BUILDING HIGH-PRECISION AMS 14C BAYESIAN MODELS FOR THE FORMATION OF PERI-ABANDONMENT DEPOSITS AT BAKING POT, BELIZE

ABSTRACT Deposits linked to abandonment have been widely recorded across the Maya lowlands, associated with the final activities occurring in ceremonial areas of Classic Maya centers. Various models have been applied to explain the activities that lie behind the formation of these contexts, including those linked to rapid abandonment (e.g., warfare) and others focused on more protracted events (termination rituals, and/or pilgrimages). Here, we assess Bayesian models for three chronological scenarios of varying tempo to explain the formation of peri-abandonment deposits at Baking Pot, Belize. Using stratigraphic information from these deposits, hieroglyphic dates recovered on artifacts, and direct dates on human skeletal remains and faunal remains from distinct layers in three deposits in Group B at Baking Pot, we identify multiple depositional events that spanned the eighth to ninth centuries AD. These results suggest that the processes associated with the breakdown of institutionalized rulership and its command of labor to construct and maintain ceremonial spaces were protracted at Baking Pot, with evidence for the final depositional activity dated to the mid-to-late ninth century. This interval of deposition was temporally distinct from the earlier deposition(s) in the eighth century. Together, these data offer a detailed view of the end of the Classic period at Baking Pot, in which the ceremonial spaces of the site slowly fell into disuse over a period of more than a century.

TO EAT, DISCARD, OR VENERATE: FAUNAL REMAINS AS PROXY FOR HUMAN BEHAVIORS IN LOWLAND MAYA PERI-ABANDONMENT DEPOSITS

Interpreting middens, feasting events, ritual, or terminal deposits in the Maya world requires an evaluation of faunal remains. Maya archaeologists consistently evaluate other artifact classes, but often offer simply number of identified specimens values for skeletal elements recovered from these deposits. To further understand their archaeological significance, we analyzed faunal materials from deposits at the sites of Baking Pot and Xunantunich in the Upper Belize River Valley. We identified the species, bone elements, bone or shell artifacts, taphonomic signatures, and quantitative ratios recovered to test whether a deposit can be identified as a midden, part of a feasting ritual, terminal ritual, or other rituals significant to the Maya. Our analyses allow us to begin building a system for using faunal remains as a proxy for interpreting the significance of these deposits. In this paper, we present our results and hope to open the conversation for future evaluations of faunal remains in similar deposits.

RECONSTRUCTING THE FORMATION OF PERI-ABANDONMENT DEPOSITS AT BAKING POT, BELIZE

Archaeological research in the Maya lowlands has identified special deposits that offer essential information about the abandonment of Classic Maya centers. We argue that some of the “problematical deposits” associated with terminal architecture may be more accurately described as peri-abandonment deposits since they temporally and behaviorally relate to the activities associated with the final use of ceremonial space. Here, we describe several peri-abandonment deposits that were identified in Group B at the site of Baking Pot, located in western Belize. Using detailed stratigraphic and contextual information, artifact assemblages, and calendar dates recorded on polychrome vessels recovered in the deposits, we describe the nature of activities associated with the formation of peri-abandonment deposits at Baking Pot in the eighth to ninth centuries. We find patterning in the spatial locations of deposits in the corners of plazas and courtyards at Baking Pot, with variability in artifact assemblages between specific deposits.

The lay of the land: a political geography of an ancient Maya kingdom in West-Central Belize

The Belize Valley figures prominently in the history of Maya archaeology as the birthplace of settlement pattern surveys, where Gordon R. Willey and his colleagues conducted their pioneering research project, from 1954 to 1956. Six decades on, settlement surveys are an integral part of archaeological research strategies not only across the Maya area, but globally. With the advent of LiDAR technology, settlement surveys enter a new developmental phase, and we take this opportunity to review the history and progress of these surveys in the Belize Valley. We focus on one particular archaeological site, Baking Pot, so as to better illustrate the methods and technological advances that have been brought to bear in the mapping of one ancient Maya city-state. Now that the survey of this ancient settlement is nearing completion, we veer from traditional settlement surveys that in principle focus on unbounded central places and centroids, in an attempt to tackle an important question, which to date has remained conspicuously understudied, that of borders and boundaries. Using a series of geospatial analyses, we investigate the potential of these approaches for reconstructing ancient polity boundaries and as lessons learned we explore which methods are of greater utility and can be applied to other surveys in the Maya lowlands.

Integrating Quantitative Lidar Analysis and Settlement Survey in the Belize River Valley

Accurate and high-resolution airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) data have become increasingly important for the discovery and visualization of complete archaeological settlement systems in the Maya Lowlands. We present the results of systematic quantitative analysis of lidar data and ground verification for the major centers of Cahal Pech, Baking Pot, and Lower Dover in the Belize Valley. The Belize Valley is characterized by high density populations living in growing modern towns and villages, and by large-scale agricultural production. This urban environment presents a challenge to reconnaissance efforts since modern construction and agricultural activities have destroyed ancient ruins and created new vegetation patterns. Lidar data was analyzed within a GIS using the Topographic Position Index (TPI) to identify the location of possible archaeological remains. Small-scale, site-level TPI analysis helped identify more detailed archaeological features including small house mounds, terraces, and ditches. Results indicate that lidar data recorded for areas with dense vegetation (e.g., low brush and secondary regrowth) may be less reliable for identification of archaeological remains. The quantitative and qualitative differences between spatial analyses and pedestrian survey results among land cover types indicate that traditional settlement pattern study methods, including pedestrian survey, remain vital to ground-truthing all types of spatial data.

Questioning Postclassic Continuity at Baking Pot, Belize, Using Direct AMS 14C Dating of Human Burials

Archaeologists working in the Belize Valley have argued for the persistence of Maya populations from the Classic (AD 300–900) through Postclassic (AD 900–1500) periods since Gordon Willey's groundbreaking settlement survey and excavation work in the 1950s. This is contrary to the trajectory recorded in some parts of the Maya region where there is clear evidence for political disruption and population decline at the end of the Classic period. The argument for continuous Classic to Postclassic occupation in the Belize Valley remains ambiguous due to researchers' reliance on relative ceramic chronologies. This article reports the results of direct accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of human skeletons (n = 12) from the important center of Baking Pot, Belize, which is thought to provide some of the best ceramic evidence for continuity in the valley. The AMS dates show a long span of mortuary activity between the Middle Preclassic and Late Classic periods (405 cal BC to cal AD 770), with a hiatus in activity during the Early Postclassic (cal AD 900–1200) and subsequent activity in the Late Postclassic (cal AD 1280–1420). These results are not consistent with the idea that Baking Pot was occupied continuously from the Classic through Postclassic periods. This work highlights the need for additional AMS 14C work at Baking Pot and elsewhere to establish absolute chronologies for evaluating the political and demographic collapse of Classic Maya regional centers.