The Evolving Nature of Landscape: An Example from La Milpa, Belize

Summary

In 2014, the California State University, Los Angeles Sacred Landscapes Archaeology Project took over the investigation of what appeared to be a sinkhole with a small cave chamber at its northern end. In 2015, excavation was continued to bedrock. Lying on bedrock, was a chultun capstone and examination of the ceiling directly above it disclosed the remains of what had been the entry tube into the feature. The lack of deposition between the ceiling collapse and the floor suggests that the breakdown had occurred shortly after the construction of the chultun. The Maya then encircled the hole left by the collapse with a low plastered platform. Artifact density on the platform and in the hole was high but dropped precipitously only a few meters from the complex. This suggests that the Maya continued what appears to be a fairly intensive utilization centered on this transformed feature.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• New Developments in Mesoamerican Subterranean Archaeology

Keywords

Spatial Coverage