Rising from the East: The Preclassic Foundations of Lowland Maya Societies in Belize

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.

The Preclassic period (1200/1100 BC–AD 300) represents one of the most significant cultural transitions for lowland Maya societies. Over the course of ~1,500 years, communities settled permanently on the landscape, committed to agriculture, and began building monumental constructions. By the end of this era, most people lived in highly stratified societies, and large cities dominated the social and political landscape. Though evidence for Preclassic occupation is rare in the Maya lowlands, over a century of archaeological research in Belize has provided one of the richest records of the Preclassic Maya and their lifeways. Research in western and northern Belize was among the first to document pre-Mamon occupation in the lowlands, confirmed by robust programs of ceramic analyses and radiocarbon dating. Pioneering studies on the production of chert, obsidian, greenstone, and marine shell craft production have also illuminated our understanding of Preclassic inter-regional economic interaction. Extensive excavations across Belize also illustrate the precocious use of Preclassic architecture by emergent elites, with subsequent monumental buildings reflecting the rise of divine kingship and importance of ancestor veneration. We review these important contributions, which allow us to compare Preclassic cultural development across Belize and to understand these developments elsewhere in the Preclassic Maya world.

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): 38194.0