Francisco Estrada-Belli
Biographic Data
| ID | 286147 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Francisco Estrada-Belli |
| GIVEN NAMES | Francisco |
| FAMILY NAME | Estrada-Belli |
| SIGNATURE | ESTRADA-BELLI F |
| AFFILIATIONS | Tulane University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0573-4228 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 181 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 24 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1992 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
The Eccentrics of the Holmul Region, Petén, Guatemala
Geometric, anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and abstract forms comprise many of the lithic forms of Central America. Commonly called eccentrics, these forms are often recovered from ritual offerings and elite burials. This article addresses more than 80 eccentrics recovered in the Holmul region from the sites of Holmul, Witzna, and Dos Aguadas and identifies the ways that these forms can inform ritual practice, symbolic significance, and potential co…
New regional-scale Classic Maya population density estimates and settlement distribution models through airborne lidar scanning
A Closer Look at Classic Maya Urbanism at Dzibanche/Kaanu'l through Airborne Lidar Mapping
A 103 km2 aerial lidar survey of Dzibanche/Kaanu'l, Mexico, reveals the city's settlement to be more populous and well-organized than previously thought. The sprawling settlement incorporated the early center of Ichkabal in a network of smaller peri-urban civic-ceremonial nodes. The density and complexity of the Kaanu'l settlement is consistent with its extraordinary political reach as a multiregional hegemonic state. The city and settlement grew…
The rise of the Kaanuˀl kingdom and the city of Dzibanche
The Kaanuˀl dynasty ruled a hegemonic state with political influence over much of the Classic Maya Lowlands between a.d. 520 and 751. The present article introduces the subject for a special section of the journal, which refocuses attention on the archaeological zone of Dzibanche in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico, where new data are emerging about the origins of the Kaanuˀl dynasty, its urban organization, and its connections to neighboring center…
The team for a new age: Naranjo and Holmul under Kaanu'l's sway
The article presents the results of the last decade of archaeological and epigraphic research, which clarified the history of the polities of the ancient Maya sites of Holmul and Naranjo during the expansion of the Dzibanche royal dynasty in the eastern area of the Department of Peten, Guatemala, from the second half of the sixth century through the first half of the seventh century a.d. The discussion centers on the textual and material indicato…
Running out of empty space: Environmental lidar and the crowded ancient landscape of Campeche, Mexico
As airborne lidar surveys reveal a growing sample of urbanised tropical landscapes, questions linger about the sampling bias of such research leading to inflated estimates of urban extent and population magnitude. 'Found' datasets from remote sensing conducted for non-archaeological purposes and thus not subject to archaeological site bias, provide an opportunity to address these concerns through pseudorandom sampling. Here, the authors present t…
Architecture, wealth and status in Classic Maya urbanism revealed by airborne lidar mapping
Chochkitam: A New Classic Maya Dynasty and the Rise of the Kaanu'l (Snake) Kingdom
Thanks to many epigraphic references compiled in the last 35 years, there is a growing consensus among Mayanists that a hegemonic state existed in the Maya Lowlands during the Classic period headed by the Kaanu'l royal dynasty and based at Dzibanche and Calakmul. Many aspects of its organization are still poorly documented, however. Important questions that remain unanswered include how power was exerted and passed on within this political system…
Palaeoenvironmental, epigraphic and archaeological evidence of total warfare among the Classic Maya
Ancient lowland Maya complexity as revealed by airborne laser scanning of northern Guatemala
Classic Maya civilization in detail Lidar (a type of airborne laser scanning) provides a powerful technique for three-dimensional mapping of topographic features. It is proving to be a valuable tool in archaeology, particularly where the remains of structures may be hidden beneath forest canopies. Canuto et al. present lidar data covering more than 2000 square kilometers of lowland Guatemala, which encompasses ancient settlements of the Classic M…
The History, Function, and Meaning of Preclassic E Groups in the Cival Region
This chapter summarizes archaeological data and interpretations regarding 13 E Groups from the Cival region mapped and excavated by the Holmul Archaeological Project between 2000 and 2015. In the Middle (1000-350 BCE) and Late Preclassic (350 BCE-0 CE) periods Cival was the main political and ritual center in this region of northeastern Petén. Over the course of the Late Preclassic Period, four additional E Groups were built at Cival and nine mor…
From stucco to digital: Topometric documentation of Classic Maya facades at Holmul
A King's Apotheosis: Iconography, Text, and Politics from a Classic Maya Temple at Holmul
Excavations at the ancient Maya city of Holmul, Petén, have led to the discovery of a building decorated with an intricately carved and painted plaster frieze. The iconography of the frieze portrays seated lords, mountain spirits, feathered serpents, and gods of the underworld engaged in the apparent rebirth of rulers as sun gods. Large emblems carved on the side of the building identify the structure as a shrine for ancestor veneration. A dedica…
The First Maya Civilization
When the Maya kings of Tikal dedicated their first carved monuments in the third century A.D., inaugurating the Classic period of Maya history that lasted for six centuries and saw the rise of such famous cities as Palenque, Copan and Yaxchilan, Maya civilization was already nearly a millennium old. Its first cities, such as Nakbe and El Mirador, had some of the largest temples ever raised in Prehispanic America, while others such as Cival showed…
"A Maya Palace at Holmul, Peten, Guatemala and the Teotihuacan "Entrada: Evidence from Murals 7 and 9
Excavations at La Sufricaya, a minor ritual group in the outskirts of the Lowland Maya city of Holmul, have documented two mural paintings inside an elite building of Early Classic date (A.D. 300-A.D. 600). One of the paintings is mythological in nature (Mural 9). The second bears an inscription with references to calendrical and historical events. It commemorates a notorious arrival date at Tikal on 11 Eb 15 Mak (January 16, A.D. 378) on its fir…
Remote Sensing and GIS Analysis of a Maya City and Its Landscape: Holmul, Guatemala
Landscape Archaeology and Remote Sensing of a Spanish-Conquest Town: Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador
Lightning Sky, Rain, and the Maize God: The Ideology of Preclassic Maya Rulers at Cival, Peten, Guatemala
Research in the northeastern Peten region at Holmul and nearest minor centers shows a complex history of public ritual activity from the Middle Preclassic onward. Patterns of public architecture, monumental sculpture, iconography, caches, and burials at sites such as Holmul and Cival document early development of the ideology of Maya kingship. Late Preclassic monumental sculptures adorning large pyramid temples provide immediate and elaborate met…
Maya kingship at Holmul, Guatemala
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Discovery of two predicted Ancient Maya sites in Belize
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Preclassic Through Postclassic: Ceramics and Chronology of the Southeastern Pacific Coast of Guatemala
Ceramic and radiometric data from the three seasons of survey and excavations, 1995–1997, conducted in the coastal districts of Santa Rosa and Jutiapa in southeastern Guatemala are used to construct a chronological sequence for this previously little-known 1000-km2 region. Patterns of local ceramic manufacture and interregional trade are identified through the use of type-variety classification methods coupled with neutron-activation analysis. Th…
Late Preclassic Ceramic Industries of Pacific Guatemala and El Salvador: The Pacific Coast as Core, Not Periphery
Previous interpretations of Late Preclassic ceramic interaction spheres in the SE highlands of Guatemala, El Salvador, and the Pacific coast have emphasized the similarity of diagnostic ceramic types based on style and decoration. Recent research on the ceramics from the Departments of Santa Rosa and Jutiapa, on the Pacific coast of Guatemala, supports this uniformity of ceramic styles. Compositional analyses of the Pacific coast ceramics and raw…
A New Perspective on the Relationships among Cream Paste Ceramic Traditions of Southeastern Mesoamerica
New ceramic compositional evidence has come to light that bears on the relationships among the cream paste ceramics of southeastern Mesoamerica. This evidence, which derives from instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and microprobe analysis, suggests that Ivory ware, a Late and Terminal Formative diagnostic found in southern Guatemala, is chemically similar not to other Guatemalan light firing pottery, but to Formative and Classic perio…
Middle Preclassic Maya buildings and burials at Cuello, Belize
Work in 1992 has significantly added to understanding of this important Maya site in the Middle Formative or Preclassic period (1000-450 BC). The known settled area now extends to 1.62 sq. km. One of the 14 burials was associated with rich grave-goods, suggesting that it was of a leading member of the Cuello community in the 5th century BC
Lightning Sky, Rain, and the Maize God: The Ideology of Preclassic Maya Rulers at Cival, Peten, Guatemala
Research in the northeastern Peten region at Holmul and nearest minor centers shows a complex history of public ritual activity from the Middle Preclassic onward. Patterns of public architecture, monumental sculpture, iconography, caches, and burials at sites such as Holmul and Cival document early development of the ideology of Maya kingship. Late Preclassic monumental sculptures adorning large pyramid temples provide immediate and elaborate met…
"A Maya Palace at Holmul, Peten, Guatemala and the Teotihuacan "Entrada: Evidence from Murals 7 and 9
Excavations at La Sufricaya, a minor ritual group in the outskirts of the Lowland Maya city of Holmul, have documented two mural paintings inside an elite building of Early Classic date (A.D. 300-A.D. 600). One of the paintings is mythological in nature (Mural 9). The second bears an inscription with references to calendrical and historical events. It commemorates a notorious arrival date at Tikal on 11 Eb 15 Mak (January 16, A.D. 378) on its fir…
A King's Apotheosis: Iconography, Text, and Politics from a Classic Maya Temple at Holmul
Excavations at the ancient Maya city of Holmul, Petén, have led to the discovery of a building decorated with an intricately carved and painted plaster frieze. The iconography of the frieze portrays seated lords, mountain spirits, feathered serpents, and gods of the underworld engaged in the apparent rebirth of rulers as sun gods. Large emblems carved on the side of the building identify the structure as a shrine for ancestor veneration. A dedica…
A New Perspective on the Relationships among Cream Paste Ceramic Traditions of Southeastern Mesoamerica
New ceramic compositional evidence has come to light that bears on the relationships among the cream paste ceramics of southeastern Mesoamerica. This evidence, which derives from instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and microprobe analysis, suggests that Ivory ware, a Late and Terminal Formative diagnostic found in southern Guatemala, is chemically similar not to other Guatemalan light firing pottery, but to Formative and Classic perio…
The First Maya Civilization
When the Maya kings of Tikal dedicated their first carved monuments in the third century A.D., inaugurating the Classic period of Maya history that lasted for six centuries and saw the rise of such famous cities as Palenque, Copan and Yaxchilan, Maya civilization was already nearly a millennium old. Its first cities, such as Nakbe and El Mirador, had some of the largest temples ever raised in Prehispanic America, while others such as Cival showed…
Palaeoenvironmental, epigraphic and archaeological evidence of total warfare among the Classic Maya
Middle Preclassic Maya buildings and burials at Cuello, Belize
Work in 1992 has significantly added to understanding of this important Maya site in the Middle Formative or Preclassic period (1000-450 BC). The known settled area now extends to 1.62 sq. km. One of the 14 burials was associated with rich grave-goods, suggesting that it was of a leading member of the Cuello community in the 5th century BC
From stucco to digital: Topometric documentation of Classic Maya facades at Holmul
Discovery of two predicted Ancient Maya sites in Belize
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Chochkitam: A New Classic Maya Dynasty and the Rise of the Kaanu'l (Snake) Kingdom
Thanks to many epigraphic references compiled in the last 35 years, there is a growing consensus among Mayanists that a hegemonic state existed in the Maya Lowlands during the Classic period headed by the Kaanu'l royal dynasty and based at Dzibanche and Calakmul. Many aspects of its organization are still poorly documented, however. Important questions that remain unanswered include how power was exerted and passed on within this political system…
Preclassic Through Postclassic: Ceramics and Chronology of the Southeastern Pacific Coast of Guatemala
Ceramic and radiometric data from the three seasons of survey and excavations, 1995–1997, conducted in the coastal districts of Santa Rosa and Jutiapa in southeastern Guatemala are used to construct a chronological sequence for this previously little-known 1000-km2 region. Patterns of local ceramic manufacture and interregional trade are identified through the use of type-variety classification methods coupled with neutron-activation analysis. Th…
Late Preclassic Ceramic Industries of Pacific Guatemala and El Salvador: The Pacific Coast as Core, Not Periphery
Previous interpretations of Late Preclassic ceramic interaction spheres in the SE highlands of Guatemala, El Salvador, and the Pacific coast have emphasized the similarity of diagnostic ceramic types based on style and decoration. Recent research on the ceramics from the Departments of Santa Rosa and Jutiapa, on the Pacific coast of Guatemala, supports this uniformity of ceramic styles. Compositional analyses of the Pacific coast ceramics and raw…
The rise of the Kaanuˀl kingdom and the city of Dzibanche
The Kaanuˀl dynasty ruled a hegemonic state with political influence over much of the Classic Maya Lowlands between a.d. 520 and 751. The present article introduces the subject for a special section of the journal, which refocuses attention on the archaeological zone of Dzibanche in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico, where new data are emerging about the origins of the Kaanuˀl dynasty, its urban organization, and its connections to neighboring center…
Running out of empty space: Environmental lidar and the crowded ancient landscape of Campeche, Mexico
As airborne lidar surveys reveal a growing sample of urbanised tropical landscapes, questions linger about the sampling bias of such research leading to inflated estimates of urban extent and population magnitude. 'Found' datasets from remote sensing conducted for non-archaeological purposes and thus not subject to archaeological site bias, provide an opportunity to address these concerns through pseudorandom sampling. Here, the authors present t…
Maya kingship at Holmul, Guatemala
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Middle Preclassic Maya buildings and burials at Cuello, Belize
Work in 1992 has significantly added to understanding of this important Maya site in the Middle Formative or Preclassic period (1000-450 BC). The known settled area now extends to 1.62 sq. km. One of the 14 burials was associated with rich grave-goods, suggesting that it was of a leading member of the Cuello community in the 5th century BC
Late Preclassic Ceramic Industries of Pacific Guatemala and El Salvador: The Pacific Coast as Core, Not Periphery
Previous interpretations of Late Preclassic ceramic interaction spheres in the SE highlands of Guatemala, El Salvador, and the Pacific coast have emphasized the similarity of diagnostic ceramic types based on style and decoration. Recent research on the ceramics from the Departments of Santa Rosa and Jutiapa, on the Pacific coast of Guatemala, supports this uniformity of ceramic styles. Compositional analyses of the Pacific coast ceramics and raw…
A New Perspective on the Relationships among Cream Paste Ceramic Traditions of Southeastern Mesoamerica
New ceramic compositional evidence has come to light that bears on the relationships among the cream paste ceramics of southeastern Mesoamerica. This evidence, which derives from instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and microprobe analysis, suggests that Ivory ware, a Late and Terminal Formative diagnostic found in southern Guatemala, is chemically similar not to other Guatemalan light firing pottery, but to Formative and Classic perio…
Discovery of two predicted Ancient Maya sites in Belize
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Preclassic Through Postclassic: Ceramics and Chronology of the Southeastern Pacific Coast of Guatemala
Ceramic and radiometric data from the three seasons of survey and excavations, 1995–1997, conducted in the coastal districts of Santa Rosa and Jutiapa in southeastern Guatemala are used to construct a chronological sequence for this previously little-known 1000-km2 region. Patterns of local ceramic manufacture and interregional trade are identified through the use of type-variety classification methods coupled with neutron-activation analysis. Th…
Maya kingship at Holmul, Guatemala
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Landscape Archaeology and Remote Sensing of a Spanish-Conquest Town: Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador
Lightning Sky, Rain, and the Maize God: The Ideology of Preclassic Maya Rulers at Cival, Peten, Guatemala
Research in the northeastern Peten region at Holmul and nearest minor centers shows a complex history of public ritual activity from the Middle Preclassic onward. Patterns of public architecture, monumental sculpture, iconography, caches, and burials at sites such as Holmul and Cival document early development of the ideology of Maya kingship. Late Preclassic monumental sculptures adorning large pyramid temples provide immediate and elaborate met…
Remote Sensing and GIS Analysis of a Maya City and Its Landscape: Holmul, Guatemala
"A Maya Palace at Holmul, Peten, Guatemala and the Teotihuacan "Entrada: Evidence from Murals 7 and 9
Excavations at La Sufricaya, a minor ritual group in the outskirts of the Lowland Maya city of Holmul, have documented two mural paintings inside an elite building of Early Classic date (A.D. 300-A.D. 600). One of the paintings is mythological in nature (Mural 9). The second bears an inscription with references to calendrical and historical events. It commemorates a notorious arrival date at Tikal on 11 Eb 15 Mak (January 16, A.D. 378) on its fir…
The First Maya Civilization
When the Maya kings of Tikal dedicated their first carved monuments in the third century A.D., inaugurating the Classic period of Maya history that lasted for six centuries and saw the rise of such famous cities as Palenque, Copan and Yaxchilan, Maya civilization was already nearly a millennium old. Its first cities, such as Nakbe and El Mirador, had some of the largest temples ever raised in Prehispanic America, while others such as Cival showed…
A King's Apotheosis: Iconography, Text, and Politics from a Classic Maya Temple at Holmul
Excavations at the ancient Maya city of Holmul, Petén, have led to the discovery of a building decorated with an intricately carved and painted plaster frieze. The iconography of the frieze portrays seated lords, mountain spirits, feathered serpents, and gods of the underworld engaged in the apparent rebirth of rulers as sun gods. Large emblems carved on the side of the building identify the structure as a shrine for ancestor veneration. A dedica…
The History, Function, and Meaning of Preclassic E Groups in the Cival Region
This chapter summarizes archaeological data and interpretations regarding 13 E Groups from the Cival region mapped and excavated by the Holmul Archaeological Project between 2000 and 2015. In the Middle (1000-350 BCE) and Late Preclassic (350 BCE-0 CE) periods Cival was the main political and ritual center in this region of northeastern Petén. Over the course of the Late Preclassic Period, four additional E Groups were built at Cival and nine mor…
From stucco to digital: Topometric documentation of Classic Maya facades at Holmul
Ancient lowland Maya complexity as revealed by airborne laser scanning of northern Guatemala
Classic Maya civilization in detail Lidar (a type of airborne laser scanning) provides a powerful technique for three-dimensional mapping of topographic features. It is proving to be a valuable tool in archaeology, particularly where the remains of structures may be hidden beneath forest canopies. Canuto et al. present lidar data covering more than 2000 square kilometers of lowland Guatemala, which encompasses ancient settlements of the Classic M…
Palaeoenvironmental, epigraphic and archaeological evidence of total warfare among the Classic Maya
Chochkitam: A New Classic Maya Dynasty and the Rise of the Kaanu'l (Snake) Kingdom
Thanks to many epigraphic references compiled in the last 35 years, there is a growing consensus among Mayanists that a hegemonic state existed in the Maya Lowlands during the Classic period headed by the Kaanu'l royal dynasty and based at Dzibanche and Calakmul. Many aspects of its organization are still poorly documented, however. Important questions that remain unanswered include how power was exerted and passed on within this political system…
Architecture, wealth and status in Classic Maya urbanism revealed by airborne lidar mapping
The rise of the Kaanuˀl kingdom and the city of Dzibanche
The Kaanuˀl dynasty ruled a hegemonic state with political influence over much of the Classic Maya Lowlands between a.d. 520 and 751. The present article introduces the subject for a special section of the journal, which refocuses attention on the archaeological zone of Dzibanche in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico, where new data are emerging about the origins of the Kaanuˀl dynasty, its urban organization, and its connections to neighboring center…
The team for a new age: Naranjo and Holmul under Kaanu'l's sway
The article presents the results of the last decade of archaeological and epigraphic research, which clarified the history of the polities of the ancient Maya sites of Holmul and Naranjo during the expansion of the Dzibanche royal dynasty in the eastern area of the Department of Peten, Guatemala, from the second half of the sixth century through the first half of the seventh century a.d. The discussion centers on the textual and material indicato…
Running out of empty space: Environmental lidar and the crowded ancient landscape of Campeche, Mexico
As airborne lidar surveys reveal a growing sample of urbanised tropical landscapes, questions linger about the sampling bias of such research leading to inflated estimates of urban extent and population magnitude. 'Found' datasets from remote sensing conducted for non-archaeological purposes and thus not subject to archaeological site bias, provide an opportunity to address these concerns through pseudorandom sampling. Here, the authors present t…
New regional-scale Classic Maya population density estimates and settlement distribution models through airborne lidar scanning
A Closer Look at Classic Maya Urbanism at Dzibanche/Kaanu'l through Airborne Lidar Mapping
A 103 km2 aerial lidar survey of Dzibanche/Kaanu'l, Mexico, reveals the city's settlement to be more populous and well-organized than previously thought. The sprawling settlement incorporated the early center of Ichkabal in a network of smaller peri-urban civic-ceremonial nodes. The density and complexity of the Kaanu'l settlement is consistent with its extraordinary political reach as a multiregional hegemonic state. The city and settlement grew…
The Eccentrics of the Holmul Region, Petén, Guatemala
Geometric, anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and abstract forms comprise many of the lithic forms of Central America. Commonly called eccentrics, these forms are often recovered from ritual offerings and elite burials. This article addresses more than 80 eccentrics recovered in the Holmul region from the sites of Holmul, Witzna, and Dos Aguadas and identifies the ways that these forms can inform ritual practice, symbolic significance, and potential co…
Archaeology (22 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (17 works) · Geography (17 works) · Maya (16 works) · History (14 works) · Ancient history (13 works) · Art (11 works) · Latin American history and culture (9 works) · Politics (9 works) · Computer Science (7 works)