Polities, Hinterland Communities, and Everything in Between: Twenty-Five Years of Archaeological Research in Northwest Belize
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)
This session synthesizes 25 years of archaeological investigations taking place in the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area (RBCMA) of northwest Belize, a region that was deeply transformed by the life practices of the Maya over a period of nearly 2,000 years. From small beginnings in 1992, the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP) has since grown to encompass various research efforts, fostering cooperation among archaeologists, geographers, and environmental scientists. As a result, an extensive body of data concerning the character of many of the region’s recorded sites has been produced, shedding light onto the lives of the ancient Maya that inhabited this corner of Mesoamerica from the Preclassic (1000 BCE – 250 CE) to the Terminal Classic (850 – 950 CE) periods. This session builds on the regional focus to explore the interrelationships between the varying communities from various theoretical positions as supported by empirical data. Sites discussed in this session include the large Maya sites of La Milpa, Dos Hombres, and Maax Na. Mid-level sites of Say Ka and Wari Camp are also discussed, forming a bridge to the numerous smaller settlements that extend across the landscape such as Medicinal Trail, Hun Tun, and La Milpa North.
Other Keywords
Maya •
Ancient Maya •
hydrology •
Architecture •
Pottery •
Ecology •
Lithics •
Ritual •
Archaeology •
Paleoethnobotany
Geographic Keywords
Republic of El Salvador (Country) •
Belize (Country) •
Republic of Guatemala (Country) •
Mesoamerica •
United Mexican States (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
Republic of Honduras (Country) •
Jamaica (Country) •
Republic of Nicaragua (Country) •
Republic of Panama (Country)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-15 of 15)
- Documents (15)
- The Ancient City of Dos Hombres: Material Expressions of Power (2017)
- Commoner Landscape, Ritual, and Symbolism in the Shadow of Dos Hombres: Recent Investigations at the Site of Chawak But’o’ob. (2017)
- The Critical Zone Revolution from 2016 LiDAR and Two Decades of Multiproxy Geoarchaeology around the Programme for Belize (2017)
- Ecological and Paleoethnobotanical Research at the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (2017)
- The Emic, the Etic, and the Electronic: Digital Documentation in Northwestern Belize (2017)
- Exploring Migration and Kinship of the Ancient Maya through Isotopes and aDNA in NW Belize (2017)
- La Milpa East, Hun Tun, and Medicinal Trail Communities: Ancient Maya Hinterland Settlements East of La Milpa, Belize. (2017)
- Origins: Contextualizing the Beginning and Development of the PfBAP (2017)
- Power, Space, and Place in the Heart of La Milpa (2017)
- Production and Intensification in Hinterland Communities (2017)
- Putting the Pieces Together: Maax Na in Its Regional Context (2017)
- A Quarter-Century of Exploring the Three Rivers Watersheds in Belize (2017)
- Revealing La Milpa: Integrating Residential Data from the Core and Periphery (2017)
- Social, Economic, and Political Changes: An integration of ceramic and lithic data from the Three Rivers Region (2017)
- Wayfinding: Paths, Pathway Markers, and Navigational Monuments at Wari Camp and Beyond (2017)