Paying Homage to the Ancestors: The (Preclassic) Cunil Phase Maya of Cahal Pech

Summary

More than 20 years of investigations at Cahal Pech have served to establish that the site has one of the longest sequence of occupation in the Maya lowlands. First settled at the end of the Early Preclassic period, the settlement gradually grew in size and affluence during the Middle and Late Preclassic periods, and eventually became one of the primary Classic period centers of the upper Belize River Valley. Cahal Pech’s rise to prominence, however, was not a product of Classic period achievements. Rather, it developed from the solid foundation established by the site’s earliest Preclassic inhabitants. Besides examining the origins of the first settlers of the Belize Valley, this paper also provides an updated and comprehensive description of the Cunil Phase Maya of Cahal Pech.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Exploring Two Thousand Years of Human Habitation in the Belize Valley: Situating Cahal Pech in Lowland Maya Prehistory

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