The Ancient Maya Ballcourt at Pacbitun, Belize

1992 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F. Healy
Keyword(s):  
Special Class ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Construction Techniques ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractExcavations of a ceremonial ballcourt, undertaken at the Lowland Maya center of Pacbitun in western Belize, have provided details about ancient construction techniques and major diachronic structural changes to this special class of Precolumbian architecture. Some of the identified building alterations may have necessitated changes in the manner of playing the sacred Maya game at Pacbitun. A brief description of the excavations and construction history is provided. Analysis of artifactual remains from the ballcourt indicate it was built during the Late Preclassic period (100 b.c.-a.d. 300), but substantially altered in form during the Late Classic period (a.d. 550–900). The importance of the ballgame in the southern Lowlands is noted, and the particular significance of the Pacbitun court is discussed.

Ancient Maya Chert Workshops in Northern Belize, Central America

1983 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry J. Shafer ◽  
Thomas R. Hester
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
The North ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Archaeological Work ◽  
Main Center

Recent archaeological work at Colha and at other localities in the geographically restricted chert-bearing zone of northern Belize has revealed large-scale exploitation of chert for stone tool production. Workshops dated during the Late Preclassic period signal the beginning of craft specialization in chert working that continued in the Late Classic and into the Early Postclassic periods. Secular items such as large oval bifaces, tranchet bit tools and prismatic blades, as well as nonsecular eccentrics and stemmed macroblade artifacts are distinctive of the Late Preclassic and Late Classic workshops. The distribution sphere of Preclassic and Classic period chert tools has been traced to several contemporaneous sites that lie beyond the chert-bearing zone to the north. Colha has been identified as the primary production and distribution center during the Late Preclassic period; although it remained a production center in the Late Classic period, the main center for distribution may have shifted to Altun Ha.

Sak Tz’i’, a Classic Maya Center: A Locational Model Based on GIS and Epigraphy

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armando Anaya Hernández ◽  
Stanley P. Guenter ◽  
Marc U. Zender
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Information Systems ◽  
Analytical Tool ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Political Organization ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Maya Lowlands

AbstractThe ancient Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions of the upper Usumacinta region record an intensive interaction that took place among its regional capitals. The precise geographic locations of some of these sites are presently unknown. Through the application of the Gravity Model within the framework of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), we present the probable locations and possible territorial extents of a few of these: Sak Tz’i’, Hix-Witz, and the “Knot-Site.” On this occasion, however, we concentrate our discussion on the role that the kingdom of Sak Tz’i’ played in the geopolitical scenario of the region. It is our belief that this case study constitutes a good example of how, through a conjunctive approach that integrates the archaeological with the epigraphic data, GIS can represent an excellent analytical tool to approach archaeological issues such as the political organization of the Maya Lowlands during the Late Classic period.

Understanding Late Classic Maya Mortuary Ritual in Caves

2018 ◽  
pp. 133-158
Author(s):  
Amy R. Michael ◽  
Gabriel D. Wrobel ◽  
Jack Biggs
Keyword(s):  
Social Status ◽  
Dental Health ◽  
Health Data ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Mortuary Practice ◽  
Mortuary Ritual ◽  
Analytical Approaches

Bioarchaeology frequently investigates dental health in burial populations to make inferences about mortuary variability within and between ancient groups. In this chapter, micro- and macroscopic dental defects were examined in a series of ancient Maya mortuary cave and rockshelter burials in Central Belize. The nature of mortuary cave ritual use and funerary performance in the Late Classic is widely debated in the literature. This study utilizes two analytical approaches, mortuary practice and paleopathology, to better understand mortuary variability between two site types that may be distinguished by social status in life. Ethnohistoric accounts focused on mortuary activities in the Late Classic period have described sacrificial victims as individuals originating outside of the elite population. To test these accounts, this study compares the dental health data of individuals from non-elite (rockshelter) populations to elite (cave) burial contexts.

E-GROUPS, PSEUDO–E-GROUPS, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CLASSIC MAYA IDENTITY IN THE EASTERN PETEN

2006 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas H. Guderjan
Keyword(s):  
Sacred Space ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
East Side ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
The West ◽  
Sacred Landscape ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
Public Architecture

The identity of the Classic Maya was expressed through public architecture and the creation of sacred landscape, which incorporated the landscape of creation and the concept of the world tree. Pyramids, plazas, stelae, and ballcourts were important components of this landscape. In the Peten, architectural complexes known as “E-groups” were another component. E-groups are well-known astronomical “orientation calendars” that were first built in the Terminal Preclassic period. Named after Group E at Uaxactun, they consist of three buildings on the east side of a public plaza and a fourth in the middle of the plaza or on the west side. Terminal Preclassic E-groups functioned as solstice and equinox markers. However, their function changed in the Early Classic period, arguably due to influence from Teotihuacan, to a focus on agricultural seasons. In this paper, I argue that pseudo–E-groups were built well into the Late Classic period in the eastern Peten and were a defining architectural complex for the region. The original, functional Terminal Preclassic E-groups were based on ritual activities focused on solar events. By the Early Classic, E-groups had become multipurpose parts of the sacred landscape of public architecture. Late Classic pseudo–E-groups, however, had become nonfunctional for either solar or agriculturally oriented observation. Nevertheless, they had become so deeply embedded into the template of sacred space and architecture that pseudo–E–groups were constructed to reinforce the identity of cities and the validity of their rulers.

An Ancient Maya Reservoir and Dam at Tamarindito, El Peten, Guatemala

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Beach ◽  
Nicholas Dunning
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Small Reservoir ◽  
Main Site ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
El Peten ◽  
Residential Water

We report a Prehispanic dam and remnants of a small reservoir at the ancient Maya site of Tamarindito in the Río de la Pasión region of Guatemala's Petén district. The remnants of the dam are on the Petexbatún escarpment, to the east of the main site in the midst of an area of residential groups and numerous and varied agricultural terracing. The dam was about 60 m long and would have held a reservoir of about 2,000 m3. This volume of water was sufficient to irrigate nearby terraced fields. The dam and reservoir probably date to the Late Classic period (A.D. 550-800), a period during which Tamarindito was involved in regional warfare. In addition to producing irrigation water, we hypothesize that the system was built to provide a supplemental, more defensible, residential water supply and to protect a spring located below the dam.

THE HIATUS AT TIKAL, GUATEMALA

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hattula Moholy-Nagy
Keyword(s):  
Political Development ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Preliminary Conclusion ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Stone Monuments ◽  
Lowland Maya

Research on the Lowland Maya Hiatus that focuses solely on the inscriptions on monuments is too limited to provide information about its causes, nature, and consequences. I consider the hiatus at Tikal using additional evidence from architecture, settlement patterns, caches and burials, domestic artifacts, and inscriptions on portable objects. A preliminary conclusion is that Tikal's long hiatus can be regarded as part of a sequence of internal political development rather than due to conquest from outside. The displacement and destruction of inscribed and plain stone monuments was an ongoing phenomenon at Tikal. It was present from Terminal Preclassic times and occurred with increasing frequency until the beginning of the late Late Classic period. Monument destruction may have come to a halt then under a series of powerful rulers. The setting of inscribed stone monuments and wooden lintels continued for another two centuries until the disappearance of dynastic rule itself.

MAYA FLASKS: THE “HOME” OF TOBACCO AND GODLY SUBSTANCES

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Loughmiller-Cardinal ◽  
Dmitri Zagorevski
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Residue Analysis ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Basic Construction ◽  
Construction Methods ◽  
Social Mediation

AbstractAmong the specialized types of Late Classic Maya vessels (a.d. 550–900) are small bottle-shaped containers known as “flasks.” Current interpretations of their uses, for example as poison bottles or medicine bottles, are speculative. In some cases, such interpretations rely on analogical comparisons with other Native American containers based on their formal similarities of shape or construction. This paper presents research on basic construction methods of flasks, a set of correlations between the various social mediation roles in which such flasks are depicted in Classic-period artwork, their material correlates (the vessels themselves), and a report of their specific contents. We also provide evidence of the first discovery of nicotine in an ancient Maya vessel, which is the first empirically demonstrated proof for the presence of tobacco contained in a clay vessel from this cultural tradition. The codex-style flask yielding this evidence bears a text that appears to read yo-'OTOT-ti 'u-MAY-ya, spelling y-otoot 'u-mahy “the home of his/her tobacco.” This is only the second case in which residue analysis has shown a Maya vessel to hold the same content as is indicated by a hieroglyphic text on the same vessel.

Obsidian Procurement and Distribution in the Tikal-Yaxha Intersite Area of the Central Maya Lowlands

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anabel Ford ◽  
Fred Stross ◽  
Frank Asaro ◽  
Helen V. Michel
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Characterization ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Residential Units ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Characterization Studies ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractObsidian from known outcrops in the Mesoamerican highlands has been recovered from lowland Maya sites, providing significant evidence for long-distance procurement and local redistribution of obsidian by the ancient Maya. Prior chemical-characterization studies of obsidian from the lowland Maya area provide a foundation for the study of Tikal-Yaxha obsidian presented here. The samples used in this analysis came from middens associated with 12 residential units located between Tikal and Yaxha and dating from the Preclassic through Terminal Classic periods. The results of chemical sourcing of the Tikal-Yaxha samples generally lend support to current interpretations of changes in obsidian distribution and procurement in the central Maya lowlands. During the Preclassic period, most obsidian was imported from the San Martín Jilotepeque-Río Pixcaya source area. Obsidian from the El Chayal source predominated throughout the Classic period, although some Mexican Pachuca obsidian appeared in Early Classic contexts, and Ixtepepque obsidian was apparently restricted to the Terminal Classic period.

Locating and Dating Sites Using Lidar Survey in a Mosaic Landscape in Western Belize

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Yaeger ◽  
M. Kathryn Brown ◽  
Bernadette Cap
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Visual Inspection ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Lidar Data ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Remotely Sensed Data ◽  
Mosaic Landscape ◽  
Slope Analysis ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
River Valleys

AbstractWe use the results of a high-resolution lidar survey to assess the advantages and limitations of archaeological applications of lidar data and address some of its methodological challenges. Our data come from the Mopan and Macal River valleys in western Belize, a region that includes several ancient Maya political centers and their hinterlands. Visual inspection of the lidar data has revealed many new sites and new features at previously mapped sites, and these findings significantly enhance our understanding of the valley's cultural history and political dynamics. By comparing data from prior systematic pedestrian surveys, visual and TPI analysis of the lidar data, and analysis of other remotely sensed data, we assess the limits of mound visibility in the lidar data and examine how vegetation and topographic factors impact those limits. We also present slope analysis as a useful tool for predicting whether mounds were constructed in the Preclassic period (1000 B.C.–A.D. 250) or the Classic period (A.D. 250–900).

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