Creating an Interdisciplinary Map of Social and Environmental Change through Topography and Bioarchaeology

Summary

Societal change does not occur in a vacuum and marks the social and physical landscape in a myriad of ways. The natural world—the lived in landscape—is the most pervasive and enduring reminder and example of social order. Water is a staple of both domestic and ritual life and leaves its mark in architectural and biological manifestations of society. Mountains, caves, and ravines and other landscape monuments are emblematic of regional geology and influence the local human population both at the societal level and within the body’s biogeochemistry. The environment leaves unambiguous markers on human remains as well cultural perceptions of space and development. This paper discusses how Geographic Information Systems (GPS) data, spatial analysis, and bioarchaeological data (radiogenic strontium data) can effectively map societal change of cities at frontiers or transition zones. While northwestern Belize is often the ‘laboratory’ of ideas and conceptualizations, our case studies will include examples from archaeological sites in the Guatemalan Transversal and Petén regions as well as from Honduras and the Copan Valley at the proposed Maya southern frontier.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• "Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes": Transitions and Thresholds throughout Central America and Beyond

Keywords

Spatial Coverage