A Cross-Comparative Study of Problematic Deposits from M13-1 at El Perú Waka’ and the North Acropolis at Tikal

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeological research on problematic deposits has provided a generic category for otherwise unexplainable bodies of evidence for ritual activity. This research focuses on data from two similarly constituted problematic deposits in the Maya area, one very well known from the North Acropolis at Tikal, and one lesser known from civic ceremonial structure M13-1 at El Perú Waka’, both of which are situated in Peten, Guatemala. Analysis conducted in 2017 and 2018 by the Waka’ team on ceramic deposits recovered from this structure provides a more thorough dataset on remains previously identified as problematic deposits. Excavations in the North Acropolis of Tikal have yielded similar types of deposits associated with political centers and public spaces. By conducting a comparative analysis of ceramic data collected at these sites, I investigate how they are similar and different in nature, context, and content to further explore what problematic deposits look like in the archaeological record, and how this identification is limited in describing deposits that do not fit into narrowly defined categories of desecration or termination. Through this research, my goal is to contribute to the debate surrounding the classification of ritual remains in various contexts by careful comparative examination of these enigmatic deposits.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24969