Jaime J Awe
Biographic Data
| ID | 190861 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jaime J Awe |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jaime J |
| FAMILY NAME | Awe |
| SIGNATURE | AWE J J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Northern Arizona University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0242-0696 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 79 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 614 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 79 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1990 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 12 |
Applying demographic and epidemiological models in challenging situations
OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the utility of applying demographic and epidemiological models to assess the potential effects of sociopolitical status and childhood stress on survivorship, mortality, and morbidity to shed new light on life during the Maya Classic period. MATERIALS: Elite and commoner burials (n = 63) from the Lower Dover polity, Belize dating to the Early (CE 250/300-600) and Late/Terminal Classic (CE 600-900/1000) periods were analyz…
Better Late than Never
The Archaic period in the Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica emerged around 8000 BCE and likely lasted until about 1000 BCE; however, both the development and complex cultural adaptations representative of Archaic peoples present challenges for archaeologists. In central Belize, archaeological evidence for Archaic people is limited, especially when compared to northern and southern Belize. Nevertheless, our knowledge of Archaic lifestyles in this part …
Sacrifice, Subsistence, and Sacra in Stela Cave
Located in the Macal River Valley of Belize, Stela Cave was an important ceremonial space for the ancient Maya in the Classic period (ca. a.d. 250–900). Surface collection and excavations in the cave produced an assemblage of chipped stone artifacts mostly consisting of debitage with relatively few finished tools. Microscopic usewear analysis revealed that most of the chipped stone artifacts were likely used for domestic and subsistence activitie…
Early Maya chert caching documented through archaeological geophysics at Cahal Pech, Belize
A geophysical survey at Cahal Pech, Belize, identified one of the earliest securely dated lithic caches from the Maya lowlands. Linked to Middle Preclassic (800–400 cal BC) monumental architecture and communal ceremonial events, this find demonstrates the effectiveness of gradiometry for detecting ritual deposits
Modelling Resilience
Maya Sequential Burials and Subsistence Change at the Prehispanic Site of Caledonia, Cayo District, Belize
From the Late Preclassic to Terminal Classic periods (300 bce– 900 ce ), the Maya people at the site of Caledonia, Cayo District, Belize, interred their dead within site architecture. Four burials containing the remains of at least 21 individuals were uncovered during excavations and were relatively dated using typologies developed from the ceramics recovered from the burial contexts. The single older adult female who may have been bundled in Bur…
Two ancient Maya tattooing tools from Actun Uayazba Kab, Roaring Creek Valley, Belize
A pXRF analysis of utilitarian pottery from the Late Classic Maya polity of Lower Dover, Belize
Biocultural Taphonomies and Analysis of an Emerging Terminal Classic (750–900 CE) Maya Deathway
In bioarchaeology, funerary taphonomy and preservation become part of the biocultural narrative of the dead. We evaluate the role of these factors in reconstructing the identities of those buried in an emerging deathway, the ventrally placed legs flexed (VPLF) burial position, during the Terminal Classic (750–900/1000 CE) period at the Maya polity of Lower Dover in western Belize. The term “VPLF” describes a divergent burial practice which may ha…
The ideology and symbolism of ancient Maya chert and obsidian eccentrics from central Belize
Eccentrics are associated with fundamentally important concepts in ancient Maya cosmology and religion. As their name implies, eccentrics are irregularly shaped, non-utilitarian, special function artifacts. Knapped from chert and obsidian, they vary in size, take many forms, and can be expediently made or masterfully crafted. In this study, we focus on eccentrics from Central Belize, specifically those from Ballcourt 2 at Xunantunich, as well as …
The Implements of the Blade House
The ancient Maya produced chipped chert and obsidian tools for inclusion in religious rituals as both symbolic and/or functional implements. In this paper, we discuss one particular form of these special chipped stone tools – the large laurel-leaf biface. Laurel-leaf bifaces recovered from the cave sites of Actun Chapat, Actun Tunichil Mucnal, Actun Yaxteel Ahau, and Je’reftheel in central Belize are analyzed in terms of context, lithic raw mater…
Obsidian Tool Function and Maya Lithic Economy at Terminal Classic Pook's Hill, Belize
The typological, technological, and use-wear analyses of obsidian artifacts from Terminal Classic Pook's Hill (AD 830-950+) provide opportunities to better reconstruct socioeconomic activities in this plazuela group, including long-distance trade, tool production, subsistence practices, domestic tasks, and the organization of craft production. Based on visual sourcing, most of the obsidian originated from highland Guatemala, specifically El Chaya…
Shell Games
Recent excavations at the ancient Maya minor center of Tutu Uitz Na in the Belize River Valley revealed an especially large—about 20 million shells—Middle Preclassic (900–300 BC) shell deposit underlying the plaza. Although marine shell species make up a small percentage of the assemblage, most shells are Pachychilus spp., a common freshwater snail known in the southern Maya Lowlands as jute . This report describes the architectural context and a…
Patterns of residential differentiation and labor control at Baking Pot and Lower Dover in the Belize River Valley
The Classic Maya polities of Baking Pot and Lower Dover developed along two dramatically different trajectories. At Baking Pot, the capital and associated apical elite regime grew concomitantly with surrounding populations over a thousand-year period. The smaller polity of Lower Dover, in contrast, formed when a Late Classic political center was established by an emergent apical elite regime amidst several long-established intermediate elite-head…
Exploring Maya population history of Central Belize from Late Preclassic to Late/Terminal Classic
Volcanic Ash Tempered Pottery Production in the Late to Terminal Classic Belize Valley, Belize
Production and consumption of pottery tempered with fresh volcanic ash peaked in the Late to Terminal Classic periods in the Maya lowlands. Differences in the type of volcanic inclusion and vessel form indicate that the pottery was produced in multiple locations by different groups of potters. In this article, we characterize pottery from household contexts at Baking Pot, Belize, using thin-section petrography and neutron activation analysis (NAA…
Building High-Precision Ams 14 C Bayesian Models for the Formation of Peri-Abandonment Deposits at Baking Pot, Belize
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 Bay…
Comparing Preclassic Sequences at Cahal Pech, Belize
We thank our colleague for his comment, address concerns raised, and encourage future collaborative research to answer important questions about the Middle Preclassic at Cahal Pech
The Preceramic and Early Ceramic Periods in Belize and the Central Maya Lowlands
This introduction to the Special Section provides a summary of our current understanding of the first humans and the first Maya in these regions and presents seven articles that examine these critical periods from varied, intersecting perspectives. The Introduction begins with a brief history of early preceramic research (primarily in northern Belize) and provides a current chronology for the Paleoindian, Archaic, and Early Preclassic periods. Th…
Lowland Maya Genesis
The 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 portabl…
Early Monumentality in the Belize River Valley
Recent investigations at Cahal Pech, Belize, documented a previously unrecognized Middle Preclassic (700-500 cal BC) E-Group complex. Located in an open public plaza, the monumental complex likely functioned as a forum for communal public events. In the Late Preclassic, the E-Group was replaced by an ancestor shrine where several royal tombs are located, as well as buildings separating public civic space from private elite space. These shifts in …
Expedient lithic technology in complex sedentary societies
Archaeology and Heritage Management in the Maya Area
Archaeology and heritage management in the Maya area have developed differently in the various modern-day countries that make up ancient Mesoamerica. In the country of Belize, heritage management has been conjoined with archaeology since at least the late 1970s. Long-term projects, such as the 1985-to-present archaeological investigations at the ancient ruins that comprise the immense city of Caracol, Belize, demonstrate the evolution of heritage…
Thirty-Two Years of Integrating Archaeology and Heritage Management in Belize
Since its inception in 1988, the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance (BVAR) Project has had two major foci, that of cultural heritage management and archaeological research. While research has concentrated on excavation and survey, the heritage management focus of the project has included the preservation of ancient monuments, the integration of archaeology and tourism development, and cultural heritage education. In this paper, we provid…
Sharper than a Serpent’s Tooth
Airborne LiDAR, archaeology, and the ancient Maya landscape at Caracol, Belize
The Ancient Maya Drought Cult
Caves were used as ritual venues by the ancient Maya from the Early Preclassic to the Postclassic period. These sites have been intensively investigated, but little research has been devoted to changes in cave use over time. Work at Chechem Ha Cave in western Belize investigates transformations in ritual practice occurring between the Early and Late Classic periods using an explanatory framework that incorporates high-definition archaeological re…
The Use of LiDAR in Understanding the Ancient Maya Landscape
The use of airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) in western Belize, Central America, has revolutionized our understanding of the spatial dynamics of the ancient Maya. This technology has enabled researchers to successfully demonstrate the large-scale human modifications made to the ancient tropical landscape, providing insight on broader regional settlement. Before the advent of this laser-based technology, heavily forested cover prevented…
Preceramic Occupations in Belize
Evidence from preceramic Paleoindian and Archaic time periods in Belize has been recorded over the past quarter of a century by a number of projects. This paper summarizes previously published information and presents new archaeological data in bringing the hunting-and-gathering and itinerant horticultural millennia of this region into a more accurate and comprehensive perspective than has been presented to date. The Paleoindian period includes i…
Preclassic Round Structures of the Upper Belize River Valley
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 info…
The Role of Diet in Resilience and Vulnerability to Climate Change among Early Agricultural Communities in the Maya Lowlands
The Terminal Classic Period (AD 750-1000) collapse of lowland Maya social, economic, and political systems has been temporally correlated with severe and extended drought in regional paleoclimate records. Ancient Maya society also experienced a protracted multicentury drought earlier during the end of the Late Preclassic Period (AD 100-300). While some large Preclassic polities declined, many more flourished through the Early Classic. Why were th…
Flakes to Blades? Middle Formative Development of Obsidian Artifacts in the Upper Belize River Valley
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 …
A reconstruction of Middle Preclassic Maya subsistence economy at Cahal Pech, Belize
The recovery of animal and plant remains from the site of Cahal Pech provides data on early diet and subsistence practices in the Belize Valley region of the Maya lowlands. Analysis of the material remains suggests that the Middle Preclassic Maya were practising a mixed subsistence economy relying on agricultural foodstuffs, local terrestrial game species, freshwater fish and shellfish and marine reef fishes. Isotopic analysis of human bone is us…
Evidence for Maya Household Subsistence and Domestic Activities
From 1999–2005, the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project excavated Pook's Hill (PKH-1), a single plazuela group located in the Roaring Creek Valley, Cayo District, Belize. Artifacts recovered at Pook's Hill date predominantly to the Late and Terminal Classic (A.D. 700–950) and can be stratigraphically segregated into two distinct occupation phases, namely a Late Classic (A.D. 700–830) and a Terminal Classic-Early Postclassic (A.D. …
Design and Function of Lowe and Sawmill Points from the Preceramic Period of Belize
To date, 81 stemmed and barbed preceramic (Archaic) points (8000-900 B.C.) have been identified in Belize. Fifty-four are Lowe points; 21 are Sawmill points. Four more are provisionally classified as Allspice and two as Ya'axche' points. These stemmed bifaces are frequently beveled on alternate-opposite edges and demonstrate variable degrees of resharpening and reworking, which affects blade shape and tool size. Numerous functions have been attri…
Ritual economy and ancient Maya bloodletting
Decoding the Archaeological Significance of Problematic Deposits in the Maya Lowlands
The term “problematical deposits” was coined decades ago at Tikal to refer to special deposits that were neither burials nor caches. Since that time, the term has been expanded to refer to a range of deposits that have puzzled archaeologists. In this paper we review the various interpretations that have been offered for these deposits includingde factorefuse, squatter deposits, and the remains of dedication or termination ritual, feasting, or pil…
Material Encounters and Indigenous Transformations in the Early Colonial Americas
Material Encounters and Indigenous Transformations in the Early Colonial Americas brings together 15 archaeological case studies that offer new perspectives on colonial period interactions in the Caribbean and surrounding areas through a specific focus on material culture and indigenous agency. Readership: Scholars in archaeology and early history, graduate students, educated public with an interest in early colonial history of the Americas
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 densi…
Questioning Postclassic Continuity at Baking Pot, Belize, Using Direct AMS 14 C 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 …
AMS 14 C Dating of Preclassic to Classic Period Household Construction in the Ancient Maya Community of Cahal Pech, Belize
Archaeologists have traditionally relied upon relative ceramic chronologies to understand the occupational histories of large and socially complex polities in the Maya lowlands. High-resolution accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating can provide independent chronological control for more discrete events that reflect cultural change through time. This article reports results of AMS 14 C dating of stratified sequences at the resident…
Pacbitun (Belize) and ancient Maya use of slate
As well as jade, obsidian, chert and limestone, the Classic Maya of Central America were accomplished workers of another stone-slate. Recent research at the site of Pacbitun, Belize, where a possible slate workshop has come to light, is cause to look closely at Maya slate-working and the scientific means to study it
Expedient lithic technology in complex sedentary societies
Modeling variability in Classic Maya intermediate elite political strategies through multivariate analysis of settlement patterns
The Sword and the Olive Jar
This article describes the recent discovery of a sword and olive jar of European origin in two separate cave sites in the Roaring Creek Valley in central Belize. Analysis of the sword and olive jar places their date of manufacture between the late sixteenth and the mid-seventeenth century. The sociopolitical environment that prevailed along the seventeenth-century colonial frontier in Belize suggests that the sword was acquired by the Maya by pea…
Possible Variation in Late Archaic Period Bifaces in Belize
Six additional barbed bifaces have been recovered from the Cayo District of Western Belize, bringing the total number of known Late Archaic Lowe and Sawmill points from this part of the country to 12. Not only do these six points provide more evidence for a greater Late Archaic hunter-gatherer presence in this part of the country, but differences in their stems suggest the possibility of more variation in point styles than previously known. Based…
Lowland Maya Genesis
The 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 portabl…
Early Monumentality in the Belize River Valley
Recent investigations at Cahal Pech, Belize, documented a previously unrecognized Middle Preclassic (700-500 cal BC) E-Group complex. Located in an open public plaza, the monumental complex likely functioned as a forum for communal public events. In the Late Preclassic, the E-Group was replaced by an ancestor shrine where several royal tombs are located, as well as buildings separating public civic space from private elite space. These shifts in …
To Eat, Discard, or Venerate
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…
Applying Regional, Contextual, Ethnohistoric, and Ethnographic Approaches for Understanding the Significance of Peri-Abandonment Deposits in Western Belize
The discovery of cultural remains on or above the floors of rooms and courtyards at several Maya sites has been interpreted by some archaeologists as problematic deposits, squatter's refuse, as evidence for feasting, termination rituals,de factorefuse, or rapid abandonment as a result of warfare. Investigations by the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project have recorded similar deposits at several surface and subterranean sites in We…
Early Middle Formative Occupation in the Central Maya Lowlands
After more than half a century of intensive archaeological research the early Middle Formative (or Middle Preclassic) period (1000-600 B.C.) continues to be one of the most enigmatic eras in the study of Lowland Maya prehistory. While several factors contribte to this situation, the primary cause for this obscurity lies in the fact that few sites have produced either contextual or stratigraphic evidence of occupation during this phase (Rice 1976;…
Flakes to Blades? Middle Formative Development of Obsidian Artifacts in the Upper Belize River Valley
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 …
Pacbitun (Belize) and ancient Maya use of slate
As well as jade, obsidian, chert and limestone, the Classic Maya of Central America were accomplished workers of another stone-slate. Recent research at the site of Pacbitun, Belize, where a possible slate workshop has come to light, is cause to look closely at Maya slate-working and the scientific means to study it
An Ancient Maya Multiple Burial at Caledonia, Cayo District, Belize
Salvage excavation of a small Maya temple-pyramid at the site of Caledonia in the Cayo District of western Belize has repealed a Classic period vaulted tomb containing the remains of multiple individuals. The rich ceramic assemblage from the burial included transitional Tzakol3–Tepeu 1 (A.C.450–650) vessels(17 in total), along with obsidian blades, carved jade and shell jewelry, and other stone artifacts. Osteological examination of the human ske…
A reconstruction of Middle Preclassic Maya subsistence economy at Cahal Pech, Belize
The recovery of animal and plant remains from the site of Cahal Pech provides data on early diet and subsistence practices in the Belize Valley region of the Maya lowlands. Analysis of the material remains suggests that the Middle Preclassic Maya were practising a mixed subsistence economy relying on agricultural foodstuffs, local terrestrial game species, freshwater fish and shellfish and marine reef fishes. Isotopic analysis of human bone is us…
Preclassic Round Structures of the Upper Belize River Valley
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 info…
Preceramic Occupations in Belize
Evidence from preceramic Paleoindian and Archaic time periods in Belize has been recorded over the past quarter of a century by a number of projects. This paper summarizes previously published information and presents new archaeological data in bringing the hunting-and-gathering and itinerant horticultural millennia of this region into a more accurate and comprehensive perspective than has been presented to date. The Paleoindian period includes i…
Survey, Settlement, and Population History at the Ancient Maya Site of Pacbitun, Belize
Survey and excavations of mounds on the outskirts of the site of Pacbitun in western Belize provide insights to the ancient Maya settlement pattern at this medium-sized regional center. This research employed two methods: analysis of structural remains from four separate 1000 m transect surveys, and a subsequent complete (100%) survey of intervening and adjacent quadrant areas. The overlap of quadrant zones with portions of the transect units per…
The Ancient Maya Drought Cult
Caves were used as ritual venues by the ancient Maya from the Early Preclassic to the Postclassic period. These sites have been intensively investigated, but little research has been devoted to changes in cave use over time. Work at Chechem Ha Cave in western Belize investigates transformations in ritual practice occurring between the Early and Late Classic periods using an explanatory framework that incorporates high-definition archaeological re…
Airborne LiDAR, archaeology, and the ancient Maya landscape at Caracol, Belize
Evidence for Maya Household Subsistence and Domestic Activities
From 1999–2005, the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project excavated Pook's Hill (PKH-1), a single plazuela group located in the Roaring Creek Valley, Cayo District, Belize. Artifacts recovered at Pook's Hill date predominantly to the Late and Terminal Classic (A.D. 700–950) and can be stratigraphically segregated into two distinct occupation phases, namely a Late Classic (A.D. 700–830) and a Terminal Classic-Early Postclassic (A.D. …
Possible Functions of Grooved Ground Stones from Baking Pot, Belize
Over the course of the last century, Maya archaeologists have recovered artifacts that have been variously classified as ‘grooved stones’, ‘grooved spheres’, ‘grooved ground spheres’, and ‘grooved ground stones’. Typically, they were made of granite, basalt or limestone, and adhere to a basic template in terms of morphology. In general, most grooved ground stones from Maya sites are spherical or oblong in form, between 5-15 cm in diameter, weigh …
Polydactyly and the Maya
A single right fifth metatarsal found in Tomb 1 at Peligroso, Belize exhibited a small deformity in the form of a small (7 mm) accessory digit emanating from the plantar surface at mid-shaft. This Type A postaxial polydactyly is the first archaeological example of polydactyly reported for Mesoamerica. Polydactyly is one of the more commonly reported morphological anomalies and thus its appearance in Maya populations would have been prevalent enou…
The Archaeology of Belize in the Twenty-First Century
Located on the southeastern corner of the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize is the second smallest country in Central America. In spite of its size, however, the country has an incredibly rich and diverse cultural heritage that includes the remains of pioneering preceramic cultures, numerous prehistoric cities that reflect the grandeur of Maya civilization, the ruins of several “Visita” churches that represent the failed efforts of sixteenth-century Span…
Development and Disintegration of Maya Political Systems in Response to Climate Change
Maya and Climate Climate has affected the vitality of many different societies in the past, as shown by numerous records across the globe and throughout human history. One of the most obvious and spectacular examples of this is from the Classic Maya civilization, whose advanced culture left highly detailed records of all aspects of their existence between 300 and 1000 C.E. Kennett et al. (p. 788 ; see the cover) present a detailed climate record …
Directional layouts in central lowland Maya settlement
Possible Variation in Late Archaic Period Bifaces in Belize
Six additional barbed bifaces have been recovered from the Cayo District of Western Belize, bringing the total number of known Late Archaic Lowe and Sawmill points from this part of the country to 12. Not only do these six points provide more evidence for a greater Late Archaic hunter-gatherer presence in this part of the country, but differences in their stems suggest the possibility of more variation in point styles than previously known. Based…
Ancient Maya Regional Settlement and Inter-Site Analysis
During April and May 2013, a total of 1057 km2 of LiDAR was flown by NCALM for a consortium of archaeologists working in West-central Belize, making this the largest surveyed area within the Mayan lowlands. Encompassing the Belize Valley and the Vaca Plateau, West-central Belize is one of the most actively researched parts of the Maya lowlands; however, until this effort, no comprehensive survey connecting all settlement had been conducted. Archa…
The Use of LiDAR in Understanding the Ancient Maya Landscape
The use of airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) in western Belize, Central America, has revolutionized our understanding of the spatial dynamics of the ancient Maya. This technology has enabled researchers to successfully demonstrate the large-scale human modifications made to the ancient tropical landscape, providing insight on broader regional settlement. Before the advent of this laser-based technology, heavily forested cover prevented…
Questioning Postclassic Continuity at Baking Pot, Belize, Using Direct AMS 14 C 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 …
Stable Isotopic Evidence of Ancient Maya Diet at Caledonia, Cayo District, Belize
The skeletal remains of 18 individuals interred at the ancient Maya site of Caledonia (100 to 1000 C.E.), located in the Cayo District of Belize, w ere sampled for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis in order to reconstruct their diet. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in 18 bone collagen samples and stable carbon isotope ratios in bioapatite from 15 bone and 6 tooth enamel samples were assessed. Small sample sizes precluded the a…
The Sword and the Olive Jar
This article describes the recent discovery of a sword and olive jar of European origin in two separate cave sites in the Roaring Creek Valley in central Belize. Analysis of the sword and olive jar places their date of manufacture between the late sixteenth and the mid-seventeenth century. The sociopolitical environment that prevailed along the seventeenth-century colonial frontier in Belize suggests that the sword was acquired by the Maya by pea…
Social identity and geographic origin of Maya burials at Actun Uayazba Kab, Roaring Creek Valley, Belize
Middle Preclassic period Maya greenstone “triangulates”
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 densi…
Archaeology (72 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (67 works) · Geography (60 works) · Maya (55 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (32 works) · History (30 works) · Geology (26 works) · Art (23 works) · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies (23 works) · Latin American history and culture (18 works)