Ka'kaw Pots and Common Containers

Creating Histories and Collective Memories Among the Classic Maya of Xunantunich, Belize

Bibliographic Data

ID6033474
AuthorsLisa J Lecount (0000-0003-4695-7847, University of Alabama, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume21
Issue2
Pages341-351
Publication date2010-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAncient Mesoamerica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0956-5361 • E-ISSN: 1469-1787
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s095653611000026x
OpenAlexW2166616199
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited64

Reconstruction of foodways at the Lowland Maya center of Xunantunich, Belize, illustrates how commensality is fundamental to the construction of multilayered identities. Collective memory and linear histories form the foundation of identities because they are the mental frameworks people use to construct shared pasts. At Xunantunich, community identity was expressed though pottery and practices associated with the preparation of foods for domestic consumption and public offerings. In a world of natural cycles centered on family reproduction, horticultural activities, and yearly ceremonies, these symbols and rituals structured the lives of all people and embodied within them a collective memory of community. Linear histories were recorded in images and texts on drinking paraphernalia that were likely used for toasting honored individuals, ancestors, or gods during commemorative rites. These inscriptions and bodily practices marked individuals and their houses as people and places of prominence with separate identities

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Collective identity · Collective memory · Embodied cognition · Foodways · Maya · Political science · Politics · Pottery · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History · Law

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