A Tale of Two Rock Shelters: A Bioarchaeological Study of Ek Xux Valley Mortuary Practices During the late Holocene

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Black as Night, Dark as Death: Bioarchaeology of the Mesoamerican Subterranean" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Rock shelters have played a significant role in Mesoamerican mortuary practices, serving as transitional spaces that embody both openness and a deep connection to the earth. Saki Tzul (ST) and Mayahak Cab Pek (MHCP), two prominent rock shelters located in the Ek Xux Valley of present-day Belize, exemplify this tradition. Excavations by the Bladen Paleoindian and Archaic Archaeological Project at both sites have demonstrated their nearly continuous use as burial spaces from the late Pleistocene through the late Classic period. While recent research has shed light on the mortuary traditions of the early and middle Holocene periods, the later interments (after 3,700 cal BP) remain relatively underexplored, particularly from a bioarchaeological perspective. This presentation seeks to address this gap by focusing on burials dating to the pre-Classic and Classic periods at ST and MHCP. We combine osteological, archaeological, and molecular data from n = 33 individuals to explore patterns of mortuary practices evident at these sites. By doing so, we aim to enhance our understanding of the relationship between these rock shelters and their role as liminal spaces in the journey to the afterlife, as well as to offer insights about the communities that utilized these mortuary spaces.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Black as Night, Dark as Death: Bioarchaeology of the Mesoamerican Subterranean

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51663