The Complexity of Trash: Reframing Construction Fill

Summary

Mesoamerican archaeologists have traditionally, although not exclusively, viewed artifacts found in the context of construction fill as trash and devoid of primary contextual information, a view that has limited the questions that archaeologists are able to ask of these materials. This paper posits an alternative interpretation to the meaning of material culture used in construction fill, utilizing evidence from Formative period construction fill found at the site of Cahal Pech, Cayo, Belize. Specifically, this presentation illustrates the possibility of the deliberate and agentic placement of specific types of material culture into the context of construction fill as a deeply meaningful act of community building that places both kin groups and individuals at the center of construction episodes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Crafting the Complex: Material Culture and the Rise of Complexity in Formative Mesoamerica

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16071