Terminal Classic Ancestors and the Eastern Shrine of Chikin Chi’Ha, Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeology and the History of Human-Environment Interaction in the Lower Belize River Watershed" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Investigations of an eastern shrine building in a residential group at Chikin Chi’Ha exposed a complex burial of an adult male and three children under the age of two who were placed near his head and feet. While there is abundant evidence for the construction and use of Classic period eastern shrines in the Maya Lowlands, ceramic analysis from Chikin Chi’Ha suggests this building was modified multiple times and dates primarily to the Terminal Classic–Early Postclassic transition (ca. AD 830–1200). The primary burial interment was in a supine position with legs folded up at the knee—a highly unusual configuration. Both the burial and the eastern shrine dating to the Terminal Classic are somewhat of an anomaly for the Belize River Valley. Evidence for transition, upheaval, and migration have been documented at many Lowland Maya Terminal Classic sites. Here we cross-examine the possibility that this atypical burial and shrine building at Chikin Chi’Ha are the result of an influx of newcomers into this region who introduced new traditions, while also perpetuating “old” Classic Maya narratives concerning an eastern association with ancestor rituals and human sacrifice during this tumultuous time.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeology and the History of Human-Environment Interaction in the Lower Belize River Watershed   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32770