New and Emerging Perspectives on the Bajo el Laberinto Region of the Maya Lowlands, Part 1

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "New and Emerging Perspectives on the Bajo el Laberinto Region of the Maya Lowlands, Part 1" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Bajo el Laberinto region of the Maya lowlands was an important locus of cultural development, continuities, and transformations for over two millennia. Beginning around the time of the earliest sedentary communities and extending through to the Postclassic period, the Maya of this region established and developed communities along the margins of bajos (karst seasonal wetlands), transforming and managing complex and diverse landscapes to meet the demands of urban populations. During the Preclassic (900 BCE–200 CE), autonomous cities such as Yaxnohcah and Calakmul flourished in this sociospatial landscape. However, by 450 CE, Calakmul emerged as the center of a network of economically integrated urban settlements, ultimately becoming one of the largest cities in Mesoamerica and the most politically significant and influential Maya city from 650 to 850 CE. Interdisciplinary investigations in this region have generated robust data relevant to understanding the distribution of settlement, land use and water management strategies, and livelihood practices. More recently, new avenues of research have focused on continuities and disruptions in urban landscapes and social, political, and economic dynamics. This two-part symposium explores these themes, with contributors presenting findings and interpretations from new, ongoing, and recently completed work in the Bajo el Laberinto region.