De Facto Refuse, Termination Deposits, and Abandonment Processes: Contextualizing the "Problematical"

Summary

Archaeologists working in the Maya area frequently find dense deposits of artifacts that are classified ‘terminal deposits,’ ‘final deposits,’ or ‘problematical deposits’. These classifications may accurately reflect a deposit’s stratigraphic placement, but ultimately mask or even misrepresent the diverse social behaviors which led to the creation of such deposits. Excavations in the courtyard in front of Structure B-6 at Xunantunich, Belize, exposed a dense deposit of artifacts. Through detailed analysis and recovery of the artifacts and ecofacts and an emphasis on both recording and analyzing the microstratigraphy, we argue that this deposit was de facto refuse left by people who occupied the group after a period of abandonment. Our analysis more broadly underlines the importance of careful excavation and contextual analysis of these deposits in order to understand the behaviors associated with each one. Such analyses form the basis for the creation of behaviorally distinct categories of final deposits.

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): 20010