Holocene Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions of Human-Landscape Interactions from the Progresso Lagoon Region of Northern Belize

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.

Holocene-length paleoenvironmental histories from the Progresso Lagoon region of northern Belize were reconstructed using multiple lake sediment cores obtained in 2022. We report on high-resolution macroscopic charcoal, pollen, and sedimentological data that clearly indicate shifting intensities of human-landscape interactions during the Holocene through the use of fire for land clearance, and agriculture. The Progresso Lagoon sediment records indicate low levels of burning on the landscape prior to ca. 4500 cal yr BP, with the highest fire activity between ca. 4000 and 1500 cal yr BP. Low, but persistent fire activity was recorded after that time until present day. Preliminary pollen analysis results indicate maize on the landscape near Progresso Lagoon during the late Holocene. The exact timing of this activity will become clearer with the continued refinement of the core chronologies based on additional radiocarbon dating. Additionally, four new sediment cores were obtained from the north end of Progresso Lagoon in 2024. The paleoenvironmental analysis of these cores, in conjunction with continued archaeological and radiocarbon dating efforts, will help clarify the spatial and temporal scales of human-landscape interactions in the Progresso Lagoon area during the Holocene.

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): 51527