Investigating Market Activity at the Ancient Maya Site of Dos Hombres, Belize

Summary

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

Finding evidence of an ancient Maya marketplace is difficult due to the perishability of telltale materials such as food, textiles, and wooden stalls in the tropical environment of northwestern Belize. Therefore, multiple lines of evidence including material culture, stratigraphy, soil chemistry, and spatial analysis are essential in identifying possible market activity areas. An area hypothesized to be an area of market activity at Dos Hombres was tested through analysis of landscape features, systematic excavation, and phosphorus testing of soils. In a 20 by 20 meter area adjacent to the large and publicly accessible Plaza A, six 1 X 1 meter units were excavated systematically. Stratigraphic analysis revealed a shallow clay matrix that evened the ancient activity surface over bedrock and a very high density of ceramic sherds, lithic debitage, obsidian flakes, faunal items, and tools. The present data suggest heavy foot traffic indicated by trampled ceramics, high quantities of small lithic flakes related to frequent re-sharpening of tools possibly for producing items for market sale, and finally, indicators of imported items, such as marine shell. This data indicates a strong correlation with the hypothesis, that this area did serve as a locus of market activity at the site.

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): 24145