Recent Advances in the Archaeology of the Three Rivers Region of the Central Maya Lowlands

DOCUMENT Citation Only Lauren Copeland. Jocelyn Acosta. Marilyn Bueno.

In 2014 and 2015, the California State University, Los Angeles Sacred Landscape Archaeological Project carried out investigations of a collapsed chultun at the site of La Milpa in northern Belize. Excavation revealed a heavy concentration of ceramic and artifacts immediately surrounding the collapse with concentrations dropping precipitously only a few meters from the complex. This report analyzes the ceramic sherds recovered in excavation. The ceramics were sorted into six categories:...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Ann Scott. Melanie Saldana.

During the 2013 season, a team from California State University, Los Angeles worked with the Rio Bravo Archaeological Survey directed by Stanley Walling to conduct a preliminary assessment of Cave 1 (RB-47-142-X) at the site of Chawak But’o’ob. Located within the heart of the site’s public architecture, Cave 1 is surrounded by a ballcourt, a sweatbath and a sinkhole. Though our survey and excavation revealed utilization of the cave that differed from other areas of the Maya lowlands, its...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Krystle Kelley. David M. Hyde.

This poster details the findings from a contextual analysis of “special finds” artifacts collected at Medicinal Trail from 2004-2014. Medicinal Trail is a hinterland community in the Maya lowlands of Northwestern Belize, 5 km east of the large urban center of La Milpa. The special finds collected at Medicinal Trail include an assemblage of artifacts from a variety of non-perishable raw materials including clay, shell, and stone that do not belong to standard categories of ceramic, lithic, and...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Caius Chickanis. Monica Briseno.

Quarts and calcite crystals are used by shamans throughout Mesoamerica for divination. Ethnographic accounts mention shamans who, lacking actual crystals, use pieces of broken glass. This suggests that crystals may not occur in all areas so that crystals could have been actively traded in Pre-Columbian times. Testing this hypothesis requires developing a methodology for sourcing quarts and calcite crystals using trace elements incorporated into the crystal matrix during growth. So far as we...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Sharon Hankins. Yarely Meza. Cristina Gonzales.

This is a multifaceted approach utilizing environmental, ethnographical, and ceramic studies from various instructors with feedback from students, faculty, and experienced potters. Incorporating this project in our field school, generates more knowledge and curiosity in the observation of materials in the field pertaining to this technology.The environment and its contribution to our needs such as clay, water, temper, fuel, and firing methods are some of the most important aspects of research....

DOCUMENT Citation Only Heriberto Marquez. Cristina Verdugo. Hector Neff. James Brady.

The earliest use of red pigment in mortuary contexts has been documented in Neanderthal burials during the Upper Palaeolithic period (50,000- 12,000 BCE) in Europe (Roper 1991). The use of red pigment for both mortuary and decorative practices has been identified in Mesoamerica as early as the Early Preclassic. These practices include the sprinkling or encasing of various artifacts such as shell or bone in either red ochre or cinnabar. Investigations at Midnight Terror Cave (MTC) carried out...

DOCUMENT Citation Only David M. Hyde. Nadine Gray.

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...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Rissa Trachman.

Ongoing investigations at the site of Dos Hombres are being conducted towards a multiscale perspective. Investigations in the hinterlands of Dos Hombres have revealed much about household and community organization there based on architectural, material culture, and water management feature remains. Evidence in the civic ceremonial center of Dos Hombres is being gathered towards a greater understanding of its role economically in the region, its occupation history, and socio-political...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Joseph Orozco. Michael D. Glascock, Ph.D. Cinthia Campos.

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...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Richard Nicolas.

In 2014, the California State University, Los Angeles Sacred Landscape Archaeological Project (SLAP) began investigation of a deep pit with a small grotto at its northern end. In 2015, the pit was excavated to bedrock only to discover that the feature was a collapsed chultun. Noteworthy was a plastered platform that encircled the collapse pit. A dense concentration of artifacts was associated with the platform and pit but this dropped rapidly only a few meters from the platform indicating the...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Nicholas Poister. Errol Mathias. Mario Mena. James Brady.

A large portion of the ceramic assemblage recovered from the Maya cave site of Naj Tunich, Guatemala consists of unslipped and monochrome slipped ceramic types generally considered to be “utilitarian” or “domestic” wares. This identification is based upon type-variety analysis rather than any evidence of the actual use to which they were put. That these ceramics were deposited in conjunction with domestic activities is at odds with the widely accepted interpretation that the Maya employed caves...

DOCUMENT Citation Only Michael Prout.

Children throughout Mesoamerica were preferred sacrificial victims, especially to water deities. Because caves were associated with rain, ethnohistoric sources mention the sacrifice of children in caves. The importance of children in sacrifice was documented early on by Edward Thompson’s dredging of the Cenote of Sacrifice at Chichen Itza. More recently archaeological investigations of caves have recovered and identified the skeletal remains of children that have been interpreted as sacrificial...