The Belize Archaic Project: New Survey and Excavation Results

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Northern Belize Archaic Period and Sahara Dust" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The 8,000 years before ceramic first appear is the longest epoch in the human occupation of Mesoamerica when domestication and sedentary life changed how the inhabitants of the region lived. Yet, despite the importance of changing adaptation, Mesoamerica’s Archaic period is known from only a handful of site, and most of these are caves and rock shelters. Beginning 25 years ago, the Belize Archaic Project has documented numerous open-air sites from the Late Archaic period (6000-3000 BP) along the Freshwater Creek drainage in the tropical lowlands of northern Belize. Since 2019, a systematic survey has recorded over 200 Archaic period sites and excavations have now been carried out at 20 of these sites. Substantial lithic assemblages, pit features and prepared cobble surfaces provide direct evidence of occupation from this area of lowland Mesoamerica. This paper review new archaeological findings and introduces subsequent papers that present lithic, dating, and paleo-environmental analysis generated by the Belize Archaic Project.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Northern Belize Archaic Period and Sahara Dust

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51525