Underwater Maya: Analytical Approaches for Interpreting Ancient Maya Activities at the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Underwater Maya: Analytical Approaches for Interpreting Ancient Maya Activities at the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The remarkable preservation of pole and thatch buildings below the seafloor allows for an opportunity to investigate the organization of households at an ancient Maya salt industry known as the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize. Papers in this session will focus on the abandoned and inundated salt works that were preserved by sea-level rise and red mangrove peat. Chemical analysis of marine sediment has found patterns associated with buildings as well as plazas that support the interpretation that some of the buildings are residences. Brine was enriched outside of salt kitchens. The only two salt works above sea level aid in the reconstruction of activities inside and outside of wooden buildings. Analysis of marine sediment using loss-on-ignition provides information regarding the rate of sea-level rise and activities that occurred inside and outside of wooden buildings. The Paynes Creek Salt Works were integrated into the Classic Maya economy through trade and exchange as evidenced by stone tool analysis.