Understanding Residential Space through Soil Chemistry in the Northern Maya Lowlands

Summary

Soil chemistry in the Northern Maya Lowlands has been an effective method at a variety of sites and in a range of contexts such as households, ballcourts, causeways, and ceremonial plazas. Recent chemical analyses of the Ucí-Cansahcab Regional integration Project (UCRIP) also revealed that the soils of the Yucatán, México, are testable using the in-field Olsen bicarbonate method to measure levels of extractable inorganic phosphate. When supplemented with distributional analyses of artifacts on and off the residential platforms, phosphate tests prompt synchronic and diachronic observations of differential discard patterns and possible areas of food serving and preparation from Preclassic to Postclassic. From these observations, we compare similar and dissimilar residential contexts, consider the various functions platforms have over time, and discern trends related to broader changes in the social, political, and economic dynamics of Ucí and the construction of its associated 18km intersite causeway.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Excavating the House: Residential Architecture in the Maya Area

Keywords

Spatial Coverage