What Lies Between Two Regions: Settlement and Landscape Archaeology at the Aguacate Sites, Belize

Summary

A series of exploratory surveys along the northern edge of the Belize River Valley in the area of the Aguacate lagoon has gradually revealed a surprisingly dense distribution of minor centers of the Classic Period Maya. These centers are situated in a zone of intersections, the nature of which shaped their presence in the landscape. Politically, the region lies at an interstice between the spheres of influence of several powerful, well-known polities. Geographically, the site complex is distributed across a transitional zone of ridges and wetlands that separates the Belize River Valley from neighboring regions. The location of this settlement system at the intersection of multiple types of spatial differentiation contributed to the development of an intensely heterarchical, tightly networked series of sites where local elites attempted to secure power and legitimacy through the deployment of a number of different elements of Maya architecture, cosmology and symbolic representation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16708