Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T18:13:07.509Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE LAST HURRAH: EXAMINING THE NATURE OF PERI-ABANDONMENT DEPOSITS AND ACTIVITIES AT CAHAL PECH, BELIZE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2020

Jaime J. Awe Open the ORCID record for Jaime J. Awe [Opens in a new window] ,
Claire E. Ebert ,
Julie A. Hoggarth Open the ORCID record for Julie A. Hoggarth [Opens in a new window] ,
James J. Aimers Open the ORCID record for James J. Aimers [Opens in a new window] ,
Christophe Helmke Open the ORCID record for Christophe Helmke [Opens in a new window] ,
John Douglas  and
W. James Stemp Open the ORCID record for W. James Stemp [Opens in a new window]
Jaime J. Awe*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, 5 East McConnell Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona86011
Claire E. Ebert
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, 5 East McConnell Drive, Flagstaff, Arizona86011
Julie A. Hoggarth
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Baylor University One Bear Place #97173, Waco, Texas76798
James J. Aimers
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The State University of New York at Geneseo, 1 College Circle, Geneseo, New York14454
Christophe Helmke
Affiliation:
Institute of Cross-cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Karen Blixens Plads 8, DK-2300Copenhagen S, Denmark
John Douglas
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, Montana59812
W. James Stemp
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology, Keene State College, 229 Main Street, Keene, New Hampshire03435
*
E-mail correspondence to: jaime.awe@nau.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Archaeological investigations by the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project at Cahal Pech uncovered several Terminal Classic (a.d. 750–900) peri-abandonment deposits and activity areas at this Belize River Valley center. The deposits contained a diverse assemblage of cultural remains located above and between collapsed architecture, associated with evidence for burning activities. In the past, archaeologists have generally interpreted similar assemblages as “problematic deposits”—“de facto” refuse (garbage)—as associated with building termination and desecration, or as evidence for rapid abandonment during the violent destruction of these ancient cities. It is argued here that the microstratigraphic excavation and contextual analysis of these features provide limited support for these explanations. Alternatively, we suggest that the deposits are more likely associated with peri-abandonment rituals that were conducted by a reduced remnant population at Cahal Pech, or by small groups who continued to reside in the site's periphery during the last stages of the Terminal Classic period.

Type
Special Section: Problematic “On-Floor” Deposits in the Terminal Classic Eastern Maya Lowlands: Implications for the Maya Collapse
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , Spring 2020 , pp. 175 - 187
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2020

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

Adams, Richard E.W. 1971 The Ceramics of Altar de Sacrificios. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology No. 63, Vol. 1. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Aimers, James J. 2007 What Maya Collapse? Terminal Classic Variation in the Maya Lowlands. Journal of Archaeological Research 15:329–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aimers, James J., and Awe, Jaime J. 2020 The Long Goodbye: Problematic Pottery and Pilgrimage at Cahal Pech, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 31:151–160.Google Scholar
Aimers, James J., Hoggarth, Julie A., and Awe, Jaime J. 2020 Decoding the Archaeological Significance of Problematic Deposits in the Maya Lowlands. Ancient Mesoamerica 31:67–75.Google Scholar
Aimers, James J., LeCount, Lisa, and Awe, Jaime J. 2019 A Contextual Analysis of Terminal Classic Vessels from Cahal Pech, Belize. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 16:133–141.Google Scholar
Audet, Carolyn 2006 Political Organization in the Belize Valley: Excavations at Baking Pot, Cahal Pech and Xunantunich. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville.Google Scholar
Awe, Jaime J. 1992 Dawn in the Land Between the Rivers: Formative Occupation at Cahal Pech, Belize and Its Implication for Preclassic Developments in the Maya Lowlands. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Institute of Archaeology, University of London, England.Google Scholar
Awe, Jaime J. 2008 Architectural Manifestations of Power and Prestige: Examples from Classic Period Monumental Architecture at Cahal Pech, Xunantunich and Caracol, Belize. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 5:159–174.Google Scholar
Awe, Jaime J. 2013 Journey on the Cahal Pech Time Machine: An Archaeological Reconstruction of the Dynastic Sequence at a Belize Valley Maya Polity. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 10:33–50.Google Scholar
Awe, Jaime J., and Schwanke, Myka M. 2006 Preliminary Investigation of Structure C2, Cahal Pech, Belize. In The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2005 Field Season, edited by Helmke, Christophe G. B. and Awe, Jaime J., pp. 135–142. Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan.Google Scholar
Awe, Jaime J., Helmke, Christophe, Aimers, James J., Ebert, Claire E., Stemp, W. James, and Hoggarth, Julia A. 2020 Applying Regional, Contextual, Ethnohistoric, and Ethnographic Approaches for Understanding the Significance of Peri-Abandonment Deposits in Western Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 31:109–126.Google Scholar
Awe, Jaime J., Ebert, Claire E., Friewald, Carolyn, and Green, Kirsten 2017a The Dead Do Tell Tales: Unravelling the Case of Cahal Pech's John or Jane Doe. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 14:213–226.Google Scholar
Awe, Jaime J., Aimers, Jim, Helmke, Christophe, and Wrobel, Gabriel 2009 Analyses of Terminal Classic Deposits in the Belize Valley and Their Implications for Concepts of Rapid Abandonment and De-facto Refuse. Paper presented at the 7th Belize Archaeology Symposium, Bliss Centre, Belize City.Google Scholar
Awe, Jaime J., Hoggarth, Julie A., and Aimers, James J. 2017b Of Apples and Oranges: The Case of E-Groups and Eastern Triadic Architectural Assemblages in the Belize River Valley. In Early Maya E-Groups, Solar Calendars, and the Role of Astronomy in the Rise of Lowland Maya Urbanism, edited by Freidel, David A., Chase, Arlen F., Dowd, Anne, and Murdock, Jerry F., pp. 412–449. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braswell, Geoff E., Gunn, Joel D., Carrasco, Maria del Rosario Dominguez, Folan, William J., Fletcher, Laraine A., Lopez, Abel Morales, and Glascock, Michael D. 2004 Defining the Terminal Classic at Calakmul, Campeche. In The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition and Transformation, edited by Demarest, Arthur, Rice, Prudence M., and Rice, Don S., pp. 162–194. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Brown, Linda A. 2002 The Structure of Ritual Practice: An Ethnoarchaeological Exploration of Activity Areas at Rural Community Shrines in the Maya Highlands. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Denver.Google Scholar
Burke, Chrissina C., Wisner, Gavin B., Tappan, Katie K., Wilson, Dylan M., and Stanchly, Norbert 2017 Analysis of Faunal Remains from the Upper Belize River Valley Sites of Baking Pot, Cahal Pech, Lower Dover, and Xunantunich. In The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2016 Field Season, edited by Ebert, Claire E., Burke, Chrissina C., Hoggarth, Julie A., and Awe, Jaime J., pp. 407–438. Institute of Archaeology, Baylor University, Waco.Google Scholar
Chase, Arlen D., and Chase, Diane Z. 2004 Terminal Classic Refuse-Linked Ceramic and the Maya “Collapse”: De facto Refuse at Caracol, Belize. In The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands, edited by Demarest, Arthur, Rice, Prudence D., and Rice, Don S., pp. 342–366. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Coe, William R. 1982 Tikal Report No. 12: Introduction to the Archaeology of Tikal, Guatemala. University Museum Monograph 46. University of Pennsylvania, Philadephia.CrossRefGoogle 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
Douglas, John E., and Brown, Linda J. 2014 The Terminal Classic Occupation in Plaza H, Cahal Pech: Preliminary Findings. In The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2013 Field Season, Vol. 19, edited by Hoggarth, Julie A. and Awe, Jaime J., pp. 93–472. Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan.Google Scholar
Douglas, John E., and Brown, Linda J. 2016 Plaza H, Cahal Pech: Results of the Fifth January Field Season. In The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2015 Field Season, Vol. 21, edited by Hoggarth, Julie A. and Awe, Jaime J., pp. 52–79. Institute of Archaeology, Baylor University, Waco.Google Scholar
Douglas, John E., Brown, Linda, and Awe, Jaime 2015 The Final Occupation: The Terminal Classic Evidence from Plaza H, Cahal Pech, Belize. Research Report in Belizean Archaeology 12:217–225.Google Scholar
Ebert, Claire E. 2017 Preclassic Maya Social Complexity and the Origins of Inequality at Cahal Pech, Belize. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, State College.Google Scholar
Ebert, Claire E., and Fox, Steve 2016 The 2015 Settlement Excavations at Cahal Pech, Belize: Continued Research at Tzutziiy K'in, the Zopilote Group, and the Martinez Group. In The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2015 Field Season, edited by Hoggarth, Julie A. and Awe, Jaime J., pp. 80–112. Institute of Archaeology, Baylor University, Waco.Google Scholar
Ebert, Claire E., Hoggarth, Julie A., Culleton, Brendan J., Awe, Jaime J., and Kennett, Douglas J. 2019 The Role of Diet in Resilience and Vulnerability to Climate Change among Early Agricultural Communities in the Maya Lowlands. Current Anthropology 60:589–601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, Steve 2018 Revering the Past: The Analysis of Terminus Groups in the Maya Lowlands. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Gifford, James C. 1976 Prehistoric Pottery Analysis and the Ceramics of Barton Ramie in the Belize Valley. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 18. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Griffith, Cameron 2014 The South Side of Town: A Preliminary Report on the Investigations of Structure G-1, Cahal Pech. In The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2013 Field Season, Vol. 19, edited by Hoggarth, Julie A. and Awe, Jaime J., pp. 1–15. BVAR Project, Institute of Archaeology, Belmopan.Google Scholar
Hoggarth, Julie A., Davis, J. Britt, Awe, Jaime J., and Helmke, Christophe 2020 Reconstructing the Formation of Peri-Abandonment Deposits at Baking Pot, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 31:139–149.Google Scholar
Iannone, Gyles (editor) 2014 The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context: Case Studies in Resilience and Vulnerability. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi 2008 Warfare and the Fall of a Fortified Center: Archaeological Investigations at Aguateca. Vanderbilt Institute of Mesoamerican Archaeology Monographs, Vol. 3. Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville.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
Ishihara-Brito, Reiko, Can, Jorge, and Awe, Jaime J. 2013 Excavations and Conservation of Structure B1 West Face. In The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2012 Field Season, edited by Hoggarth, Julie A., Guerra, Rafael A., and Awe, Jaime J., pp. 71–89. Belize Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan.Google Scholar
Johannesen, Kara B. 2019 A Ceramic Analysis of Two Terminal Classic Maya Sites: Examining Political and Economic Ties Through Pottery. Unpublished Master's thesis, University of Montana, Missoula.Google Scholar
Kolias, G. Van 2015 Excavation of A1/A2 Alley, Cahal Pech. In The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2014 Field Season, Vol. 20, edited by Hoggarth, Julie A. and Awe, Jaime J., pp. 110–122. BVAR Project, Institute of Archaeology, Belmopan.Google Scholar
Lamoureux-St-Hilaire, Maxime, Macrae, Scott, McCane, Carmen A., Parker, Evan A., and Iannone, Gyles 2015 The Last Groups Standing: Living Abandonment at the Ancient Maya Center of Minanha, Belize. Latin American Antiquity 26:550–569.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGee, R. Jon 1990 Life, Ritual, and Religion Among the Lacandon Maya. Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont.Google Scholar
McGee, R. Jon 2005 Ancient Ruins and Modern Maya: The Role of Yaxchilan in Non-Christian Lacandon Maya Beliefs. Mesoamerican Voices 2:63–76.Google Scholar
Miller, Mary E., and Taube, Karl 1993 The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. Thames and Hudson, New York.Google Scholar
Mock, Shirley 1998 The Defaced and the Forgotten: Decapitation and Flaying/Mutilation as a Termination Event at Colha, Belize. In The Sowing and the Dawning: Termination, Dedication, and Transformation in the Archaeological and Ethnographic Record of Mesoamerica, edited by Mock, Shirley, pp. 113–124. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1997 Middens, Construction Fill, and Offerings: Evidence for the Organization of Classic Period Craft Production at Tikal, Guatemala. Journal of Field Archaeology 24:293–313.Google Scholar
Newman, Sarah E. 2015 Rethinking Refuse: A History of Maya Trash. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Brown University.Google Scholar
Newman, Sarah E. 2018 Rubbish, Reuse, and Ritual at the Ancient Maya Site of El Zotz, Guatemala. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 26:806–843.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palka, Joel W. 2014 Maya Pilgrimage to Ritual Landscapes: Insights from Archaeology, History, and Ethnography. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Peniche May, Nancy, and Beardall, Antonio 2015 Excavations of Structure G-2, Cahal Pech: 2015 Field Season. In The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2015 Field Season, Vol. 21, edited by Hoggarth, Julie A. and Awe, Jaime J., pp. 27–51. Institute of Archaeology, Baylor University, Waco.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy 1973 Continuity and Disruption During Terminal Late Classic Times at Seibal: Ceramic and Other Evidence. In The Classic Maya Collapse, edited by Patrick Culbert, T., pp. 107–132. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy 1975 Excavations at Seibal, Department of Peten, Guatemala: Ceramics. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Memoir 2. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Santasilia, Catharina A. 2012 Terminal Classic Evidence at Plaza H, Cahal Pech, San Ignacio, Belize. In The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2011 Field Season, Vol. 17, edited by Hoggarth, Julie A., Guerra, Rafael, and Awe, Jaime J., pp. 97–104. BVAR Project, Institute of Archaeology, Belmopan.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson D., Ladd, John M., and Bathgate, David 1992 Chipped-Stone Artifacts. In Artifacts from the Cenote of Sacrifice, Chichen Itza, Yucatan, edited by Coggins, Clemency, pp. 153–177. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Stanchly, Norbert 2014 The 2013 Excavations of Structure G-2, Cahal Pech, Belize. In The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2013 Field Season, Vol. 19, edited by Hoggarth, Julie A. and Awe, Jaime J., pp. 16–23. BVAR Project, Institute of Archaeology, Belmopan.Google Scholar
Stanton, Travis W., Brown, M. Kathryn, and Pagliaro, Jonathan B. 2008 Garbage of the Gods? Squatters, Refuse Disposal, and Termination Rituals among the Ancient Maya. Latin American Antiquity 19:227–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stemp, W. James, and Awe, Jaime J. 2020 Point Counter Point: Interpreting Chipped Chert Bifaces in Terminal Classic “Problematic” On-Floor Deposits from Structures A2 and A3 at Cahal Pech, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 31:161–174.Google Scholar
Taschek, Jennifer T., and Ball, Joseph W. 2003 Nohoch Ek Revisited: The Minor Center as Manor. Latin American Antiquity 14:371–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsukamoto, Kenichiro 2017 Reverential Abandonment: A Termination Ritual at the Ancient Maya Polity of El Palmar. Antiquity 91:1630–1646.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vogt, Evon Z. 1969 Zinacantan: A Maya Community in the Highlands of Chiapas. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vogt, Evon Z. 1976 Tortillas for the Gods: A Symbolic Analysis of Zinacanteco Rituals. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Webster, David 2002 The Fall of the Ancient Maya: Solving the Mystery of the Maya Collapse. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Zralka, Jaroslaw, and Hermes, Bernard 2012 Great Development in Troubled Times: The Terminal Classic at the Maya Site of Nakum, Peten, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 23:161–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar