Cave 1 at the Site of at the site of Chawak But’o’ob: An Interpretation of Subterranean Space in Northern Belize

Summary

During the 2013 season, a team from California State University, Los Angeles worked with the Rio Bravo Archaeological Survey directed by Stanley Walling to conduct a preliminary assessment of Cave 1 (RB-47-142-X) at the site of Chawak But’o’ob. Located within the heart of the site’s public architecture, Cave 1 is surrounded by a ballcourt, a sweatbath and a sinkhole. Though our survey and excavation revealed utilization of the cave that differed from other areas of the Maya lowlands, its location within the heart of the site’s public architecture is significant in that caves are associated with people’s first emergence onto the earth’s surface and thus forms the basis of the group’s claim to the land. There is a great deal of freedom in the placement of architectural elements but natural elements, which are immovable, probably determined the elaboration of this space.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Recent Advances in the Archaeology of the Three Rivers Region of the Central Maya Lowlands

Keywords

Spatial Coverage