Shell Games

A Middle Preclassic Shell Deposit at the Minor Center of Tutu Uitz Na in the Upper Belize River Valley

Bibliographic Data

ID7445690
AuthorsMichael Biggie (corresponding author), John P Walden (0000-0002-7703-0748), John Walden (0000-0001-6290-0360), Kyle Shaw-Müller (0000-0002-0600-1149), Michael Louis Petrozza, Olivia P Ellis, Ian N Roa, Norbert Stanchly, Rafael A Guerra, Claire E Ebert (0000-0002-8554-2727), Julie A Hoggarth (0000-0001-8612-8846), Jaime J Awe (0000-0002-0242-0696)
Year2023
Volume35
Issue3
Pages771-778
Publication date2023-08-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLatin American Antiquity (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1045-6635 • E-ISSN: 2325-5080
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/laq.2023.15
OpenAlexW4385494887
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited5

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 assemblage of the deposit and compares it to similar examples in the region. We propose that the Tutu Uitz Na deposit provides one of the earliest examples of depictions of the Maya primordial sea in an architectural context

Archaeology · Assemblage (archaeology · Context (archaeology · Excavation · Geography · Maya · Shell (structure · Archaeological and Geological Studies · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Engineering · Historical Studies on Spain · Geology