Social Memory in Maya Hinterland Communities: Recent Excavations at San Lorenzo, Belize

Author(s): Victoria Ingalls

Year: 2016

Summary

During the Preclassic period in the Maya lowlands, public structures became the materializations of ideology and memory, functioning to add permanence and significance to the growing ritual landscape. Most Preclassic public ritual structures, however, are documented within formal ceremonial centers. Little is known about Preclassic public spaces within hinterland communities. Recent excavations at the Xunantunich hinterland site of San Lorenzo have uncovered a Preclassic round platform buried beneath a Late-to-Terminal Classic settlement cluster. This platform sits on an expansive tamped marl surface and based on preliminary ceramic analysis dates to the Terminal Preclassic period. Comparative data suggests that this platform may have served a ritual or public function due to its size and form. The reuse and rebuilding on this location during the Late Classic has further implications for the maintenance of meaning and social remembrance of sacred places on the landscape outside formal ceremonial centers.

Cite this Record

Social Memory in Maya Hinterland Communities: Recent Excavations at San Lorenzo, Belize. Victoria Ingalls. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, Florida. 2016 ( tDAR id: 404962)

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Keywords

Spatial Coverage

min long: -107.271; min lat: 12.383 ; max long: -86.353; max lat: 23.08 ;