The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize" at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Recent research in the Mopan River valley, Belize, has documented a robust Preclassic occupation. Evidence suggests that this region was first settled during the Archaic period and was continually inhabited through the Terminal Classic. E Groups represent the earliest public/ritual architecture erected in the Mopan Valley. A formal ceremonial center with an E Group, large platforms, and plazas was present at Early Xunantunich by the Middle Preclassic. The E Group at Las Ruinas de Arenal was also founded in the Middle Preclassic. E Groups became more widespread by the beginning of the Late Preclassic as seen at Actuncan, Tunchilin, and Chan. Throughout the Preclassic, there is an expansion of settlement and evidence of formal ritual circuits including hilltop shrines and specialized ritual architecture in hinterland zones. The papers in this session present current research on the Preclassic period from several different archaeological projects. Although each paper presents a unique empirical dataset, the combined research demonstrates that through building and ritual activities, the Preclassic Maya of the Mopan Valley shaped and inscribed a sacred and political landscape. The social memory of these religious and political activities endured for centuries, laying the foundation for their Classic period successors.