Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-m9pkr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-09T03:07:17.117Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Resource Diversity in Belize and Its Implications for Models of Lowland Trade

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Elizabeth Graham
Elizabeth Graham*
Affiliation:
Department of New World Archaeology, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2C6
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The data presented here, by providing examples of resource diversity in Belize, add support to the current consensus that a basis indeed exists in the Maya Lowlands for placement of research emphasis on elucidating patterns of local or intercommunity exchange as a step toward understanding socioeconomic integration. The point also is made that any generalized model of exchange will fail to shed light on lowland integration unless patterns are defined for exchange that operated at the local or inter-community level. It is suggested that these patterns be sought against a backdrop of differential resource distribution.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , October 1987 , pp. 753 - 767
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1987

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

Arnold, D. E. 1978 Ceramic Variability, Environment and Culture History among the Pokom in the Valley of Guatemala. In The Spatial Organization of Culture, edited by Hodder, I., pp. 39–59. Gerald Duckworth, London.Google Scholar
Arnold, D. E. 1980 Localized Exchange : An Ethnoarchaeological Perspective. In Models and Methods in Regional Exchange, edited by Fry, R. E., pp. 147–150. S AA Papers No. 1. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Arnold, D. E. 1985 Ceramic Theory and Cultural Process. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.Google Scholar
Arnold, D. E., and Bohor, B. F. 1977 An Ancient Clay Mine at Yo’ K'at, Yucatan. American Antiquity 42 : 575–582.Google Scholar
Ball, J. W., and Andrews V, E. W. 1975 The Polychrome Pottery of Dzibilchaltun, Yucatan, Mexico : Typology and Archaeological Context. In Archaeological Investigations on the Yucatan Peninsula, pp. 227–247. Middle American Research Institute Publication 31. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Bateson, J. H., and Hall, I. H. S. 1970 Reconnaissance Geochemical and Geological Investigation of the Maya Mountains of Southern British Honduras. Report No. 16. Institute of Geological Sciences, Overseas Division, London.Google Scholar
Bateson, J. H., and Hall, I. H. S. 1971 Revised Geologic Nomenclature for Pre-Cretaceous Rocks of British Honduras. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 55 : 529–530.Google Scholar
Beaudry, M. P. 1984 Ceramic Production and Distribution in the Southeastern Maya Periphery : Late Classic Painted Serving Vessels. BAR International Series 203, British Archaeological Reports, Oxford, England.Google Scholar
Bishop, R. L. 1980 Aspects of Ceramic Compositional Modeling. In Models and Methods in Regional Exchange, edited by Fry, R. E., pp. 47–65. SAA Papers No. 1. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Blanton, R. E., Kowalewski, S. A., Feinman, G., and Appel, J. 1981 Ancient Mesoamerica : A Comparison of Change in Three Regions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.Google Scholar
Charlton, T., and Spence, M. W. 1982 Obsidian Exploitation and Civilization in the Basin of Mexico. Anthropology 6(1, 2) : 7-86. State University of New York at Stony Brook.Google Scholar
Coe, W. R. 1962 A Summary of Excavation and Research at Tikal, Guatemala, 1956-1961. American Antiquity 27 : 479–507.Google Scholar
Coe, W. R. 1967 Tikal-A Handbook of the Ancient Maya Ruins. The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Cole, G. L., and Andrews-Jones, D. A. 1978 Economic Evaluation of the Mineral Potential of Belize : An Overview of the Anschutz Mining Corporation Exploration Program in Belize, 1975-1977. Anchutz Mining Corporation. Third Annual Report, February Google Scholar
Cole, G. L., and Andrews-Jones, D. A. 1978. Submitted to the Government of Belize. Report on file, Office of the Petroleum Geologist and Inspector of Mines, Ministry of Natural Resources, Belmopan, Belize.Google Scholar
Covich, A. P. 1978 A Reassessment of Ecological Stability in the Maya Area : Evidence from Lake Studies of Early Agricultural Impacts on Biotic Communities. In Pre-Hispanic Maya Agriculture, edited by Harrison, P. D. and L, B. Turner II, pp. 145–155. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Cowgill, U. M. 1962 An Agricultural Study of the Southern Maya Lowlands. American Anthropologist 64 : 273–286.Google Scholar
Dillon, B. D. 1977 Salinas de los Nueve Cerros, Guatemala : Preliminary Archaeological Investigations. Studies in Mesoamerican Art, Archaeology and Ethnohistory No. 2. Ballena Press, Socorro, New Mexico.Google Scholar
Dixon, C. G. 1956 Geology of Southern British Honduras. Report of the Geological Survey, 1950-1956. Submitted to the Survey Department, Government of British Honduras (Belize).Google Scholar
Druecker, M. D. 1978 The Geology of the Bladen Volcanic Series, Southern Maya Mountains, Belize, Central America. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Geology, Colorado School of Mines, Golden.Google Scholar
Flannery, K. V. 1972a The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 3 : 399–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flannery, K. V. 1972b Evolutionary Trends in Social Exchange and Interaction. In Social Exchange and Interaction, edited by Wilmsen, E. N., pp. 129–135. Anthropological Papers No. 46. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Ford, A. 1981 Conditions for the Evolution of Complex Societies : The Development of the Central Lowland Maya. Ph. D. dissertation, University of California at Santa Barbara. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan.Google Scholar
Ford, A. 1985 The Significance of Volcanic Ash Tempering in the Ceramics of the Central Maya Lowlands. Paper presented at the 1985 Maya Ceramic Conference, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Fry, R. E. (editor) 1980 Models and Methods in Regional Exchange. SAA Papers No. 1. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Freidel, D. A. 1978 Maritime Adaptation and the Rise of Maya Civilization : The View from Cerros, Belize. In Prehistoric Coastal Adaptations, edited by Stark, B. and Voorhies, B., pp. 239–265. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Freidel, D. A. 1979 Culture Areas and Interaction Spheres : Contrasting Approaches to the Emergence of Civilization in the Maya Lowlands. American Antiquity 44 : 36–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, E. 1983 The Highlands of the Lowlands : Environment and Archaeology in the Stann Creek District, Belize, Central America. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Cambridge, England. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Michigan.Google Scholar
Hall, I. H. S., and Bateson, J. H. 1972 Late Paleozoic Lavas in Maya Mountains, British Honduras and Their Possible Regional Significance. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 56 : 950–956.Google Scholar
Hammond, N. 1975 Lubaantun : A Classic Maya Realm. Monographs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology No. 2. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Hammond, N., Aspinall, A., Feather, S., Hazelden, J., Gazard, T., and Agrell, S. 1977 Maya Jade : Source Location and Analysis. In Exchange Systems in Prehistory, edited by Earle, T. K. and Ericson, J. E., pp. 35–67. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Hodder, I. 1978 Some Effects of Distance on Patterns of Human Interaction. In Spatial Organization of Culture, edited by Hodder, I., pp. 155–178. Gerald Duckworth, London.Google Scholar
Kidder, A. V. 1937 Ceramic Technology— Anna O. Shepard. In The Reports on the Investigations of the Division of Historical Research, pp. 144–145. Carnegie Institution of Washington Year Book 36. Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Lee, T. A. Jr., and Navarrete, C. (editors) 1978 Mesoamerican Communication Routes and Cultural Contacts. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 40. Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.Google Scholar
Lefond, S. J., and Roghani, F. 1976 Belize Industrial Mineral Survey, Summer Field Season, 1976. Anschutz Mining Corporation. Submitted to the Government of Belize. Report on file, Office of the Petroleum Geologist and Inspector of Mines, Ministry of Natural Resources, Belmopan, Belize.Google Scholar
Marcus, J. 1976 Emblem and State in the Classic Maya Lowlands : An Epigraphic Approach to Territorial Organization. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Marcus, J. 1983 Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads. American Antiquity 48 : 454–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKillop, H. 1984 Prehistoric Maya Reliance on Marine Resources : Analysis of a Midden from Moho Cay, Belize. Journal of Field Archaeology 11 : 24–35.Google Scholar
Muncaster, N. 1976 Mineral Reconnaissance of Granites in the Maya Mountains, Belize, Central America— February, April, May, 1976. Anschutz Mining Corporation. Submitted to the Government of Belize. Report on file, Office of the Petroleum Geologist and Inspector of Mines, Ministry of Natural Resources, Belmopan, Belize.Google Scholar
Parsons, L. A., and Price, B. J. 1971 Mesoamerican Trade and Its Role in the Emergence of Civilization. In Observations on the Emergence of Civilization in Mesoamerica, edited by Heizer, R. F. and Graham, J. A., pp. 169–195. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility No. 11. Department of Anthropology, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Price, B. 1982 Cultural Materialism : A Theoretical Review. American Antiquity 47 : 709–741.Google Scholar
Rands, R. L., and Bishop, R. L. 1980 Resource Procurement Zones and Patterns of Ceramic Exchange in the Palenque Region, Mexico. In Models and Methods in Regional Exchange, edited by Fry, R. E., pp. 19–46. SAA Papers No. 1. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Rathje, W. L. 1972 Praise the Gods and Pass the Metates : A Hypothesis of the Development of Lowland Rainforest Civilizations in Middle America. In Contemporary Archaeology, edited by Leone, M. P., pp. 365–392. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Renfrew, C. 1975 Trade as Action at a Distance : Questions of Integration and Communication. In Ancient Civilization and Trade, edited by Renfrew, C., pp. 3–59. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Rice, D. S. 1978 Population Growth and Subsistence Alternatives in a Tropical Lacustrine Environment. In Pre-Hispanic Maya Agriculture, edited by Harrison, P. D. and L, B. Turner II, pp. 35–61. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Rice, D. S., and Rice, P. M. 1980 The Northeast Peten Revisited. American Antiquity 45 : 432–454.Google Scholar
Rice, D. S., and Rice, P. M. 1984 Lessons from the Maya. Latin American Research Review 19(3) : 7–34.Google Scholar
Rice, P. M. 1978 Ceramic Continuity and Change in the Valley of Guatemala. In The Ceramics of Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala, edited by Wetherington, R. K., pp. 401–510. Monograph Series on Kaminaljuyu. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park.Google Scholar
Rice, P. M. 1980 Peten Postclassic Pottery Production and Exchange : A View from Macanche. In Models and Methods in Regional Exchange, edited by Fry, R. E., pp. 67–82. SAA Papers No. 1. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Rice, P. M., Michel, H. V., Asaro, F., and Stross, F. 1985 Provenience Analysis of Obsidians from the Central Peten Lakes Region, Guatemala. American Antiquity 50 : 591–604.Google Scholar
Rovner, I. 1976 Pre-Columbian Maya Development of Utilitarian Lithic Industries : The Broad Perspective from Yucatan. In Maya Lithic Studies : Papers from the 1976 Belize Field Symposium, edited by Hester, T. R. and Hammond, N., pp. 41–53. Special Report No. 4. Center for Archaeological Research, University of Texas at San Antonio.Google Scholar
Sabloff, J. A. 1977 Old Myths, New Myths : The Role of Sea Traders in the Development of Ancient Maya Civilization. In The Sea in the Precolumbian World, edited by Benson, E., pp. 67–95. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Sabloff, J. A., Bishop, R. L., Harbottle, G., Rands, R. L., and Sayre, E. V. 1982 Analyses of Fine Paste Ceramics. In Excavations at Seibal, edited by Willey, G. R., pp. 265–343. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology 15(2). Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T. 1977 Environmental Heterogeneity and the Evolution of Lowland Maya Civilization. In The Origins of Maya Civilization, edited by Adams, R. E. W., pp. 287–298. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T., and Price, B. 1968 Mesoamerica : The Evolution of a Civilization. Random House, New York.Google Scholar
Shafer, H. J., and Hester, T. R. 1983 Ancient Maya Chert Workshops in Northern Belize, Central America. American Antiquity 48 : 519–543.Google Scholar
Shaffer, M. E. 1976 Final Report. Anschutz Mining Corporation. Submitted to the Government of Belize. Report on file, Office of the Petroleum Geologist and Inspector of Mines, Ministry of Natural Resources, Belmopan, Belize.Google Scholar
Shepard, A. O. 1939 Technological Notes on the Pottery of San Jose. In Excavations at San Jose, British Honduras, by Thompson, J. E. S., pp. 251–277. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 506. Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Shepard, A. O. 1948 Plumbate : A Mesoamerican Trade Ware. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 573. Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Shepard, A. O. 1956 Ceramics for the Archaeologist. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 609. Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Shepard, A. O. 1964 Ceramic Development of the Lowland and Highland Maya. Thirty-fifth International Congress of Americanists 1 : 249–262.Google Scholar
Shipley, W. E. III 1976 The Granites of Belize : Comparative Study. Anschutz Mining Corporation. Submitted to the Government of Belize. Report on file, Office of the Petroleum Geologist and Inspector of Mines, Ministry of Natural Resources, Belmopan, Belize.Google Scholar
Shipley, W. E. III 1978 Geology, Petrology, and Geochemistry of the Mountain Pine Ridge Batholith, Belize, Central America. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Geology, Colorado School of Mines, Golden.Google Scholar
Shipley, W. E. II, and Graham, E. 1987 Petrographic Analysis and Preliminary Source Identification of Selected Stone Artifacts from the Maya Sites of Seibal and Uaxactun, Guatemala. The Journal of Archaeological Science 14 : 367–383.Google Scholar
Sidrys, R. 1977 Mass-Distance Measures for the Maya Obsidian Trade. In Exchange Systems in Prehistory, edited by Earle, T. K. and Ericson, J. E., pp. 91–108. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Siemens, A. H. 1978 Karst and the Pre-Hispanic Maya in the Southern Lowlands. In Pre-Hispanic Maya Agriculture, edited by Harrison, P. D. and L, B. Turner II, pp. 117–143. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Simmons, M. P., and Brem, G. F. 1979 The Analysis and Distribution of Volcanic Ash-Tempered Pottery in the Lowland Maya Area. American Antiquity 44 : 79–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, M. W. 1981 Obsidian Production and the State in Teotihuacan. American Antiquity 46 : 769–788.Google Scholar
Stress, F. H., Sheets, P. D., Asaro, F., and Michel, H. 1983 Precise Characterization of Guatemalan Obsidian Sources, and Source Determination of Artifacts from Quirigua. American Antiquity 48 : 323–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1970 Maya History and Religion. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Thoreson, R. F. 1978 A Preliminary Report on the Alteration and Mineralization of the Southwest Maya Mountains, Belize, Central America. Anschutz Mining Corporation. Submitted to the Government of Belize. Report on file, Office of the Petroleum Geologist and Inspector of Mines, Ministry of Natural Resources, Belmopan, Belize.Google Scholar
Tourtellot, G., and Sabloff, J. A. 1972 Exchange Systems Among the Ancient Maya. American Antiquity 37 : 126–135.Google Scholar
Turner, B. L. II 1978 Ancient Agricultural Land Use in the Central Maya Lowlands. In Pre-Hispanic Maya Agriculture, edited by Harrison, P. D. and L, B. Turner II, pp. 163–183. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Turner, B. L. II, and Harrison, P. D. (editors) 1983 Pulltrouser Swamp Ancient Maya Habitat, Agriculture, and Settlement in Northern Belize. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Voorhies, B. 1972 Settlement Patterns in Two Regions of the Southern Maya Lowlands. American Antiquity 37 : 115–126.Google Scholar
Voorhies, B. 1982 An Ecological Model of the Early Maya of the Central Lowlands. In Maya Subsistence, edited by Flannery, K. V., pp. 65–95. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Wright, A. C. S., Romney, D. H., Arbuckle, R. H., and Vial, V. E. 1959 Land in British Honduras, Report of the British Honduras Land Use Survey Team, edited by Romney, D. H.. Colonial Research Publications No. 24. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.Google Scholar
Wright, H. T. 1972 A Consideration of Interregional Exchange in Greater Mesopotamia : 4000-3000 B. C. In Social Exchange and Interaction, edited by Wilmsen, E. N., pp. 95–105. Anthropological Papers 46. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar