Traditions and Transformations in the Southwestern Maya Highlands: Ceramic and Settlement Evidence from the Southwest Lake Atitlan Basin, Solola, Guatemala

Summary

Following an intensive socialization campaign, the Lake Atitlan Archaeological Project (PALA) conducted systematic surface collections for over 50 properties within the municipios of San Pedro and San Juan La Laguna in the southwestern Lake Atitlan Basin. These investigations identified more than 30 archaeological sites including three large population centers with monumental architecture, a large number of smaller ritual and domestic sites, and several individual rock art locations. Test excavations were subsequently conducted at four sites with the primary goal of defining the ceramic sequence for the Classic to Postclassic transition. The initial results, presented here, indicate that the southwest Lake Atitlan Basin supported sizeable populations during the Late Preclassic, Early Classic and Postclassic periods. Late Classic and Early Postclassic occupations are, however, continuing to prove elusive, suggesting a period of conservative development, population decline, or abandonment. The rich and diverse ceramic collection generated by the PALA project covering the Middle Preclassic through to the Spanish Conquest has the potential to shed considerable light on regional ceramic developments and to illuminate the origins and organization of the Tzutujil / Tziquinahay confederation that dominated the area during the Postclassic.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

Spatial Coverage