“The Center and the Edge”: How the Archaeology of Belize Is Foundational for Understanding the Ancient Maya
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "“The Center and the Edge”: How the Archaeology of Belize Is Foundational for Understanding the Ancient Maya" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
In 1841, following his first historic trip to the Maya World, John Lloyd Stephens commented that between Belize City and the “inhabited part of Central America is a wilderness, unbroken even by an Indian path” and that “residence there is more confining than living on an island” (1841:19). While spectacular architectural remains and carved monuments pertaining to the ancient Maya were almost immediately recorded in the center of the Yucatán Peninsula, coastal areas like Belize had yet to yield similar results. Thus, many early archaeologists automatically assumed that what became the modern country of Belize was peripheral or, at best, on the edge of ancient Maya development. For many researchers in the Maya area, especially in modern countries surrounding Belize, this perspective continues to be espoused with little attention being paid to the Belizean archaeological data. Yet, the archaeology that has been undertaken in Belize has contributed disproportionately and significantly to our collective knowledge of ancient Maya civilization. This session highlights the many contributions that Belizean archaeology has made to the broader area of Maya studies and demonstrates how research in Belize has been at the leading edge of scholarly debates on ancient Maya prehistory.
Other Keywords
Maya: Classic •
Survey •
History Of Archaeology •
Ceramic Analysis •
Maya: Preclassic •
Resilience and Sustainability •
Social and Political Organization: States and Empires •
Lithic Analysis •
Chronology •
Economy
Geographic Keywords
United Mexican States (Country) •
Peten (State / Territory) •
Yucatan (State / Territory) •
Belize (Country) •
Orange Walk (State / Territory) •
Cayo (State / Territory) •
Corozal (State / Territory) •
Belize (State / Territory) •
Stann Creek (State / Territory) •
Quintana Roo (State / Territory)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-15 of 15)
- Documents (15)
- Centering the Edge: The Preclassic Ceramics of Belize (2024)
- Cities on the Cutting Edge: Urban Research in Belizean Archaeology (2024)
- The Contributions of Belize Archaeology to Our Understanding of Ancient Maya Economies (2024)
- Contributions of Belize Cave Research to Ancient Maya Studies (2024)
- From Marginalized to Impactful: Belizean Archaeology and the Classic Period Maya (2024)
- Historical Archaeology in Belize: Maya Continuity amid Colonial Landscapes (2024)
- House and City: Ancient Maya Water Management in Belize (2024)
- Innovation, Not Imitation: The Classic Period Ceramics of Belize (2024)
- Insights from the Classic to Postclassic Pottery of Belize (2024)
- Light Comes from the East: The Archaeology of Belize in Historical Context (2024)
- Maya Lithic and Metal Technologies in Belize (2024)
- Rising from the East: The Preclassic Foundations of Lowland Maya Societies in Belize (2024)
- The Scope and Contributions of the Hieroglyphic Corpus of Belize to our Understanding of the Ancient Maya (2024)
- The Shadow Realm: How Belizean Archaeology Has Illuminated the Maya Postclassic Era (2024)
- Six Decades of Research into Ancient Maya Settlement in Belize (2024)