Preclassic Round Structures of the Upper Belize River Valley

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Aimers ◽  
Terry G. Powis ◽  
Jaime J. Awe
Keyword(s):  
River Valley ◽  
Architectural Form ◽  
Maya Architecture ◽  
Belize River Valley ◽  
Preclassic Maya ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
The World ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Maya Site

Round structures are considered a rarity in Maya architecture. Four late Middle Preclassic period (650-300 B.C.) round structures excavated at the Maya site of Cahal Pech demonstrate that this was a common architectural form for the Preclassic Maya of the upper Belize River Valley. These open platforms are described, and compared to similar forms in the Belize Valley and elsewhere. An interpretation of their significance is offered that uses information from artifacts, burials, and ethnohistory as well as analogy with round structures in other parts of the world. We suggest that these small round platforms were used for performance related to their role as burial or ancestor shrines.

Middle Preclassic Maya Shell Ornament Production

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bobbi Hohmann ◽  
Terry G. Powis ◽  
Paul F. Healy
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Scale Production ◽  
Large Scale Production ◽  
Belize River Valley ◽  
Preclassic Maya ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Degree Of Control ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Marine Shell

Extensive archaeological investigations at the site of Pacbitun, a medium-sized Maya center located in west-central Belize, have revealed the large-scale production of marine shell ornaments during Middle Preclassic period (900-300 B.C.). Non-local marine shell and the restricted nature of its distribution indicate that some degree of control may have been exerted over the production and/or distribution of marine shell or the finished shell products. The sheer quantities of shell working debris in the site core of Pacbitun suggest that these ornaments were intended for intra- or extra-community exchange. Two different scenarios are presented to account for the quantity and spatial distribution of Middle Preclassic shell and shell working materials at Pacbitun and in the Belize River valley.

The Cunil Complex

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren A. Sullivan ◽  
Jaime J. Awe ◽  
M. Kathryn Brown
Keyword(s):  
River Valley ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Belize River Valley ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Ancient Site ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Marine Shell

This chapter provides an overview of recent data pertaining to the first settled villages in the Belize River valley. The authors highlight the known Preceramic data from the region and suggest that sedentary villages appear at the beginning of the Preclassic, possibly as early as 1200 B.C. The Cunil phase pottery, first documented at the ancient site of Cahal Pech, represents the earliest ceramics found in the Maya lowlands. Long distance trade items such as obsidian, marine shell, and greenstone are associated with Cunil phase pottery, suggesting that these early villages were participating in a larger interaction sphere. As population grew over time in the Middle Preclassic period, interaction with neighboring regions increased leading to a more uniform ceramic tradition.

Middle Preclassic Maya buildings and burials at Cuello, Belize

Antiquity ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 66 (253) ◽  
pp. 955-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Hammond ◽  
Amanda Clarke ◽  
Francisco Estrada Belli
Keyword(s):  
Preclassic Maya ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Grave Goods

Work in 1992 has significantly added to understanding of this important Maya site in the Middle Formative or Preclassic period (1000–450 BC). The known settled area now extends to 1.62 sq. km. One of the 14 burials was associated with rich grave-goods, suggesting that it was of a leading member of the Cuello community in the 5th century BC.

RITUAL EMULATION OF ANCIENT MAYA ELITE MORTUARY TRADITIONS DURING THE CLASSIC PERIOD (AD 250–900) AT CAHAL PECH, BELIZE

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 641-659 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna C. Novotny ◽  
Jaime J. Awe ◽  
Catharina E. Santasilia ◽  
Kelly J. Knudson
Keyword(s):  
River Valley ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
Mortuary Ritual ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Belize River Valley ◽  
Radiocarbon Data ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
Valley Area

In this study, we employ multiple lines of evidence to elucidate the use of mortuary ritual by the ruling elite at the ancient Maya site of Cahal Pech, Belize, during the Early Classic and early Late Classic periods (AD 250–630). The interments of multiple individuals in Burial 7 of Structure B1, the central structure of an Eastern Triadic Assemblage or “E-group” style architectural complex, were in a manner not consistent with the greater Belize River Valley, the only multiple individual human burial yet encountered at Cahal Pech. The sequential interments contained a suggestive quantity of high-quality artifacts, further setting them apart from their contemporaries. Among these artifacts were a set of bone rings and a hairpin inscribed with hieroglyphs, some of the few inscriptions ever found at Cahal Pech. We analyzed regional mortuary patterns, radiogenic strontium values, and radiocarbon data to test hypotheses about who these individuals were in life, why they were treated differently in death, and to reconstruct the sequence of events of this complex mortuary deposit. We contend that the mortuary practices in Burial 7 indicate an attempt by the Cahal Pech elite to identify with cities or regions outside the Belize River Valley area.

scholarly journals An atlas of paste fabrics and supplemental paste compositional data from late middle preclassic-period ceramics at the Maya site of Holtun, Guatemala

Data in Brief ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 55-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G. Callaghan ◽  
Daniel Pierce ◽  
Brigitte Kovacevich ◽  
Michael D. Glascock
Keyword(s):  
Compositional Data ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Maya Site

scholarly journals AFTER 40 YEARS: REVISITING CEIBAL TO INVESTIGATE THE ORIGINS OF LOWLAND MAYA CIVILIZATION

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Inomata ◽  
Daniela Triadan ◽  
Kazuo Aoyama
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Pattern ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Field Investigations ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Maya Civilization ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractThe Ceibal-Petexbatun Archaeological Project has been conducting field investigations at the lowland Maya site of Ceibal since 2005. Previous research at this site by Harvard University allowed us to develop detailed research designs geared toward specific research questions. A particularly important focus was the question of how lowland Maya civilization emerged and developed. Comparison with contemporaneous sites in central Chiapas led us to hypothesize that the residents of Ceibal established a formal spatial pattern similar to those of the Chiapas centers during the Middle Preclassic period (1000–350b.c.). Through excavations of important elements of this spatial pattern, including a probable E-Group assemblage and large platforms, we examined how the Ceibal residents participated in interregional interactions with Chiapas, the Gulf Coast, and other areas, and how construction activities and architecture shaped the course of social change.

scholarly journals Development of sedentary communities in the Maya lowlands: Coexisting mobile groups and public ceremonies at Ceibal, Guatemala

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (14) ◽  
pp. 4268-4273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Inomata ◽  
Jessica MacLellan ◽  
Daniela Triadan ◽  
Jessica Munson ◽  
Melissa Burham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Changes ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
Collaborative Activities ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
Ground Structures ◽  
Different Levels

Our archaeological investigations at Ceibal, a lowland Maya site located in the Pasión region, documented that a formal ceremonial complex was built around 950 B.C. at the onset of the Middle Preclassic period, when ceramics began to be used in the Maya lowlands. Our refined chronology allowed us to trace the subsequent social changes in a resolution that had not been possible before. Many residents of Ceibal appear to have remained relatively mobile during the following centuries, living in ephemeral post-in-ground structures and frequently changing their residential localities. In other parts of the Pasión region, there may have existed more mobile populations who maintained the traditional lifestyle of the preceramic period. Although the emerging elite of Ceibal began to live in a substantial residential complex by 700 B.C., advanced sedentism with durable residences rebuilt in the same locations and burials placed under house floors was not adopted in most residential areas until 500 B.C., and did not become common until 300 B.C. or the Late Preclassic period. During the Middle Preclassic period, substantial formal ceremonial complexes appear to have been built only at a small number of important communities in the Maya lowlands, and groups with different levels of sedentism probably gathered for their constructions and for public rituals held in them. These collaborative activities likely played a central role in socially integrating diverse groups with different lifestyles and, eventually, in developing fully established sedentary communities.

An Early Classic Colonnaded Building at the Maya Site of Blue Creek, Belize

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. David Driver
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Distribution ◽  
Common Type ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Civic Architecture ◽  
Architectural Form ◽  
Maya Architecture ◽  
Blue Creek ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
Site Planning ◽  
A Site

Investigations of the civic architecture at the Lowland Maya site of Blue Creek, Belize, have documented an Early Classic building with a colonnaded superstructure. Although one of only six such buildings reported from the Maya Lowlands, this architectural form appears to be a variant of a more common type of colonnaded building. An examination of such structures from a site-planning perspective indicates that columns may have been used by the Maya to create buildings that were conducive to movement, and for the conduct and/or viewing of public activities. The present study refutes the commonly held assumption that the use of columns in Maya architecture was limited in both spatial and temporal distribution, and instead shows them to have been widely distributed throughout the Maya Lowlands by the middle of the Classic Period.

The Long Goodbye: Middle Preclassic Maya Archaeology at Cuello, Belize

1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Hammond ◽  
Amanda Clarke ◽  
Sara Donaghey
Keyword(s):  
Architectural History ◽  
Continuous Section ◽  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Preclassic Maya ◽  
History Of ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
Ritual Behavior

Completed excavations at this important Preclassic Maya site have produced 350 m2 of Middle Preclassic (1200-400 B. C.) deposits dug to bedrock; a continuous section 47 m long through the Preclassic deposits documents the architectural history of the site. Nine more Middle Preclassic burials, the remains of earth- and plaster-floored houses with associated yard surfaces, and a chultun chamber containing well-preserved plant remains document economic and ritual behavior in the Swasey and Bladen phases (1200-650 B. C.).

scholarly journals High-precision radiocarbon dating of political collapse and dynastic origins at the Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (6) ◽  
pp. 1293-1298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Inomata ◽  
Daniela Triadan ◽  
Jessica MacLellan ◽  
Melissa Burham ◽  
Kazuo Aoyama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Precision ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Social Instability ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
History Of ◽  
External Power ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Maya Site

The lowland Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala, had a long history of occupation, spanning from the Middle Preclassic Period through the Terminal Classic (1000 BC to AD 950). The Ceibal-Petexbatun Archaeological Project has been conducting archaeological investigations at this site since 2005 and has obtained 154 radiocarbon dates, which represent the largest collection of radiocarbon assays from a single Maya site. The Bayesian analysis of these dates, combined with a detailed study of ceramics, allowed us to develop a high-precision chronology for Ceibal. Through this chronology, we traced the trajectories of the Preclassic collapse around AD 150–300 and the Classic collapse around AD 800–950, revealing similar patterns in the two cases. Social instability started with the intensification of warfare around 75 BC and AD 735, respectively, followed by the fall of multiple centers across the Maya lowlands around AD 150 and 810. The population of Ceibal persisted for some time in both cases, but the center eventually experienced major decline around AD 300 and 900. Despite these similarities in their diachronic trajectories, the outcomes of these collapses were different, with the former associated with the development of dynasties centered on divine rulership and the latter leading to their downfalls. The Ceibal dynasty emerged during the period of low population after the Preclassic collapse, suggesting that this dynasty was placed under the influence from, or by the direct intervention of, an external power.

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