Hun Tun Household Context and Social Complexity

Summary

The ancient Maya site, Hun Tun is located in northwestern Belize and serves as a platform of inquiry into social complexity at the household level. This paper addresses ancient Maya commoners in household contexts while discussing data that are pertinent to ideas of household identity, social formation, and household production by re-evaluating conventional notions of domestic space. The analysis of everyday objects in domestic contexts contributes to this discussion. Major archaeological features and monuments at Hun Tun will be discussed as they pertain to hinterland settlements and household contexts. Particular features such as those found at Hun Tun challenge existing ideas about the function of hinterland domestic space. A discussion of function is crucial to understanding the role of households at Hun Tun in forming social complexity. In tandem with features, material culture is also discussed in context. Knowledge about the function of domestic activity areas serves to tie Hun Tun with the larger ancient Maya polity at La Milpa. Ceramics, various lithic material assemblages, and small find material culture, are among the recovered artifacts discussed here. These data suggest a broad range of access and exchange of materials at Hun Tun.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage