Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T02:33:17.211Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Rapid Rise and Fall of Cerros, Belize: A Generational Approach to Chronology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2020

Jeffrey R. Vadala Open the ORCID record for Jeffrey R. Vadala [Opens in a new window]  and
Debra S. Walker
Jeffrey R. Vadala*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, College of New Jersey, Social Sciences Building Room 317, P.O. Box 7718, 2000 Pennington Rd., Ewing, NJ08628, USA
Debra S. Walker
Affiliation:
Courtesy Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History, 68 Bahama Avenue, Key Largo, FL33037, USA ([email protected])
*
([email protected], corresponding author)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this article, we use the precision of Bayesian modeled radiocarbon dates to reconstruct a generational history of Late Preclassic (300 BC–AD 250) Cerros (Cerro Maya), Belize. This research was made possible by long-curated excavation records and material remains now housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville. Our interpretations build on earlier research and refine the temporal resolution significantly, enabling us to view site development from the perspective of adjacent generations sharing a lived experience. Here we examine material evidence of their collective actions as they built new buildings and renovated aging ones, characterizing their roles in inventing a visual future for the Late Preclassic Maya port that engaged ancestral actions while reinventing the landscape.

En este trabajo utilizamos la precisión de las fechas de radiocarbono aplicando el modelaje Bayesiano con la finalidad de reconstruir una historia generacional del Preclásico tardío en Cerros (Cerro Maya), Belice. Esta investigación fue posible gracias a los registros de excavación conservados durante mucho tiempo y los restos materiales resguardados en el Museo de Historia Natural de Florida, en Gainsville. Nuestras interpretaciones están fundamentadas en investigaciones previas y refinan de manera sustancial la resolución temporal, lo que permitió observar el desarrollo del sitio desde una perspectiva de generaciones adyacentes que compartían una experiencia vivida. Aquí examinamos la evidencia material de sus acciones colectivas a medida que construyeron edificios nuevos y renovaron antiguos, caracterizando sus roles en la invención de un futuro visual para el puerto del Preclásico tardío maya que involucró acciones ancestrales a la vez que reinventaban el paisaje.

Keywords

Preclassic MayaCerro MayaradiocarbonBayesian modelinggenerational analysisPreclásico mayaCerro Mayaradiocarbonomodelado Bayesianoanálisis generacional
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 143 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 by the Society for American Archaeology

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

Bayliss, Alex 2009 Rolling out Revolution: Using Radiocarbon Dating in Archaeology. Radiocarbon 51:123–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayliss, Alex, Ramsey, Christopher Bronk, Van der Plicht, Johannes, and Whittle, Alasdair 2007 Bradshaw and Bayes: Towards a Timetable for the Neolithic. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 17(S1):1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre, and Wacquant, Loïc J. D. 1992 An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Polity, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Braudel, Fernand 1958 Histoire et sciences sociales: La longue durée. Annales 13:725–753.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, Christopher 1995 Radiocarbon Calibration and Analysis of Stratigraphy: The Oxcal Program. Radiocarbon 37:425-430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, Christopher 2009 Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates. Radiocarbon 51:337–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlsen, Robert S., and Prechtel, Martin 1991 The Flowering of the Dead: An Interpretation of Highland Maya Culture. Man 26:23–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chase, Diane Z., and Chase, Arlen F. 1998 The Architectural Context of Caches, Burials, and Other Ritual Activities for the Classic Period Maya (as Reflected at Caracol, Belize). In Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture, edited by Houston, Stephen D., pp. 299–332. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Chase, Diane Z., and Chase, Arlen F. 2006 The Dawn of Maya Civilization: Preclassic Period Archaeology from Santa Rita Corozal. In Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology, Vol. 3, edited by Morris, John, Jones, Sherill, Awe, Jaime, and Helmke, Christophe, pp. 85–100. National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan, Belize.Google Scholar
Cliff, Maynard B. 1982 Lowland Maya Nucleation: A Case Study from Northern Belize. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.Google Scholar
Coe, William R. 1959 Piedras Negras Archaeology: Artifacts, Caches, and Burials. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Connerton, Paul 1989 How Societies Remember. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Demarest, Arthur. 2004 Ancient Maya: The Rise and Fall of a Rainforest Civilization, Vol. 3. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
de Vega Nova, Hortensia 2013a Oxtankah: Una Ciudad Prehispánica el las Tierras Bajas Mayas (parte II). El Volcán Insurgente 18:33–42.Google Scholar
de Vega Nova, Hortensia 2013b Oxtankah: Una Ciudad Prehispánica el las Tierras Bajas Mayas (parte III). El Volcán Insurgente 19:38–59.Google Scholar
Dunning, Nicholas, Wahl, David, Beach, Timothy, Jones, John, Luzzader-Beach, Sheryl, and McCane, Carmen 2014 The End of the Beginning: Drought, Environmental Change, and the Preclassic to Classic Transition in the East-Central Maya Lowlands. In The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context: Case Studies in Resilience and Vulnerability, edited by Iannone, Gyles, pp. 107–126. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Estrada-Belli, Francisco 2017 The History, Function, and Meaning of Preclassic E Groups in the Cival Region. In Maya E Groups: Calendar, Astronomy, and Urbanism in the Early Lowlands, edited by Freidel, David A., Chase, Arlen F., Dowd, Anne S., and Murdick, Jerry, pp. 293–327. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fabian, Johannes 1983 Time and the Other: How Anthropology Constructs Its Object. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Freidel, David A. 1978 Maritime Civilizations and the Rise of Maya Civilization: The View from Cerros, Belize. In Prehistoric Coastal Adaptations: The Economy and Ecology of Maritime Middle America, edited by Stark, Barbara and Voorhies, Barbara, pp. 239–265. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freidel, David 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
Freidel, David A. 1986 The Monumental Architecture. In Archaeology at Cerros, Belize, Central America: Vol. I: An Interim Report, edited by Robertson, Robin A. and Freidel, David A., pp. 1–22. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas.Google Scholar
Freidel, David A., and Schele, Linda 1988a Symbol and Power: A History of the Lowland Maya Cosmogram. In Maya Iconography, edited by Benson, Elizabeth P. and Griffin, Gillett G., pp. 43–93. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Freidel, David A., and Schele, Linda 1988b Kingship in the Late Preclassic Maya Lowlands. American Anthropologist 90:547–567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freidel, David A., and Schele, Linda 1989 Dead Kings and Living Temples: Dedication and Termination Rituals among the Ancient Maya. In Word and Image in Maya Culture: Explorations in Language, Writing, and Representation, edited by Hanks, William F. and Rice, Don S., pp. 233–243. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Gell, Alfred 1992 The Anthropology of Time: Cultural Construction of Temporal Maps and Images. Berg, Oxford.Google Scholar
Gillespie, Susan D. 1989 The Aztec Kings: The Construction of Rulership in Mexican History. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Gillespie, Susan D. 2002 Body and Soul among the Maya: Keeping the Spirits in Place. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 11(S1):67–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Richard D. 1998 Continuity and Disjunction: The Pre-Classic Antecedents of Classic Maya Architecture. In Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture, edited by Houston, Stephen D., pp. 49–122. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Haviland, William A. 1972 Family Size, Prehistoric Population Estimates, and the Ancient Maya. American Antiquity 37:135–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutson, Scott R. 2009 Dwelling, Identity, and the Maya: Relational Archaeology at Chunchucmil. AltaMira Press, Lanham, Maryland.Google Scholar
Ingold, Timothy 1993 The Temporality of the Landscape. World Archaeology 25:152–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, MacLellan, Jessica, and Burham, Melissa 2015 The Construction of Public and Domestic Spheres in the Preclassic Maya Lowlands. American Anthropologist 117:519–534.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Aoyama, Kazuo, Castillo, Victor, and Yonenobu, Hitoshi 2013 Early Ceremonial Constructions at Ceibal, Guatemala, and the Origins of Lowland Maya Civilization. Science 340:467–471.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joyce, Rosemary A. 1992 Ideology in Action: Classic Maya Ritual Practice. In Ancient Images, Ancient Thought: The Archaeology of Ideology, edited by Sean Goldsmith, A., Garvie, Sandra, Selin, David, and Smith, Jeannette, pp. 279–296. Papers from the 23rd Chac Mool Conference. University of Calgary, Canada.Google Scholar
Kates, Robert W. 1994 Sustaining Life on the Earth. Scientific American 271:114–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kosakowsky, Laura J. 1987 Preclassic Maya Pottery at Cuello, Belize. Anthropological Papers of the University of Arizona No. 47. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Kosakowsky, Laura J., and Pring, Duncan C. 1998 The Ceramics of Cuello, Belize: A New Evaluation. Ancient Mesoamerica 9:55–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kováč, Milan 2013 Crecimiento, colapso y retorno ritual en la ciudad antigua de Uaxactún (150 a.C.–300 d.C.). In Millenary Maya Societies: Past Crises and Resilience, edited by Arnauld, Charlotte M. and Breton, Alain, pp. 106–121. Memorias del coloquio international. Musée du qua Branly, Paris.Google Scholar
Krejci, Estella, and Patrick Culbert, T. 1995 Preclassic and Classic Burials and Caches in the Maya Lowlands. In The Emergence of Lowland Maya Civilization: The Transition from the Preclassic to the Early Classic, edited by Grube, Nikolai, pp. 103–116. Acta Mesoamericana 8. Verlag Anton Saurwein, Möckmühl, Germany.Google Scholar
Lohse, Jon C. 2010 Archaic Origins of the Lowland Maya. Latin American Antiquity 21:312–352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mannheim, Karl 1952 [1928] The Problem of Generations. In Essays on the Sociology of Knowledge, edited by Kegan, Paul, pp. 276–320. Routledge, London.Google Scholar
Massumi, Brian 1998 Sensing the Virtual, Building the Insensible. Architectural Design 68:16–25.Google Scholar
McAnany, Patricia A. 1995 Living with the Ancestors: Kinship and Kingship in Ancient Maya Society. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
McTaggart, John Ellis 1908 The Unreality of Time. Mind 17:456–473.Google Scholar
Mitchum, Beverly 1995 Op 9402: Excavations at Structure 5 Group. In Research at Cerros, Belize: Results of the 1994 Excavation Season, edited by Walker, Debra S., pp. 5–7. CCADP, Florida International University, Miami.Google Scholar
Nalda, Enrique 2004 Dzibanché: El contexto de los cautivos. In Los cautivos de Dzibanché, edited by Nalda, Enrique, pp. 13–56. Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Nalda, Enrique 2005 Kohunlich and Dzibanché: Parallel Histories. In Quintana Roo Archaeology, edited by Shaw, Justine M. and Mathews, Jennifer P., pp. 228–244. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Normark, Johan 2004 Caught Somewhere in Time: Polyagentive Archaeology in the Maya Lowlands. Licentiate thesis, Department of Archaeology, Göteborg University, Sweden.Google Scholar
Pope, Kevin O. 1987 The Ecology and Economy of the Formative-Classic Transition along the Ulúa River, Honduras. In Interaction on the Southeast Mesoamerican Frontier: Prehistoric and Historic Honduras and El Salvador, edited by Robinson, Eugenia, pp. 95–128. BAR International Series 327. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Reese, Kathryn V. 1996 Narratives of Power: Late Formative Public Architecture and Civic Center Design at Cerros, Belize. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Reese-Taylor, Kathryn 2016 The First Settlers on Chetumal Bay. In Perspectives on the Ancient Maya of Chetumal Bay, edited by Walker, Debra S., pp. 33–55. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reese-Taylor, Kathryn, and Walker, Debra S. 2002 The Passage of the Late Preclassic into the Classic. In Ancient Maya Political Economies, edited by Masson, Marilyn A. and Freidel, David A., pp. 87–122. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, California.Google Scholar
Robertson, Robin 2016 Red Wares, Zapatista, Drinking Vessels, Colonists, and Exchange at Cerro Maya. In Perspectives on the Ancient Maya of Chetumal Bay, edited by Walker, Debra S., pp. 125–148. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, Robin A., and Freidel, David A. (editors) 1986 Archaeology at Cerros, Belize, Central America: Vol. 1: An Interim Report. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas.Google Scholar
Robertson, Robin A., and Walker, Debra S. 2015 Trading Places: New Interpretations of the Late Preclassic Port Facility at Cerro Maya. In Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology, Vol. 12, edited by Morris, John, Badillo, Melissa, Batty, Sylvia, and Thompson, George, pp. 149–160. National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan, Belize.Google Scholar
Robertson-Freidel, Robin Alayne 1980 The Ceramics from Cerros: A Late Preclassic Site in Northern Belize. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Robin, Cynthia, Meierhoff, James, Kestle, Caleb, Blackmore, Chelsea, Kosakowsky, Laura J., and Novotny, Anna C. 2012 Ritual in a Farming Community. In Chan: An Ancient Maya Farming Community, edited by Robin, Cynthia, pp. 113–132. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schele, Linda, and Freidel, David A. 1990 A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. William Morrow, New York.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda, and Miller, Mary Ellen 1986 The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.Google Scholar
Strauss, William, and Howe, Neil 1991 Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069. William Morrow, New York.Google Scholar
Vadala, Jeffrey Ryan 2016 Analysis of Ancient Maya Caching Events at Cerro Maya, Belize (Cerros): Actor-Networks, Temporality, and Social Fields in the Late Preclassic Period. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Vadala, Jeffrey Ryan, and Milbrath, Susan 2016 Using Virtual Reality to Understand Astronomical Knowledge and Historical Landscapes at Preclassic Cerros, Belize. Journal of Skyscape Archaeology 2(1). DOI: 10.1558/jsa.v2i1.26915.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ValdezFred, Jr. Fred, Jr. 1987 The Prehistoric Ceramics of Colha, Northern Belize. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Vogt, Evon 1998 Zinacanteco Dedication and Termination Rituals. In The Sowing and the Dawning: Termination, Dedication and Transformation in the Archaeological and Ethnographic Record of Mesoamerica, edited by Mock, Shirley Boteler, pp. 21–30. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Walker, Debra S. 1990 Cerros Revisited: Ceramic Indicators of Terminal Classic and Postclassic Settlement and Pilgrimage in Northern Belize. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.Google Scholar
Walker, Debra S. 1998 Smashed Pots and Shattered Dreams: The Material Evidence for an Early Classic Site Termination at Cerros, Belize. In The Sowing and the Dawning: Termination, Dedication and Transformation in the Archaeological and Ethnographic Record of Mesoamerica, edited by Mock, Shirley Boteler, pp. 81–99. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Walker, Debra S. 2005 Sampling Cerros’ Demise: A Radiometric Check on the Elusive Protoclassic: Report to FAMSI on Grant #03064. Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Research Inc. (FAMSI), www.famsi.org/reports/03064/index.html.Google Scholar
Walker, Debra S. 2013 Caching in Context at Cerros, Belize. Cerros Research Online Catalogue (CROC) Newsletter, Spring. Florida Museum of Natural History, www.flmnh.ufl.edu/latinarch/CROC-newsletter-Spring2013.pdf.Google Scholar
Walker, Debra S. 2016 Life and Afterlife at Cerro Maya, Belize. In Perspectives on the Ancient Maya of Chetumal Bay, edited by Walker, Debra S., pp. 56–75. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, Debra S. (editor) 2016 Perspectives on the Ancient Maya of Chetumal Bay. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, Debra S., Freidel, David A., and Robertson, Robin 2021 Building Cerro Maya: How the Foundational Cerros Project Continues to Transform Our Understanding of Late Preclassic Northern Belize. In The Preclassic Maya: The Making of a Lowland Civilization, edited by Estrada-Belli, Francisco and Runggaldier, Astrid. Routledge, New York, in press.Google Scholar