Middle Preclassic Occupation and Architecture of the Mirador Basin, Guatemala

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeological excavations and technical analyses in the Mirador Basin of northern Guatemala have provided a new perspective of the origins and dynamics of incipient Maya civilization. Data relevant to settlement patterns, sampling strategies, demographic distributions, chronological evaluations, DNA and isotope analyses, geological studies, architectural formats, and formation of complex political, social, and economic structures. Incorporation of extensive lidar data combined with archaeological investigations on a regional basis suggest the formation of a complex state by the Middle Preclassic period with an apogee during the early Late Preclassic period. Tunnels in early structures have revealed new information about the nature of architectural construction and art dating to the latter Middle Preclassic period (ca. 600–400 BC). The architectural art and formats found on the buried structures indicate changes that occurred between the Middle and Late Preclassic periods of Maya history, including the style of architecture, variant architectural art and iconography, and construction techniques and strategies that vary from architecture from later Maya periods. The importance of such well-preserved architecture from such early time periods allows an evaluation of social and ideological process that set the foundations of Maya complex societies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33321