ARCHAEOLOGISTS FIND 1,000-YEAR-OLD MAYA SETTLEMENT IN CENTRAL BELIZE

[Judi Lynn]

Image Credit : VOPA and Belize Institute of Archaeology, NICH

ARCHAEOLOGISTS FROM THE BELIZE INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND STUDENTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS UBRANA-CHAMPAIGN HAVE FOUND A 1,000-YEAR-OLD MAYA SETTLEMENT IN CENTRAL BELIZE.


The site was identified at a Mennonite farming community, where the remains of collapsed Maya dwellings appear as white mounds that pocket the landscape.

By studying the ceramics found within several structures, the team have dated the site to the Early Classic Period between AD 250 and AD 600. This period marked the peak of large-scale construction and urbanism, the recording of monumental inscriptions, and demonstrated significant intellectual and artistic development across the Maya world.

The structures have plaster floors and a collection of domestic vessels for cooking, eating and storage, while several structures contained agricultural tools made of chert (a crystalline rock that resembles flint) and examples of manos and metates for grinding maize into floor.



Image Credit : VOPA and Belize Institute of Archaeology, NICH

Although primarily an agricultural community, sections of the surrounding forest were apparently left intact for breeding animals, evidenced by the discovery of animal bones in situ.

More:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2022/09/archaeologists-find-1000-year-old-maya-settlement-in-central-belize/144626

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Actually, 1400-1750 YO

When I saw the headline, I thought "Holy crap, I didn't know any lasted that late!". Turns out they didn't.

Neat article, though. Thanks for posting.

[Judi Lynn]

3. I saw a Midwest Maya exhibit last week which said their last era was 600-900 CE.

It mentioned that they built upon sites of much earlier Toltec and Olmec societies.

There's so much still waiting to be learned about the entire Yucatan peninsula.

Thanks for taking the time.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Ancestral Maya Village Unearthed in Belize

Tuesday, September 13, 2022



Belize Maya Pottery(© 2022 VOPA and Belize Institute of Archaeology, NICH)

CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS—According to a statement released by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, researchers are investigating the site of a nearly 2,000-year-old ancestral Maya village in central Belize. Remain of dwellings at the site include walls, plaster floors, and pottery vessels for cooking, serving, and storing food. Agricultural tools made of chert and manos and metates for grinding flour were also uncovered. Animal bones at the site suggest that the villagers hunted forest animals. A collection of finely made artifacts made of imported chert was found in a building constructed with uniform stones and white limestone plaster that may have been used for community events or ceremonies. Set apart from the other structures, the excavators also uncovered a platform mound topped with four structures situated around a plaza. This complex is thought to have housed an elite family. To read about a Maya city that straddles modern-day Belize and Guatemala, go to "Off the Grid: El Pilar, Belize."

https://www.archaeology.org/issues/291-1803/trenches/6362-trenches-belize-maya-el-pilar

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Off the Grid

By MARLEY BROWN
March/April 2018

Trenches El Pilar Belize(Courtesy Anabel Ford)El Pilar, Belize



El Pilar, an ancient Maya city that straddles the border between modern-day Belize and Guatemala, boasts more than 25 plazas and numerous houses, temples, and grand monumental structures. Archaeologist Anabel Ford, who first recorded the site in 1983, works with local Maya people, in cooperation with both governments, to run El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna. Much as it may have been some 2,300 years ago when first settled, the city remains nestled in the forest, one with the natural environment. This distinguishes El Pilar from other, perhaps better-known, Maya sites throughout Mexico and Central America, where trees are often removed and lawns manicured to accommodate tourists.

El Pilar, a major urban center at its height between A.D. 500 and 1000, featured large forest gardens, relying on swidden, or slash-and-burn, agriculture. Ford has worked for decades with the native Maya community to preserve indigenous agricultural and gardening practices. At El Pilar, as a result, visitors can explore the remains of the ancient city by following nature trails leading them through plazas, and can discover Maya ruins as some of the first archaeologists to encounter them did in the nineteenth century. “This is how I would like the site to be viewed,” Ford says, “through the roots and the trees and vines, so you really feel like you’re coming upon it for the first time.”



Trenches El Pilar Belize Caretaker(Courtesy Anabel Ford)Caretaker, El Pilar

THE SITE

While the reserve is accessible from Guatemala, most visitors will likely arrive from Belize. El Pilar can be reached from the village of Bullet Tree Falls, just outside the town of San Ignacio. A Belize Institute of Archaeology sign in Bullet Tree Falls marks an all-weather dirt road that leads to the site. Local tour companies offer excursions, and visitors can arrive by taxi, rental car, mountain bike, or horse, or they can hike the roughly seven-mile road. Guests are encouraged to explore on their own, but site caretakers and local tour guides are a helpful resource for any interested traveler.

WHILE YOU'RE THERE

Belize’s Cayo District is home to a wealth of Maya historical sites. Begin your journey at El Pilar in the morning when it is coolest and then travel back to San Ignacio to have lunch and visit the nearby Cahal Pech, believed to have been an acropolis-palace for an elite Maya family during the Classic period, between A.D. 250 and 900.

https://www.archaeology.org/issues/291-1803/trenches/6362-trenches-belize-maya-el-pilar