Research Reports from the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
RESEARCH REPORTS FROM THE PROGRAMME FOR BELIZE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT Edited by: Fred Valdez, Jr. The University of Texas at Austin Contributors Kirsten Atwood Grant Aylesworth Jeffrey Brewer Rebecca E. Bria Paul R. Cackler Peter Davis David J. Goldstein Liwy Grazioso Sierra Jon B. Hageman Jonathan Hanna Brett A. Houk David M. Hyde Erol Kavountzis Eleanor King Maria Martinez Leah Matthews Olivia Ng Nahum Prasarn George Rodriguez Leslie Shaw Christine Taylor Erin Thornton Fred Valdez, Jr. Jason M. Whitaker Occasional Papers, Number 8 Mesoamerican Archaeological Research Laboratory The University of Texas at Austin 2007 Contents Programme for Belize Archaeological Project: Recent Investigations Fred Valdez, Jr…...……………………………………………………………...1 Archaeological Research at Holotunich, 2006 Olivia Ng………………………………………………….……………………..9 Overview of Activities at the Medicinal Trail Site for the 2006 Season David M. Hyde and Fred Valdez, Jr.…………………………………………...15 Report on Investigations of the Preclassic Settlement at Group A of the Medicinal Trail Site David M. Hyde and Kirsten Atwood…………………………………………....23 Excavations at Subop B, Medicinal Trail Liwy Grazioso Sierra…………………………………………………………...35 Excavations at the Medicinal Trail Site: Operation 7 – Structure A-2, the 2006 Season George Rodriguez………………………………………………………………41 Evidence of Quarrying Around an Isolated Platform Mound at The Medicinal Trail Community David M. Hyde and Maria Martinez…………………………………………...51 Report of Excavations from the 2006 Season: Operation 11 at the Medicinal Trail Site Jason M. Whitaker……………………………………………………………...59 Excavations of a Depression (Op. 10), at The Medicinal Trail Site: Report of the 2006 Field Season Jeff Brewer……………………………………………………………………...71 Ballcourt and Residential Terrace Investigations at Chawak But’o’ob, Belize: Report of the 2006 Rio Bravo Archaeological Survey Stanley Walling, Peter Davis, Jonathan Hanna, Leah Matthews, Nahum Prasarn, Christine Taylor, and Erol Kavountzis……………………………….83 Seeds, Shells, and Sites – Research in Northwest Belize: Report of Investigations form the 2006 Field Season Jon B. Hageman, David J. Goldstein, and Erin Thornton……………………..93 Maax Na: Layout and Function of a Maya City: Report on the 2006 Field Season Eleanor King and Leslie Shaw………………………………………………..109 i Qualm Hill: Reconnaissance, Rediscovery, and Mapping Paul R. Cackler, Stanley L. Walling, David M. Hyde, Fred Valdez, Jr………117 Results of the 2006 Investigations at Say Kah, Belize Brett A. Houk, Grant Aylesworth, Liwy Grazioso Sierra, Rebecca E. Bria…..127 Appendix A: 2006 Say Kah Ceramic Data……………………………………………..151 ii PROGRAMME FOR BELIZE ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT: RECENT INVESTIGATIONS Fred Valdez, Jr., The University of Texas at Austin INTRODUCTION Most of the papers and reports presented in this volume represent research from the 2006 field season of the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP). The 2006 season marked the 15th year of consecutive research in Belize by the PfBAP. The property on which the PfBAP operates is located in northwest Belize and known as the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area (RBCMA; see Figure 1). The RBCMA region is owned and operated by the Programme for Belize (PfB) a wholly owned and managed Belizean conservation organization. The PfBAP, in collaboration with PfB, is charged with the task of documenting sites and determining research avenues as well as protection measures for all cultural property concerns. The Programme for Belize Archaeological Project conducts its research with the intent of producing an integrated view of the history and cultural evolution of northwest Belize. Of specific research interest had been the Maya Period (of ca. 1000 B.C. to A.D. 900), but now has been broadened to include pre-Maya data as well as early Historic Period activities. The RBCMA includes urban centers, towns, villages, and hamlets (Figure 2) of the prehistoric Maya. Approximately 60 such sites have been identified of which five are currently categorized as “cities.” The region also includes several known early historical settlements. The long-term research intent and research design is to sample each level within the settlement hierarchy of the prehistoric Maya for site functions and occupational chronologies of the region. BACKGROUND The PfBAP began its research program in the Rio Bravo region in 1992 and has maintained an annual research season effort every year since its inception. The PfBAP was initially organized as one research project with various research interests per season. In 1995 the program was re-organized as an umbrella research entity with several “independent” research programs under its permit from the Government of Belize. Among the early seasons of the PfBAP was an effort at understanding the geography of the region. Three well-defined topographic features define the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area. The La Lucha Uplands and Rio Bravo Terraces, the Rio Bravo Embayment, and the Booth’s River Upland and Depression are the significant components affecting life and settlement in northwest Belize. Among these features we find a microcosm of the variability found elsewhere in the Maya Lowlands (cf. Dunning et al. 2003). It is the biological and topographic diversity of the RBCMA that provides 1 Figure 1. Map with location of project area in northwest Belize. the PfBAP many opportunities to witness and examine the various adaptations by prehistoric and historic communities. PROJECT ORGANIZATION AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS The PfBAP serves, as noted above, as an umbrella organization under which several projects operate. Among the various projects are:* Project (title/name) Director(s) Three Rivers Archaeological Project (TRAP) Valdez Maax Na Archaeology Project Shaw & King Rio Bravo Archaeological Survey Walling Say Ka Archaeological Project Houk & Aylesworth Dos hombres-La Milpa Transect Hageman Hill Bank (historical) Ng (w/Valdez) * Other projects have operated during the numerous seasons of the PfBAP. The list above includes only those projects represented by reports in this volume. 2 Programme for Belize Archaeological Project Figure 2. Map of archaeological sites in the PfBAP area. While each project/program operates as an autonomous unit in terms of revenue procurement and staffing, all operate under the conditions of the permit issued to the PfBAP by the Institute of Archaeology (IoA) in Belize. All programs also share facilities and data as pertaining to the general objectives of the PfBAP as a regional research endeavor. 3 Valdez, Jr. Previous research seasons have been reported through a variety of venues. Aylesworth’s (2004) bibliography compilation for the project’s first ten years serves as an excellent example summarizing the productivity of the PfBAP. NATURE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PROJECT: Research Design and Methods One function of the PfBAP is to continually refine regional research procedures and methodologies as well evaluate the effectiveness of regional study within the Maya area. The survey methods on the PfB property follows the strategy that was successfully used during the first decade of the project. Mapped roadways, logging paths, and oil exploration transects will be used as the starting points for survey trails and mapping grids. Reconnaissance survey from known points along the Gallon Jug road is also utilized as a strategy. The sampling strategy is an extension of typical site-based procedures, but operates on a larger scale. All levels within the settlement hierarchy and all possible levels of major cultural institutions will be tested. The relevance of the archaeological work to the PfB (and for both land use and environmental planners), lies in the fact that preservation of cultural and ecological resources is increasingly dependent on ecotourism and renewable resource strategies. Both of these depend, at least initially, on specific identification of a region's resources including cultural components such as archaeological sites. The PfBAP research will also suggest efforts that can be made to mitigate the effects of modern human populations on archaeological sites as the PfB incorporates them into the itinerary for visitors. The broad research goals of the PfBAP are twofold: 1) to define regional patterns of cultural development and decline within the study area as reflected in the individual histories of cities, towns, and smaller sites, and 2) to use these patterns to provide insight into several major research problems in lowland Maya archaeology. The regional approach is appropriate for investigating processual and culture-historical questions because it allows us to see Maya urban centers and their supporting infrastructure in a more comprehensive fashion than has traditionally been possible with a single-site focus. The PfBAP clearly has several site focused programs that will feed into the regional study aspect. The regional research can only be accomplished with “single site” research as a component of the investigations. LONG-TERM OBJECTIVES A long-term result of the project will be an understanding of the structure, functions, and development of part of a Maya regional state. The focus or perspective, of course, will be from the northwest Belize region. The reconstruction of a Maya regional state in this zone will be compared with developments in other areas, but bearing in mind the many differences in environment and political history. 4 Programme for Belize Archaeological Project A cultural-ecological perspective is an important part of our integrated