chultun (Other Keyword)
1-6 (6 Records)
Chultunes, man-made subterranean chambers excavated into limestone bedrock, are ubiquitous features encountered throughout the Maya cultural region. Although studies in the Northern Lowlands have demonstrated that chultunes in that locale functioned as water cisterns, the ascription of them as purely utilitarian within the Southern Lowlands is under much debate. One issue that hinders dialogue is lack of a commonly accepted understanding of what constitutes a chultun. The first aim of this paper...
Demystifying Southern Lowland Chultunes: The Ritual Space Hypothesis (2017)
This investigation’s working hypothesis is that chultunes, manmade subterranean features, served as ritual spaces in the southern Maya lowlands. The hypothesis is an outgrowth of my grounding in cave archaeology. Ethnographically, even subterranean features used for utilitarian activities, such as mining, come to have sacred meaning and this phenomenon can be documented in ethnohistoric sources. However, my hypothesis has not been tested. Dennis Puleston argued for a utilitarian function of...
Form and Function of a Dual-Chambered Chultun at the Medicinal Trail Community, Northwestern Belize (2016)
The chultun from Group H at the Medicinal Trail Community in northwestern Belize was an unsealed, dual chambered feature filled with lithic debitage and sparse ceramic evidence. The chultun was located on the southern side of the dual level Structure H-1. The chambers had doomed roofs and walls with a sill leading into the largest chamber, the western chamber. The eastern chamber was small and was more of a niche than a chamber to be entered. Although storage is suggested by the small size of...
"Forth from this Dark and Lonely Hiding Place": Chultun Excavations at Ka'Kabish (2015)
During three field seasons, chultuns were investigated at three small groups representing the settlement zone, public space, and core near the main plaza of Ka’Kabish. Puleston asserted that chultuns must have a utilitarian function because they are overwhelmingly found in rural, domestic contexts. This very processualist logic denies the possibility of domestic ritual that is so prevalent in Maya ethnography. Furthermore, at Ka’Kabish, Uaxactun, Nakum and other sites, chultuns are regularly...
Reinterpreting a Sacrificial Ossuary at Chichen Itza (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Studies in Mesoamerican Subterranean Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the widening of the air strip at Chichen Itza in 1967, a small subterranean chamber, located some 300 m north of the Cenote of Sacrifice, was discovered. The feature, variably called a cave or a chultun, contained two small chambers, the larger of which was only 4 x 5 m. These chambers contained human skeletal material, a portion...
Ritualized Shatter: Obsidian in a Ritual Context at La Milpa, Belize (2016)
During the 2014 and 2015 field seasons, the California State University, Los Angeles Sacred Landscapes Archaeological Project conducted an investigation of a collapsed chultun at the ancient Maya site of La Milpa. The collapse pit had a small grotto at the northern end and excavation uncovered a plaster and rubble cored platform enclosing the feature. The platform formalized the space and suggested that it had functioned as a sacred landmark. During the excavations, a fairly dense concentration...