Underwater Archaeology, Salt Production, and Coastal Maya Trade at Stingray Lagoon, Belize

Bibliographic Data

ID4374152
AuthorsHeather Mckillop (0000-0002-0790-6417)
Year1995
Volume6
Issue3
Pages214-228
Publication date1995-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLatin American Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1045-6635 • E-ISSN: 2325-5080
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/971673
OpenAlexW2316328367
LanguageEN
Citations received42
References cited39

Ancient sources of salt have been revealed by underwater archaeology along the south coast of Belize. A relative rise in sea level of about 1 m at the end of the Classic period (ca. A. D. 900) submerged ancient Maya settlements and transformed the modern landscape by reducing the amount of available land and by changing the vegetation. The discovery of submerged archaeological sites and their dating by associated ceramics and radiocarbon date determination documents the sea level rise. Salt production by the salcocidaor boiling method at the underwater site of Stingray Lagoon and at other specialized salt production sites provided salt for coastal use and inland transport and diminished the need for long-distance import of this basic human requirement. This paper describes salt-making artifacts as well as salt production. The lack of animal bones at the Stingray Lagoon site where other organic material was preserved indicates that salt was not produced for salt-drying fish. Evidence that salt was obtained from the Belizean coast instead of from the northern Yucatán coast is in line with the view of ancient Maya economy in which basic subsistence resources were produced locally whereas long-distance trade was concentrated on elite or ceremonial resources and goods

Agriculture · Archaeology · Fishery · Geography · Marine conservation · Maya · Shore · Stingray · Subsistence agriculture · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Geology · Oceanography

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