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1. The Belize Coast in Ancient Maya Society

   McKillop, Heather (July 2020, Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology)

   Ancient Maya mariners used the sea as a transportation highway that provided access around the Yucatan and to inland rivers, and offshore, for trade, travel, and seafood. In contrast, the inland Maya viewed the sea as hazardous, with unmarked shoals, dangerous marine life, and underworld symbolism. The mercantile Maya on offshore islands such as Wild Cane Cay did not put their financial resources into monumental architecture on the scale of inland cities, but the coastal Maya did display their wealth by burying expensive and imported goods with their deceased citizens. Gold, turquoise, jadeite, imported pottery from Pacific Guatemala, from Honduras, and Mexico, and other goods, were transported along the coast and taken out of circulation and buried in graves at coastal trading ports. Salt was brokered from surplus household production as standard units in the form of salt cakes at the Paynes Creek Salt Works in southern Belize and elsewhere along the coast. The salt cakes were transported by boat and traded at inland markets, where there was a demand for dietary salt. Because of their standard size and non-perishable packaging, salt cakes were used as tokens for keeping track of financial transactions at marketplaces. Sea-level rise has submerged ancient Maya coastal sites, which are hidden from modern view, underwater or in the modern mangrove landscape, making the coastal Maya less visible in modern times compared to antiquity. The coastal Maya of southern Belize from the Middle Preclassic through the Postclassic are reviewed, with broader discussion of the ancient maritime Maya in general. 

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2. The Ancient Maya of the Caribbean Coast: A View from Wild Cane Cay, Belize

   McKillop, Heather (January 2024, Mar Caribe)

   Lyell, Victoria (Ed.)

   There are contrasting models for the role of coastal trading ports in the Maya economy throughout prehistory, but particularly in the Terminal Classic (A.D. 800-1000). Hammond (1972) presented a model of obsidian trade from the Maya highlands to the lowlands, in which El Chayal source obsidian was transported via inland routes, whereas Ixtepeque obsidian was traded along the Caribbean coast and then inland via rivers to the southern Maya lowland cities. Healy et al. (1984) and McKillop et al. (1988) suggested that obsidian from both sources was transported along the Caribbean coast but that El Chayal was the dominant source used in the Classic period and Ixtepeque during the Terminal and Postclassic periods. Hammond (1976) suggested that offshore trading ports were used as transshipment stations between maritime and riverine routes. This model was adopted by various researchers (Andrews et al. 1989; Cobos 2023; Guderjan and Garber 1995; Graham and Pendergast 1989; McKillop 2004, 2005a). Cobos (2023) asserts that after the abandonment of inland cities in the southern Maya lowlands at the end of the Classic period, the northern Yucatecan city of Chichen Itza developed a redistributive economy based on tribute and controlled trading ports around the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico and Belize. In the Classic period, the island trading port of Wild Cane Cay was integrated into a regional network of trade between the coast and inland communities. The inland trade was anchored by the dietary need for salt, produced on the coast but absent inland where this basic dietary necessity was in demand. The pattern of coastal-inland trade was replicated along the Caribbean coast of Belize and the Yucatan. Abandonment of inland settlements at the end of the Classic period did not end coastal settlement. Evidence presented in this paper illustrates that Wild Cane Cay was as an independent trading port integrated into a regional marketplace economy and not a node on a redistribution/tribute route controlled by Chichen Itza. 

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3. Surface Collections and Excavations: Case Studies from Moho Cay, Wild Cane Cay, and the Paynes Creek Salt Works

   McKillop, Heather (October 2021, CLAAS Notes)

   Surface collections can help date sites, provide information for excavations, or be used to address various questions about the site. Establishing a grid for surface collection, using mapped architecture as a basis for collecting material, or individually mapping surface finds, refines the context and enhances chances of evaluating spatial patterns of artifacts that define culture. Three different surface collection strategies are discussed for places on the coast of Belize, including Moho Cay, Wild Cane Cay, and the Paynes Creek Salt Works. 

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4. Household salt production by the Late Classic Maya: underwater excavations at Ta'ab Nuk Na

   https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2022.106  

   McKillop, Heather; Sills, E Cory (October 2022, Antiquity)

   Salt is an essential commodity; archaeological remains around the world attest to the importance of its production, exchange and consumption. Often located in coastal locations, many production sites were submerged by rising seas, including the Paynes Creek Salt Works on the southern Belize coast. Survey and excavation of these sites has identified ‘kitchens’ for brine boiling, as well as Terminal Classic residential structures at Ek Way Nal. The authors report the discovery of an earlier residential building alongside salt kitchens at the nearby site of Ta'ab Nuk Na. This finding indicates that surplus household production began during the Late Classic, when demand for salt from inland cities was at its peak. 

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5. FOCUSING ON INDIVIDUAL WOODEN BUILDINGS REVEALS CHANGES IN THE LATE TO TERMINAL CLASSIC ECONOMY AT THE PAYNES CREEK SALT WORKS

   McKillop, Heather; Sills, E Cory (June 2023, Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology)

   Preservation of wooden building posts in red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) peat below the sea floor at the Paynes Creek Salt Works in southern Belize provides a rare opportunity to study pole and thatch buildings that were likely the dominant construction in the Maya area in prehistory. In 2020 and 2021, when field research at the salt works was not possible due to the covid pandemic, individual wooden buildings at two of the largest sites, Ek Way Nal and Ta’ab Nuk Na, were radiocarbon dated. The dates indicate that the buildings were constructed at different times. Associated artifacts reveal both residences and salt kitchens at both sites and that production began earlier at Ta’ab Nuk Na and ended later at Ek Way Nal. Identification of tree species used in building construction at Ek Way Nal indicates the salt workers selected useful trees and did not overuse the environment. 

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