Maya (Other Keyword)
251-275 (495 Records)
Uxbenká, an Early Classic to Late Classic period Maya polity, is the most extensively excavated site in southern Belize. Recent ceramic analyses have succeeded in refining our understanding of the extent and duration of occupation at Uxbenká as well as its position in regional interaction spheres. Like other sites in the Maya Lowlands, we know very little about household ceramic production due to the lack of workshops and tools, probable seasonal production resulting in low volumes of finished...
Late Classic Maya Granite Working Community at the Tzib Group, Pacbitun, Belize (2016)
The ancient Maya site of Pacbitun is located between two major ecozones, the Belize River Valley and the Mountain Pine Ridge. Excavations from 2012 to 2015 at the Tzib group in the periphery of Pacbitun first revealed evidence of large scale mano and metate production. Excavations into a large mound, dubbed "Mano Mound" because the surface was covered with mano perform fragments, revealed that it was not only a debris pile, but also the workshop platform as well. Large granite flakes, hammer...
Late Classic to Terminal Classic Maya Transitions: Modeling from NW Belize (2016)
The Late Classic (AD 600-800) to Terminal Classic (AD 800-900) of NW Belize reveals a change in material culture, settlements, and social-political manifestations. Detailed here are some of the changes observed for the transition from the Late Classic to the Terminal Classic. Changes in material culture are described as are apparent choices in settlement locales between the two temporal phases. The interplay between material culture, settlements, and social-political organization are posited...
Lead (Pb) Isotope Analysis as a Means of Tracking Animal Migration and Trade in Mesoamerica (2017)
This study examines the first use of lead (Pb) isotope analysis as a means of tracking animal movement and exchange in the Maya area. Strontium and oxygen isotope ratios have been previously used to track animal and human movements archaeologically in Mesoamerica. Lead has been used to track movement and exchange in other parts of the world, and its application to Mesoamerican archaeology holds great potential for refining sourcing strategies. This study identifies local and non-local fauna at...
Learning from the past about the present and for the future (2015)
This paper argues that we would massively increase the value of our archaeological understanding of the past for the present if we cast it differently. Rather than use a reductionist, 'ex-post' approach (which explains the present by invoking the past, looking for origins), we should be using an "ex ante" approach that looks at the emergence of change, allowing us to learn from the past about the present and for the future. The paper first briefly summarizes some of the difficulties encountered...
Learning heritage while teaching archaeology at Tahcabo, Yucatán: archaeologists’ perspectives on the opportunities and risks of local community engagement (2015)
While a great deal of archaeological research in the Maya area has been conducted with the interests of the academic community and tourism industry in mind, there are fewer examples of archaeology conducted with the needs of local "publics" foregrounded. We propose greater dialogue between archaeologists and the people who live near (and within) places where archaeologists conduct research, and consider the dissemination of archaeological information to communities involved in archaeological...
LEAVING NO STONE UNTURNED: INVESTIGATING PRECLASSIC LITHIC PRODUCTION, CONSUMPTION, AND EXCHANGE AT SAN ESTEVAN, BELIZE AND K’O AND HAMONTÚN, GUATEMALA (2015)
From the gathering of agricultural surplus to the construction of small homes or large scale monuments, stone tools played a major role in many dimensions of everyday Formative Maya life. This presentation will examine the degree in which the production of stone tools made of chert and chalcedony were controlled by empowered political authorities or social groups at the sites of San Estevan in Northern Belize and K’o and Hamontún in the northeastern Petén region. The dynamics of the...
Leaving Their Mark on the Wall: Determining Sex in Ancient Maya Rock Art (2017)
Handprints and stencils are ubiquitous elements in rock art throughout the world. Numerous well preserved examples have been noted in Maya caves. These elements provide a clue as to the sex of the person whose hand is recorded on the cave wall. Recent studies have shown that sex may be estimated with a high degree of accuracy using anthropometric hand measurements. Sex is estimated by applying a variety of mathematical models based on sexual dimorphism in hand dimensions to direct measurement...
Let’s Talk Turkey: Turkey Use and Management at Postclassic Mayapán (2017)
The ancient Maya utilized two species of turkeys: the Ocellated Turkey (Meleagris ocellata) native to the Yucatán Peninsula, northern Guatemala, and northern Belize and the Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) from Central Mexico. The exact timing of Wild Turkey domestication and its introduction to the Maya area is unknown, although evidence as early as the Preclassic exists. The Ocellated Turkey was never fully domesticated but many scholars have proposed the Maya may have managed the species. To...
Liberty on the periphery: How Actuncan, Belize escaped the Classic Maya collapse (for a time) (2015)
In recent years, scholars working in the Classic period Maya periphery questioned traditional narratives of the 9th century Maya collapse by pointing to settlements along the periphery of the lowlands that appear to have maintained relative cultural and demographic stability. However, this generalization obscures dramatic sociopolitical changes these communities implemented to remain successful through the collapse. In this paper, I argue that populations on the periphery relied on a locally...
Life and death in the southeastern Maya periphery: Bioarchaeological and isotopic analysis of the Uxbenká burial population (2017)
The southern Belize region is typically considered geographically and culturally peripheral to the primary activity areas of the ancient Maya. Although researchers have documented the development of a "southern Belize style" in terms of architecture and material culture, to date very little systematic work has been undertaken to understand health, diet, and mortuary behavior in the region. Ten years of excavations at Uxbenká have yielded rich evidence of a continuous occupation spanning from the...
Linear Features in the Bajo de Azucar, Guatemala: Multiple Origins and Uses (2015)
Examination of satellite imagery in 2006 revealed a number of linear features of varying lengths in a remote section of the Bajo de Azucar, a large swampy depression in northeast Guatemala. Ground exploration and excavation of several of these features in 2007 and 2008 documented a combination of natural and anthropogenic origins. We argue that the ancient Maya modified and extended natural channels within the bajo for several possible reasons: 1) to facilitate transportation across a difficult...
Little Finds Big Results: The Utility of Small Artifacts in the Spatial Analyses of Looted Sites (2015)
Ethnographically cave use in Mesoamerica is well-documented and there are many accounts of modern rituals occurring in or near caves. These analogies provide excellent evidence for understanding the meaning of caves and provide supporting evidence to demonstrate that they functioned as ritual spaces in ancient society, yet analogies have little resonance when considering ancient rites occurring deep within caves. For this type of question we are much more dependent on the archaeological record...
Living at the Ritz: Investigations of the Palace Complex at Lower Dover, Belize (2017)
Palatial complexes are distinct architectural features within ancient Maya civic ceremonial centers. Maya palaces are commonly multi-roomed complexes featuring attributes such as corbelled roofing, benches, private courtyards, and other decorative attributes. Archaeologists suggest palatial complexes serve as multifunctional spaces for the elite residents. These functions include residential space as well as ritual space for events such as feasts, dances, and other social events. Excavations at...
Looking at the Ancient Maya from the Outside (2016)
I owe Vern Scarborough a great debt for the opportunity to look into the dynamics of Maya research in the context of the IHOPE Maya project. As a historian and prehistoric archaeologist, I have been struck by the way in which, in the research, two perspectives were commingled: the prehistorian's perspective looking (back) towards the origins of the heyday of (Classic) Maya culture and the historian's perspective looking (forward) for the emergence of certain elements of it. It seems to me that...
Macaw Mountain and Ancient Peoples of Southeast Mesoamerica (2015)
In A Forest of Kings, Linda Schele and David Freidel captivated readers with substance and inference about multiple Maya cities and their inhabitants. For Copan, they focused on long- and short-term developments culminating in the death of its last effective king, Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat, whose death effectively coincided with the end of both dynastic rule and social cohesion at Macaw Mountain, Copan. Extraordinary finds and ideas have come to light since that 1990 publication, things those...
Making and Keeping Secret Knowledge at Xultun, Guatemala (2016)
As repositories for scientific secrets and ritual expertise, the four extant Maya codex books have proven an indispensable source for understanding ancient systems of religion and socio-political thought. But despite the undoubted existence of codex books during the much earlier Late Classic period (600-900 C.E.), the tropical climate’s decay-inducing effect on organic material has thus far prevented their recovery in the archaeological record. In this paper, I discuss the Los Sabios mural at...
The Making of a Mesoamerican Blockbuster: Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed (2016)
This paper draws on a case study of the making of Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed, a “blockbuster” traveling exhibit, to examine issues related to the business, development, and curation of museum exhibits featuring Mesoamerican culture and history. On the business side, museums face challenges in funding exhibits, managing risk, and ensuring return on investment. Development efforts struggle to deliver exhibits in tune with the public’s changing tastes without sacrificing institutional goals to...
The Many Lives of Maya Antiquities: Tracking Distribution and Redistribution through Auction Catalogues (2017)
Glossy sales catalogues published by high-end auction houses present a seemingly endless supply of antiquities for purchase from around the world. These catalogues offer insight into market trends and allow the volume of antiquities being bought and sold at auction to be monitored. At a time when the internet auction market is growing, and the publication of information in catalogue form is declining, it is important to record and share data from available sales catalogues. This paper presents...
Marine Fossils and Domestic Ritual in Maya Commoner Households: Two Neighborhoods in the Classic Maya City of Palenque (2016)
Marine fossils carried an important symbolic load for elites in the Classic Maya city of Palenque. Recent excavations demonstrate that marine fossils were intentionally employed in a variety of ways by commoners in hinterland domestic contexts as well. Despite a shared symbology, such use varied across the landscape: inhabitants of different neighborhoods had different practices surrounding these materials. The special significance of marine fossils in commoner households is particularly evident...
Material Culture Correlates of Polity Restructuring and Decline: Changes in Ceramic Production and Use at the End of the Late Classic Period in the Copan Valley (2017)
Features of material culture can be actively constructed and transparently manipulated to various sociopolitical ends, with the installation of elaborate monuments and possession of ornate goods making bold statements of power and authority. While other more common elements of material culture may provide perhaps less conspicuous commentary on the "state of the union," they can also be equally symbolic of the conditions under which they were created. This paper examines the material culture...
A Materialist Perspective on Ancient Maya Flaked Stone Technology: Chert Blade-Core Artifacts from Caracol, Belize (2016)
Using a recently analyzed lithic deposit, from Caracol, Belize, this paper considers ancient Maya crafting from a materialist perspective. Through this perspective, we consider Caracol’s chert technology not as separate and distinct from obsidian, implicating a separate community of crafters, somehow less prestigious or knowledgeable, but rather, we argue that similarity in material properties enabled the utilization of identical reduction techniques. Those techniques in crafting were shared...
Maya 2012. Prophecy becomes history. (2016)
The Houston Museum of Natural Science hosted an exhibit on the Maya 2012 phenomenon. This presentation reviews the various stages of preparing an exhibit from initial concept to cutting the ribbon. In particular, the speaker will address developing the storyline, object selection and marketing of the exhibit.
Maya Apocalypse 2012 in the Media -- The Cataclysm that Never Was. (2015)
December 21, 2012 was supposed to be the Maya apocalypse, the end of the world as we know it. In reality, it was only the end of one Maya calendar cycle of 5122 years -- the end of the 13th Baktun. Even at that, the Maya saw the ending of calendars as a renewal, not an end. But somehow, somewhere this event was interpreted as a coming cataclysm of immense proportion. In the popular press and online, the Maya apocalypse was imminent. How was the coming of this supposed event covered by the press...
Maya Archaeology: Research & Interpretations with Dr. Scarborough (2016)
More than 25 years of collaborative research with Dr. Scarborough has provided for interesting ups & downs in understanding prehistoric Maya activities. Beginning at Cerros, intervening distant research, rejoining at Kinal (Guatemala), and culminating in NW Belize (for now) has allowed for a fascinating journey of archaeological investigations. Presented here are both scientific endeavors as well as events from field activities during nearly three decades of mutual research interests from...