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Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology Volume 4 Archaeological Investigations in the Eastern Maya Lowlands: Papers of the 2007 Belize Archaeology Symposium Edited by John Morris, Sherilyne Jones, Jaime Awe and Christophe Helmke Institute of Archaeology National Institute of Culture and History Belmopan, Belize 2007 Editorial Board of the Institute of Archaeology, NICH John Morris, Sherilyne Jones, Jaime Awe and Christophe Helmke The Institute of Archaeology, Belmopan, Belize Jaime Awe, Director John Morris, Associate Director, Research and Education Brian Woodye, Associate Director, Parks Management George Thompson, Associate Director, Planning & Policy Management Sherilyne Jones, Research and Education Officer Cover design: Christophe Helmke Frontispiece: Terminal Classic Sahcaba Molded-carved vase from Pook’s Hill (Photograph by Christophe Helmke). Back cover: Late Classic Panel 2 from Xunantunich – dated paleographically to AD 780-820 (Photograph by Christophe Helmke). Layout and Graphic Design: Sherilyne Jones, Christophe Helmke. ISBN 976-95165-3-8 Copyright © 2007 Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belize. All rights reserved. Printed by Print Belize Limited. ii J. Morris et al. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We wish to express our sincerest thanks to every individual who contributed to the success of our fourth symposium, and to the subsequent publication of the scientific contributions that are contained in the fourth volume of the Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology. A special thanks to Print Belize and the staff for their efforts to have the Symposium Volume printed on time despite receiving the documents on very short notice. We extend a special thank you to all our sponsors. To the staff and management of our sister Institution, within NICH, Institute of Creative Arts (ICA), we thank you for your assistance and for graciously hosting the 2006 symposium. We are grateful to the Protected Areas Conservation Trust, Belize Tourism Board, Esso Standard Oil S.A. Ltd, Print Belize Ltd., Old Belize Cultural & Historical Center, Belize Electric Company Limited (BECOL), Galen University, Fort Street Tourism Village, Belize Communication and Security Ltd., and various other institutions that provided financial and logistical assistance. We are especially grateful to the Honorable Francis Fonseca, Attorney General, Minister of Labor, Education and Culture whose dedication to education and continuous support constantly encourages us. Thanks to the Honorable Mark Espat, the previous Minister of Culture for his tremendous support of the Institute of Archaeology. A special thanks Mr. Yasser Musa, President of the National Institute of Culture and History for his constant encouragement to improve the professional capacity of our institution and for ensuring that the volume gets published. Thanks also to Mr. Victor Espat, Administrator, and the Board of Directors of NICH who provided considerable funding to ensure the success of our symposium and the subsequent publication of this volume. We extend a special thank to the staff and management of the Bliss Center of Creative Arts and the Institute of Creative Arts (ICA), thank you for your assistance and for graciously hosting the 2006 symposium. We are grateful to the Institute of Social and Cultural Research (ISCR), our sister institution in NICH, for providing our ISBN number. Meetings of this scope are never possible without professional participation. We therefore thank all of our colleagues who took time from their busy schedules to attend and present papers in our symposium. The various themes of their papers serve to reflect the diversity of Belizean Archaeology, and provide a wealth of scientific information to the people of Belize. Thanks to our guest speaker, Dr. Nancy Adamson of Galen University in Belize. Several editors and anonymous reviewers gave of their time and made constructive criticisms that enhanced our end product. George Thompson assistance in doing line editing and reviewing of all the bibliographic references is always invaluable and appreciated. Finally, it should be noted that our successes are a direct result of the tremendous effort expended by the entire staff of the Institute of Archaeology. Special thanks must be given to Enrique “Jack” Itza, Melissa Badillo, Jorge “Stakey” Can, Darcy “Billy” Correa, Claudia Elena, Nick Foster, David Griffith, Rafael Guerra, Delsia Marsden, Joyce Tun-Quewell, Wayne Moore, George Thompson Program Chair and Brian Woodye, Executive Chairperson of the Symposium. We are grateful for your patience, expertise and invaluable help. The fourth volume of the Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology is a testimony to your dedication and your ability to address the challenges of our institution. John Morris, Sherilyne Jones and Jaime Awe Belmopan, Belize, June 2007 iv J. Morris et al. v CONTENTS page SECTION ONE: THE TERMINAL CLASSIC PERIOD 1 1. Terminal Classic Maya of Belize: Key Issues and Questions John M. Morris, Gyles Iannone and Jaime J. Awe 3 2. “This is the End”: Archaeological Transitions and the Terminal Classic period at Caracol, Belize Arlen F. Chase and Diane Z. Chase 13 3. Fighting the Inevitable: The Terminal Classic Maya of the Upper Roaring Creek Valley Jaime J. Awe and Christophe G.B. Helmke 28 4. The Ancient Maya Drought Cult: Late Classic Cave Use in Belize Holley Moyes 43 5. On Drought and the “Collapse” of the Ancient Maya Gyles Iannone 55 6. Late and Terminal Classic Occupation of Pusilha, Toledo District, Belize Site Planning, Burial Patterns and Cosmology Geoffrey Braswell 67 7. Commoner Ritual and Socio-Political Life in a Late Classic Neighborhood: Archaeological Investigations at the Northeast Group, Chan Site, Belize Chelsea Blackmore 79 8. Unexpected Discoveries in Chau Hiix Settlement: Suggestions for Terminal Classic Residence in North Central Belize A. Sean Goldsmith 89 9. The Curse of the Ware: Using Ceramic Systems in Belize James J. Aimers 101 vi J. Morris et al. page 10. Fresh Volcanic Glass Shards in the Pottery Sherds of the Maya Lowlands Anabel Ford and Frank Spera 111 11. The Classic to Postclassic Transition in the Sibun Valley, Belize: Defining Terminal Classic Ceramic Assemblage Eleanor Harrison Buck and Patricia McAnany 119 12. The Terminal Classic in the Three Rivers Region Lauren Sullivan, Brett Houk and Fred Valdez, Jr., 135 13. Terminal Classic Events: Colha, Belize and the Central Maya Lowlands Fred Valdez, Jr. and Palma Buttles 147 14. Factors of Stress and Processes leading to the End of the Classic Period at Blue Creek Thomas H. Guderjan and Coleen Hanratty 155 SECTION TWO: GENERAL RESEARCH REPORTS 167 15. The Middle Formative Ideological Foundations of Kinship: The Case from Cahal Pech James Garber, Jennifer Cochran and Jaime J. Awe 169 16. From House to Holy: Formative Development of Civic Ceremonial Architecture in the Maya Lowlands Terry Powis and David Cheetham 177 17. Rockshelter Excavation in the Caves Branch River Valley Gabriel Wrobel, James Tyler and Jessica Hardy 187 18. Fifteen years of Settlement Pattern Surveys in the Three River Region of Northwestern Belize: What have We Learned Hubert R. Robichaux 197 19. Hinterland Settlement in Northwestern Belize: Excavations at the Medicinal Trails David M. Hyde and Shelley L. Fischbeck 213 20. Investigations of Akab Muclil: A Late Hinterland Settlement in Northwestern Belize Antonio E. Padilla, Molly Morgan and Jon C. Lohse 221 vii 1 TERMINAL CLASSIC MAYA OF BELIZE: KEY ISSUES AND QUESTIONS John Morris, Gyles Iannone and Jaime Awe Recent archaeological investigations in Belize provide new, and significant, insights to the Terminal Classic (A.D. 800- 1050) and subsequent collapse of ancient Maya civilization, but many key questions remain unanswered. Excavations over the past two decades at the Maya centers of Caracol, Minanha, Xunantunich, Cahal Pech, Pusilha, La Milpa, Colha, Blue Creek, Chau Hiix, and other subterranean sites, both informs general phenomena surrounding the collapse and provides specific and varied examples. Research at these Belizean Maya sites document an increase of population and over-settlement of the region in the three centuries just prior to 1050 A.D. In the succeeding two hundred years before and after the Terminal Classic period the lowland Maya at these sites experienced a severe decline in many facets of their civilization including but not limited to population numbers, sophisticated technology, architectural constructions, erection of stelae, disruptions in long distance trade networks, and fewer artistic traditions. Evidence for this decline in Late Terminal Classic Maya architecture, ceramic and technological achievements, as well as evidence of increased warfare and migration, is reviewed and issues requiring further research are highlighted. Introduction fundamental structures that enabled Maya Investigations by archaeologists in the society, which is unfortunate because we may past two decades have revealed that many of be able to tease out the salient characteristics the hallmarks once attributed to the collapse from within that underpin the ancient Maya of the Classic Maya (A.D. 300-900) have their collapse. antecedents in the period known as the The Terminal Classic period is a very Terminal Classic (A.D. 800-1050) and short time span, roughly three times less than perhaps even much further in antiquity than either the preceding Classic, or the succeeding previously assumed. Cleavages and societal Postclassic period. Despite its short length, fractures