Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Recent multidisciplinary archaeological investigations in the Mirador Basin of northern Guatemala have determined the presence of an extraordinary concentration of large and early Maya sites in a circumscribed area. These sites are connected by a dendritic web of causeways that were an integral part of early state formation within the geographically and geologically defined system. Such infrastructure facilitated economic, social, and political development and stability in the Middle and Late Preclassic periods as evident by the quantity and density of Preclassic Maya sites and associated structures, architectural monumentality, uniform economic, political and religious ideologies, the development of integrated agricultural and hydraulic logistics systems, and exchanges of goods and commodities that allowed for the formation of an early state system in northern Guatemala. The primary focus of the investigations are (1) the origins of complex societies in this region and related environmental and geological phenomenon; (2) the cultural, political, and economic dynamics that sustained and maintained the system; (3) the causes and implications of the demographic degradation and collapse of a what was a vibrant and dynamic society; and (4) the conservation, protection, and economic sustainability of the tropical forest system and the associated cultural resources within the basin.

Other Keywords
Maya: Preclassic • Architecture • Cultural Resources and Heritage Management • Geoarchaeology • Landscape Archaeology • Settlement patterns • Mortuary archaeology • Maya: Classic • Remote Sensing/Geophysics • geomorphology

Geographic Keywords
Belize (Country) • United Mexican States (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 1-14 of 14)

  • Documents (14)
Documents
  • Aspectos constructivos del Grupo Cascabel (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Edgar Ortega. Gustavo Martinez.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. En la última década, el Proyecto Cuenca Mirador ha trabajado en el Grupo Cascabel ubicado al norte de la gran plaza principal del sitio El Mirador. Su meta ha sido la investigación arqueológica y consolidación arquitectónica de varios edificios de este grupo para conocer los aspectos constructivos de épocas...

  • At the Gates of Xibalba: The Chultunob of El Mirador, Guatemala (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sara Dalton.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Subterranean chambers known as chultuns or chultunob exist in great numbers in sites throughout the Maya world, with over 300 being found in the city site of El Mirador alone. Although seemingly ubiquitous, the function of these structures has yet to be fully understood, with a variety of uses having been proposed...

  • Bioarchaeological Analysis of Preclassic Human Remains Recovered from a Lime Kiln, El Mirador, Guatemala (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Dana Kollmann.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper presents the preliminary findings pertaining to the exhumation and bioarchaeological examination of a collection of Preclassic period human remains recovered from a lime kiln in El Mirador Basin, Guatemala. The disarticulated and fragmented skeletal remains of nine individuals were compressed into a...

  • Excavaciones en el Grupo Saraguate, Complejo La Danta, El Mirador (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Lorena González.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. El Grupo Saraguate, está localizado sobre la segunda plataforma del Complejo La Danta que había sido fechado para el Clásico Tardío 600-900 dC. El Grupo Saraguate se caracteriza por contar por varios edificios de baja altura, que se distribuyen en aglutinadas plazas y patios, la presencia de entierros, y piedras de...

  • Games or Prehispanic Rituals? The Ball Courts of the Mirador Basin (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only AnaBeatriz Balcarcel. Richard Hansen. Carlos Morales. JuanLuis Velésquez.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ball game was one of the most widespread in Mesoamerica since the Early and Middle Preclassic periods if not earlier. This presentation will present the different ball courts detected in the Mirador Cultural and Natural zone, also known as Mirador Basin, indicating the chronology, form, contextual associations,...

  • Hidden Structures at El Mirador: Challenges and Prospects (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Richard Paine. Kevin Johnston. Enrique Hernandez. Richard Hansen.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Invisible structures present serious and difficult to solve challenges for Mayanists. Despite a generation of research into Classic period invisible structures, we know little about their prevalence, history, or range of uses. We know even less about invisible structures from the Preclassic. Invisible structures are...

  • In the Land of the Codex-Style Ceramics: New Insights on Classic Maya Settlement Organization in Northern Petén, Guatemala (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Carlos Morales-Aguilar. Christophe Helmke.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Since the archaeologist Michael Coe dubbed "Codex-style" ceramics to a group of polychrome vessels coming from northern Guatemala and southern Campeche, many scholars have given attention to study this pottery produced during the Late Classic period. However, little is still known about the archaeological context of...

  • Investigaciones en el Grupo Sereque, Complejo La Danta, El Mirador, Petén: Resultados 2015-2018 (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Marcia Chacon De Hernandez.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Investigaciones en el Grupo Sereque han enfocado en la estructura principal conocida como Edificio 5A7.1 del Grupo Sereque, que corresponde al complejo La Danta. El grupo esta ubicada al norte sobre una elevación y área de cantera y está conectado directamente a la primera plataforma de la Danta por una calzada de...

  • La arquitectura preclásica de El Mirador: Vista desde la Acrópolis La Pava (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Edgar Suyuc.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Dentro de las investigaciones del Proyecto Cuenca Mirador, se cuentan las realizadas en La Acrópolis Triádica La Pava. En los resultados se evidencian rasgos arquitectónicos relevantes de la ocupación del Preclásico Tardío en El Mirador. Durante esta presentación se expondrán los hallazgos de las excavaciones en...

  • Landscape of the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ross Ensley. Richard Hansen. Carlos Morales. Josie Thompson.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The southern Petén Plateau can be subdivided into four karst landscapes, each with a dominant karst landform. They are fluviokarst, polygonal karst, karst margin plain, and upland karst. These terrains have different proportions of uplands and low standing wetlands. Within this framework lies the Mirador-Calakmul...

  • Middle Preclassic Occupation and Architecture of the Mirador Basin, Guatemala (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Richard Hansen. Edgar Suyuc. Gustavo Martinez.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeological excavations and technical analyses in the Mirador Basin of northern Guatemala have provided a new perspective of the origins and dynamics of incipient Maya civilization. Data relevant to settlement patterns, sampling strategies, demographic distributions, chronological evaluations, DNA and isotope...

  • Preclassic Settlement Patterns and Natural Topography in the Mirador Karst Basin of Northern Guatemala (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Josephine Thompson. Carlos Morales. Richard Hansen. Ross Ensley.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A new model of Preclassic settlement patterns has emerged with the use of lidar to document a large-scale landscape in northern Guatemala. These patterns include highly sophisticated man-made hydrographic features, monolithic transportation networks, extensive residential complexes, and monumental civic complexes...

  • Production and Use of Lime for Preclassic Architecture and Causeway Construction in the Mirador Karstic Basin (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Thomas Schreiner.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Excavations over several decades in the Mirador Basin of northern Guatemala, combined with detailed experimental data, have revealed extraordinary use of lime products in the construction and maintenance of Maya causeways, architecture, and associated art. This paper will consider both the quantitative utilization...

  • Soil Chemical Analysis of the Floors of Walled Enclosures within the Mirador Basin (2021)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Richard E. Terry. Daniel A. Bair.

    This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Geochemical analyses of soils and floors have proven useful in the interpretation of ancient human activities. Lidar images of the Mirador basin have brought to light Preclassic walled enclosures in the Mirador basin. Soil chemical analysis in combination with lidar and excavation data helped determine the ancient...