Preliminary Report of the 2006 Field Season at Lamanai, Belize: The Maya Archaeometallurgy Project (original) (raw)

The following is a preliminary report of the 2006 field season at Lamanai, Belize by the Maya Archaeometallurgy Project and Lamanai Archaeological Project Field School. The theoretical background of the Maya Archaeometallurgy Project (MAP) is presented in summary form, along with a more detailed discussion of the methods and results of archaeological investigations in the Terminal Postclassic-Spanish Colonial Period occupation zone at Lamanai. Archaeological research on the nature of Maya metallurgy was conducted as part of a continuing program aimed at educating college students in archaeological field methods at the site of Lamanai. This report summarizes the findings from archaeological excavations in Operation 06-02, an area located immediately east of the Spanish churches (Structures N12-11 and N12-13) at Lamanai. This particular area, in the heart of the Spanish Church Zone, was utilized intensively by Lamanai's contact period residents. Archaeological investigations in this area of the site were aimed at identifying the remains of contact period residential and other special use structures and features. The remains of what are likely several contact period residential structures were identified during the 2006 field season.

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Preliminary Report of the 2005 field season at Lamanai, Belize: The Maya Archaeometallurgy Project

2005

The following is a preliminary report of the 2005 field season at Lamanai, Belize by the Maya Archaeometallurgy Project and Lamanai Archaeological Project Field School. The theoretical background of the Maya Archaeometallurgy Project (MAP) is presented in summary form, along with a more detailed discussion of the methods and results of archaeological investigations in the Terminal Postclassic-Spanish Colonial Period occupation zone at Lamanai. Archaeological research on the nature of Maya metallurgy was conducted as part of a continuing program aimed at educating college students in archaeological field methods at the site of Lamanai.

Archaeometallurgy at Lamanai, Belize: New Discoveries and Insights from the Southern Maya Lowland Area

Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica: Current Approaches and New Perspectives, 2013

In recent decades there has been much discussion among archaeologists about the transformative roles material objects play in human societies. Various scholars have focused attention on the ways that material culture is an integral part of social and economic systems through time, with considerable discourse centered on the role of specialized crafting in ancient societies (Apel

Maya Metallurgical Technology in Late Postclassic-Spanish Colonial Times: The View from Lamanai, Belize

ArcheoSciences, 2013

Recent archaeometallurgical studies at the ancient Maya site of Lamanai, Belize have begun to reveal the nature of copper metallurgy in the centuries just prior to and during Spanish contact in the Southern Maya Lowland Area. More copper artifacts have been recovered from controlled archaeological excavations at Lamanai than at any other site in the Southern Maya Lowland area. A total of 187 copper objects dating to the 12th through 16th centuries AD have been recovered; among these objects are ingots or pigs, blanks, prills and a substantial number of mis-cast objects, many of which are bells. The archaeological contexts in which copper bells, axes, needles, fish hooks, rings, and clothing ornaments have been recovered will be summarised. Forming technologies used in the creation of Maya copper artifacts as well as their chemical compositions were studied using scanning electron microscopy and optical light microscopy. The results of chemical compositional and microstructural analyses will be presented and discussed in the contexts of larger social and economic spheres that were part of the Maya world just before and during Spanish contact in Belize.

(2013) Maya Metallurgical Technology in Late Postclassic-Spanish Colonial Times: The View from Lamanai, Belize (Simmons and Shugar)

ArchéoSciences, 37, 2013

Recent archaeometallurgical studies at the ancient Maya site of Lamanai, Belize have begun to reveal the nature of copper metallurgy in the centuries just prior to and during Spanish contact in the Southern Maya Lowland Area. More copper artifacts have been recovered from controlled archaeological excavations at Lamanai than at any other site in the Southern Maya Lowland area. A total of 187 copper objects dating to the 12th through 16th centuries AD have been recovered; among these objects are ingots or pigs, blanks, prills and a substantial number of mis-cast objects, many of which are bells. The archaeological contexts in which copper bells, axes, needles, fish hooks, rings, and clothing ornaments have been recovered will be summarised. Forming technologies used in the creation of Maya copper artifacts as well as their chemical compositions were studied using scanning electron microscopy and optical light microscopy. The results of chemical compositional and microstructural analyses will be presented and discussed in the contexts of larger social and economic spheres that were part of the Maya world just before and during Spanish contact in Belize.

Late Postclassic-Spanish Colonial Period Stone Tool Technology in the Southern Maya Lowland Area: The View from Lamanai and Tipu, Belize

Lithic Technology, 2002

Maya lowland area recently have used ethnohistorical and archaeological information to better understand the complexities ofMaya Spanish interactions and the Spanish impact on traditional Maya culture. But the materialob jects that the Maya used during this time rarely have been analyzed in anyformal or systematic ways. In thisstudy Ipresent the resuitsofan analysis ofthe.formaIchippedstone tooisfrom Lamanai and Ttpu, two southern lowland Maya sites in Belize. Smail side-notched chert, chalcedony and obsidianarrowpointsare thepredominant toolform found in Late-TerminalPostclassicandEarIy Spanish Colonialperioddeposits at both sites. Variability in toolforms andmanufacturingstrat egies exists both within and between each ofthe lithic assemblages, andthe study ofthis variability can pro'CJide insights into Late Postclassic-Spanish Colonial Period Maya stone tool technology and, to some extent, the nature ofMaya-Spanish interaction andthe repercussions ofSpanish colo nial policies in Belize. Available ethnohistorical and archaeological information ;s considered together with observations on stone toolstyles anddiscrete iithic-manufacturing attributes to bet ter understand this little known Maya lithic technology.

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