The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)
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.
Other Keywords
Maya: Preclassic •
Social and Political Organization •
Architecture •
Community •
Landscape Archaeology •
Ceramic Analysis •
Craft Production •
Formative •
Monumentality •
ancestor veneration
Geographic Keywords
United Mexican States (Country) •
Belize (Country) •
North America (Continent) •
Peten (State / Territory) •
Yucatan (State / Territory) •
Orange Walk (State / Territory) •
Cayo (State / Territory) •
Corozal (State / Territory) •
Belize (State / Territory) •
Stann Creek (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-7 of 7)
- Documents (7)
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The Ancestors You Choose: The Role of Predecessors at Xunantunich, Belize Group D (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Ancestor veneration was a cornerstone for Maya social organization and vital to the maintenance of hierarchy. As the Maya became more politically and socially complex, ritual practices involving ancestors also rose in complexity. Critical to the concept of ancestors is the recognition of the bond between ancestors and spaces. This...
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Investigations of a Preclassic E Group at Las Ruinas de Arenal, Belize (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Mopan Valley Preclassic Project began a multiyear project at Las Ruinas de Arenal as part of a larger regional study of the Preclassic social and political landscape in the upper Belize River valley. New excavations of the site’s E Group complex and associated ball court have shed light on Preclassic ritual behavior at the site....
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Middle Preclassic Ceramic Distribution in Western Belize: A Comparative Study from Early Xunantunich (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The value of ceramic sherds and vessels to the archaeologist extends far beyond the chronology of a site. Ceramic production and distribution data, for example, reveal information about ancient lifeways, ideologies, and movement across a landscape, ultimately telling us more about the people behind the pottery. In this paper, I will...
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Monumentality, Politics, and Power: Implications of Recent Investigations of Late Preclassic Public Architecture at Xunantunich, Belize (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Late Preclassic period (~300 BC–AD 300) witnessed some of the most important changes in social and political roles in the Maya lowlands when an emergent elite class began to use art and architecture to publicly display their elevated status in society. Recent archaeological research at the hilltop center of Xunantunich, located in...
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Ritual and Movement in the Preclassic Hinterlands of the Mopan River Valley (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Evidence from the Mopan River valley continues to clarify the nature and extent of Preclassic occupation of the region. The hinterland community of San Lorenzo sits directly across the river from both Xunantunich and Actuncan, sites with substantial Preclassic construction and ritual use. Using data gathered from this ancient...
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Situating Early Xunantunich, Belize, in the Preclassic Landscape: A Synthetic Perspective from Structure F1 (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Over the last five years, intensive investigations of Structure F1 at Early Xunantunich, Belize, have shed light on a dynamic and important time in the site’s early history. The monumental platform structure played an important role in the early ceremonial center, creating the site’s northern boundary, hosting large public rituals,...
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Tracing the Relationship between E Groups and Emerging Social Integration at the Site of Actuncan, Belize (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. One of the earliest known examples of permanent architecture in the Maya Lowlands, a distinctive plaza-structure complex known as an E Group, is also one of the most commonly encountered architectural groups present within Preclassic sites throughout the region. The rapid adoption of permanent architecture and widespread...