El Achiotal

This chapter summarizes the archaeological and iconographic evidence from Structure 5C-01 that indicate rulership was established at the small center of El Achiotal in the Late Preclassic period. The symbolic vocabulary at El Achiotal suggests rulers were knowledgeable of the widespread ideology that was being institutionalized in the southern Maya lowlands as well as the more ancient symbolic vocabulary that represented the institution of kingship developed by the Middle Preclassic at La Venta and other centers in Mexico. Variables such as geographic location and control over knowledge provided Late Preclassic centers with leverage to negotiate their status and power within the broader regional geopolitics, thus challenging conventional models used to understand early political authority and its organization over the landscape.

Middle Preclassic Maya Shell Ornament Production

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 Earliest Ceramics of the Northern Maya Lowlands

This chapter examines the evidence for pre-Mamom pottery in the northern Maya lowlands. This pottery, recognized as the Ek complex, has been identified at Komchen and Kiuic as well as several other sites in the western part of northern Yucatan. The identification, description, and comparison of this pottery with contemporary complexes from the southern Maya lowlands establishes Ek pottery as the oldest ceramic complex (900-800 B.C.) recovered in the north. Northern Maya culture is thought to be the result of a process of in situ evolution which begins at roughly the same time it happened in the south.

Introduction

This introduction to the edited volume by Brown and Bey summarizes past research on the Preclassic Maya and discusses an explosion of new information from the last fifteen years pushing back the origins of social complexity into the Middle Preclassic. This chapter highlights the fact that this volume brings together important archaeology and research considering the Middle and Late Preclassic periods from both the southern and northern Maya lowlands for the first time. The Late Preclassic was long thought to be the time period by which archaeologists could explain the rise and nature of Classic Maya culture. However, as the fifteen chapters in this volume argue, any discussion of the development of social complexity must be focused on the Middle Preclassic (1000-300 B.C.).

At the Foot of the Hills

This contribution is about Xocnaceh, an early Yucatecan site with monumental architecture located on the edge of the Puuc escarpment. A program of excavations at the Acropolis, a trapezoidal basal platform whose surviving volume exceeds 100,000 m3, has identified building episodes and artifacts dating from the Middle Preclassic Period (800-300 B.C.) This chapter focuses on the evidence for identifying the construction stages and the associated artifacts useful for dating these contexts and for inferring commercial contacts outside the region. Instead of pyramidal temples or funerary monuments, these early structures were designed to accomodate large numbers of people, at least on special occasions. These great complexes with large open spaces suggest that social differences had not yet hardened suffiently for restricting social interaction.

Changing Stages

This chapter adds to the current debate evaluating the functions and meanings of Maya architectural layouts and contributes to our understanding of the diverse cultural and political values embedded within these complexes. Excavations at San Bartolo of an architectural assemblage consisting of a ballcourt, E-group, and triadic complex defines a developmental sequence highlighting both significant changes and continuities in ceremonial expression during the last four centuries of the Preclassic period. The changes reflect an evolution of the role of ajaw from an intermediary with divine forces to a divine force to which nature was subject. The shift at San Bartolo, from E-group to Triadic complex, thus characterizes a monumental architecture expressing nascent institutions of kingship that would come to define the politics of the Classic period.

The Preclassic Settlement of Northwest Yucatan

This chapter focuses on presenting data and interpretations resulting from three recent archaeology projects carried out in the northwest corner of Yucatan, Mexico. The surveys identified a total of 140 sites with Preclassic occupations indicating a burgeoning degree of cultural complexity by the Middle Preclassic. These sites formed a three-tiered regional hierarchy which persisted until the beginning of the Late Preclassic period. Perhaps the most unexpected feature at these sites was the presence of 23 examples of ballcourt architecture dating to the Middle Preclassic period.

The Role of Ideology, Religion, and Ritual in the Foundation of Social Complexity in the Belize River Valley

This chapter examines the role of ritual and religion in the development of social complexity and the institutionalization of hierarchy in the Belize River valley. The authors synthesize Preclassic data from the sites of Blackman Eddy, Cahal Pech, and Xunantunich related to early religious behaviour and document how ritual activities and public architecture changed through time in order to both emphasize and reinforce inequalities within the society, and thus reflect transformations in shared religious beliefs. Evidence from the Belize River valley suggests that rituals revolving around the veneration of ancestors were a critical component in the processes of both establishing and maintaining social hierarchies.

The Cunil Complex

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.

The Paleo-American and Archaic Periods in Yucatan

This chapter reviews the growing evidence of human presence in the Maya area during Late Paleo-Indian and Archaic times. By the end of the Archaic, around 2500-2000 B.C., agriculture had spread throughout much of the Maya area, possibly accompanied by the first semi-permanent settlements. During the Early Preclassic, around 2000-1500 B.C., if not earlier, the first permanent farming settlements appear. The search for preceramic sites on the Yucatan peninsula has not been very successful and in northern Yucatan the earliest permanent settlements with ceramics do not appear until the early part of the Middle Preclassic period, ca. 1000-900 B.C.