Flakes to Blades? Middle Formative Development of Obsidian Artifacts in the Upper Belize River Valley

1994 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Awe ◽  
Paul F. Healy
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Developmental Sequence ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Documented Case ◽  
Belize River Valley ◽  
Late Formative ◽  
Maya Site ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Artifact Type

The recovery of obsidian artifacts in radiometrically dated cultural stratigraphic levels at the Maya site of Cahal Pech (Belize) suggests that there was a flake-to-bladelet sequence of development of obsidian technology in the Belize Valley region of the Maya lowlands. Obsidian artifacts within levels dating to the first half of the early Middle Formative period (1000-850 B.C.) at Cahal Pech consist exclusively of flakes. Prismatic blades first occur in late Middle Formative (650-450 B.C.) levels, and remain the predominant artifact type throughout the subsequent Late Formative and Classic periods. This Middle Formative transition in obsidian artifacts has been recorded elsewhere in Mesoamerica, but the Cahal Pech data represent the first explicitly documented case of the developmental sequence in the central Maya lowlands.

Shifting Strategies of Political Authority in the Middle through Terminal Formative Polity of Chiapa De Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 452-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy D. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Political Hierarchy ◽  
Status Differentiation ◽  
Forced Resettlement ◽  
Late Formative ◽  
New Space ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Status Differences

This study investigates changes in strategies ofrulership at the early Zoque polity ofChiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, Mexico, from its inception in the Middle Formative period through its peak of political power during the Terminal Formative period. Incorporating data from my survey ofChiapa de Corzo and its hinterland with excavation data from the center, I contrast changes in the organization of ceremonial activity and in the establishment of status differences at the site with strategies employed in the governance of the polity at large. The initial rulers ofChiapa de Corzo adopted civic-ceremonial conventions shared with the Olmec site of La Venta, including the E-Group architectural pattern repeated at a number of sites in Chiapas. In the Late Formative, rulers integrated the E-Group into an architectural template adopted from contemporary capitals in the Maya Lowlands. This new space was less accessible than the earlier Middle Formative ceremonial zone. The adoption of these new traditions was accompanied by increased status differentiation between rulers and subjects. At the same time, there was a reduction in the elaboration of the regional political hierarchy and a decrease in the practice of forced resettlement. The results of this study indicate that the novel ceremonial practices and changes in status differentiation at the capital were accompanied unevenly by interference of rulers in the daily life of the hinterland.

SELECTIVE MEMORY: MONUMENTAL POLITICS OF THE YAXUNÁ E GROUP IN THE FIRST MILLENNIUM B.C.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Ryan H. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Vital Role ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Economic Interaction ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Late Formative ◽  
Significant Patterns ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Critical Case Study

Abstract In seeking continuities and disjuncture from the precedents of past authorities, the Mesoamerican emergent ruling class during the Formative period were active agents in directing changes to monumental space, suggesting that memory played a vital role in developing an early shared character of Maya lifeways (1000 b.c. to a.d. 250). The trend is most visible in the civic ceremonial complexes known as E Groups, which tend to show significant patterns of continuity (remembering) and disjuncture (forgetting). This article uses the northern lowland site of Yaxuná in Yucatan, Mexico, to demonstrate the use of early selective strategies to direct collective memory. While there are E Groups in the northern Maya lowlands, few Formative period examples are known, making Yaxuná a critical case study for comparative assessment with the southern lowlands. One implication of the Yaxuná data is that the broader pattern of Middle Formative E Groups resulted from sustained social, religious, political, and economic interaction between diverse peer groups across eastern Mesoamerica. With the emergence of institutionalized rulership in the Maya lowlands during the Late Formative, local authorities played a significant role in directing transformations of E Groups, selectively influencing their meanings and increasingly independent trajectories through continuity and disjuncture.

The Chronology of Yaxuna

1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Suhler ◽  
Traci Ardren ◽  
David Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Cultural History ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Urban Center ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Formative ◽  
Middle Formative

AbstractResearch at the ancient Maya city of Yaxuna, located in the heart of the Yucatan Peninsula, has provided sufficient data to suggest a preliminary chronological framework for the cultural development of this large polity. Primary ceramic and stratigraphie data are presented to support a five-phase scheme of cultural history, encompassing the Middle Formative through Postclassic periods (500 b.c.–a.d. 1250). In addition to chronological significance, the political ramifications of a pan-lowland ceramic trade are addressed. Yaxuna experienced an early florescence in the Late Formative–Early Classic periods, when it was the largest urban center in the central peninsula. A second renaissance in the Terminal Classic period was the result of Yaxuna's role in an alliance between the Puuc and Coba, in opposition to growing Itza militancy. This paper proposes a chronological framework for the cultural development of one northern Maya region in order to facilitate an understanding of this area as part of the overall history of polity interaction and competition in the Maya lowlands.

scholarly journals Lidar survey of ancient Maya settlement in the Puuc region of Yucatan, Mexico

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0249314
Author(s):  
William M. Ringle ◽  
Tomás Gallareta Negrón ◽  
Rossana May Ciau ◽  
Kenneth E. Seligson ◽  
Juan C. Fernandez-Diaz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Archaeology ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Civic Architecture ◽  
Sensing Technology ◽  
Cultivable Land ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Storage Technologies

The application of lidar remote-sensing technology has revolutionized the practice of settlement and landscape archaeology, perhaps nowhere more so than in the Maya lowlands. This contribution presents a substantial lidar dataset from the Puuc region of Yucatan, Mexico, a cultural subregion of the ancient Maya and a distinct physiographic zone within the Yucatan peninsula. Despite the high density of known sites, no large site has been fully surveyed, and little is known about intersite demography. Lidar technology allows determination of settlement distribution for the first time, showing that population was elevated but nucleated, although without any evidence of defensive features. Population estimates suggest a region among the most densely settled within the Maya lowlands, though hinterland levels are modest. Lacking natural bodies of surface water, the ancient Puuc inhabitants relied upon various storage technologies, primarily chultuns (cisterns) and aguadas (natural or modified reservoirs for potable water). Both are visible in the lidar imagery, allowing calculation of aguada capacities by means of GIS software. The imagery also demonstrates an intensive and widespread stone working industry. Ovens visible in the imagery were probably used for the production of lime, used for construction purposes and perhaps also as a softening agent for maize. Quarries can also be discerned, including in some cases substantial portions of entire hills. With respect to agriculture, terrain classification permits identification of patches of prime cultivable land and calculation of their extents. Lidar imagery also provides the first unequivocal evidence for terracing in the Puuc, indeed in all northern Yucatan. Finally, several types of civic architecture and architectural complexes are visible, including four large acropolises probably dating to the Middle Formative period (700–450 B.C.). Later instances of civic architecture include numerous Early Puuc Civic Complexes, suggesting a common form of civic organization at the beginning of the Late Classic demographic surge, (A.D. 600–750).

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.

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.

THE EARLY IZAPA KINGDOM: RECENT EXCAVATIONS, NEW DATING AND MIDDLE FORMATIVE CERAMIC ANALYSES

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Rosenswig ◽  
Brendan J. Culleton ◽  
Douglas J. Kennett ◽  
Rosemary Lieske ◽  
Rebecca R. Mendelsohn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
Ceramic Analysis ◽  
Differential Distribution ◽  
Monumental Architecture ◽  
Good Surface ◽  
Mound 72 ◽  
Late Formative ◽  
Group B ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Ams Dates

AbstractIzapa is famous for its monumental architecture and extensive corpus of carved stelae dated to the Late Formative Guillén phase (300–100 calb.c.). The site was first established, however, as the capital of a kingdom during the second half of the Middle Formative period (750–300 calb.c.). Little is known of the first centuries of the site's occupation or how this early kingdom coalesced with Izapa as its capital. In 2012, the Izapa Regional Settlement Project (IRSP) excavated 21 test units and ran 10 radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates in order to begin correcting this lacuna. These excavations were the first at the site to screen soil matrices and recover artifact samples that can be quantitatively analyzed.We undertook excavations in areas north and south of Group B, the original center of Izapa. This work dates the northern expansion of the site's main platform (under Mound 30a) to the Terminal Formative Itstapa phase (cala.d.100–300) that resulted in a doubling of the platform's size. Further, we documented that there were three distinct construction episodes in the Terminal Formative expansion and that a central staircase and ramp were built of stone during the second episode. Buried below the Terminal Formative platform expansion was a white clay surface built during the Escalón phase (750–500 calb.c.) and used through to Guillén times. At the long, linear Mound 62 that defines the eastern edge of Izapa's site core, we documented two episodes of Guillén-phase monumental construction. Buried below this construction fill at Mound 62, a hearth feature and stone alignment are dated to the late Middle Formative based on radiocarbon assays and the results of ceramic analysis. Excavations at Mound 72 and 73 documented that Izapa's E-Group (newly recognized with lidar [light detection and ranging] data) was established in the late Middle Formative period and then significantly augmented during the Guillén phase. The architectural program at Izapa saw its apogee during the Late Formative period, but was first established during the preceding centuries of the Middle Formative. Ten new AMS dates confirm the dating of the Escalón, Frontera, and Guillén phases to 750–100 calb.c.Ceramic analysis allowed us to differentiate quantitatively between midden deposits and construction fill through the site's occupation and to recognize domestic versus public spaces during the first centuries of the Izapa kingdom's coalescence. We identify late Middle Formative period middens based on the high density of ceramics in addition to good surface preservation of sherds and a lack of temporal mixing of types. The designation of high-artifact density middens contrasts with the contents of Late and Terminal Formative construction fill with lower ceramic sherd densities and mixing of temporally diagnostic types. Off-mound contexts (where construction fill was mined) had even lower ceramic densities than construction fill and the sherds were very eroded. Analysis of ceramic remains from late Middle Formative period midden deposits also allowed us to infer differences in public and domestic areas of the site during the first centuries of its occupation. Formal and metric variables from these ceramic assemblages identify dish-to-jar ratios that differentiate domestic contexts (with an assortment of vessel forms) from more publically oriented areas of the site (with more serving dishes). The differential distribution of rim diameters of fancy and plain dishes allows us to identify areas of Izapa where domestic activities predominate and indicate that more publically oriented feasting practices occurred at the site center near the main pyramid (Mound 30a) during the late Middle Formative period.

RE-CREATING THE FORMATIVE MAYA VILLAGE OF K'AXOB

1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. McAnany ◽  
Sandra L. López Varela
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Domestic Architecture ◽  
Ceramic Analysis ◽  
Mortuary Ritual ◽  
The Past ◽  
Vessel Volume ◽  
Late Formative ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Small Platform

Occupation of the lowlands by groups of Mayan-language speakers during the Archaic and Formative periods is poorly understood, partly because of a lack of sufficient data. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that early deposits often are discovered at the base of deep test excavations and, as such, yield a “window” to the past that is limited in terms of understanding settlement colonization, growth, and differentiation. The southern portion of the site of K'axob, which is located in northern Belize, contains substantial Middle and Late Formative period construction that is relatively accessible under Classic-period plaza surfaces. The results of seven large-scale excavations conducted in both large and small platform complexes are reported here. A suite of radiocarbon assays and ceramic analysis indicate initial construction at K'axob shortly after 800 b.c. Ceramic complexes presented here are typified by a diversity of Middle Formative pottery types (devoid of jar forms), followed by Late Formative pottery featuring a significant increase in vessel volume and local innovations in surface finish. At K'axob, Middle Formative domiciles were large and well equipped, and they featured a separate ancillary kitchen structure to the west. Around 200 b.c., settlement expanded from a nuclear Middle Formative core, and differentiation in residential construction became apparent. A significant aspect of Formative domestic architecture is the inclusion of human remains, which reveal longitudinal trends in the elaboration of mortuary ritual indicative of ancestor-linked social and economic differentiation.

LOWLAND MAYA GENESIS: THE LATE ARCHAIC TO LATE EARLY FORMATIVE TRANSITION IN THE UPPER BELIZE RIVER VALLEY

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-544
Author(s):  
Jaime J. Awe ◽  
Claire E. Ebert ◽  
W. James Stemp ◽  
M. Kathryn Brown ◽  
Lauren A. Sullivan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
Cultural Development ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Transitional Period ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Belize River Valley ◽  
Trade And Exchange ◽  
Early Formative ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractThe transition from the Late Archaic to the Late Early Formative period witnessed profound changes in the Maya lowlands. In addition to the establishment of the first settlements and agrarian communities, this critical phase of cultural development heralded the introduction of ceramics, saw changes in lithic technology, gave rise to inter-regional trade and exchange, and witnessed the introduction of a complex symbolic system expressed on portable objects. In this article, we synthesize data collected over the past several decades by various archaeological projects in western Belize to provide an overview of the cultural changes that unfolded during the Late Archaic to Late Early Formative period in the Upper Belize River Valley. We also provide evidence indicating that it was during this critical transitional period that we begin to see the establishment of several cultural traditions that became uniquely lowland Maya.

UNDERSTANDING THE WRAPPED BUNDLE BURIALS OF WEST MEXICO: A CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF MIDDLE FORMATIVE MORTUARY PRACTICES

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill A. Rhodes ◽  
Joseph B. Mountjoy ◽  
Fabio G. Cupul-Magaña
Keyword(s):  
Formative Period ◽  
Contextual Analysis ◽  
Mortuary Practices ◽  
High Status ◽  
West Mexico ◽  
Late Formative ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Funerary Customs ◽  
Secondary Burial ◽  
Unusual Type

AbstractThis article reports on the discovery of an unusual type of secondary burial found at two Middle Formative sites in the Mascota valley of Jalisco, West Mexico. We examine these burials within a Middle and Late Formative period context as well as a broader temporal context of funerary customs and mortuary programs involving secondary-type burials. Tightly wrapped, elaborately processed bundled burials were recovered at the cemeteries of El Embocadero II and Los Tanques. We report on the human remains from both sites and examine burial context and biological identity to seek explanations. The individuals selected for this burial treatment are not associated with any markers of high status. These burials may represent a different ethnic, familial, community or ancestral identity, and we consider the broader secondary burial phenomenon as the possible expression of a ritual of seasonal interment associated with the use of a mortuary hut to curate and process the bodies.

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