Cities on the Cutting Edge: Urban Research in Belizean Archaeology

Summary

This is an abstract from the "“The Center and the Edge”: How the Archaeology of Belize Is Foundational for Understanding the Ancient Maya" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeologists’ views of the breadth and depth of precolumbian Maya urbanism, and Mesoamerican urbanism more broadly, have been repeatedly revolutionized by archaeological researchers in Belize. The first National Science Foundation funding for Maya archaeology centered on determining how the ancient Maya modified the Belize landscape, eventually providing a path for refuting the then-current vacant ceremonial center city model. Modern urban models and methods to study Maya sites as cities have helped demonstrate the social complexity underlying Maya urbanism. The inception of tropical lidar research (that has unleashed a geospatial revolution) also occurred in Belize, providing a wealth of data for comparative urban research. The range of cutting-edge research into the ancient Maya cities of the eastern lowlands echoes the geographic and environmental diversity of Belize. Belize’s coastal, riverine, and upland settlements showcase the full variability of Maya cities and exhibit unique site plans, urban forms, and historical trajectories. At the same time, local differences do not obscure larger patterns and processes relevant to urbanism, both ancient and modern. In short, the ancient Maya cities in Belize (and generations of scholarship) have greatly contributed to our understanding of urbanism—and continue to do so.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• “The Center and the Edge”: How the Archaeology of Belize Is Foundational for Understanding the Ancient Maya   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38644.0