Witz Naab and Killer Bee Revisited: New Interpretations of Two Salt Mounds in Paynes Creek National Park, Belize

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Underwater Maya: Analytical Approaches for Interpreting Ancient Maya Activities at the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Witz Naab and Killer Bee mounds are some of the few remaining onshore remnants of the Paynes Creek salt works. In this presentation, we will reexamine the interpretations of two salt mounds at the Paynes Creek Salt works. These excavations are part of a larger NSF funded project directed by Dr. Heather McKillop (Louisiana State University) excavating underwater sites associated with wooden buildings stunningly preserved by mangrove peat below the seafloor. Evidence of brine enrichment has been obfuscated at the underwater sites due to sea level rise. This process is virtually universal in ethnographic and historic case studies elsewhere. This paper will discuss the initial findings and new interpretations concerning these mounds’ possible function and potential relationship with the nearby submerged salt works.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Underwater Maya: Analytical Approaches for Interpreting Ancient Maya Activities at the Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40044.0