Where is Lowland Maya archaeology headed?

Joyce Marcus

doi:10.1007/bf02231486

The Lowland Maya “Protoclassic”

Ancient Mesoamerica ◽

10.1017/s0956536100001826 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 17-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

James E. Brady ◽

Joseph W. Ball ◽

Ronald L. Bishop ◽

Duncan C. Pring ◽

Norman Hammond ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spatial Distribution ◽

Maya Archaeology ◽

Actual Existence ◽

Lowland Maya

AbstractThe term “Protoclassic,” employed regularly but inexplicitly in the literature of lowland Maya archaeology, has become increasingly nebulous and ambiguous in both meaning and usage. This paper reviews the history and use of the term and presents a formal redefinition of the Protoclassic as a ceramic stage based explicitly and exclusively on ceramic criteria. Some suggestions regarding future use of the term also are offered. The paper further addresses and resolves a number of persisting questions regarding Protoclassic orange wares, including problems concerning the actual existence of the “Aguacate ceramic group.” and the relationships of Aguacate-group pottery to other emergent orange wares of the terminal Late Preclassic and initial Early Classic periods. The nature and significance of the “Holmul I Style,” the “Floral Park Ceramic Sphere.” and the relationships of the two to each other and the larger, redefined “protoclassic” ceramic stage also are examined. A spatial distribution for protoclassic ceramics considerably expanded over what has ever been reported previously is described, and Chronometric data are presented to support a revised chronology for the protoclassic ceramic stage. Finally, ceramic data are offered that suggest a real subdivision of the protoclassic ceramic stage into an early, emergent facet originating entirely within Late Preclassic lowland traditions, and a later, fully “Classic” facet corresponding to the early Tzakol (Tzakol 1) ceramic horizon.

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Relationships between Early Preclassic and Early Middle Preclassic Phases in Northern Belize: A Comment on “Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads”

American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/280367 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 49 (3) ◽

pp. 628-631 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Daniel R. Potter ◽

Thomas R. Hester ◽

Stephen L. Black ◽

Fred Valdez

Keyword(s):

Maya Lowlands ◽

Maya Archaeology ◽

Middle Preclassic ◽

Definition Of ◽

Lowland Maya

In a recent paper, Marcus (1983) provides a timely synthesis of the rapidly accumulating body of data from various projects in the Maya Lowlands. One of the specific problems discussed by Marcus is that of temporal and cultural definition of the Swasey phase at the sites of Cuello and Colha, and its relationship to other early components. Our comment presents new data from Colha that were not available to Marcus. These data have significantly expanded our understanding of the earliest occupations at the site and have important implications for intersite comparisons.

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A Correction to Marcus's “Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads”

American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/279787 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 48 (4) ◽

pp. 835-835

Author(s):

Richard E. W. Adams

Keyword(s):

Maya Archaeology ◽

Lowland Maya

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PITS AND BONES: Identifying Maya ritual behavior in the archaeological record

Ancient Mesoamerica ◽

10.1017/s0956536102132032 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 197-211 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Julie L. Kunen ◽

Mary Jo Galindo ◽

Erin Chase

Keyword(s):

Behavioral Approach ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Maya Archaeology ◽

Maya Site ◽

Ritual Behavior ◽

Votive Offerings ◽

Lowland Maya

In this article, we examine the traditional classificatory terms of cache and burial as they are used in Lowland Maya archaeology and argue that, rather than forming mutually exclusive categories, these ritual deposits are members of a continuum. After discussing the intertwined concepts of dedication and termination and the cosmology of caches, we summarize burgeoning evidence that not all deposits classified as caches are votive offerings. We also discuss the role played by household refuse in ritual contexts. We then describe the investigation of a pit excavated into bedrock beneath a residential structure at the Maya site of La Caldera, in northwestern Belize. Our interpretation of the ritual importance of the pit is based on a series of behaviors that activated, terminated, and then reactivated the ritual pathway defined by the feature. We suggest that this behavioral approach to special deposits is more compelling than attempts to classify the material traces of ritual actions according to narrowly defined terms.

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Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads

American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/280556 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 454-488 ◽

Cited By ~ 66

Author(s):

Joyce Marcus

Keyword(s):

Maya Archaeology ◽

Lowland Maya

The Lowland Maya region has seen an enormous increase of new data over the last decade, but our progress is hampered by a tendency for cyclic return to previous theoretical positions. This results from several factors: too short a view of the discipline's history; a lack of familiarity with the rest of Mesoamerica; a lack of collaboration among archaeologists, ethnohistorians, and epigraphers; and a tendency to view alternative methodologies as competing rather than complementary. This paper synthesizes some of the major new discoveries and suggests where progress might be made if differing approaches were used in concert rather than in isolation.

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A Unique Maya Shrine Site on the Mountain Pine Ridge of British Honduras

American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/278640 ◽

1963 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 98-99 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

William R. Bullard

Keyword(s):

Ancient Maya ◽

Maya Archaeology ◽

Pine Ridge ◽

Mountain Pine ◽

British Honduras ◽

Granite Outcrop ◽

Lowland Maya

AbstractA small ruin of presumed ancient Maya origin is described. This ruin is the only certain prehistoric structure discovered on the Mountain Pine Ridge of British Honduras, and it is associated with a natural granite outcrop of monumental appearance in such a way as to suggest that the two formed a shrine of a type not previously reported in Lowland Maya archaeology.

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