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1. Volcanic Ash Tempered Pottery Production in the Late to Terminal Classic Belize Valley, Belize

   https://doi.org/10.1017/laq.2022.11  

   Jordan, Jillian M.; Davenport, James A.; Goodwin, Whitney A.; MacDonald, Brandi L.; Ebert, Claire E.; Hoggarth, Julie A.; Awe, Jaime J. (January 2022, Latin American Antiquity)

   La producción y el consumo de cerámica con vidrio volcánico alcanzó su punto máximo en las Tierras Bajas Mayas durante elos periodos Clásico Tardío al Terminal. Explicaciones por estas cerámicas varían. Diferencias en el tipo de inclusiones volcánicas y forma indican que la cerámica fue producida en lugares múltiples por grupos diferentes de alfareros. Analizamos cerámica de contextos domésticos en Baking Pot, Belice, utilizando la petrográfia y el análisis por activación de neutrónica (NAA) para documentar la variabilidad y determinar la procedencia. La cerámica se produjo con vidrio volcánica fresca y una arcilla micrítica. Los datos petrográficos y químicos indican la cerámica se produjo localmente en el Valle de Belice. Es probable que la variación se debe tanto a las diferencias de producción como a la alteración post-deposicional. Es fundamental utilizar ambas técnicas analíticas para comprender la producción y la procedencia de las cerámicas en las Tierras Bajas Mayas. 

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2. Renewing the Belize Archaic Project in 2019

   Rosenswig, Robert M (November 2023, Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology)

   The Archaic period in the Maya region represents six millennia (7000-1000 BCE) when non-ceramic-using peoples began to experiment with domesticates and reduce their settlement ranges. The single longest epoch of the Mesoamerican chronology, these early millennia are often overshadowed by the investigation of more recent peoples who built cities and have left evidence of elaborate artistic traditions. The Belize Archaic Project (BAP) began work over 20 years ago after the fortuitous discovery of aceramic deposits containing heavily patinated lithic tools and debitage under Postclassic settlements in the Freshwater Creek drainage of northern Belize. The 2019 field season marks a renewed phase of this project and initiates a program of systematic settlement survey and test excavations. This paper presents initial results of a systematic program of auguring that documented 87 Archaic-period sites and excavations at four of these locales during the summer of 2019. The renewed BAP investigates local land use patterns and foraging adaptation as well as the dynamic manner in which they affect (and are impacted by) climate change and evolving local forest and lacustrine ecology. 

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3. 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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4. 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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5. Living on the Edge: Fifty Years of Belize Wetland Archaeology

   Harrison-Buck, E; Brouwer_Burg, M; Krause, S (April 2024, Society for American Archaeology)

   In the early years of Maya archaeology, Belize was considered a “periphery” and the wetlands were at the far edge of this pseudo-backwater. It was not until the 1970s with Turner and Harrison’s seminal study of Pulltrouser Swamp that Belize and its wetlands moved from the periphery to center stage in Maya archaeology. Northern Belize contains some of the largest tracts of wetlands throughout the Maya Lowlands, providing rich repositories of well-preserved pollen, phytoliths, and macrobotanical remains, which have yielded some of the earliest evidence of Maya cultivation. Geomorphological studies have greatly advanced our understanding of the construction, use, and abandonment of Maya ditched and drained fields in Belize. And in more recent years, LiDAR and other geospatial technologies used as mapping tools have shown that wetland modifications in Belize were much more expansive than previously thought. Our own work in Belize’s Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary reveals wetland enhancements were vast but also more varied, with some being used primarily as large-scale fish-trapping facilities, rather than as agricultural fields. In tracing the last fifty years of archaeological investigations, we show how Belize has moved the field forward and remains at the cutting edge of wetland research across the Maya Lowlands. 

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