations in the Three Rivers Region of Belize: First Results" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Ancient markets are difficult to identify as most utilitarian items and consumables were perishable. Our objective was to use geochemical analyses of extractable phosphorus and metallic residues in soils to distinguish the unique geochemical patterns of market plazas from other types of...
Geochemical Soil Analysis of Sequential Public and Private Plaster Floor Surfaces from the Maya Site of Holtun (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Holtun: Investigations at a Preclassic Maya Center" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this paper we present the results of an exploratory program aimed at providing multi-component soil sampling and analysis of plaster floor surfaces at the Maya site of Holtun, Guatemala. Our research sampled three different plaza settings at the site: the monumental E-Group plaza, an elite residential patio adjacent to the E-Group...
Geografía sagrada en Naranjo: Relaciones simbólicas entre cerros, cuevas y temazcal (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Heat, Steam, and Health: The Archaeology of the Mesoamerican Pib Naah (Sweat Baths)" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Por medio de esta presentación, intentamos entender y considerar la importancia ritual y simbólica de un temascal Preclásico ubicado en la ciudad de Naranjo, Petén, Guatemala. Trataremos este tema a partir de la ubicación del temazcal dentro del paisaje sagrado del epicentro monumental de Naranjo y de...
Geosourcing and Geopolitics: Handheld XRF Analysis of Obsidian from Households in the Yaxuna-Coba Region (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This poster presents results of sourcing analysis of artifacts from Classic period Maya sites in Northern Yucatán and Quintana Roo from household contexts using handheld X-ray fluorescence (hXRF). Previous analysis by Danielle Waite sourced artifacts from Coba and Yaxuna from excavations by the Proyecto de Interacción Política del Centro de Yucatán and...
Geospatial Analysis of Material Culture in the Hinterlands in Northwestern Belize (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Belize archaeology field school, Dos Hombres to Gran Cacao (DH2GC), has been active since 2009, gathering cultural remains from different excavations. Using ArcGIS, the excavations and associated ceramic artifacts can be used for geospatial analyses of human settlement, occupation, and trading patterns. The general goal of the project is to create a...
A GIS and Remote Sensing Approach to Settlement Patterns, Cultural Landscape, and Utilization of Natural Resources in the Hinterlands: Dos Hombres to Gran Cacao Archaeology Project (2023)
This is an abstract from the "2023 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Timothy Beach Part I" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Besides using lidar data, the application of various methods (e.g., documentation by total station, aerial photographs, modern/historical maps, and archaeological data) helps to assure a more precise identification and interpretation process of the archaeological features. In addition, the geographical information...
GIS Modeling of Precolonial Maya Natural Resource Management Strategies during Major Climatic Changes (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This project analyzes the water management systems of a smaller Puuc community, tentatively labeled Site A that was recently identified using lidar (light detection and ranging) technology. This region is distinctive for having no natural surface water features. Precolumbian Puuc communities captured rainwater during the wet season in chultuns (underground...
Giving Back: Debt in Classic Maya Narratives (2018)
This paper considers textual and visual evidence of debt among Classic Maya nobles. It begins with an overview of lexical data and summarizes specific references to payment and accounting. The argument proceeds to some less obvious contexts such as ‘just-so’ myths, which reveal a notion of primordial transactions and gifts to be repaid in perpetuity. Finally, the paper considers the movement of inscribed objects. The argument is that giving those essentially inalienable possessions marked...