The Earliest Maya of Western and Northern Belize: Evidence for Cultural Diversity and Regionalism

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Sessions in Honor of Dr. Fred Valdez Jr. and His Contributions to Archaeology, Part 2" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In the 1970s and 1980s, investigations at Colha by Fred Valdez Jr. and his University of Texas colleagues uncovered considerable evidence for Preclassic occupation at this northern Belize site. These investigations complemented results of earlier research by Norman Hammond at Cuello, and the subsequent work of Patricia McAnany at Kaxob. In western Belize, investigations at Cahal Pech, Blackman Eddy, and Xunantunich also produced evidence for precocious Maya settlements in the upper Belize River Valley. Together, the evidence produced by research in both Belize sub-regions confirmed that the earliest Maya settlements in the eastern lowlands were established towards the end of the Early Preclassic period (ca. 1200-900) BC) and that these communities relied on a mixed subsistence economy based on maize agriculture and the exploitation of terrestrial and aquatic animal resources. When we compare other salient cultural features of these early communities, however, the data indicate that beside a few shared traits, the material culture of the two sub-regions are conspicuously and significantly more different than they are similar.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Sessions in Honor of Dr. Fred Valdez Jr. and His Contributions to Archaeology, Part 2

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51635