David M. Pendergast

Lamanai, Belize: Summary of Excavation Results, 1974–1980

AbstractExcavations at the ancient Maya center of Lamanai, Belize, were begun in 1974 and are expected to continue through 1983. Selected because the presence of a 16th-century Spanish church indicated occupation in late pre-Conquest times, the site is now known to have been occupied continuously for more than two millennia. Excavations have revealed the presence of late Pre-Classic (300 B.C. or earlier) ceremonial and residential construction north of the central ceremonial precinct. The precinct itself, which is laid out in strip form along the western shore of New River Lagoon, has yielded extensive evidence of ceremonial activity, including a 33 m. high structure that is the largest securely dated Pre-Classic building in the Maya Area.While the site center was largely abandoned by the end of the Late Classic (9th–10th centuries A.C.), major ceremonial construction was still being undertaken at that time in its southern part, the area which became the focus of a rich Post-Classic development. Post-Clas...

Social Complexity and Food Systems at Altun Ha, Belize: The Isotopic Evidence

This study reports stable carbon-isotope ratios for both bone collagen and apatite, and nitrogen-isotope ratios for bone collagen for 72 Maya skeletons from 9 zones representing contrasting status groups at Altun Ha, Belize. The sample spans the Preclassic to Postclassic periods, approximately 800 B. C. to after A. D. 950. Although Altun Ha has a maize-based (C-4) diet, it has a much stronger marine/reef component than any other Maya site studied so far. Two possible dedicatory burial groups are dietarily distinct. The source of protein appears to have been fairly stable throughout the site sequence, but a marked shift to reduced consumption of C4 foods seems to have occurred after the Early Classic period. A second similar decline probably occurred between the Late/Terminal Classic and the Postclassic periods. These apparent temporal trends may, however, be confounded by differences between zones. High status is marked by consumption of large quantities of C4 foods, possibly including C4-fed terrestrial animals. Males consumed more meat and C4 foods than did females. All δ-values and collagen-apatite spacings indicate that children were breastfed until at least the age of three or four.

On the Fringes of Conquest: Maya-Spanish Contact in Colonial Belize

The defeat of the Aztecs of Mexico by Hern�n Cort�s in 1521 was but the beginning of a long and torturous conquest of Central America that did not always result in the mastery of people and production for which the Spanish had hoped. The Maya of the resource-poor Yucat�n peninsula were spared the heavy colonial hand that held fast to central Mexico and its riches. In addition, the dense forests of the peninsula served as a haven for refugees fleeing oppressive conditions in colonial towns. Despite the paucity of documentary information on Maya communities of the frontier, knowledge of Maya-Spanish relations in the 16th and 17th centuries has advanced in recent years through archeological and ethnohistorical research. Work in one region of the Maya lowlands has brought us closer to an understanding of the early interaction of the rulers and the ruled.

Excavations in the Great Plaza, North Terrace, and North Acropolis of Tikal

This report is integral and pivotal to the entire Tikal publications series. Produced in six separate casebound volumes (3 of text, 2 of illustrations, a map box for oversize plans and sections), this monumental study looks at the very hub of Tikal. Tikal Report 14 is a tribute to its author, William R. Coe, who not only was able to salvage Tikal from the jungle but meticulously recorded all the resulting data in detailed plans, sections, drawings, and photographs, as well as the written word. This is an integrated site report of unprecedented size and scope. Tikal Report 14 will be of vital interest to field archaeologists and historians studying aspects of Mesoamerican culture. University Museum Monograph, 61

Ancient maya mercury.

Discovery of mercury in an ancient Maya offering at Lamanai, Belize, has stimulated examination of possible sources of the material in the Maya area. Two zones of cinnabar and native mercury deposits can be defined in the Maya highlands, and the presence of the native metal suggests that the ancient Maya collected rather than extracted the mercury from ore.

The Context and Significance of Copper Artifacts in Postclassic and Early Historic Lamanai, Belize

Abstract We consider the archaeological contexts in which copper objects have been recovered at the ancient Maya site of Lamanai in northern Belize and the significance these objects had for the residents of the community during Postclassic (ca. A.D. 950–1544) and Spanish colonial (post 1544) times. More copper objects have been recovered from controlled archaeological contexts at Lamanai than any other site in the southern Maya lowlands area. Bells make up the majority of the assemblage during the centuries just prior to and during historical times, but high status objects such as rings and clothing ornaments found in elite burials dominate in the Early Postclassic period. All of these objects were imported from outside the Maya area. Utilitarian objects, including needles, axes, and fish books, are found in a variety of contexts during Late Postclassic and Spanish colonial times, as are bells and rings. Production materials, including prills, blanks, and pigs/ingots, in addition to mis-cast objects that are production failures, also appear during this time. Nearly all of the copper objects found at Lamanai are distinctly Mesoamerican in form and design, and based on metallurgical analyses it appears that manufacturing technologies were distinctly Mesoamerican as well. The presence of production materials and mis-cast piecesy along with the results of chemical compositional and microstructural analyses, support the idea that the Maya at Lamanai were engaged in the on-site production of copper objects by late precolumbian times.

Locating Maya Lowlands Spanish Colonial Towns: A Case Study from Belize

Recent excavations of the Spanish Colonial Maya communities of Lamanai and Tipu, Belize, combine with extensive ethnohistorical research to provide guidelines for the location of other Historic-period sites in the region. We present brief case studies of community-location data from the ethnohistorical record, followed by observations regarding survey expectations and approaches appropriate to identification of Spanish Colonial-period sites. Though rooted in Belize experience, the strategies outlined should prove applicable throughout the Maya Lowlands, and perhaps beyond the regions borders as well.

Tumbaga object from the early classic period, found at altun ha, british honduras (belize).

Excavations at Altun Ha, British Honduras (Belize), have yielded a claw-shaped bead of tumbaga, a gold-copper alloy, occurring as part of an Early Classic offering. Stratigraphic evidence plus radiocarbon dates place the cache at or before A.D. 500, and stylistic elements indicate a source for the bead in the Cocl� culture of central Panama.

The houses in which they dwelt: the excavation and dating of Taino wooden structures at Los Buchillones, Cuba

Abstract Excavations at Los Buchillones, on Cubas north central coast, have revealed the existence of not only numerous wooden artifacts but also remarkably well preserved thatch-roofed wooden structures. We present here the results of two series of AMS date determinations undertaken on structural elements together with comments on the significance of the dates, accompanied by ethnohistoric observations regarding Taino buildings of a generally similar nature.

The center and the edge: Archaeology in Belize, 1809–1992

The archaeological history of Belize now spans, in a sense, 183 years. For all but the past quarter-century of that time, research in the country has ranged from sporadic to nonexistent. In recent years, however, forces both internal and external to Belize have brought about an explosion of fieldwork and reporting, as well as wide-ranging analyses, problem-focused studies, and the beginnings of placement of Belize in a theoretical frame. Review of the development of archaeological research in the country establishes a base on which to rest discussion of themes in current work, as well as the impact of Belizean data as regards changes in our assessment of Maya prehistory as a whole.