Middle Preclassic Ceramic Distribution in Western Belize: A Comparative Study from Early Xunantunich

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The value of ceramic sherds and vessels to the archaeologist extends far beyond the chronology of a site. Ceramic production and distribution data, for example, reveal information about ancient lifeways, ideologies, and movement across a landscape, ultimately telling us more about the people behind the pottery. In this paper, I will discuss the methods that archaeologists use to track ancient ceramic production and distribution—including formal and typological analyses, as well as mineralogical and compositional testing. A case study from the Mopan River valley in western Belize compares ceramic assemblages from the hinterland site of San Lorenzo and the ritual center of Early Xunantunich to build an understanding of how ceramics are differentially produced and distributed across these two contexts. The goal of this study is to highlight the social, ritual, and economic relationships between the sites that are materialized in the ceramic assemblages. Further comparison to assemblages from the sites of Cahal Pech and Barton Ramie, both situated west along the Belize River, reveals broader regional patterns of distribution, suggesting that, while Early Xunantunich maintained a relationship with these sites, they also produced their own variety of ceramics.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32851