Belize (Other Keyword)
1-25 (41 Records)
Recent archaeological investigations at Cahal Pech, Belize have focused considerable attention on understanding the form and function of monumental architecture in the site’s largest public courtyard. Designated as Plaza B, the courtyard contains an eastern triadic shrine or "E-Group", and three large range-type or palace-like buildings that are located on the north, west and south flanks of the plaza. Our investigations of these buildings, particularly on Structure 7, have revealed important...
Archaeo-Tourism and Heritage Policies: What Works, What Doesn’t, and How to Move Forward—Case Studies from Belize and the United States (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeological sites in the United States are governed by a complex network of state and federal regulations, sovereign tribal governments, and private landowners. This often leads to difficulties managing access to heritage sites and their research potential. In contrast, extant literature describes the efforts of the Belize Institute of Archaeology and...
The Blue Creek rejollada revisited: transitional imprints on sedimentological records (2016)
Early to mid-Holocene humans domesticated a wide variety of plants and animals, which widely changed societies and environments around the world. The Archaic period in the Maya Lowlands was suited for this transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture with its abundant resources such as edible wild plants and animals, fertile soils, and abundant freshwater. To better understand long-term societal and environmental changes by early inhabitants, we studied sedimentation and paleosols in a...
Cities on the Cutting Edge: Urban Research in Belizean Archaeology (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. Archaeologists’ views of the breadth and depth of precolumbian Maya urbanism, and Mesoamerican urbanism more broadly, have been repeatedly revolutionized by archaeological researchers in Belize. The first National Science Foundation funding for Maya archaeology centered on...
Dragons through a Ceramic Lens: Evidence for a North-Central Belize Ceramic (Sub)-Sphere (2015)
As viewed through a ceramic lens, it is becoming evident that North-Central Belize was distinct from surrounding areas. Starting in the Middle Preclassic, the ceramics of the Swasey/Bladen Sphere of North-Central Belize are notably different than those of adjacent areas of the Belize Valley, Peten, and Yucatan. The extent of the Middle Preclassic Swasey/Bladen Sphere is becoming clearer with work at Ka’Kabish and the surrounding area. Similarly, the Terminal Classic/Early Postclassic ceramics...
Economic benefits of hunting dogs in the context of tropical horticulture (2015)
We provide evidence useful to ethnoarchaeological research on the behavioral coordination of hunting movements among humans and dogs. The domestication of dogs (~15000 y BP) is hypothesized to have benefited humans by increasing the food supply, saving human energy, and guarding camps or agricultural fields. Drawing on a year of fieldwork in Santa Cruz, Toledo District, Belize, we analyze the economics of hunting and the extent to which dogs could have helped humans to protect cultivated fields...
Establishing the Acropolis: Two Seasons of Excavation at Chan Chich (2015)
Open plaza spaces are a commonality among Maya sites. Excavating through the sealed contexts of these plaza surfaces can yield reliable data on the construction history of the site and how the space may have changed over time. This paper details the results from two seasons of excavations, which took place in May-June of 2012 and 2013 at the Maya site of Chan Chich in Northwestern Belize. Our investigations focused on the Upper Plaza, located at the acropolis of the site. Our investigations...
Evidence for Quarrying at Medicinal Trail, A Maya Hinterland Community in Northwestern Belize (2016)
Excavations associated with Structure A-7, a 9 x 4 m isolated mound near Group A of the Medicinal Trail Community in northwestern Belize, have revealed evidence for the extraction of stone blocks from the limestone bedrock. The evidence for quarrying consists of rectangular scars outlining stone blocks that appear to have been in the process of being harvested. Additionally, there was an artificially created bowl-shaped depression, 2 m in diameter and approximately 1 m deep. A problematic...
The Evolution of Anthropomorphic Imagery at Cahal Pech, Belize and its Implications for the Rise of Kingship in the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands. (2015)
In a series of articles published in the 1980’s, and in the subsequent volume "A Forest of Kings", David Freidel, and Linda Schele and Freidel demonstrated that the institution of kingship had been firmly established in the Maya lowlands by the Late Preclassic period. Twenty five years later, ongoing research in Belize and the Peten now suggests that this level of cultural complexity may have actually arisen by the Middle Preclassic period. One line of evidence that strongly supports this...
Examining the Environment: Pollen Data from Cara Blanca, Belize Pools 1 and 6 (2016)
Teetering on the edge of a 60-meter deep cenote, or karstic sinkhole, partially consumed by the pool and constantly threatened by erosion, is an Ancient Maya Water Temple. This particular cenote, Cara Blanca Pool 1, is one of 25 pools (cenotes and lakes) in the Cara Blanca region. Exploratory diving from the pool and excavations from several of its associated structures suggest the temple was a pilgrimage site for Terminal Classic (AD 750-900) Maya. Seeking reprieve from the Terminal Classic...
Excavations at Group F of the Medicinal Trail Community in Northwest Belize and its implications for Agricultural Processing (2017)
Excavations of a circular depression and adjacent mounds at Group F have revealed functional data to support the hypothesis that this area was used as a processing center for agricultural material. The evidence stems from excavation of the depression itself, as well as two chich mounds on the northwest and northeast sides. The limestone bedrock of the depression appears to have been manually shaped for use, as indicated by cobble fill found roughly a meter down in an excavation trench bisecting...
Exchange and the economy over time (2016)
Exchange drove Maya economy at many levels, yet the political landscape changed dramatically from the Preclassic to early colonial period. How did exchange networks respond to these changes? Or, we might ask instead if political change or upheaval was instigated by fluctuations or upsets in what might be called the market economy and those who sought to manage or control networks of supply? Did the ability to exact tax/tribute provide rulers and nobles with the economic power to invest and...
Exhibiting Maya Archaeology in the Developed World: A Developing Country Perspective (2016)
Mounting exhibitions that highlight the achievements of Mesoamerican civilizations can be a daunting task for curators of even the most affluent museums in America, Europe or Asia. In the case of smaller museums with ever decreasing budgets, the challenges posed by these projects are greater, and sometimes even cost-prohibitive. But what about the situation faced by the lending institutions in the developing world? Are there challenges and benefits that result from their collaboration with...
Exploring the Sacred Significance of Cave 2 at Chawak But'o'ob, Belize (2016)
The site of Chawak But'o'ob in the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area of northwestern Belize is being investigated by the Rio Bravo Archaeological Survey. The site, located just two kilometers southwest of the minor Preclassic- and Classic-period city of Dos Hombres, is unusual in that it is a modestly sized commoner residential site with a ballcourt. Very unusually, the paired ballcourt buildings are the largest at the site and perhaps along with the adjacent sweat house, are the only...
Geographic Origins of Child Sacrifices: Radiogenic Strontium Isotope Analyses from Midnight Terror Cave, Belize (2016)
Midnight Terror Cave, located in the Cayo district in Belize, has produced the largest skeletal assemblage reported from a Maya cave. Large-scale modification of the cave for public gatherings indicates that the space was used ritualistically; most of the individuals recovered are believed to be human sacrifices. The assemblage size permitted us to select a relatively large sample of permanent lower first molars from juveniles for radiogenic strontium isotope analyses. Juveniles were the only...
Giant Sloths, Ancient Maya Jars, and the Cave of the Black Mirror: Underwater Cenote Research at the Cara Blanca Pools, Belize (2018)
This research focuses on ancient Maya settlement at the Cara Blanca Pools, a string of 25 freshwater cenotes and lakes located in west-central Belize. Pool 1 has been the most extensively explored, with a depth of 235 feet and a geological makeup where the pool extends deep underneath the surrounding cliffs, becoming an underwater cave. The underwater cave component is named "Actun Ek Nen," which translates to "Black Mirror Cave" in the Mayan language. Our underwater exploration, methodology,...
Hinterland Causeways in the Maya Lowlands of Northwestern Belize (2017)
This paper will present preliminary results of archaeological investigations concerning the spatial arrangement of hinterland causeways and their function within inter and intra-site exchange networks. This research is a subsidiary project of the Dos Hombres to Gran Cacao Archaeology (DH2GC) Project, a transect settlement survey analysis of hinterland communities situated between the sites of Dos Hombres and Gran Cacao, in northwestern Belize. A primary goal of this research is to explore the...
Hun Tun: Household Context and Social Complexity in Northwestern Belize. (2015)
The ancient Maya site, Hun Tun is located in northwestern Belize and serves as a platform of inquiry into social complexity at the household level. This paper addresses ancient Maya commoners in household contexts while discussing data that are pertinent to ideas of household identity, social formation, and household production by re-evaluating the value of domestic space. The analysis of everyday objects in domestic contexts contributes to these data. Major archaeological features at Hun Tun...
The Impact of Belizean Archaeological Participation on Aspects of Cultural Identity and Cultural Heritage (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Belize is a country rich in archaeological resources including Paleoindian, Archaic, the Ancient Maya, and colonial. Belize has been and continues to be the focus of archaeological research, largely conducted by foreign researchers that help facilitate archaeological field schools training primarily American, Canadian, and English students. While many...
The Island and the Mainland: Connections between Maya Communities on Ambergris Caye and North-Central Belize (2015)
Ancient Maya occupation on Ambergris Caye has been documented from Preclassic through Postclassic times. Work at the site of Marco Gonzalez has concentrated on several structures in which we have found solid evidence for connections to Maya polities in northern Belize and beyond. Nonetheless, relationships with mainland communities changed substantially over time. Although the northern location of the caye makes it seem logical that its closest connections were with north-central Belize...
Local Chert Reduction, Maintenance, and Toolmaking: Terminal Classic Chert Use at Nohmul, Belize (dataset)
This dataset contains analysis of 381 chert artifacts excavated from structures 9 (circular) and 20 (patio quad) at the site of Nohmul in modern Belize. This material was originally excavated in two field seasons in 1978 and 1979 under the Corozal Postclassic Project by Diane Chase. The analysis of this material by Adrian SZ Chase and Jonathan Paige is published in the 2020 volume of Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology and should use that paper as a reference for this dataset (see abstract...
Mahogany and Sugar for Tobacco, Booze, and Salt-Pork: Consumerism and Consumption at 19th-Century Lamanai, Belize (2017)
This presentation outlines archaeological research focused on the nineteenth-century, British sugar plantation settlement at Lamanai, northwestern Belize. Little is known about the eighteenth- and nineteenth- centuries at Lamanai, and this ongoing project aims to answer questions regarding how life (residential, industrial, and administrative) was structured. Archaeological data presented here includes the results of recent archaeological excavations (2014) and a study of previously excavated...
Mahogany and Sugar for Tobacco, Booze, and Salt-Pork: Consumerism and Consumption at 19th-Century Lamanai, Belize (2015)
During the nineteenth-century, the Caribbean region was a hotbed of trade and commerce driven principally by extractive industries such as agriculture (principally sugar) and hardwood collection. Such ventures required large injections of capital into the creation and maintenance of discrete, productive landscapes as well as for hiring, housing, and feeding the workers who provided physical labor and management. The following presentation will explore a long-term residential area of one such...
Maya Wetlands: Natural and Anthropogenic (2015)
In our continuing endeavors to better understand Maya wetland formation and agricultural systems across the Maya Lowlands, we now compare natural and anthropogenic wetland field formation. Natural wetland processes can form patterned environments that may be similar visually to intensive, culturally modified, wetland systems. This paper will consider natural factors that can produce similar topography to Maya wetland fields. We will also present aerial photography, GIS, soil stratigraphy, and...
A Method for Identifying Surface Scatters in the Jungles of Belize: A Case Study from the Medicinal Trail Community (2017)
The implementation of systematic surface collection on a grid within Operation 17 at the Medicinal Trail Community in Northwestern Belize, highlights the importance of surface collection to the fuller understanding of ancient Maya socio-economics. Surface survey and collection at archaeological sites can lead to more precise interpretation of a site. However, jungle debris is often cleared from Maya sites with rakes, disrupting any surface collection before excavations begin. At Operation 17,...