The Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin Causeway System as an ElementPromoter of the Construction Peak during the Late Preclassic

Summary

This is an abstract from the "From Origins to Collapses:  New Insights in the Cultural and Natural Processes of the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin is located in the south of Campeche, Mexico and north of Petén, Guatemala. For the territory of Guatemala, it has been identified that the settlement of many sites was carried out in the Middle Preclassic, but the peak of cities such as El Mirador, Tintal and Nakbe occurred in the Late Preclassic period (350 BC – 150 AD). The monumental architecture in the dominant sites of the area consists of pyramidal structures that measured up to 72 m in height, palaces and elite residences, Group “E” complexes, private pools, platforms, defensive walls, moats, canals, causeways and reservoirs. The investigation of Mayan Causeways and the most recent identification of elevated causeways through LiDAR technology suggests that in the region there was a network of centrally managed artificial roads that facilitated the transportation of resources and promoted the construction peak of the large centers during the Late Preclassic.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• From Origins to Collapses:  New Insights in the Cultural and Natural Processes of the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53545