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1. The Role of Northern Belize in Shaping Maya Archaeology

   Robin, Cynthia (August 2020, Research reports in Belizean archaeology)

   null (Ed.)

   This article addresses the critical role that archaeology in Northern Belize has played in shaping Maya Archaeology. It traces the history of archaeological research in Northern Belize and identifies three areas in which Northern Belize research has transformed the nature of Maya Archaeology. First, excavations at Northern Belize archaeological sites have been critical in providing the empirical evidence for the duration of human occupation in the Maya area. Second, the robust picture of the longevity of human occupation revealed by Northern Belize research provides a concerted challenge to traditional narratives of Maya archaeology, particularly narratives of the “collapse” of Maya society. Third, female leadership in archaeological project direction, artifact analyses, and scholarly publication in Northern Belize broke down barriers for the inclusion of women and other underrepresented groups in archaeology widening the lens of participation and production in archaeology. Across its history, research in Northern Belize has been on the forefront of transformations advancing both the understanding and practice of Maya archaeology. 

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2. Household Excavations at Aventura, A Northern Belize Civic Center

   Grauer, Kacey; Nissen, Zachary; Dziki, Gabriela; Menz, Martin; Kosakowsky, Laura; Robin, Cynthia (August 2020, Research reports in Belizean archaeology)

   null (Ed.)

   Recent research at Aventura in Northern Belize presents the first glimpse into a range of its prehistoric households from commoners to elites. In summer 2018, the Aventura Archaeology Project (AAP) excavated two elite households and conducted test pits in five commoner household groups. Drone technology provided the ability to create 3D models of household architecture and excavations. Excavations at the elite households consisted of the first horizontal exposure of buildings by AAP and provide comprehensive insight into structures, features, burials, and middens. One elite household compound, Group 48, was located adjacent to one of six civic-ceremonial plazas that make up Aventura’s central precinct. Excavations at Group 48 identified a series of late occupation structures in the group’s plaza areas, one of which was excavated in its entirety. The other elite household excavation at Group 22 was located directly on the edge of a microenvironment known as a pocket bajo, providing insight into the relationship between households and pocket bajos at Aventura. The earliest occupation of commoner households known to date was the Early Classic period, and all elite and commoner households were occupied in the Late Classic to the Terminal Classic/Early Postclassic, coinciding with Aventura’s maximal occupation. These results suggest Aventura was a thriving community during a time period associated with “collapse” in areas outside of Northern Belize. Aventura’s longevity of occupation contributes to the notion that Northern Belize was an important region in the Maya area and pushes back against traditional narratives about Classic Period “collapse.” 

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3. Photographic Insights from Engaged Archaeology: Yucatan and Beyond

   https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774322000166  

   Kurnick, Sarah (June 2022, Cambridge Archaeological Journal)

   Photography has been a particularly important though often under-theorized aspect of archaeological research. Although seemingly simple representations, photographs are simultaneously objective and subjective, truthful and creative. This article considers the contradictory nature of photography generally and the specific relationship between photography and archaeology. It then looks at the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico and examines how individuals have photographed ancient Maya sites, architecture and artifacts from the mid nineteenth century to the present. Initially used to support diffusionist theories of Maya origins, photography was later understood as a neutral and scientific way to record the Maya past. More recently, it has been used to share power more equitably with local communities and to make archaeology a more inclusive and relevant endeavour. Indeed, several have demonstrated that photography is a useful tool for engaged archaeology. This article argues that the reverse is also true: insights from engaged archaeology are useful tools for archaeological photography generally. By making photographic choices explicit and by including people and other aspects of the contemporary world in their photographs, scholars can emphasize that archaeology is a decisively human and necessarily political endeavour, and that archaeological sites and artifacts are dynamic and efficacious parts of the contemporary world. 

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4. The Contradictions of Engaged Archaeology at Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico

   https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage3030039  

   Kurnick, Sarah (September 2020, Heritage)

   Engaged archaeology, like other forms of research, is replete with contradictions. Over the last several years, members of the Punta Laguna Archaeology Project—a community-based endeavor in Yucatan, Mexico—have encountered and sought to address several paradoxical questions. Do attempts to mitigate certain forms of inequality unintentionally sustain other forms of inequality? Can the production of capital alleviate rather than exacerbate unequal social relationships? And, can Western social theories be marshalled to advocate for and increase Maya and other Indigenous perspectives in archaeology? This article examines these contradictory questions and analyzes them as potential sources of dialectical change. To conclude, the article suggests three new foci for engaged archaeology: intersectionality, control, and authoritative speech. 

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5. Situating households within an urban community: recent research at Aventura, an ancient Maya city

   Nissen, Zachary A; Grauer, Kacey C; Dziki, Gabriela; Hoover, Hannah; Niles, Erin; Walker, Debra S; Moles, Anna; Robin, Cynthia (January 2023, Research reports in Belizean archaeology)

   Recent excavations at the Maya site of Aventura, Belize provide insights into the social, economic, and environmental resources available to the residents of its ancient urban community. In 2019, the Aventura Archaeology Project (AAP) horizontally excavated three households and continued vertical test-pit investigations across commoner and elite domestic groups. The horizontal excavations, comparable to previous excavations of households in 2018, provided new insights into the similarities and differences between structures, features, burials, and middens across status groups at Aventura. One household excavation, Group 54, elucidated commoners’ access and relationships to a nearby water management feature. Commoner household excavations at Group 24, one of the smallest mound features identified by the AAP survey, revealed that even the smallest of Aventura’s households had access, though limited, to cut limestone blocks for domestic architecture. Excavations of an elite patio group, Group 38, to the north of the site core provided architectural data which complicate distinctions between elite and non-elite households. These excavations of households across the site also revealed a pattern of primary and secondary subfloor-burial deposits across elite and non-elite groups, which may indicate an attempt to socially integrate households of all statuses into Aventura’s urban community. Vertical test excavations further support Aventura’s community was inhabited over the long-term, with multiple households revealing Early and Middle Classic materials, and all households revealing occupation during the Late to Terminal Classic transition. Together, household excavations provide insights into the social, economic, and environmental forces that shaped the lives of Aventura’s urban community, bringing better focus to heterogenous and enduring urban populations during dynamic periods of Maya society. 

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