Examining Everyday Lives: Non-Elite Maya Households and the Terminal Classic Collapse

Summary

In this paper I will discuss recent archaeological investigations at the Floodplain North settlement cluster, located within the Rancho San Lorenzo Survey Area in Belize’s Mopan River valley. My research investigates the adaptive responses of non-elite Maya to Terminal Classic (AD 780-900) socioeconomic and political transformations. Preliminary analysis indicates occupation continued at Floodplain North after the Terminal Classic collapse and the abandonment of nearby settlements. Materials recovered from patio groups in the settlement cluster suggest residents exploited the area and its resources over several hundred years, from the Late Classic through the Early Postclassic.

Excavations revealed a large structure with multiple construction phases and possible ancillary buildings. Within the structure, there were three separate interments each with multiple individuals. The burial data suggest the household group utilized the structure over a long period of time, culminating in the Terminal Classic. Preliminary analysis of a similar group in the settlement cluster revealed occupation of the settlement began as early as the Late Classic (AD 670-780). Investigations of Floodplain North provide a detailed look into the everyday lives of non-elite Maya prior to and after the Terminal Classic collapse.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22145