Sea-Level Rise and Settlement at Ta’ab Nuk Na, Belize: Analyses of Marine Sediment From the I-line, 4m Transect

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 ancient Maya created a culture with writing, religion, and vast trade networks. These trade networks are evident on the southern coast of Belize, where archaeologists have found sites dedicated to salt making. This paper will discuss Ta’ab Nuk Na, one of these sites. Sediment and charcoal samples were collected by the Underwater Maya Research Group led by Heather McKillop and E. Cory Sills. I subjected these samples and components within them to loss-on ignition, radiometric dating, and microscopic analysis. Loss-on ignition was used to ascertain organic material percentage by burning sediment at high temperatures to burn off organic components that are weighed and compared to unburned sediment. Microscopic analysis was used to determine the organic makeup of the sediment across the excavation. Radiometric dating was used to determine dates for site occupation and sea-level rise. Loss-on ignition and microscopic analysis helped accurately determine areas of the excavation associated with human activity. Radiometric dating shows when the site was abandoned due to sea-level rise. This paper sheds light on when the site was occupied, when sea-level rose and how this affected the ancient Maya, and the organic material levels within the site.

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): 38923.0