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1. Social Complexity and the Middle Preclassic Lowland Maya

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-021-09168-y  

   Pugh, Timothy W. (January 2022, Journal of Archaeological Research)

   Intensified social complexity emerged in some parts of the lowland Maya region during the Middle Preclassic period (800–300 BC). Though data for Middle Preclassic complexity remain very thin, states may have formed in the Mirador Basin and other areas that exhibit settlement hierarchy, evidence of centralized administration, and specialization. However, these developments have been obscured by a shift from a more cooperative to a more competitive system during the Late Preclassic period (300 BC–AD 200). Unilinear thought has confused this change in organization with a shift toward greater complexity. Such positions incorrectly assume that divine kingship and its accouterments are a baseline for complexity. Judging Middle Preclassic period complexity according to Classic period developments is dubious given the cooperative–competitive oscillations; the tendency in the Maya area for states to have been secondary with longstanding interactions among Chiapas, Pacific Coast, Isthmian, and the Gulf Coast areas; and internal innovations. New data are needed to characterize early complexity in the Maya lowlands on its own terms. 

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2. MIDDLE PRECLASSIC HYDRAULIC PLANNING AT NIXTUN-CH'ICH', PETEN, GUATEMALA

   https://doi.org/10.1017/S0956536121000274  

   Pugh, Timothy W.; Rice, Prudence M.; Chan Nieto, Evelyn M.; Meranda, Marie L.; Milley, David S. (January 2022, Ancient Mesoamerica)

   Abstract Nixtun-Ch'ich', on the western edge of Lake Peten Itza in Peten, northern Guatemala, features an axis urbis and an urban grid dating to the Middle Preclassic period (800–500 b.c. ). New research reveals that Middle Preclassic constructions—five circular or oval artificial pools and planned surface drainage—facilitated or impeded the movement of water. Large limestone rubble lines at least two of the pools ( aguadas ) in the city's core; two pools lie on the axis urbis, demonstrating that they were central ceremonial constructions. The gridded streets facilitated drainage: they consistently slope from west to east and from the center to north and south. In some areas seeing intense water flow, the streets divide into waterways and pedestrian-ways and/or were given special paving. Many scholars argue that water management contributed to the power of despotic kings, but no evidence of such rulers exists among the Middle Preclassic Maya. Nonetheless, we believe that such systems emerged in the Middle Preclassic. Nixtun-Ch'ich' appears to have been cooperative in its organization and its water management system was a public good. 

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3. Early Pottery and Construction at Nixtun-Ch'ich’, Petén, Guatemala: Preliminary Observations

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/laq.2019.26  

   Rice, Prudence M. (June 2019, Latin American antiquity)

   Early occupation at Nixtun-Ch'ich’, on the western edge of Lake Petén Itzá, is dated by two ceramic complexes, K'as and Chich. These represent the Late and Terminal Early Preclassic or the early and late “Pre-Mamom” periods, respectively (ca. 1300–800 BC), including a “Transitional” period incorporating Nix Middle Preclassic (Mamom) pottery. Comparisons with complexes at other sites in the region permit the dating of 10 construction loci, including 3 in the civic-ceremonial core. Low late Pre-Mamom platforms were raised and expanded in Transitional and Early Middle Preclassic times, when they were elaborated into two E-Groups and a Triadic Structure on the central axis. This building activity is interpreted in terms of cooperative or corporate labor organization and related to evolutionary game theory. The ritual foundation of such organization is evident in the site's gridded layout based on a mythical world-creation crocodile. 

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4. The Postclassic Period at Nixtun-Ch’ich’, Petén, Guatemala

   Shiratori, Yuko; Pugh, Timothy (January 2021, Kodai Amerika)

   The archaeological site of Nixtun-Chi’ch’ is located on the Candelaria Peninsula on the western side of Lake Petén Itzá, Guatemala. The site, covering over 2.5km², has been intermittently excavated since 1995 and contains more than 450 buildings. These investigations have revealed the long-term occupation of the site from the Middle Preclassic (800-400/300 BCE) to the present. The site’s Preclassic occupation was both intensive and extensive with the construction of many monumental structures and a gridded city plan. Unlike the abundant and recent coverage of the Preclassic period at NixtunCh’ich’, literature on the Postclassic period (950-1525 CE) is limited. This paper focuses on the Postclassic period whose occupations are scattered across the site above the Preclassic period constructions. The excavated Postclassic occupations are located outside of the central core of the site, mostly along the lakeshore. What was the situation at Nixtun-Ch’ich’ during the Postclassic period? What was the livelihood? We believe that combining archeological data with historical documents allows for effective investigation. Using both archaeological data and Spanish historical documents from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries we aim to answer these questions through a reconstruction of these architectural patterns and lifestyles of the people at Nixtun-Ch’ich’ during the Postclassic period. 

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5. Flooded mangrove landscapes hide ancient Maya coastal sites in Belize

   https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2022.2163323  

   McKillop, Heather I (February 2023, The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology)

   Evidence of ancient Maya exploitation of salt, other marine resources, settlement, and sea trade is hidden in flooded mangrove landscapes on the cays, mainland, and in shallow offshore locations on the south coast of Belize. This paper includes a discussion of the coastal economy from the Middle Preclassic through the Postclassic periods (600 B.C.-A.D. 1500). Data from sites discovered and excavated since 1982 in the coastal area of the Port Honduras and Paynes Creek National Park support a model of coastal reliance marine resources and tree crops. The need for a regular supply of coastal salt to inland cities may have expanded the market for other marine resources. Obsidian imported from volcanic highlands documents long-distance trade throughout prehistory in the area. The island of Wild Cane Cay expanded its role in long-distance coastal trade after the abandonment of inland cities in southern Belize at the end of the Classic period. Inundation of the region documented from the depths of radiocarbon-dated archaeological deposits below the water table and from a sediment core indicates sea-level rise of at least 1m that submerged the coastal sites. The waterlogged deposits provided an ideal matrix for preservation of vertebrate material at Wild Cane Cay. The red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) peat below the sea floor in a shallow lagoon preserved wooden buildings. 

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