Terminal Classic (Other Keyword)
1-11 (11 Records)
The Terminal Classic period in the southern Maya Lowlands was one of great social transition, witnessing the disruption of long-standing economic systems, and the downfall of divine kingship. The manifestation of this "collapse" in the artifactual record has been well documented at many sites throughout the Belize Valley, yet how it does so at the site of Pacbitun, on the southern rim of the Belize Valley, remains poorly understood, in spite of nearly three decades of archaeological research...
Central Peten Jato Black-on-Gray: A Look at Gray wares and Black Wares, Monkeys and Mortuaries (2016)
Jato Black-on-Gray is an extremely rare Terminal Classic pottery type in central Petén, typically recovered as mortuary furniture. It is a hybrid, combining typical Petén forms with aspects of color, decoration, and use borrowed from wares and groups such as Chablekal Fine Gray and Achote Black, more common in western and southwestern Petén. In particular, an incised monkey image on a Jato vase from Tayasal ties it to common motifs on Chablekal bowls, which are also from burial contexts but were...
Ceramic Chronology and Current Visions of the "Terminal Classic" and Collapse in the Southern Maya Lowlands: A Brief Desultory Philippic (2017)
Recent popular interpretations have proposed that the "Terminal Classic" in the southern lowlands was a gradual transition or slow multi-stage process or that many ninth and tenth century centers continued to prosper; or even have proposed a "What collapse?" scenario. Yet systematic site by site review of ceramic chronologies and evidence reveals that these characterizations and, indeed, the whole debate are poorly informed due to errors in ceramic typologies and limited understandings of the...
Desperate Times, Distinctive Places: Human Landscape Interaction at Tzak Naab, Belize (2017)
Located in northwestern Belize, the ancient Maya site of Tzak Naab lay at the intersection of an urban polity and vital agricultural space during the Terminal Classic, a period of considerable ecological and economic stress. The monumental architecture of the site strays from regional grammars with an atypical spatial syntax that emphasizes a connection to an adjacent bajo, a seasonally inundated wetland significant to the regional political economy. Attention to site planning and experiential...
ering the Past: Analysis and Interpretation of a Terminal Classic Deposit at the Cahal Pech Terminus Group (2016)
The Terminal Classic (AD 750-900/1000) Maya "collapse" remains one of the least understood and most debated aspects in Maya archaeology. One characteristic feature of Terminal Classic contexts in the Belize Valley are large surficial ceramic deposits and are located in the corners of plazas, in front of stairs, and in the doorways of public architecture. These types of terminal deposits have been attributed to numerous activities including termination rituals, feasting events, refuse disposal in...
Maya Non-Elite Hinterland Household Responses to Terminal Classic Transformations (2016)
My research examines the responses of Maya hinterland households to Terminal Classic (AD 780-900) socioeconomic transformations. My fieldwork focuses on Floodplain North, one of five settlement clusters in the Rancho San Lorenzo Survey Area in Belize’s Mopan valley. While adjoining settlement clusters have been intensively studied, my excavations are the first at Floodplain North. To date I have completed 25 test excavations, sampling all of the mounds in the settlement cluster. Preliminary...
Obsidian Trade at the Edge of the Maya World (2018)
The position of Vista Alegre at the Northeastern edge of the Yucatan Peninsula, a gateway between the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, made it a strategic location for circumpeninsular maritime trade in Pre-Colombian times. A robust sample of obsidian artifacts from the Terminal-Postclassic transition increases our understanding of trade relations between the eastern and western sides of the Maya world. Technological and source analyses of obsidian artifacts from the site are presented to fill...
Over the Hills: Decline and Abandonment of the Bolonchén District (2016)
This paper examines the final decades of the Terminal Classic and the beginning of the Postclassic in the Bolonchén district of the Puuc region of the northern Maya lowlands. Archaeological evidence for the decline and abandonment of the Bolonchén district at the close of the Terminal Classic period is presented. Particular attention is given to the material remains of a late Terminal Classic population at Huntichmul, an example of a Puuc center in decline and most likely abandoned by the close...
Round structures: Their function(s) (2015)
Round foundation braces for perishable walls are seldom the focus of excavation owing to their relatively unimpressive physical characteristics. However, these structures become common throughout the Northern Lowlands at the end of the Terminal Classic period, appearing in 50 percent of the surveyed sites. This paper will examine their possible function, and explain why they became so widespread. SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and...
Searching for Continuity in the Hinterlands: Households at Rancho San Lorenzo’s Floodplain North Settlement Cluster, Belize (2015)
In this paper I will summarize the results of the 2013 and 2014 field seasons at the Floodplain North settlement cluster, located within the Rancho San Lorenzo Survey Area in the Mopan River Valley, Belize. Investigations sought to identify continuous occupation from the Late Classic to Postclassic periods. Maya occupation at Rancho San Lorenzo peaked in the Late Classic, followed by a drastic decrease in population levels. However, pedestrian survey undertaken in 2013 revealed Postclassic...
Terminal Classic Maya Political Organization from the Perspective of a Secondary Site Cochuah Region, Quintana Roo (2016)
This paper focuses on characteristics of a secondary center and its satellite settlements to provide evidence for the nature of political organization in the Cochuah Region during the Terminal Classic Period. The examination of these settlements gives insight into the political organization of a secondary center which otherwise would not be available if investigation was limited to the primary centers. The data used for investigation of the nature of political organization during this time are...