A Place for the Living, A Place for the Dead: Social Memory at the Ancient Maya Hinterland Community of San Lorenzo, Belize

Summary

Public structures across the Maya lowlands functioned as materializations of ideology, memory, and identity. However, documentation of public ritual structures is typically limited to formal ceremonial centers. Little is known about public spaces within hinterland communities. Excavations at the site of San Lorenzo offer insight into the use and transformation of ritual space within a hinterland community. Recent excavations of a public structure group have uncovered multiple construction phases beginning in the Preclassic and culminating in the Terminal Classic. The Preclassic phase of these structures is a round platform resting on a tamped marl surface. Due to its size and form, comparative data suggests that this platform may have functioned as a space for public ritual. Excavations have further uncovered seven interred individuals within the patio space of the Late Classic construction phases. Thus, by the Late and Terminal Classic periods, this site became a burial ground. The transformation in use and the continual reconstruction of ritual space over centuries suggests that this site served as a space of social remembrance and identity on the landscape of the San Lorenzo community.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16994