Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-m9pkr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-12T21:25:41.005Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fire Intensity Assessment through the Analysis of Artifacts and Building Materials

Burning and Abandonment at the Classic Maya Sites of Aguateca and Ceibal, Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2017

Takeshi Inomata
Takeshi Inomata*
Affiliation:
School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, 1009 E. South Campus Drive, Tucson, AZ 85721 (inomata@email.arizona.edu)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Different types of artifacts and building materials react in varying manners to heat exposure, and the analysis of their degrees and patterns of thermal alterations provide important clues to the intensity of fire to which they were subjected. Such data allow researchers to examine the presence or absence of a building fire, the quantity of fuel, and the intentional or accidental nature of the fire. This approach is particularly important in the tropical lowlands, where evidence of fire in the forms of charcoal and ash may not be well preserved. At the rapidly abandoned site of Aguateca, Guatemala, the amount of charcoal and ash was small, but the examination of numerous artifacts left in situ and of building materials identified clear evidence that many buildings were burned at the time of abandonment. Similar lines of evidence were also found in artifact-poor, gradually abandoned structures at Ceibal, Guatemala. These results suggest the possibility that the burning of structures at the time of abandonment may have been more common in the Maya Lowlands than generally thought.

Diferentes tipos de artefactos y materiales de construcción reaccionan de manera diversa a la exposición al calor. Por lo tanto, el análisis de los grados y patrones de alteraciones térmicas de dichos materiales provee indicios importantes sobre la intensidad del fuego a la que fueron sometidos. Estos datos permiten a los investigadores examinar la presencia o ausencia de un incendio en un edificio, la cantidad de combustible y el carácter intencional o accidental del fuego. Este enfoque es particularmente importante en las tierras bajas tropicales, en donde la evidencia de fuego en forma de carbón y ceniza puede no estar bien conservada. En el sitio de Aguateca, Guatemala, que fue abandonado rápidamente, la cantidad de carbón y ceniza fue pequeña. Sin embargo, el análisis de numerosos artefactos dejados in situ y de los materiales de construcción identificó evidencia clara de que muchos edificios fueron incendiados en el momento de su abandono. Se encontraron indicios similares en algunas estructuras de Ceibal, Guatemala, las cuales fueron abandonadas gradualmente y contenían pocos artefactos. Estos resultados sugieren la posibilidad de que los incendios de edificios en los momentos de abandono pudieron haber sido más comunes en las tierras bajas Mayas de lo que se asume generalmente.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 50 - 63
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Ahler, S. A. 1983 Heat Treatment of Knife River Flints. Lithic Technology 12:1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo 2009 Elite Craft Producers, Artists, and Warriors at Aguateca: Lithic Analysis. Aguateca Archaeological Project First Phase Monograph Series, Vol. 2. Inomata, Takeshi and Triadan, Daniela, series editors. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Arnold, Dean E. 1985 Ceramic Theory and Cultural Process. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Ashurst, John, and Ashurst, Nicola 1988 Practical Building Conservation, English Heritage Technical Handbook, Vol. 3: Mortars, Plasters, and Renders. Gower Publishing Ltd., London.Google Scholar
Bankoff, H. Arthur, and Winter, Frederick A. 1976 A House-Burning in Serbia: What Do Burned Remains Tell an Archaeologist? Archaeology 32:8–14.Google Scholar
Boynton, R. S. 1980 Chemistry and Technology of Lime and Limestone. 2nd ed. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Brown, M. Kathryn, and James F., Garber 2003 Evidence of Conflict during the Middle Formative in the Maya Lowlands: A View from Blackman Eddy, Belize. In Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare, edited by Kathryn Brown, M. and Garber, James F., pp. 91–108. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, CA.Google Scholar
Buenger, Brent 2003 The Impact of Wildland and Prescribed Fire on Archaeological Resources. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Cameron, Catherine M., and Tomka, Steve A. (editors) 1993 Abandonment of Settlements and Regions: Ethnoarchaeological and Archaeological Approaches. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chakrabarti, Birbhushan, Yates, Tim, and Lewry, Andrew 1996 Effect of Fire Damage on Natural Stonework in Buildings. Construction and Building Materials 10(7):539–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cultrone, Giuseppe, Rodriguez-Navarro, Carlos, Sebastian, Eduardo, Cazalla, Olga, and de la Torre, María José 2001 Carbonate and Silicate Phase Reactions during Ceramic Firing. European Journal of Mineralogy 13:621–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeHaan, John D., and Icove, David J. 2012 Kirk’s Fire Investigation. 7th ed. Pearson, Boston.Google Scholar
Demarest, Arthur A., Rice, Prudence M., and Rice, Don S. (editors) 2004 The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and Transformation. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Freidel, David A. 1986 Introduction. In Archaeology at Cerros, Belize, Central America, Vol. 1: An Interim Report, edited by Freidel, David A. and Robertson, Robin A., pp. xiii-xxiii. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas.Google Scholar
Garber, James F. 1983 Patterns of Jade Consumption and Disposal at Cerros, Northern Belize. American Antiquity 48:800–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Eric F. 2000 Ancient Maya Burnt-Lime Technology: Cultural Implications of Technological Style. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Harrison, Karl 2008 An Investigation into the Relationships between the Archaeology of Burnt Structures and Fire Science as Employed in a Forensic Context. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Reading.Google Scholar
Harrison, Karl 2013 The Application of Forensic Fire Investigation Techniques in the Archaeological Record. Journal of Archaeological Science 40:955–959.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holley, George R. 1984 Ceramic Change at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Houston, Stephen, and Inomata, Takeshi 2009 The Classic Maya. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Icove, David J., DeHaan, John D., and Haynes, Gerald A. 2013 Forensic Fire Scene Reconstruction. 3rd ed. Pearson, Boston.Google Scholar
Icove, David J., Welborn, Heather E., Vonarx, A. J., Charles Adams, E., Lally, Joe R., and Huff, Tim G. 2006 Scientific Investigation and Modeling of Prehistoric Structural Fires at Chevelon Pueblo. In Proceedings of the 2006 International Symposium on Fire Investigation Science and Technology, edited by Kennedy, Katheryn G., pp. 457–467. National Association of Arson Investigators, Sarasota, Florida.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi 1997 The Last Day of a Fortified Classic Maya Center: Archaeological Investigations at Aguateca, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 8:337–351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi 2003 War, Destruction, and Abandonment: The Fall of the Classic Maya Center of Aguateca, Guatemala. In The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America, edited by Inomata, Takeshi and Webb, Ronald W., pp. 43–60. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi 2007 Warfare and the Fall of a Fortified Center: Archaeological Investigations at Aguateca. Vanderbilt Institute of Mesoamerican Series, Vol. 3. Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, and Triadan, Daniela (editors) 2010 Burned Palaces and Elite Residences of Aguateca: Excavations and Ceramics. Aguateca Archaeological Project First Phase Monograph Series, Vol. 1. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, and Triadan, Daniela (editors) 2014 Life and Politics at the Royal Court of Aguateca: Artifacts, Analytical Data, and Synthesis. Aguateca Archaeological Project First Phase Monograph Series, Vol. 3, Inomata, Takeshi and Triadan, Daniela, series editors. University of Utah Press, Provo, Utah. In press.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, and Webb, Ronald W. (editors) 2003 The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, and Román, Otto Rodrigo 2010 La Transformación Y Continuidad De Ritos Durante El Período Preclásico En Ceibal, Guatemala. In El Ritual En El Mundo Maya: De Lo Privado a Lo Público, edited by Ruiz, Andrés Ciudad, de León, Iglesias Ponce, Josefa, María and Sorroche, Miguel, pp. 29–48. Sociedad Española de Estudios Mayas, Madrid.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Aoyama, Kazuo, Castillo, Victor, and Yonenobu, Hitoshi 2013 Early Ceremonial Constructions at Ceibal, Guatemala, and the Origins of Lowland Maya Civilization. Science 340:467–471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Ponciano, Erick, and Aoyama, Kazuo (editors) 2009 La política de lugares y comunidades en la antigua sociedad Maya de Petexbatun: Las investigaciones del Proyecto Arqueológico Aguateca Segunda Fase. Ministerio de Cultura y Deportes, Dirección General del Patrimonio Cultural y Natural, and Instituto de Antropología e Historia, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Ponciano, Erick, Terry, Richard, and Beaubien, Harriet F. 2001 In the Palace of the Fallen King: The Royal Residential Complex at Aguateca, Guatemala. Journal of Field Archaeology 28:287–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Ponciano, Erick, Pinto, Estela, Terry, Richard E., and Eberl, Markus 2002 Domestic and Political Lives of Classic Maya Elites: The Excavation of Rapidly Abandoned Structures at Aguateca, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 13:305–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerber, Stephen, and Walton, William D. 2005 Effect of Positive Pressure Ventilation on a Room Fire. Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Electronic document, http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire05/PDF/f05018.pdf, accessed Septermber 24, 2010.Google Scholar
Lally, James R. 2005 Reconstructing the Causes and Origin of Structural Fires in the Archaeological Record of the Greater Southwest. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Luedtke, Barbara E. 1992 An Archaeologist’s Guide to Chertand Flint. Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Luganov, V. A., and Shabalin, V. I. 1982 Behavior of Pyrite during Heating. Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly 21:157–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCutcheon, P. T. 1992 Burned Archaeological Bone. In Deciphering a Shell Midden, edited by Stein, Julie K., pp. 347–370. Academic Press, San Diego.Google Scholar
Mock, Shirley Boteler 1998 The Sowing and the Dawning: Termination, Dedication, and Transformation in the Archaeological and Ethnographic Record of Mesoamerica. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Purdy, B. A. 1974 Investigations Concerning the Thermal Alteration of Silica Minerals: An Archaeological Approach. Tebiwa 17:37–66.Google Scholar
Putorti, A. D. Jr., and McElroy, J. 2000 Full-Scale House Fire Experiment for InterFIRE VR, May 6, 1998. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD. Electronic document, http://fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire00/PDF/f00136.pdf, accessed September 24, 2010.Google Scholar
Rice, Prudence M. 1987 Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Richter, J. 1986 Experimental Study of Heat Induced Morphological Changes in Fish Bone Collagen. Journal of Archaeological Science 13:477–481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, Robin A. 1983 Functional Analysis and Social Process in Ceramics: The Pottery from Cerrros, Belize. In Civilization in the Ancient Americas: Essays in Honor of Gordon R. Willey, edited by Leventhal, Richard M. and Kolata, Alan L., pp. 105–142. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Russell, Bradley, and Dahlin, Bruce H. 2007 Traditional Burnt-Lime Production at Mayapán, Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 32(4):407–423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy A. 1975 Excavations at Seibal, Department of Peten, Guatemala: Ceramics. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 13, No. 2. Willey, Gordon R., series editor. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. 1987 Formation Processes of the Archaeological Record. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Shepard, Anna O. 1957 Ceramics for the Archaeologist. Carnegie Institution of Washington. Publication, Vol. 609, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington.Google Scholar
Shipman, P., Foster, G., and Schoeninger, M. 1984 Burnt Bones and Teeth: An Experimental Study of Color, Morphology, Crystal Structure and Shrinkage. Journal of Archaeological Science 11(4):307–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shoval, S., Graft, M., Back, P., and Kirsh, Y. 1993 Thermal Behaviour of Limestone and Monocrystalline Calcite Tempers during Firing and their use in Ancient Vessels. Journal of Thermal Analysis 40:263–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. Ledyard 1982 Excavations at Seibal, Department of Peten, Guatemala: Major Architecture and Caches. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 15, No. 1, Willey, Gordon R., series editor, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Stuart, David 1998 “The Fire Enters His House”: Architecture and Ritual in Classic Maya Text. In Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture, edited by Houston, Stephen D., pp. 373–426. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Tourtellot, Gair III 1988 Excavations at Seibal, Department of Peten, Guatemala: Peripheral Survey and Excavation, Settlement and Community Patterns. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 16, Willey, Gordon R., series editor, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Webster, David 2002 The Fall of the Ancient Maya. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Willey, Gordon R. 1990 Excavations at Seibal, Department of Peten, Guatemala: General Summary and Conclusions. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 17, No. 4, Willey, Gordon R., series editor, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar