A Figurative Hacha from Buenavista del Cayo, Belize (original) (raw)
The Ancient Maya of the Belize Valley: Half a Century of Arc aeological Researc
Journal of Latin American Anthropology, 2004
though the narrative tends to skate on the surface, one senses that this is not due to weak ethnographic material but to the fact that there may be too many stories to tell about Santa Brigida and too many ways to tell them. Pessar's reflexive sections are brief but sensitive and intelligent. One might hope that Pessar is not yet finished with Santa Brigida and her engagement with it. A fuller and deeper account of her relationships with its residents-and their voices-would surely make for provocative reading on the nature of anthropological fieldwork, its ethical dilemmas, and the passions of the religious imagination.
The Ancient Maya Ceremonial Circuit of Cara Blanca, Belize
The Maya engaged sacred places that typically were isolated from permanent settlement, such as water bodies. They often are left largely untouched other than a minimal presence of non-residential features and buildings. Such places, which we are calling pilgrimage destinations, were connected via a ceremonial circuit, which we attempt to show was the case at the 25 pools of Cara Blanca, Belize. The Maya intensified their processions and ceremonies here during several prolonged droughts between c. 800-900 CE. Traditionally, the Maya walk ceremonial circuits to reaffirm their relationship with and rights to sacred, forested places. Pool 1 epitomizes one such destination with its Terminal Classic water temple (Str. 1), a ceremonial platform (Str. 3) with ceramic styles from throughout the Maya area and human caches, and M186, a group that includes a circular sweatbath. Excavations at Cara Blanca cenotes reveal a rich ceremonial life that appear to have revolved around water ceremonies along a ceremonial circuit. In the end, their supplications to gods and ancestors were to no avail, and Cara Blanca's visitors became part of the diaspora out of the southern lowlands.
Archaeology of Food and Foodways, 2022
The material plays a fundamental and active role in the social lives of people, from objects like containers or buildings to food and other consumables. In this paper, evidence from absorbed residues are used to explore the contents of an Ulúa-style marble vase found in a royal courtyard at the ancient Maya site of Pacbitun in west-central Belize. Those results indicate that the vase once held concoctions containing cacao, willow and possibly vanilla. Significantly, the results also confirm residues of the important Maya ritual drink balché, in an ancient container. By placing the vase and its contents in the history of Pacbitun, we demonstrate the important role of this object and its contents in dedicatory rituals practiced in this region; we argue that subsequent disturbance of the context and the vase in antiquity points to the fragmentation of kingship.
THE RITUAL USE OF A CAVE ON THE NORTHERN VACA PLATEAU, BELIZE, CENTRAL AMERICA
Research conducted on the Northern Vaca Plateau in west-central Belize has discovered numerous caves that were utilized by the Maya. In particular, Ch'en P'ix appears to have been used for religious activities, including autosacrificial bloodletting. A constructed platform in the cave was excavated in 1998, and a nearly complete tripod plate (the Ch'en P'ix Tripod) was recovered. This plate depicts a seated single figure that appears to be catching blood dripping from his right hand, in a vessel held in the left hand, and on a loincloth spread in front of the figure. We think that the Ch'en P'ix Tripod was probably used for collecting blood scattered during ritual events conducted on the platform, and we offer the following interpretation. A platform was constructed within Ch'en P'ix (with a speleothem-bordered path leading from the entrance drop to this platform) that was used for ritual activities. One ritual activity involved bloodletting, and a plate depicting autosacrificial bloodletting (the Ch'en P'ix Tripod) was used during this ceremony. The Tripod plate not only depicts the scene, but we also think it was used for collecting blood during the ritual. Upon completion of the ritual, the plate was broken on the platform as an offering. These events might have taken place in Ch'en P'ix sometime during the Late Classic period.
CLASSIC RITUALIZED LANDSCAPE AT LA MILPA, BELIZE
Art for archaeology's sake : material culture and style across the disciplines : proceedings of the Thirty-third Annual Conference of the Archaeological Association of the University of Calgary, 2005
Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology, 2020
In this paper, I discuss what is known of the Late Archaic occupation in northern Belize. The second millennium BC is the "Early Formative" for most of Mesoamerica but the subsistence and residential adaptation of the Maya lowlands residents up until ~1100 BC consisted of mixed foraging-horticulturalists with no ceramic containers or permanent villages. This means that an "Archaic" strategy persisted in the Maya area for almost a thousand years longer than elsewhere in Mesoamerica. I review evidence from the site of San Estevan where first ceramic-using (i.e., Swasey phase) villagers are documented with little evidence of their predecessors. Next, I review evidence of Archaic-period occupation on the west shore of Progresso Lagoon where maize, squash and chili peppers were cultivated by mobile foragers. Finally, I present plans to thoroughly document and date the second and third millennium BC occupation of Progresso Lagoon and explore how the global climatic change impacted the adaptation of forager-horticulturalists.
Pilgrimage to the Edge of the Watery Underworld: An Ancient Maya Water Temple at Cara Blanca, Belize
Classic Maya inscriptions and iconography reveal more than just royal customs since their origins lie in traditional Maya practices. They provide a key to unlocking how commoners created their own domestic universe. To explore how commoners mapped their cosmology and recorded their history, I discuss domestic ceramic clusters based on color, placement, and association with other artifacts at the minor center of Saturday Creek, Belize. Results show that cached items served to contextualize their place in the cosmos. Commoners may not have had the written word, but they had the means to record their own history, one with which they interacted daily -under their feet, within walls, and under their roof.
Research Reports in Belizean History and Anthropology, Volume 3
ISCR/NICH, 2015
The proceedings in this publication are a compilation of history and anthropology papers presented at the 2014 Belize Archaeology and Anthropology Symposium (BAAS). The conference featured both local and international researchers who informed the academic community and general public about the latest findings of their research. This publication is an important output of the symposium as it allows scholars and general readers alike the opportunity to access cutting edge research on the topics of Indigenous Identity and Wellbeing, Cultural Change, Sustainability, and Language and History. The publication is a must read for anyone seeking to conduct research in Belize and interested in contributing to the advancement of the nation. APA Citation: Encalada, N., Cocom, R., Pelayo, P., & Pinelo, G. (Eds.). (2015). Research Reports in Belizean History and Anthropology, Volume 3 (Vol. 3). Belize: ISCR, NICH.
Ceremonial Circuits at Cara Blanca Belize
This paper presents the results from the exploration of the three previously unexplored pools in the hypothesized ceremonial circuit of Cara Blanca, central Belize. During the 2017 field season, the Valley of Peace Archaeological project surveyed the three far eastern pools of the Cara Blanca 25 (Pools 22, 23, 25) in order to explore the role they might have played in the Late to Terminal Classic ritual landscape. During the Classic period (250-900 CE) many Maya rulers garnered power by exploiting their followers' reliance upon rain. When several prolonged and severe droughts struck the Maya area during the Terminal Classic period and the rains failed, so too did rulers' power. Despite periodic droughts, the Cara Blanca pools in central Belize remained a consistent resource for freshwater. Data collected over many years of research at Cara Blanca suggest that the 25 pools are part of a ritually prescribed path, or ceremonial circuit, which developed in part as a response to rulers' failures. Ceremonial circuits are paths that Maya walked connecting built architecture in a way that makes explicit their relationship to that space – including both the architecture and sacred, unbuilt spaces. This paper explores how these three pools, as well as two of the other Cara Blanca pools (Pools 1 and 15), may have played a unique role in the ritual landscape.
The Mayanist, 2022
In this study, we discuss how the Mopan Maya of Belize attribute certain diseases to an indigenous understanding of human blood properties. We further describe how specific plants are said to affect the quality or nature of blood and the native ethnobotanical methods used to moderately "strengthen" or "build" blood. Furthermore, we investigate emic Mopan concepts of wellness and disease embedded in their understanding of blood and the necessity to maintain an equilibrium within their blood by using forest botanicals. In addition, we detail the use of various medicinal plants by the Mopan in treating specific categories of physical and ethnopsychiatric disorders.
K'awiil Chan K'inich, Lord of K'an Hix: Royal titles and Symbols of Rulership at Cahal Pech, Belize
Mexicon, 2016
ABSTRACT: Hieroglyphic inscriptions provide one of the most important sources of information on Classic period Maya rulers, and on the sociopolitical relations between lowland Maya polities. The discovery of new inscribed monuments and artifacts, particularly in Maya sub-regions where inscriptions are rare, can therefore provide critical new information on the political significance of these sites. In this paper, we describe the recent discovery at Cahal Pech of three bone rings, a bone pin, and fragments of turtle shell that were decorated with low-relief inscriptions. The hieroglyphic texts from Cahal Pech, along with the rich contents of the tomb where the artifacts were discovered, provide compelling evidence that Classic period Belize Valley elite employed symbols of rulership akin to those used by the powerful rulers of larger centers in the Maya lowlands. RESUMEN: Inscripciones jeroglíficas proveen una de las fuentes de información más importantes sobre los gobernantes mayas del periodo Clásico y sobre las relaciones socio-políticas entre las entidades políticas de las tierras bajas mayas. El descubrimiento de nuevos monumentos y artefactos inscritos, particularmente en las sub-regiones Mayas donde las inscripciones son raras, pueden por lo tanto proveer nueva información crítica sobre el significado político de estos sitios. En este artículo, describimos el reciente descubrimiento en Cahal Pech de tres anillos de hueso, un alfiler de hueso y fragmentos de caparazón de tortuga, los cuales estuvieron decorados con inscripciones de bajo relieve. Los textos jeroglíficos de Cahal Pech, junto con los ricos contenidos de la tumba en la cual los objetos fueron descubiertos, proveen evidencia convincente de que la élite del Valle de Belice del periodo Clásico empleó símbolos de soberanía semejantes a aquéllos usados por los poderosos gobernantes de los grandes centros de las tierras bajas Mayas. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Hieroglypheninschriften bilden eine der wichtigsten Quellen für Information über die Herrscher der Maya der Klassischen Zeit, sowie über die sozio-politischen Beziehungen zwischen den Staaten des Maya-Tieflands. Die Entdeckung von neuen beschrifteten Monumenten, insbesondere in Subregionen der Maya-Welt in denen Inschriften ansonsten selten sind, kann deshalb wichtige neue Information über die politische Bedeutung dieser Stätten liefern. In diesem Artikel beschreiben wir die erst kürzlich in Cahal Pech entdeckten drei Knochenringe, eine Knochennadel und Fragmente von Schildkrötenpanzern, die mit Inschriften im Flachrelief beschriftet sind. Die Inschriften von Cahal Pech, zusammen mit dem reichen Inhalt des Grabes wo die Artefakte gefunden wurden liefern eindeutige Hinweise darauf, dass die Elite des Belize Valley in der Klassik die gleichen Symbole der Herrschaft verwendete wie mächtigere Herrscher aus den großen Zentren des Maya-Tieflands.
The Search for Tradition in Southern Belize: A Personal Narrative
What is a 'traditional' society? How does the narrative of modernity clash with historical reality? This is the first paper I published which questions the prevailing wisdom of Mesoamerican ethnology, that we can read the ancient Maya past from their modern descendants. It has never been cited to my knowledge!
This paper describes the recent discovery of a Spanish sword and olive jar in two separate cave sites in the Roaring Creek Valley in central Belize. Analysis of the sword and olive jar places their date of manufacture between the late sixteenth and the midseventeenth century. The socio-political environment that prevailed along the seventeenthcentury colonial frontier in Belize suggests that the sword may have been forcibly acquired by the Maya, whereas the archaeological contexts in which the European-made objects were discovered provide evidence for native ritual continuity amidst persistent proselytization efforts by the Spanish invaders.
Research Reports in Belizean History and Anthropology, Volume 1
Research Reports in Belizean History and Anthropology, Volume 1 is first edition of an annual publication of the Institute for Social and Cultural Research (ISCR), City of Belmopan, Belize. It is devoted to the publication of those Social, Anthropological, and Historical themed Papers and Reports presented at the Belize Archaeology and Anthropology Symposium (BAAS) for the dissemination and promotion of research conducted in Belize.
Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, 2021
While folklore is often used in Belizean literature, it is generally treated there in one of two ways: infantilized as ghost story - told expressly for fascinating children - or in novel retellings - for the preservation of tradition. The Festival of San Joaquin, by celebrated Belizean author Zee Edgell, treats her recurring thematic and social concerns while deploying folkloric figures as an organizing motif in a novel way for Belizean literature; she offers a reworking of folklore that aspires toward recuperative ‘active myth.’ Exploration of her work might reveal it as amenable to an indigenous archetypal criticism, but such a criticism can only contribute to efforts at decolonization should it interrogate its own problematic adoption of folkloric figures whose indigenous origins have been obscured in the post-colonial era.