Identifying Patterned Variability in Preclassic-Postclassic Maya Mortuary Practices in the Belize River Valley

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Classic period (AD 300-900) Belize River Valley was a complex political landscape of numerous semi-autonomous Maya polities. Many began their emergence at the end of the Early Preclassic period (1200-900 BC), consolidated their political power in the Late Preclassic, and subsequently underwent collapse in the Terminal Classic period (AD 750-900/1000). The past 30 years of archaeological investigations at the major centers of Baking Pot, Blackman Eddy, Cahal Pech, Lower Barton Creek and Lower Dover have yielded a sizeable burial data set (n= 419 individuals) of ruling apical elites in the major centers, intermediate elites from minor centers and commoners from hinterland households. We present a meta-analysis of osteological, artifactual, and contextual data from these burials. Three multi-variate statistical techniques, including principle components analysis, multi-dimensional scaling, and hierarchical cluster analysis, are used to document broad temporal and spatial patterns in the burial data. The results allow the identification of changing burial trends over time at different hierarchical levels of society, broad spatial variability in burial customs between polities, neighborhoods, and households, and an assessment of wealth investment in mortuary practices in the Belize River Valley.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33115