Terminal Classic Ritual Deposits and Reoccupation at Xunantunich, Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ritual behavior during the Terminal Classic period (~AD 750-900) in the Belize Valley reflects the ecological and political concerns of the Maya during a time of prolonged drought and balkanization. Following their abandonment, some major regional centers were revisited, often in the context of pilgrimage. These activities left behind expansive deposits, termed peri-abandonment deposits, of pottery, lithics, and faunal remains, among other types of materials. This study reports the results of excavation, artifact analyses, and radiocarbon dating to explore the relationship between the end of construction and creation of peri-abandonment deposits across the courtyards at an elite residential compound at the site of Xunantunich. Results document a complex picture of alternating residential constructions and deposits, indicating parts of Xunantunich were reoccupied after their initial abandonment. This systematic study of the functional patterns in deposits alongside precisely dated construction sequences provides revisions to the occupational chronology of the Terminal Classic collapse in the Belize Valley.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37276.0