Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization: The web of complexity at Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech, Belize 9781407357546, 9781407357553

Table of contents :
Title page
Acknowledgements
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Foreword
Abstract
1 Introduction
A Brief Introduction to the Middle Preclassic in the Maya Lowlands
Cahal Pech, Where We Lay Our Scene
Methodological Framework
Structure of this Monograph
Objectives of this Research
2 The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech
Introduction
Antecedents: Preceramic Mesoamerica and the Early Preclassic
Paleoindian and Archaic
The Early Formative outside the Maya Lowlands:2000 – 900 B.C.
The transition to the Middle Formative/Preclassic in Mesoamerica: 1100 – 900 B.C.
The Middle Formative/Preclassic outside and inside the Maya Lowlands: 900 – 350 B.C.
The Middle Formative outside the Maya Lowlands
The Maya Lowlands during the Middle Preclassic
Northern Lowlands
Rio Pasión Drainage/Southern Petén
Eastern/Central Petén and the Mirador Area
Northern Belize
The Belize Valley
The Late Preclassic Consequences of Middle Preclassic Development
Previous Investigations at Cahal Pech
Early Investigations: Before 1988
Excavations After 1988
Cahal Pech Project: 1988-1991
San Diego State University Excavations
Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance: 1992-present
Belize Valley Preclassic Maya Project: 1994-1997
3 Theoretical Approach and Small-World Networks
Introduction
Previous Models: Ecology vs. Agency, Regional vs. Local
Ecological Approaches
Power, Prestige, and Agent-based Approaches
Interaction and Exchange in the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands
What We Know
What We Do Not Know and How We Think About Exchange and Interaction
Middle Preclassic Social Organization as Nested Interaction Networks
Households as Networks
Communities as Networks
Regions as Networks
A Complex Web of Networks
A Hypothetical Network Structure: The Small World and its Properties
Networks and Social Identity
Networks and Politics
Summary
4 Methods and Bridging Arguments
Introduction
Belize Valley Archaeological Project: 2004-2009
Excavation and Recording Methods
Excavations in Plaza B
Artefact Processing and Preliminary BVAP Analyses
Additional Fieldwork and Laboratory Analyses
Remapping Plaza B and Creating the Cahal Pech Geodatabase
Small Finds Analysis
Pottery Analysis
Architectural and Contextual Analysis
Architectural Analysis
Contextual Analysis
Resource Zones and Consumption Variability: Conceptualizing Networks
Resource Zones
Investigating Variability
Summary
5 The Natural Environment and Resource Zones
Introduction
Modern Political Geography
Regional Climate and Weather
Landscape: Topography, Geology and Resource Zones
Coastal and Offshore Zone
Northern Karst and Plains Zone
Southern Karst and Hills
Maya Mountains
Resource Areas outside Belize
The Belize Valley Zone: Local Environment and Resources
Landforms
Geology
Hydrology
Soils
Flora and Fauna
Summary
6 The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech
Introduction
Overburden and Later Plaza Floors
Late Preclassic Plaza Floors
Plaza B Architectural Sequences
Operation 1: Plaza B North Sequence
Phase 0: Bedrock Modification and Soil Occupation Horizon (Cunil or Earlier?)
Phase I: Marl Dwelling and Patio Floors and Cobble Surface (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk)
Phase II: Cobble and Marl Platform, Marl Patio Surface (early facet Kanluk)
Phase III: Patio Floors and Small Cobble Platforms (early facet Kanluk)
Phase IV: Large Cobble-and-Marl Platforms (early facet Kanluk-Kanluk)
Phase V: Plaster Floor 4 (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal)
Operation 1: Plaza B Central Sequence
Phase 0: Bedrock Modification and Soil Occupation Horizon (Cunil or Earlier?)
Phase I: Cobble surfaces (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk)
Phase IVb: Cobble feature and Plaster Floor 5 (early facet Kanluk -Kanluk)
Phase V: Floor 4
Operations 1 and 7: Plaza B South Sequence
Phase 0: Bedrock modification and Occupation Horizon (Cunil or Earlier?)
Phase I: Cobble surfaces, marl floors, and a plaster patch (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk)
Phase II: Soft and hard marl surfaces, raised marl platform (Transition Cunil-early facet Kanluk)
Phase III: Cut stone rectangular platform and marl floors (early facet Kanluk)
Phase IV: Cut stone rounded platform with plaster floor (early facet Kanluk-Kanluk)
Phase V: Plaza Floor 4
Operation 3
Phase 0: Bedrock Modification and Occupation Horizon
Phase I: Low plaster floors (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk)
Phase II: Eroded plaster floor (early facet Kanluk)
Phase IV: Cut-stone platforms, marl floors, refuse pit (early facet Kanluk – late facet Kanluk)
Phase V: Cobble surfaces, plaster floor (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal)
Operation 4
Phase IV: Limestone cobble platform (early facet Kanluk-Kanluk)
Phase V: Plaster floor (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal)
Operation 5
Phase I: Stone alignment, carbon stains (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk)
Phase II: Marl surfaces (early facet Kanluk)
Phase IV: Marl-and-flagstone surface, stone alignment (Kanluk-late facet Kanluk)
Phase V: Plaster Floor 4 (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal)
Summary of Plaza B Architectural Remains and Intrasite Comparisons
Issues with Plaza B data comparison
Phase 0 – Initial Occupation (Cunil or before)
Phase I (Cunil-early facet Kanluk)
Phase II (early facet Kanluk)
Phase III (early facet Kanluk)
Phase IV (early facet Kanluk – Kanluk)
Phase V (transitional late facet Kanluk – early facet Xakal)
Diachronic Developmental Trends
Interpretations and Conclusions
7 Objects of Stone
Introduction
Chipped Stone Artefacts
Chert Artefacts
Chert Summary
Obsidian Artefacts
Obsidian Sourcing
Obsidian Summary and Comparison
Ground, Pecked, and Polished Stone Artefacts
Stone Spheroids
Spheroid Comparison and Summary
Grinding Equipment
Grinding Equipment Comparison and Summary
Slate Objects
Slate Summary
Green-coloured stone and Jadeite
Green–Coloured Stone Summary
Unworked Rocks and Minerals
Stone Artefacts Summary
8 Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts
Introduction
Objects of Worked Bone
Comparative and Summary Comments
Objects of Worked Freshwater Mollusc Shell
Comparative and Summary Comments
Objects of Marine Shell
Taxonomic Identifications and the Distributions of Marine Molluscs
Marine Shell Artefacts
Marine Shell Ornaments
Marine Shell Debris
Evidence for the Production of Marine Shell Ornaments
Summary and Conclusion
9 Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery
Introduction
Modelled-Clay Artefacts
Modelled-Clay Ocarinas and Figurines
Head Fragments
Torso Fragments
Appendage Fragments
Other Fragments
Ocarina and Figurine Summary and Discussion
Reworked Sherd Artefacts
Summary: Modelled-Clay Artefacts and Reworked Sherds
Pottery
General Assemblage Composition
Type-Variety Breakdown of the Assemblage
Sherd Assemblage and Vessel Categories
Cache Vessels
Functional and Stylistic Groups by Phase
Phase 0/I (Figure 9.9)
Phase II/III (Figure 9.10)
Phase IV (Figures 9.11 and 9.12)
Macroscopic Fabric Characterization
Fabric Characterization and Attributes
Ceramic Fabrics by Phase
Pottery Summary
10 Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns
Introduction
Definition of Consumption-Related Contexts/Consumer Groups
Phase 0/I
Phase II/III
Phase IV
Caveat
Analysis of Materials Consumption and Structure Function by Phase
Phase 0/I
Materials Consumption
Structure Function
Phase II/III
Materials Consumption
Structure Function
Phase IV
Materials Consumption
Phase IV Consumption Patterns
Structure Function
Intrasite Patterns, Interactions, and Social Organization – A Summary of Diachronic Change
Phase 0/I – Cunil and transitional early Kanluk
Phase II/III – early Kanluk
Phase IV – transitional early/late Kanluk through late Kanluk
The Alternative Addressed
Summary Discussion
11 Discussion of the Data from a Network Perspective
Small World Networks and Brokers
Early Small-World Networks
Later Small-World Networks
The Position of Cahal Pech in a Series of Middle Preclassic Small Worlds
Community and Regional Small Worlds
Cahal Pech as a Potential Broker
Summary
12 Conclusions
A Summary of Network Interactions and Social Complexity
Contributions to the Study of Middle Preclassic Maya Society
Questions and Directions for Future Research
Some Concluding Thoughts
Appendix A Description of Excavations by Lot
Appendix B Temporal Assessments of Sherd Lots
Appendix C List of Caches and Burial
Appendix D Descriptions of Ceramic Fabric Types
References

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A R C H A E O L O G Y O F T H E M AYA

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‘Mayanists will find the volume a highly useful and stimulating addition to the existing corpus of publications.’ Dr David Pendergast, UCL ‘Horn’s volume is a welcome addition to archaeological literature as it presents the actual excavation data and artefactual materials upon which the newer theoretical formulations about the Middle Preclassic period are based […] It provides a trove of information for future researchers.’ Professor Arlen Chase, Pomona College

Sherman W. Horn III is Research Associate at Exploring Solutions Past and Research Scientist at HD Analytical Solutions, Inc. He completed a PhD in anthropology at Tulane University in 2015. Sherman has worked in the Maya area since 2003 and has published papers on architecture, settlement, remote sensing, and materials analysis.

A R C H A E O L O G Y O F T H E M AYA

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization The web of complexity at Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech, Belize S H E R M A N W. H O R N II I

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This study examines the origins of complex society in the Maya Lowlands during the Middle Preclassic period. Excavations at Cahal Pech—a mid-sized Maya settlement in the Belize River Valley—revealed complex architectural sequences over a 600-year developmental period, which spans the time of the earliest permanent villages in the area and the emergence of institutionalized hierarchy characteristic of later Maya civilization. The author uses spatial analysis to investigate artifact distribution patterns related to architectural change and marshals a diverse dataset to support a network framework for understanding developing complexity. This new theoretical framing expands on studies of longdistance exchange to examine how households and communities could gain advantage by participating in interaction networks, and how the positioning of some entities in networks could have produced socioeconomic inequalities that became entrenched through time.

BAR  S3009  2020  HORN III  Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

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A R C H A E O L O G Y O F T H E M AYA

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization The web of complexity at Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech, Belize S H E R M A N W. H O R N III

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Published in 2020 by BAR Publishing, Oxford BAR International Series 3009 Archaeology of the Maya, Volume 7 Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization ISBN  978 1 4073 5754 6 paperback ISBN  978 1 4073 5755 3 e-format doi  https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407357546 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library © Sherman W. Horn III 2020 Cover image  Figurine head (SF-251) from Middle Preclassic offering at Cahal Pech. The Author’s moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in  any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher. Links to third party websites are provided by BAR Publishing in good faith and for information only. BAR Publishing disclaims any responsibility for the materials contained in any third party website referenced in this work.

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ARCHAEOLO G Y OF THE M AYA ARCHAEOLO G Y OF THE M AYA Series Editors: Elizabeth Graham (UCL), David Pendergast (UCL) and Series Editors: Elizabeth Graham David Pendergast (UCL) and Genner Llanes(UCL), Ortiz (Leiden) Genner Llanes Ortiz (Leiden) The archaeology, epigraphy, art and history of the Maya of Mesoamerica are increasingly studied throughout the world. The archaeology, epigraphy, and history of the Maya Mesoamerica increasingly studiedboth throughout theoutside world. As discoveries multiply, newart venues of publication are a of critical means ofare spreading knowledge within and As multiply, new venues of publication a critical means of spreading botharea within outside the discoveries field. The BAR sub-series publishes monographsare and excavation or survey reportsknowledge on the Maya in a and format that the field.extensive The BARillustration. sub-series publishes monographs and excavation or survey reports on the Maya area in a format that permits permits extensive illustration. If you are interested in publishing in the Archaeology of the Maya series, please contact If you are interested in publishing in the Archaeology of the Maya series, please contact [email protected]. [email protected]. Editorial advisory board Editorial advisory board Barbara Arroyo, Instituto de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala Barbara Arroyo, Instituto de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala Arlen F. Chase, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada at Las Vegas Arlen F. Chase, Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada at Las Vegas Kitty Emery, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville Kitty Emery, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville Antonia E. Foias, Department of Anthropology, Williams College, Massachusetts Antonia E. Foias, Department of Anthropology, Williams College, Massachusetts Sherman Horn III, Department of Anthropology, Grand Valley State University Sherman Horn III, Department of Anthropology, Grand Valley State University Christian Isendahl, Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg Christian Isendahl, Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg Harri Kettunen, Department of Cultures, University of Helsinki Harri Kettunen, Department of Cultures, University of Helsinki Meaghan M. Peuramaki-Brown, Centre for Social Sciences, Anthropology, Athabasca University Meaghan M. Peuramaki-Brown, Centre for Social Sciences, Anthropology, Athabasca University Independent Researcher, Parkland, Florida Carmen Giomar Sánchez Fortoul, Affiliate Researcher of Anthropology in the College of Arts and Letters, CarmenAtlantic GiomarUniversity Sánchez Fortoul, Independent Researcher, Parkland, Florida Florida Travis W. Stanton, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, USA Travis W. Stanton, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, USA Emilio del Valle Escalante, Department of Romance Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Emilio del Valle Escalante, Department of Romance Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Maya Ceramic Technology and Ceramic Socio-economy A multifaceted analysis of Late Postclassic ceramic production and distribution in Northern Yucatán, México Carmen Giomar Sánchez Fortoul Sub-series: Archaeology of the Maya, 1 Oxford, BAR Publishing, 2018

BAR International Series 2899

Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Ancient Maya Underworld Exploring the rise and fall of Maya centres in central Belize from the cave context Shawn Gregory Morton Sub-series: Archaeology of the Maya, 2 Oxford, BAR Publishing, 2018

BAR International Series 2910

Antiguas calzadas mayas Estudio comparativo de los sacbeob de Ichmul, San Felipe y Yo’okop, tres sitios de la región de Cochuah Alberto Guadalupe Flores Colin Sub-series: Archaeology of the Maya, 3 Oxford, BAR Publishing, 2019

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An Archaeological Reconstruction of Ancient Maya Life at Pacbitun, Belize Edited by Terry G. Powis, Sheldon Skaggs and George J. Micheletti. Foreword by Jaime J. Awe Sub-series: Archaeology of the Maya, 4 Oxford, BAR Publishing, 2020

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Acknowledgements Long-term archaeological projects are never solitary tasks – they involve networks of people who provide the support, advice, and encouragement required to transmute raw ideas and data into refined bodies of knowledge. The endeavour presented here is no exception, and to fully document these contributions in the detail they deserve would require yet another chapter added to an already lengthy tome. I attempted to generate such an exhaustive accounting once before – in the PhD dissertation that was the basis for this monograph – and found that despite spilling a small ocean of ink on the subject, I was unable to give proper due to all who deserved it. I fear I will only compound any errors of omission in this abbreviated format, and I therefore ask forgiveness from any and all reading this who feel their vital contributions have been elided. My professional training, and much of the analysis presented here, took place in the Department of Anthropology at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana. I would not have been able to complete my PhD without the excellent instruction and advice provided by the faculty of anthropology, and especially the members of my dissertation committee: Will Andrews, Marcelo Canuto, Grant McCall, and (in the beginning) Dan Healan. The space provided here is insufficient to thank Will Andrews – advisor, committee chair, mentor, and friend – for the support he provided during my time at Tulane. I am forever indebted to Will and every member of the faculty who inspired me to complete this project. The research presented here would not have been possible without the support of the Belize Institute of Archaeology (IA) and funding from different sources. I am indebted to Jaime Awe, previous Director of the IA, and John Morris, previous Director of Research and current Director of the IA, for granting the Belize Valley Archaeological Project (BVAP) permission to excavate at Cahal Pech, and for granting me permission to analyse the excavated materials. I would also like to thank Rafael Guerra of the IA for generously sharing mapping coordinates from Cahal Pech and his fieldwork expertise. I received funding from the Middle American Research Institute, BVAP, the Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University, and the Tulane University School of Liberal Arts Summer Research Fellowship to complete this research. Archaeological fieldwork requires many pairs of boots on the ground, and the staff of BVAP deserve special thanks here, especially co-director Jim Garber and Jaime Awe. I cannot thank Jim enough for allowing me to join BVAP in 2006, for giving me the chance to direct field

operations from 2007 – 2009, and for helping me gain access to materials after excavations had concluded. Project ceramicist Lauren Sullivan graciously provided her temporal assessments of sherd lots from the Cahal Pech excavations, which proved as valuable as the fashion advice she also gave freely. I thank Jenn Cochran, Issa Duffy, Josh Haefner, Barry Kidder, Whitney Lytle, Amy Reid, and Suzanne Trussel – fellow graduate student staff members during various years – for their hard work, on and off site. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Terry Powis for providing a base of operations for ceramic analysis after the conclusion of BVAP fieldwork and for giving me opportunities to work with him at Pacbitun. Without Terry’s help, I would not have been able to collect the data I needed to finish. Excavations and analysis would not have proceeded smoothly without the help of several Belizeans. I am particularly grateful for the opportunity to work with the late Dave “Ciego” Valencia, Minister of Nocturnal Affairs and he of many other titles; you are sorely missed and not forgotten, my friend. Sylvia Batty and Yasmini Manzanero participated in excavations as high school students and astounded us all with their abilities. Last but not least, Abdel Cowo and Wilbert Castillo were instrumental in helping classify thousands of sherds and keeping me sane throughout the process. It was a great pleasure to work with you all. Love and support from family were critical to the completion of this project. I am grateful to my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for all the encouragement they provided along the way, and to my sister, Jessica, who has constantly challenged me to master my trade. My parents, Sherman and Patti Horn, supported me in every step, and through every pitfall, in this long campaign. Thanks, Mom and Dad. I could not have completed this project without the advice and support of Linda Howie, who stuck with me through thick and thin during the writing process. Our discussions of archaeological method and theory continue to inspire me, as does her intellect and expertise in using scientific techniques to solve archaeological problems. I thank Linda, Tristan, and John and Karen for their encouragement through the home stretch. I owe debts of gratitude to David Pendergast and Elizabeth Graham, who encouraged me to take on the task of revisiting a semi-dormant document and submitting it for publication with British Archaeological Reports. I had not met David or Liz until I was nearing the end of the road with this project, and I am very happy that unfortunate circumstance has been remedied in the years since. Finally,

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization thank you to the BAR editorial and production team, who have been an absolute pleasure to work with, and to the anonymous reviewers who gave helpful suggestions for turning a somewhat rough dissertation into a publishable work. Any errors in the text are mine, and mine alone.

Contents List of Figures.................................................................................................................................................................. xiv List of Tables.................................................................................................................................................................. xviii Foreword.......................................................................................................................................................................... xxi Abstract........................................................................................................................................................................... xxii 1. Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................................1 A Brief Introduction to the Middle Preclassic in the Maya Lowlands.................................................................................1 Cahal Pech, Where We Lay Our Scene.................................................................................................................................1 Methodological Framework..................................................................................................................................................2 Structure of this Monograph.................................................................................................................................................3 Objectives of this Research...................................................................................................................................................4 2. The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech....................................5 Introduction...........................................................................................................................................................................5 Antecedents: Preceramic Mesoamerica and the Early Preclassic.........................................................................................5 Paleoindian and Archaic...................................................................................................................................................5 The Early Formative outside the Maya Lowlands:2000 – 900 B.C.................................................................................6 The transition to the Middle Formative/Preclassic in Mesoamerica: 1100 – 900 B.C....................................................9 The Middle Formative/Preclassic outside and inside the Maya Lowlands: 900 – 350 B.C...............................................10 The Middle Formative outside the Maya Lowlands......................................................................................................10 The Maya Lowlands during the Middle Preclassic........................................................................................................12 Northern Lowlands....................................................................................................................................................14 Rio Pasión Drainage/Southern Petén........................................................................................................................14 Eastern/Central Petén and the Mirador Area.............................................................................................................15 Northern Belize.........................................................................................................................................................16 The Belize Valley......................................................................................................................................................17 The Late Preclassic Consequences of Middle Preclassic Development.............................................................................19 Previous Investigations at Cahal Pech................................................................................................................................20 Early Investigations: Before 1988..................................................................................................................................20 Excavations After 1988..................................................................................................................................................21 Cahal Pech Project: 1988-1991.................................................................................................................................21 San Diego State University Excavations...................................................................................................................22 Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance: 1992-present...................................................................................22 Belize Valley Preclassic Maya Project: 1994-1997...................................................................................................24 3. Theoretical Approach and Small-World Networks...................................................................................................27 Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................................27 Previous Models: Ecology vs. Agency, Regional vs. Local...............................................................................................27 Ecological Approaches...................................................................................................................................................27 Power, Prestige, and Agent-based Approaches..............................................................................................................28 Interaction and Exchange in the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands.................................................................................29 What We Know..............................................................................................................................................................29 What We Do Not Know and How We Think About Exchange and Interaction............................................................30 Middle Preclassic Social Organization as Nested Interaction Networks............................................................................31 Households as Networks................................................................................................................................................31 Communities as Networks.............................................................................................................................................32 Regions as Networks......................................................................................................................................................32 A Complex Web of Networks........................................................................................................................................33 A Hypothetical Network Structure: The Small World and its Properties...........................................................................33 Networks and Social Identity..............................................................................................................................................35

ix

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Networks and Politics.........................................................................................................................................................36 Summary.............................................................................................................................................................................36 4. Methods and Bridging Arguments..............................................................................................................................39 Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................................39 Belize Valley Archaeological Project: 2004-2009..............................................................................................................39 Excavation and Recording Methods..............................................................................................................................39 Excavations in Plaza B..............................................................................................................................................40 Artefact Processing and Preliminary BVAP Analyses..............................................................................................40 Additional Fieldwork and Laboratory Analyses.................................................................................................................40 Remapping Plaza B and Creating the Cahal Pech Geodatabase....................................................................................42 Small Finds Analysis......................................................................................................................................................42 Pottery Analysis.............................................................................................................................................................43 Architectural and Contextual Analysis...............................................................................................................................45 Architectural Analysis....................................................................................................................................................45 Contextual Analysis.......................................................................................................................................................45 Resource Zones and Consumption Variability: Conceptualizing Networks.......................................................................47 Resource Zones..............................................................................................................................................................47 Investigating Variability.................................................................................................................................................47 Summary.............................................................................................................................................................................48 5. The Natural Environment and Resource Zones.........................................................................................................49 Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................................49 Modern Political Geography...............................................................................................................................................49 Regional Climate and Weather...........................................................................................................................................49 Landscape: Topography, Geology and Resource Zones.....................................................................................................50 Coastal and Offshore Zone.............................................................................................................................................51 Northern Karst and Plains Zone.....................................................................................................................................52 Southern Karst and Hills................................................................................................................................................52 Maya Mountains............................................................................................................................................................52 Resource Areas outside Belize.......................................................................................................................................54 The Belize Valley Zone: Local Environment and Resources.............................................................................................56 Landforms......................................................................................................................................................................56 Geology..........................................................................................................................................................................56 Hydrology......................................................................................................................................................................57 Soils................................................................................................................................................................................58 Flora and Fauna..............................................................................................................................................................59 Summary.............................................................................................................................................................................60 6. The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech.........................................................................................61 Introduction.........................................................................................................................................................................61 Overburden and Later Plaza Floors....................................................................................................................................61 Late Preclassic Plaza Floors...........................................................................................................................................62 Plaza B Architectural Sequences........................................................................................................................................64 Operation 1: Plaza B North Sequence............................................................................................................................64 Phase 0: Bedrock Modification and Soil Occupation Horizon (Cunil or Earlier?)...................................................64 Phase I: Marl Dwelling and Patio Floors and Cobble Surface (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk)..................65 Phase II: Cobble and Marl Platform, Marl Patio Surface (early facet Kanluk)........................................................67 Phase III: Patio Floors and Small Cobble Platforms (early facet Kanluk)................................................................69 Phase IV: Large Cobble-and-Marl Platforms (early facet Kanluk-Kanluk)..............................................................73 Phase V: Plaster Floor 4 (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal).................................................................................77 Operation 1: Plaza B Central Sequence.........................................................................................................................77 Phase 0: Bedrock Modification and Soil Occupation Horizon (Cunil or Earlier?)...................................................77 Phase I: Cobble surfaces (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk)............................................................................78 Phase IVb: Cobble feature and Plaster Floor 5 (early facet Kanluk -Kanluk)..........................................................78 Phase V: Floor 4........................................................................................................................................................80 Operations 1 and 7: Plaza B South Sequence................................................................................................................80 Phase 0: Bedrock modification and Occupation Horizon (Cunil or Earlier?)...........................................................82 Phase I: Cobble surfaces, marl floors, and a plaster patch (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk).........................82

x

Contents Phase II: Soft and hard marl surfaces, raised marl platform (Transition Cunil-early facet Kanluk)........................84 Phase III: Cut stone rectangular platform and marl floors (early facet Kanluk).......................................................85 Phase IV: Cut stone rounded platform with plaster floor (early facet Kanluk-Kanluk)............................................87 Phase V: Plaza Floor 4...............................................................................................................................................88 Operation 3.....................................................................................................................................................................89 Phase 0: Bedrock Modification and Occupation Horizon.........................................................................................90 Phase I: Low plaster floors (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk)........................................................................90 Phase II: Eroded plaster floor (early facet Kanluk)...................................................................................................91 Phase IV: Cut-stone platforms, marl floors, refuse pit (early facet Kanluk – late facet Kanluk)..............................92 Phase V: Cobble surfaces, plaster floor (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal).........................................................93 Operation 4.....................................................................................................................................................................94 Phase IV: Limestone cobble platform (early facet Kanluk-Kanluk).........................................................................94 Phase V: Plaster floor (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal).....................................................................................94 Operation 5.....................................................................................................................................................................95 Phase I: Stone alignment, carbon stains (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk)....................................................95 Phase II: Marl surfaces (early facet Kanluk).............................................................................................................95 Phase IV: Marl-and-flagstone surface, stone alignment (Kanluk-late facet Kanluk)................................................95 Phase V: Plaster Floor 4 (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal).................................................................................97 Summary of Plaza B Architectural Remains and Intrasite Comparisons...........................................................................97 Issues with Plaza B data comparison.............................................................................................................................97 Phase 0 – Initial Occupation (Cunil or before)..............................................................................................................98 Phase I (Cunil-early facet Kanluk).................................................................................................................................98 Phase II (early facet Kanluk)..........................................................................................................................................99 Phase III (early facet Kanluk)......................................................................................................................................100 Phase IV (early facet Kanluk – Kanluk)......................................................................................................................100 Phase V (transitional late facet Kanluk – early facet Xakal).......................................................................................101 Diachronic Developmental Trends...............................................................................................................................102 Interpretations and Conclusions........................................................................................................................................103 7. Objects of Stone...........................................................................................................................................................105 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................................105 Chipped Stone Artefacts...................................................................................................................................................105 Chert Artefacts.............................................................................................................................................................105 Chert Summary.......................................................................................................................................................112 Obsidian Artefacts........................................................................................................................................................112 Obsidian Sourcing...................................................................................................................................................113 Obsidian Summary and Comparison.......................................................................................................................114 Ground, Pecked, and Polished Stone Artefacts.................................................................................................................115 Stone Spheroids............................................................................................................................................................116 Spheroid Comparison and Summary.......................................................................................................................118 Grinding Equipment.....................................................................................................................................................120 Grinding Equipment Comparison and Summary....................................................................................................122 Slate Objects................................................................................................................................................................123 Slate Summary........................................................................................................................................................127 Green-coloured stone and Jadeite................................................................................................................................127 Green–Coloured Stone Summary............................................................................................................................131 Unworked Rocks and Minerals.........................................................................................................................................131 Stone Artefacts Summary.................................................................................................................................................133 8. Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts.........................................................................................................135 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................................135 Objects of Worked Bone...................................................................................................................................................135 Comparative and Summary Comments.......................................................................................................................136 Objects of Worked Freshwater Mollusc Shell..................................................................................................................137 Comparative and Summary Comments.......................................................................................................................139 Objects of Marine Shell....................................................................................................................................................140 Taxonomic Identifications and the Distributions of Marine Molluscs.........................................................................140 Marine Shell Artefacts.................................................................................................................................................142 Marine Shell Ornaments..........................................................................................................................................142

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Marine Shell Debris.....................................................................................................................................................150 Evidence for the Production of Marine Shell Ornaments............................................................................................151 Summary and Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................153 9. Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery..............................................................................................................................155 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................................155 Modelled-Clay Artefacts...................................................................................................................................................155 Modelled-Clay Ocarinas and Figurines.......................................................................................................................158 Head Fragments.......................................................................................................................................................161 Torso Fragments......................................................................................................................................................162 Appendage Fragments.............................................................................................................................................163 Other Fragments......................................................................................................................................................163 Ocarina and Figurine Summary and Discussion.....................................................................................................164 Reworked Sherd Artefacts................................................................................................................................................166 Summary: Modelled-Clay Artefacts and Reworked Sherds.............................................................................................170 Pottery...............................................................................................................................................................................170 General Assemblage Composition...............................................................................................................................170 Type-Variety Breakdown of the Assemblage..........................................................................................................171 Sherd Assemblage and Vessel Categories...............................................................................................................171 Cache Vessels...............................................................................................................................................................172 Functional and Stylistic Groups by Phase....................................................................................................................173 Phase 0/I (Figure 9.9)..............................................................................................................................................173 Phase II/III (Figure 9.10).........................................................................................................................................178 Phase IV (Figures 9.11 and 9.12)............................................................................................................................180 Macroscopic Fabric Characterization..........................................................................................................................183 Fabric Characterization and Attributes....................................................................................................................183 Ceramic Fabrics by Phase.......................................................................................................................................193 Pottery Summary..........................................................................................................................................................199 10. Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns............................................................................................203 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................................203 Definition of Consumption-Related Contexts/Consumer Groups....................................................................................203 Phase 0/I.......................................................................................................................................................................203 Phase II/III....................................................................................................................................................................204 Phase IV.......................................................................................................................................................................205 Caveat...........................................................................................................................................................................207 Analysis of Materials Consumption and Structure Function by Phase.............................................................................208 Phase 0/I ......................................................................................................................................................................208 Materials Consumption...........................................................................................................................................208 Structure Function...................................................................................................................................................210 Phase II/III....................................................................................................................................................................210 Materials Consumption...........................................................................................................................................210 Structure Function...................................................................................................................................................214 Phase IV.......................................................................................................................................................................214 Materials Consumption...........................................................................................................................................214 Phase IV Consumption Patterns..............................................................................................................................223 Structure Function...................................................................................................................................................227 Intrasite Patterns, Interactions, and Social Organization – A Summary of Diachronic Change.......................................229 Phase 0/I – Cunil and transitional early Kanluk..........................................................................................................229 Phase II/III – early Kanluk...........................................................................................................................................229 Phase IV – transitional early/late Kanluk through late Kanluk....................................................................................230 The Alternative Addressed................................................................................................................................................231 Summary Discussion........................................................................................................................................................232 11. Discussion of the Data from a Network Perspective..............................................................................................233 Small World Networks and Brokers.................................................................................................................................233 Early Small-World Networks.......................................................................................................................................233 Later Small-World Networks.......................................................................................................................................234 The Position of Cahal Pech in a Series of Middle Preclassic Small Worlds....................................................................236

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Contents Community and Regional Small Worlds......................................................................................................................236 Cahal Pech as a Potential Broker.................................................................................................................................237 Summary...........................................................................................................................................................................238 12. Conclusions................................................................................................................................................................239 A Summary of Network Interactions and Social Complexity..........................................................................................239 Contributions to the Study of Middle Preclassic Maya Society.......................................................................................239 Questions and Directions for Future Research.................................................................................................................240 Some Concluding Thoughts..............................................................................................................................................240 Appendix A......................................................................................................................................................................243 Appendix B......................................................................................................................................................................265 Appendix C......................................................................................................................................................................273 Appendix D......................................................................................................................................................................275 References .......................................................................................................................................................................293

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List of Figures Figure 1.1: Rectified plan of the architectural epicentre of Cahal Pech, showing major plazas and structures mentioned in the text. The solid north arrow represents magnetic north, and the dashed arrow grid north; this convention is used throughout for site maps.........................................................................................................................2 Figure 2.1: Partial map of Mesoamerica showing Preclassic sites outside of the Maya Lowlands and geographic regions mentioned in the text.............................................................................................................................7 Figure 2.2: Sites with stylistically similar Terminal Early Preclassic pottery....................................................................10 Figure 2.3: Selected Lowland Maya sites with Middle Preclassic occupation discussed in the text.................................13 Figure 2.4: Preclassic ceramic complexes and phases of the southern Maya Lowlands....................................................14 Figure 2.5: Enhanced Landsat 8 image of the Belize Valley with Middle Preclassic settlements......................................18 Figure 2.6: Map of Cahal Pech and nearby settlement clusters with Middle Preclassic occupations................................23 Figure 2.7: Map of approximate locations of Belize Valley Preclassic Maya Project excavation units in Plaza B...........24 Figure 4.1: Plan map of Cahal Pech Plaza B showing locations of BVAP excavation units..............................................41 Figure 4.2: Procedures for sorting and classifying potsherds.............................................................................................44 Figure 5.1: Geographic division of Belize by landform.....................................................................................................50 Figure 5.2: Geological deposits of Belize...........................................................................................................................51 Figure 5.3: The Mountain Pine Ridge batholith and surrounding formations....................................................................53 Figure 5.4: Map of documented obsidian and serpentine distributions in highland zones.................................................55 Figure 5.5: Landforms of the upper and upper-central Belize Valley, showing sites with known Middle Preclassic occupation..........................................................................................................................................................57 Figure 5.6: Geological deposits of the upper Belize Valley................................................................................................58 Figure 5.7: Map of soil subsuites found in the upper Belize Valley...................................................................................59 Figure 6.1: Plaza B of Cahal Pech, facing south toward Structure B-5..............................................................................61 Figure 6.2: Plaster floor sequence in Operation 7, facing south.........................................................................................63 Figure 6.3: Profile of northern trench section from 2004 excavations, showing cultural deposits and the shape of bedrock...........................................................................................................................................................................65 Figure 6.4: Plan map of Phase I architecture in Op. 1x and Op. 1y...................................................................................66 Figure 6.5: Patio Floor 5 surface, showing freshwater shell deposits................................................................................67 Figure 6.6: North wall profile, Op. 1x................................................................................................................................68 Figure 6.7: West wall profile, Op. 1x..................................................................................................................................68 Figure 6.8: East wall profile, Op. 1y, showing Middle Preclassic patio floors and platforms............................................69 Figure 6.9: North wall profile, Op. 1y................................................................................................................................69 Figure 6.10: Plan map of Phase II architecture in Op. 1x and Op. 1y................................................................................70 Figure 6.11: Plan of Plaza B North Sequence architecture.................................................................................................70 Figure 6.12: Schematic cross-section A – A’, showing all Patio Floors in relation to Platform B.....................................73 Figure 6.13: Schematic cross-section B – B’, showing Phase II platforms and final Phase III and IV architecture..........74 Figure 6.14: Plan of Burial 1 and Cache 7 crypts in southeast corner of Platform B and adjacent caches........................75 Figure 6.15: Possible postholes cut into bedrock, Op. 1r and Op. 1s.................................................................................78 xiv

List of Figures Figure 6.16: Possible postholes cut into bedrock, Op. 1r...................................................................................................78 Figure 6.17: Plan map of Phase I cobble surfaces in the Central Sequence.......................................................................79 Figure 6.18: Phase IV architecture and associated deposits...............................................................................................80 Figure 6.19: Schematic profile of Central Sequence excavation units...............................................................................80 Figure 6.20: Plan view of multiple phases of architecture encountered in the Plaza B South Sequence, showing palimpsest nature of architectural features.........................................................................................................................81 Figure 6.21: Schematic cross section C – C’ in the Southern Sequence architecture.........................................................81 Figure 6.22: Bedrock steps and plaster feature, south end of Op. 1v.................................................................................82 Figure 6.23: Phase II architecture in the Plaza B South Sequence.....................................................................................84 Figure 6.24: Cache of slate objects and vessel base on marl-and-pebble floor..................................................................84 Figure 6.25: Exposed surface of marl-and-pebble floor 2009: Platform 2.........................................................................85 Figure 6.26: Plan map of Phase III architecture in Plaza B South Sequence.....................................................................86 Figure 6.27: Eastern face of Platform H, limestone slabs coated with grey marl...............................................................86 Figure 6.28: Plan of 2009: Platform 1................................................................................................................................87 Figure 6.29: Northern face of 2009: Platform 1.................................................................................................................88 Figure 6.30: West wall profile of Operation 7 units............................................................................................................89 Figure 6.31: East wall profile of Operation 7 units.............................................................................................................89 Figure 6.32: South wall profile of Op. 7e and 7f................................................................................................................89 Figure 6.33: East wall profile of Op. 1v, south end of the Main Trench.............................................................................90 Figure 6.34: Schematic northern profile of Operation 3 units............................................................................................90 Figure 6.35: Middle Preclassic architecture in Operation 3...............................................................................................91 Figure 6.36: Platform corner, Op. 3a, showing earlier rounded platform face in upper left and marl floor inside of corner..............................................................................................................................................................................92 Figure 6.37: Deposit near base of refuse pit. Cut stone at far left is part of intact platform face in Op. 3a. Floors 7 and 8 show partial cut by pit. Partial Savana Orange and Jocote Orange-brown vessels visible....................................93 Figure 6.38: West and south wall profile drawing from Op. 3c, showing bottom section of refuse pit, early plaster floors, and depth of rounded platform facing stone in Op. 3a.................................................................................94 Figure 6.39: Stone alignment and carbon stains of Phase I, Op. 5a...................................................................................95 Figure 6.40: Phase IV architecture in the north of Plaza B................................................................................................96 Figure 7.1: Chert uniface, tranchet adze, and triangular biface........................................................................................106 Figure 7.2: Representative sample of chert burin spall drills...........................................................................................109 Figure 7.3: Frequencies and percentages of broken and complete chert drills by technological type.............................111 Figure 7.4: Obsidian blade fragments and obsidian flake from layered slate cache.........................................................113 Figure 7.5: Hammerstones, showing intensive battering damage....................................................................................115 Figure 7.6: Distribution of stone spheroid diameters, showing two modal peaks............................................................116 Figure 7.7: Polished and pecked spheroids.......................................................................................................................117 Figure 7.8: Stone hemispheres..........................................................................................................................................117 Figure 7.9: Limestone figurine..........................................................................................................................................119 Figure 7.10: Mano fragments, showing different materials used......................................................................................121 Figure 7.11: Metate fragments, showing different materials............................................................................................121 Figure 7.12: Slate disks, plaques, and pendant.................................................................................................................124

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Figure 7.13: Worked slate fragments and unworked red slate/shale.................................................................................126 Figure 7.14: Jadeite and green-stone beads......................................................................................................................128 Figure 7.15: Jadeite and green-stone mosaic inlays or adornos........................................................................................129 Figure 7.16: Green-stone triangulates from Cache 2........................................................................................................130 Figure 7.17: Natural minerals and pigments.....................................................................................................................132 Figure 8.1: Middle Preclassic worked bone artefacts.......................................................................................................135 Figure 8.2: Freshwater shell artefacts and unworked material.........................................................................................137 Figure 8.3: Percentages of different ornament types in the combined marine shell assemblage......................................142 Figure 8.4: Frequencies of marine shell ornament types by architectural phase..............................................................143 Figure 8.5: Phase IV discoid bead diameter distribution..................................................................................................143 Figure 8.6: Sample of large and small marine shell discoid beads...................................................................................144 Figure 8.7: Non-discoid marine shell ornament...............................................................................................................146 Figure 8.8: Marine shell pendants.....................................................................................................................................148 Figure 8.9: Oliva shell tinklers from Burial 1...................................................................................................................148 Figure 8.10: Marine shell bead blanks..............................................................................................................................149 Figure 8.11: Representative sample of marine shell debris..............................................................................................150 Figure 8.12: Hypothetical production sequence for Strombus shell ornaments...............................................................152 Figure 9.1: Ceramic beads and miscellaneous modelled ceramic objects........................................................................155 Figure 9.2: Ceramic ear ornaments, napkin ring earspool fragments above scale, solid spool below.............................156 Figure 9.3: Ceramic ocarinas or whistles..........................................................................................................................159 Figure 9.4: Anthropomorphic figurine heads, showing variation in facial features and distinctive orange and buff ceramic fabrics...........................................................................................................................................................160 Figure 9.5: Smaller figurine heads, black-slipped head fragment, and ‘death head’........................................................161 Figure 9.6: Seated and standing figurine torsos, appendages, and possible headdress fragment.....................................162 Figure 9.7: Reworked sherd net weights and palette........................................................................................................166 Figure 9.8: Finished and unfinished sherd pendants and perforated disks.......................................................................168 Figure 9.9: Examples of vessels from Phase 0/I consumption-related contexts...............................................................173 Figure 9.10: Examples of vessel forms and decorations from Phase II/III consumption-related contexts......................179 Figure 9.11: Examples of decorated serving vessels from Phase IV contexts..................................................................180 Figure 9.12: Examples of coarse-textured utilitarian vessels from Phase IV contexts.....................................................181 Figure 10.1: Locations of Phase 0/I consumption-related contexts with associated architecture and features................204 Figure 10.2: Locations of Phase II/III consumption-related contexts with associated architecture and features.............205 Figure 10.3: Locations of Phase IV consumption-related contexts with associated architecture and features................206 Figure 10.4: Contributions of different materials and ceramic fabrics to the artefact assemblages of Phase 0/I consumer groups...............................................................................................................................................................209 Figure 10.5: Contributions of exotic materials to Phase II/III consumer group artefact inventories, and frequencies of ceramic figurine and ocarina fragments by group.....................................................................................212 Figure 10.6: Contribution of ceramic fabrics to the vessel inventories of different Phase II/III consumer groups..........213 Figure 10.7: Sherd densities for Phase IV deposits by excavation unit............................................................................216 Figure 10.8: Relative contributions of different exotic stone material types to Phase IV consumer group assemblages and density of marine shell ornaments associated with each group............................................................217

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List of Figures Figure 10.9: Dot density map of marine shell debris and chert drills by excavation unit, with consumer group contexts shaded grey.........................................................................................................................................................218 Figure 10.10: Scatter plots of the correlation between chert drill and marine shell debris densities; and partial correlation between the same variables, controlling for sherd densities. Both densities were log-transformed to normalized distributions....................................................................................................................................................219 Figure 10.11: Distribution of ceramic figurine and ocarina fragments across Phase IV consumer groups, showing the density and percentage of the total assemblage associated with each group...............................................220 Figure 10.12: The relative contributions of different fine-textured fabrics to the pottery assemblages of Phase IV consumer groups. Rare Fine fabrics were represented by less than five examples in the combined Phase IV pottery assemblage............................................................................................................................................................221 Figure 10.13: The relative contributions of different medium- and coarse-textured fabrics to the pottery assemblages of Phase IV consumer groups. Rare Coarse fabrics were represented by less than five examples in the combined Phase IV pottery assemblage......................................................................................................................222

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List of Tables Table 3.1: How local clusters and bridging ties might be viewed at different analytical scales, and the interactions that would have occurred at these different scales..........................................................................................34 Table 4.1: Summary data for BVAP excavations at Cahal Pech.........................................................................................41 Table 4.2: Examples of variables and attributes recorded during macroscopic pottery analysis.......................................44 Table 4.3: List of context classes with descriptions of their attributes and associated practices........................................46 Table 6.1: Selected lots below intact Floor 4 with Late Preclassic dates. LP = Late Preclassic; LMP = Late Middle Preclassic; MP = Middle Preclassic (temporal assessments from Garber 2007; Sullivan 2010)...........................63 Table 7.1: Descriptive data and measurements for the unifacial adze/plane tool type.....................................................106 Table 7.2: Descriptive data and measurements for tranchet adze tool type......................................................................107 Table 7.3: Descriptive data and measurements for non-diagnostic biface fragments.......................................................107 Table 7.4: Descriptive data and measurements for the triangular biface tool type...........................................................108 Table 7.5: Descriptive data and measurements for Phase IV chert blades.......................................................................108 Table 7.6: Frequencies, percentages, and length measurement summary statistics of complete chert drills by type.......110 Table 7.7: Frequencies and percentages of chert drills by material colour.......................................................................111 Table 7.8: Contextual associations of obsidian flakes. The ‘Early’ column includes Phases I-III; the ‘Late’ column contains only Phase IV flakes..............................................................................................................................112 Table 7.9: Contextual and descriptive data for hammerstones, all phases........................................................................115 Table 7.10: Frequencies and percentages of stone spheroids by size class, material, and production technology..........116 Table 7.11: Metric data for polished stone spheroids, excluding three (two small, one large) not available for analysis..............................................................................................................................................................................117 Table 7.12: Metric data for pecked stone spheroids.........................................................................................................118 Table 7.13: Metric data for the limestone figurine. Length was measured from the base of the legs to the shoulders; width and thickness were maximum measurements perpendicular to length.................................................119 Table 7.14: Provenience, material, and metric data for smooth stones. SF-880 measured from photograph..................120 Table 7.15: Descriptive and metric data for manos. The first two table entries are the Phase 0 and II/III manos, respectively. ‘Granite (p/g)’ refers to pink-and-grey granite............................................................................................121 Table 7.16: Descriptive and metric data for metates. SF-73 was not available for analysis and is not included in this table............................................................................................................................................................................122 Table 7.17: Metric data for slate capstone........................................................................................................................123 Table 7.18: Metric data for rough-edged slate disk..........................................................................................................124 Table 7.19: Contextual and metric data for smooth-edged slate disks.............................................................................124 Table 7.20: Metric data for drilled slate pendant. Drill hole diameter is the average of both holes, which varied by .9 mm...........................................................................................................................................................................125 Table 7.21: Frequencies and percentages of slate fragments by context. ‘Early’ includes Phases 0 – III, ‘Late’ includes only Phase IV......................................................................................................................................................126 Table 7.22: Contextual and metric data for green-stone beads. Diameters of round and discoid beads given as widths..................................................................................................................................................................128 Table 7.23: Contextual and metric data for green-stone mosaic pieces/adornos. Thickness measurement for SF-618 was lost.................................................................................................................................................................129 xviii

List of Tables Table 7.24: Metric data for green-stone triangulates. The 13 cached triangulates were not available for analysis.........130 Table 7.25: Descriptive information for one cave pearl. SF-196 and SF-326 could not be located during analysis.......132 Table 7.26: Metric data for the red ochre fragment..........................................................................................................133 Table 8.1: Measurements of tubular bone bead. Thickness of bone measured from marrow cavity to exterior surface..... 136 Table 8.2: Measurements of incised bone fragment.........................................................................................................136 Table 8.3: Freshwater bead measurements and contexts..................................................................................................138 Table 8.4: Taxonomic identifications of Middle Preclassic marine shell objects.............................................................141 Table 8.5: Descriptive statistics for large discoid beads by phase....................................................................................144 Table 8.6: Descriptive statistics for small discoid beads by phase...................................................................................144 Table 8.7: Contextual distribution of large and small discoid beads. Phases I-III are collapsed into the ‘Early’ category, and Phase IV corresponds to the ‘Late’ column................................................................................................145 Table 8.8: Measurements of square/rectangular beads.....................................................................................................146 Table 8.9: Measurements of marine shell pendants. SF-332 was circular and its diameter measurement is given in the Length column........................................................................................................................................................148 Table 8.10: Measurements of Oliva shell tinklers............................................................................................................149 Table 8.11: Contextual and metric data for marine shell bead blanks..............................................................................150 Table 8.12: Shell element frequencies and percentages in the marine shell debris assemblage.......................................150 Table 8.13: Contextual distribution of Phase IV marine shell debris by frequency and mass..........................................151 Table 9.1: Contextual and metric data for modelled ceramic beads. SF-891 was measured from a scaled photograph....156 Table 9.2: Contextual and metric data for ceramic ear ornaments. SF-878 and 867 measured from photographs..........156 Table 9.3: Contextual and metric data for miscellaneous modelled clay objects.............................................................158 Table 9.4: Contextual data for ceramic ocarinas...............................................................................................................159 Table 9.5: Temporal distribution of figurine fragments by element.................................................................................160 Table 9.6: Measurement ranges for complete figurine heads (n = 15)..............................................................................161 Table 9.7: Contextual distribution of figurine fragments from Phase IV contexts...........................................................164 Table 9.8: Metric data for sherd palette............................................................................................................................166 Table 9.9: Metric data for sherd net weights.....................................................................................................................167 Table 9.10: Metric data for perforated sherd disks. Thickness and drill hole diameter measured on 15 specimens, diameter measured from 12 complete or nearly complete specimens...........................................................168 Table 9.11: Contextual distribution of perforated sherd disks..........................................................................................168 Table 9.12: Contextual and metric data for sherd pendants. SF-881 and 885 measured from photographs.Table 9.11: Contextual distribution of perforated sherd disks....................................................................................................169 Table 9.13: Type-variety designations present in consumption-related contexts by architectural phase. Phases II and III fall in the early facet of the Kanluk phase and are combined. Related types/varieties are separated by commas; groups and larger units are separated by semicolons........................................................................................171 Table 9.14: Sherd counts and minimum number of vessels by architectural phase. Sherds from Phases II and III are combined.....................................................................................................................................................................171 Table 9.15: Functional and stylistic vessel categories by phase.......................................................................................174 Table 9.16: Photomicrographs of fabric types taken at 40X magnification......................................................................184 Table 9.17: Breakdown of fabric type frequencies by phase and associated deposits......................................................194 Table 10.1: Special finds and cache vessels from Phase 0/I consumer groups.................................................................208 Table 10.2: Functional categories of vessels from Phase 0/I consumer groups................................................................210

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 10.3: Special Finds from Phase II/III consumer groups..........................................................................................211 Table 10.4: Functional categories of vessels from Phase II/III consumer groups............................................................212 Table 10.5: Special finds and cache vessels from Phase IV consumer groups. ρ denotes density measurements in n/m3. Column percentages are given............................................................................................................................215 Table 10.6: Functional categories of vessels from Phase IV consumer groups................................................................220 Table 10.7: Consumption patterns of selected non-local materials and figurines for each Phase IV consumer group....224 Table 10.8: Consumption patterns of ceramic vessels with fine- and coarse-textured fabrics.........................................224

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Foreword This monograph is based on a PhD dissertation I successfully completed in the Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, in 2015. It currently represents the only synthesis of excavations conducted by the Belize Valley Archaeological Project at the ancient Maya centre Cahal Pech, Belize, between 2004 and 2009, as well as the most complete report of Middle Preclassic artefacts recovered by that project. Research on the Middle Preclassic Maya has accelerated during the intervening years between the defence of my dissertation and the publication of this work – including fieldwork conducted at Cahal Pech itself – and I have endeavoured to update the text to include as many recently published discoveries as possible. Many of these newer findings are indeed exciting, and following the progress of research in this specialized field of Maya archaeology has forced me to critically reconsider my own earlier work. This reflection has not, however, led me to doubt my interpretations or the conclusions I drew from them all those years ago; rather, it has produced an increasing conviction that more thorough reporting of data – such as I hope to achieve here – is necessary to evaluate theories on the origins of complex Maya societies. I remain convinced that the dynamics of interpersonal relationships, partially discoverable by archaeologists through the study of material remains, hold an important key to understanding the rise of Maya civilization, and that continued focus in this area will only reward archaeologists. It is my hope that this monograph will contribute to the field in this regard.

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Abstract Interpersonal relationships connect household groups and communities into the social interaction networks that characterize all human societies. Interaction networks structure, and are structured by, relationships created and maintained through time, which may serve a variety of social, economic, and political purposes. These relationships are important aspects of social organization that must be distilled from the archaeological record when written accounts are unavailable. Such is the case with the Middle Preclassic (c. 900 – 350 B.C.) in the Maya Lowlands, which was pivotal in the development of complex society in the region. Its temporal position between the earliest permanent settlements and the Late Preclassic, when clear evidence for hereditary inequality became widespread, makes the relationships and structures that characterized Middle Preclassic society critical targets for understanding the origins of Maya social complexity. This study explores Middle Preclassic Maya social organization and development through the lenses of materials exchange and consumption, which are used to analyse participation in socioeconomic networks by different social groups. It synthesizes data from six seasons of excavation at Cahal Pech, Belize, where previous research revealed substantial Middle Preclassic occupation and suggested the early development of social ranking. I present analyses of architectural investment and depositional patterns across multiple artefact categories that suggest prevalent models of Middle Preclassic social organization do not adequately explain variability in the data, and I develop a new framework to interpret social relationships in terms of network structures. The network model combines sociological research on small-world networks with anthropological conceptions of household and community interactions. It can be employed to analyse interactions at the local, regional, and interregional scales and is grounded in an understanding of material sources and how goods move across the landscape. Socioeconomic networks are defined by linking the depositional contexts of artefacts with known source areas, and networks can be compared among different groups to discern differences in internal and external exchange connections. My research suggests that dynamic interactions within small-world networks created increasingly complex social relationships throughout the Middle Preclassic, which likely influenced the development of institutionalized hierarchy and later Maya civilization.

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1 Introduction Interpersonal relationships connect household groups and communities into social interaction networks that characterize all human societies. Aspects of these relationships can be reconstructed for ancient communities by examining materials consumption patterns in the archaeological record, which provides a window into the social structure of interactions and their relationship to social organization. This book examines the development of social complexity during the Middle Preclassic period (c. 900 – 350 B.C.) at Cahal Pech, Belize, through an analysis of socioeconomic network participation and exchange relationships in this early lowland Maya community. It presents an analysis of depositional patterns across multiple artefact categories that suggests existing models of Middle Preclassic social organization do not adequately explain the variability observed in the data. I develop an alternate theoretical framework to account for this variability, and I interpret patterns of architectural investment and artefact consumption from the perspective of socioeconomic network participation and its impact on community development.1

Perceptions of Middle Preclassic communities changed after institutionalized rulership, large-scale construction projects, and political integration at the regional scale became associated with Late Preclassic cultural developments (e.g., Freidel and Schele 1988; Hansen 2005; Pendergast 1981). A renewed focus on Middle Preclassic occupations, aimed toward understanding how the aforementioned hallmarks of later Maya civilization emerged, has been rewarded by a mounting body of data that suggests complex social relationships have deep roots in communities across the Maya Lowlands. The large masonry platforms at Nakbe (Hansen 1998; Hansen et al. 2018), early public architecture and ritual caches at Cival and Ceibal (Estrada-Belli 2011; Inomata 2017b; Inomata et al. 2013, 2017), plaster architectural masks at Blackman Eddy (Brown 2003; Garber et al. 2004), and similar remains at many other sites provide evidence for developing complexity in Middle Preclassic communities. This complexity has been interpreted as the emergence of social ranking (e.g., Awe 1992:354; Clark and Cheetham 2002), which is seen as a necessary precursor to the development of hierarchically organized states.

A Brief Introduction to the Middle Preclassic in the Maya Lowlands

Recent research has also demonstrated longer occupation histories at sites across the Maya Lowlands. Settlements pre-dating the widespread appearance of late Middle Preclassic Mamom-sphere pottery were initially thought to comprise a few, sparsely distributed hamlets along a handful of river valleys linking inland areas to coasts (e.g., Puleston and Puleston 1971). Pre-Mamom pottery has been identified at many sites across the northern and southern lowlands during the past four decades (e.g., Andrews V et al. 2018; Awe 1992; Cheetham 2005; Kosakowsky 1987), and many early communities grew to become large, complex centres when Mamom-sphere pottery appeared. One such community was Cahal Pech, whose long history of occupation presents an ideal laboratory for studying social development in the Middle Preclassic.

Archaeologists increasingly view the Middle Preclassic as a pivotal period in the development of lowland Maya civilization, although this was not the case throughout much of the twentieth century. Comparisons between modestsized Middle Preclassic settlements distributed across the Maya Lowlands and the architecturally impressive remains outside the area led researchers to downplay the significance of lowland Maya cultural developments in the broader Mesoamerican milieu (e.g., Lowe 1977:198). Middle Preclassic communities were viewed as pioneering agricultural villages structured around tribal affiliations (Ball 1977b), which were thought to be largely selfsufficient despite the occasional acquisition of materials through long-distance exchange. Hints of more complex ritual behaviour and social organization were occasionally recognized (e.g., Culbert 1977:42; Smith 1982:118), but too little was known about Middle Preclassic occupations to overturn the predominant image of simple farming societies.

Cahal Pech, Where We Lay Our Scene The ruins of Classic-period Cahal Pech occupy a small limestone hilltop overlooking the modern town of San Ignacio, Cayo District, Belize. This hill is located near the head of navigation for the Belize River – the confluence of the Mopan and Macal Rivers – which drain areas of eastern Petén, Guatemala, and Maya Mountains, respectively. Classic-period Cahal Pech was a mediumsized centre (Figure 1.1) that included elite residences and administrative buildings, temple pyramids containing elite tombs, two ballcourts, and a number of variously open

1 I use the term ‘consumption’ to mean practices of acquisition, use, and discard or deliberate deposition of materials in the archaeological record. Consumption is therefore shorthand for a series of linked practices with the same ultimate result: materials entering the archaeological contexts where they are later discovered. I prefer this term to ‘deposition’ or ‘discard’ because of its connotations of acquisition and use, which are both important practices linked to exchange relationships.

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 1.1: Rectified plan of the architectural epicentre of Cahal Pech, showing major plazas and structures mentioned in the text. The solid north arrow represents magnetic north, and the dashed arrow grid north; this convention is used throughout for site maps.

or restricted plazas and courtyards (Awe 1992). It was neither the largest nor the most ornate centre in the Belize Valley during Classic times, but substantial investment in architecture and several free-standing monuments indicate it occupied a position of some importance in the regional settlement system.

The discovery of substantial Preclassic occupation and construction at Cahal Pech initiated almost thirty years of near-continuous fieldwork, which included several projects focused on the earliest phases of settlement (see chapter two for summary descriptions). Research at Cahal Pech by the Belize Valley Archaeological Project (BVAP) – co-directed by James Garber and Jaime Awe from 2004 to 2009 – produced the data presented and synthesized here. BVAP excavations focused on architecture and associated deposits beneath Plaza B, where earlier projects discovered extensive Middle Preclassic occupation remains (Cheetham 1996). We employed trenches, test pits, and horizontal exposures to examine a cross section of the early settlement and intensively investigate selected structures, uncovering about 135 m2 of Middle Preclassic deposits and generating a large architectural and artefactual dataset.

Cahal Pech was settled during the terminal Early Preclassic (c. 1100/1000 B.C.) and appears to have been abandoned sometime during the Terminal Classic (c. A.D. 900/1000), although some evidence for reoccupation has been sporadically encountered in the site epicentre. This approximately 2000-year period represents one of the longest documented histories of continuous occupation in the Belize Valley, and it attests to the important position Cahal Pech maintained on the physical and social landscape through generations. Extensive testing in the epicentre and peripheral groups by Jaime Awe (1992) revealed the deep roots of the Cahal Pech community in the Cunil phase, when inhabitants used a previously unknown pre-Mamom ceramic complex (Cunil) and traded in exotic items such as obsidian and marine shell. Awe’s (1992:133143) excavations also revealed a continuous construction sequence within Str. B-4 that spanned the initial occupation of the epicentre through the Late Classic, with construction episodes through the duration of the Middle Preclassic. Awe (1992) and others (Powis and Cheetham 2007) have interpreted this sequence as the development of an early elite residence into a non-domestic structure or shrine during the Middle Preclassic, and eventually into a temple during later periods.

Methodological Framework I employed several methods to achieve this synthesis and provide a detailed report of the analysed materials. Descriptions of structural remains and hypothetical reconstructions of the built environment permitted the examination of architectural development and expansion sequences. Architectural analyses included descriptions of building materials and stratigraphy, estimates of platform size and shape, and site layout reconstruction. These analyses also defined the contexts for comparing artefact consumption patterns associated with different architectural groups. 2

Introduction I provide detailed descriptions of artefacts to expand the comparative database of Middle Preclassic material culture. Discussions of potential resource areas for different materials derive from an extensive search of the geological literature, and I analyse these materials to identify variability among functionally and stylistically similar goods. My analyses focused on objects of stone, bone and shell, fired clay, and pottery; when possible, I identified materials and attributed them to geographic source zones. Macroscopic analysis of ceramic fabrics revealed variability in the pottery assemblage that may be attributable to differences in technology and/or provenance, although the cause of this variability awaits discovery through microscopic analysis (e.g., Angelini 1998; Day et al. 2006; Howie 2012; Shepard 1956).

derives from graph theory, to anthropological concepts of identity, social personae, and exchange relationships. I propose several ways that participation in small-world exchange networks could affect social relationships and lead to increasingly complex interconnections between social groups and communities. I further suggest that advantageously positioned ‘brokers’ in network clusters could use their diverse connections to acquire increasingly unequal shares of social capital and material goods. Chapter four details the analytical methods briefly described above. It includes descriptions of BVAP excavations and the analytical procedures employed by the project, as well as the independent mapping, spatial, contextual, and artefact analyses I completed. Chapter four also lays out the bridging arguments used to link variability in artefact consumption patterns to differences in network connections.

I combined spatial and contextual analyses to examine the distributions of multiple material categories and determine artefact consumption patterns associated with different social groups. Materials linked to specific resource zones demonstrate connections between groups that obtained them and people living outside the local community, and I compared these connections across different groups. When materials could not be linked to specific areas – for example, with macroscopically identified ceramic fabrics – the diversity present in different assemblages provided a relative measure of different connections. I viewed artefact consumption patterns as proxies for broader social relationships that included the exchange of materials, and I compared differences in consumption to conceptualize the network connections that channelled different materials to groups at Cahal Pech. Connections to people outside the community supplied sources of new information to certain groups that may not have been widely shared, and the position of groups within the network created the potential for increased access to social and material capital.

Descriptions of the natural environment are the subject of chapter five. These include a wide-ranging discussion of geological resources in Belize and the greater Maya area as well as a description of the environs around Cahal Pech. This chapter provides a reference for later discussions of materials procurement and resource zones, and it defines the baseline of local resources available to the Middle Preclassic inhabitants of Cahal Pech. The geological descriptions also provide a basis for future microscopic studies of pottery provenance (i.e., origin of manufacture). Chapter six provides a detailed description of the architectural sequences uncovered beneath Plaza B. It provides details on platform size, shape, location, and orientation, and it describes the building materials used in different structures. Relative dates for platforms are determined through ceramic association and stratigraphic position, and I use these data to create architectural phases linking construction sequences in different areas of Plaza B.

Structure of this Monograph The study begins by reviewing early Mesoamerican culture history, starting with the first settlement of the area and concluding with a brief summary of Late Preclassic cultural florescence. I examine reconstructions of social organization and interactions during the Early Formative/ Preclassic and describe Middle Preclassic developments across the Maya Lowlands in detail. This background information contextualizes the Cahal Pech study in the broader body of Preclassic research and introduces a discussion of interregional interactions developed in later chapters. The second half of chapter two is devoted to a summary of previous research at Cahal Pech and the findings relevant to this study.

Chapters seven and eight describe the stone, bone, and shell artefacts recovered from Plaza B deposits. Artefacts are classified by functional, stylistic, and material attributes, and are linked to resource zones when possible. Contextual analyses examine patterns of artefact consumption and deposition, and comparisons with contemporaneous assemblages relate these patterns to shared practices outside the community. I pay particular attention to marine shell ornament production and its relationship to interregional exchange networks. The first half of chapter nine resembles the preceding two chapters and describes artefacts made from fired clay. I place considerable emphasis on a discussion of anthropomorphic figurine fragments and their possible relationships to household and community ritual in this section. The second half of the chapter presents the pottery assemblages and is divided into stylistic and macroscopic fabric analysis sections. I provide functional and stylistic descriptions by architectural phase from a minimum number of identifiable vessels framework, and ceramic

The beginning of chapter three reviews current theoretical models for the origins of social complexity in the Maya Lowlands and discusses their strengths and weaknesses. I then develop a new model of network structure and participation to account for variability in the material record that is not well-explained by current theory. This model explicitly links small-world network structure, which 3

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization fabric descriptions follow a similar format. I document variability among ceramic fabrics discernible at the macroscopic and low-magnification levels in the latter section.

project. Archaeological data must be interpreted through theoretical frameworks to identify social practice and process in the static material remains of the record (e.g., Binford 1965; Schiffer 1976), and this study provides a model for understanding variability in the Middle Preclassic record. A corollary of this theoretical objective is the development of methods to recognize and interpret differences in materials consumption patterns, which are outlined above and detailed in chapter four.

Chapter ten presents a spatial analysis of artefact distributions across all analysed materials. I begin this chapter by defining different social groups (‘consumer groups’) thought to be represented by architectural remains and associated refuse deposits. I quantitatively describe artefact distributions and use these to assess the functions of different architectural groups and the consumption patterns associated with each group. I relate artefact distribution patterns to differences in architectural investment associated with each group and suggest a linkage between these two realms of practice.

A final objective of this study is to demonstrate that Middle Preclassic social organization was more complex than previously thought. This appears to be just as true of sites lacking massive construction projects as those held up as exemplars of early complexity. Middle Preclassic social relationships may have been structured along lines of social rank and nascent ascribed status characteristic of chiefdoms, but variability in the record of exchange relationships and architectural investment suggests that other relationships were possible and should be explored. Critical study of Middle Preclassic remains can only be achieved through an intense interrogation of available datasets, and we must be willing to recognize and account for variability whenever it is encountered.

I discuss and interpret the aforementioned patterns using the small-world network model in chapter eleven. I link archaeological evidence to aspects of network structure and suggest that small-world networks characterized exchange relationships at Cahal Pech from the earliest days of settlement. I identify different groups that potentially acted as brokers for new information and materials entering the system, and I forward this model as an appropriate alternative to explain the development of social complexity in light of variability in the dataset. The network analysis is expanded to the regional and interregional scales, where I present evidence that the Cahal Pech community potentially acted as a broker in the regional cluster of Belize Valley sites. I conclude that participation in a well-developed, interregional smallworld network structured the development of social complexity in the Belize Valley and possibly elsewhere in the Maya Lowlands. The concluding chapter contains a brief summary of the network model and its implications, an outline of the contributions this study makes to our understanding of Middle Preclassic society, and directions for future research. I conclude with an analogy between the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands and Ubaid-period Mesopotamia that suggests increased participation in established interregional exchange networks was critical to state formation in many areas of the world. Objectives of this Research The primary objective of this study is the documentation and presentation of variability in the Middle Preclassic material record at Cahal Pech from a scientific perspective. I recognize that all archaeological interpretations are based on incomplete samples and that interpretations may be modified or discarded as more data becomes available for analysis. The presentation and publication of the dataset for comparative purposes, and a recognition of the variability it contains, is therefore of primary importance. That said, the development of a theoretical model to interpret this dataset was also a significant objective of the 4

2 The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech Introduction

lowlands is now widely accepted. Indirect indications of early lowland occupation derive from palynological analyses of soil and lake cores (Leyden 2002; Pohl et al. 1996), with scattered surface finds of projectile points and fossils of extinct megafauna providing more direct evidence (Lohse et al. 2006; Zeitlin 1984). Preceramic habitation sites have also been found in stratified deposits in and around the site Colha in northern Belize (Iceland 1997, 2005). The transition from mobile foraging to sedentary village agriculture, a hallmark of which is the appearance of pottery (Willey and Phillips 1958), presents a problem in the archaeological record of much of the Maya Lowlands that is discussed in more detail in the following sections.

The Middle Preclassic occupies a central place in Mesoamerican social development in both a temporal and figurative sense: it follows a long period of experimentation with cultigens and the initial establishment of permanent settlements, and it precedes the time when hierarchically organized polities with hereditary rulers became commonplace features of the social landscape. The Middle Preclassic is a temporal division created by archaeologists and was not a period of homogeneous social development across Mesoamerica; large, complex polities already existed in some areas while others were first being settled. The observed variability in Middle Preclassic societies is understandable, however, given the geographic extent of Mesoamerica and the numerous environmental zones included within it (Kirchoff 1943).

Paleoindian and Archaic Dating the earliest occupation of Middle America is problematic, but recent research indicates that humans had moved into the area by at least the end of the Pleistocene, probably before 13,700 BP (e.g., Andrews and Robles Castellanos 2018; González González et al. 2008: Table 1; Stinnesbeck et al. 2017).1 Localities in the Valsequillo Basin of central Mexico, where simple flake tools and later bifaces were associated with the bones of extinct megafauna, continue to provide dates for early occupation in excess of 20,000 years BP (González et al. 2006; IrwinWilliams 1978). The validity of these early dates has been questioned, but people with bifacial point technology appear to have spread across most of the region by the terminal Pleistocene at the latest (de Anda 1956; MacNeish and Nelken-Terner 1983; Marcus and Flannery 1996:4148; Stark 1981:349-352). The paucity of remains and their scattered distribution suggest a sparse population of highly mobile foragers (sensu Binford 1980) inhabited the area, although the presence of both lanceolate and fishtail points in Belize led Lohse and colleagues (2006) to propose two distinct episodes of Paleoindian migration and occupation from 11500 – 8000 B.C.

Important trends that characterize Middle Preclassic lowland Maya societies include increases in population (Anderson 2010; Ford 1990; Ford and Fedick 1992; Rice 1976), the development of monumental architecture, wealth, and social inequality (Awe 1992; Brown 2003; Doyle 2012; Estrada-Belli 2011; Hansen 1998), and intensification of long-distance trade in exotic commodities (Hammond 1991b, 1991c; Hansen 2005; Hohmann 2002). These trends parallel earlier and contemporaneous developments elsewhere in Mesoamerica and have been documented in the Middle Preclassic record of Belize Valley sites. They are important not only in foreshadowing the institutionalization of hierarchical political structures in the Late Preclassic and Classic periods, but also for the window they provide into the social processes operating during the Middle Preclassic itself. This chapter reviews the Mesoamerican Preclassic and its antecedents before focusing on the Middle Preclassic of the Maya Lowlands and the early settlement history of the Belize Valley. I discuss possible interaction and development of other sites in this area, and close with a summary of previous research at Cahal Pech.

Global climatic changes early in the Holocene (c. 8000 B.C.) led to several adaptations in subsistence and mobility strategies in Middle America that paralleled those seen elsewhere in the world (Ford and Nigh 2015). This period, known as the Archaic, was marked by population increases, decreases in group mobility, and a broadening

Antecedents: Preceramic Mesoamerica and the Early Preclassic The Middle Preclassic in Mesoamerica followed several thousand years of human occupation. Better preservation and higher archaeological visibility have biased our understanding of early occupation toward highland areas of Mexico (e.g., Flannery and Spores 1983, MacNeish 1964), although an early human presence of the tropical

I use the term Middle America to refer to the geographic region before the constellation of traits coalesced that define Mesoamerica as a culture area (Kirchoff 1943). 1

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization appearing only around 1000 B.C. or slightly before. At Colha, the Kelly Site, and elsewhere in northeastern Belize, Middle Preclassic agricultural villages arose in the same areas as Late Preceramic (1500 – 900 B.C.) settlements, suggesting some level of continuity between occupations (Iceland 1997:292; Lohse 2010). The appearance of the mature ceramic technologies represented by Swasey and Bolay complex pottery at these sites, however, has yet to be adequately explained.

of the subsistence base to include more small game and gathered plant foods (Willey and Phillips 1958:104-110).2 Groups in the semiarid Tehuacán and Oaxaca Valleys of Mexico developed mobile settlement strategies to exploit seasonally available resources, and subsequent experimentation with wild plants in these areas gradually led to the domestication of cultigens in the absence of sedentary villages (MacNeish 1964, 1971; Marcus and Flannery 1996:Chapter 4). Different groups established sedentary or semi-sedentary settlements where natural resources were abundant, such as the lakeshores of the Basin of Mexico (Niederburger 1979) and the marine estuaries of Pacific Coastal Chiapas (Voorhies et al. 2002). This range of adaptive strategies represents a common shift toward logistical foraging or collecting (sensu Binford 1980) that occurred throughout much of the Middle American Archaic.

John Clark and David Cheetham (2002:311) suggest the adaptive success of shifting-horticulture tribal societies could explain the apparent time lag in the widespread appearance of permanent villages in the Maya Lowlands. Such ‘minimal tribalism,’ they contend, was irrevocably changed into a more complex system of social ranking not long after these groups intensified food production and became fully sedentary. Current data suggest an increase in social complexity appeared concurrently with pottery and permanent architecture, although the characterization of these early communities as ‘ranked’ is questionable due to the small sample of excavated structures and other contexts. Clark and Cheetham are correct, however, in recognizing rapidly evolving processes that led to higher levels of social differentiation by at least the late Middle Preclassic (c. 600 B.C.) and probably earlier.

Archaic developments in Belize (8000 – 1100/1000 B.C.) are less clearly understood and remain a debatable topic, although more evidence of Archaic occupation has been discovered here than in other areas of the Maya Lowlands (Lohse 2020). Recent work has documented Archaic occupation of the rugged terrain in southern Belize (Prufer and Kennett 2020), but much of what we know of this time period comes from areas farther north. Lohse and colleagues (2006) suggest that only a two-facet Late Archaic phase (3400 – 900 B.C.) can be recognized in the extant data, and they reject the five-phase chronology originally proposed by MacNeish and others (MacNeish and Nelken-Turner 1983; Zeitlin 1984). Diagnostic Late Archaic lithics have been recovered from stratified contexts at sites in northeastern Belize (Iceland 1997, 2005; Rosenswig 2004), but the geographic distribution of this technology has yet to be defined.

The Early Formative outside the Maya Lowlands: 2000 – 900 B.C. The persistence of aceramic, semi-sedentary lifeways throughout most of the Early Preclassic (c. 2000 – 900 B.C.) in the Maya Lowlands is interesting, given that many permanent settlements have been discovered in other areas of Mesoamerica that date to this period (Figure 2.1).3 Villages and early monumental centres were founded by ceramic-using communities near the Maya Lowlands in northwestern Honduras (Joyce and Henderson 2001, 2010), the highlands of El Salvador (Sharer 1978) and Guatemala (Michels 1979a), and along the Pacific coastal margins of Guatemala (Love 1991) and Chiapas, Mexico (Ceja Tenorio 1985). Similar settlements were also established west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the Valley of Oaxaca (Flannery and Marcus 1983a, 1994), the Basin of Mexico (Grove 2017; Niederberger 1996), and the Gulf Coast lowlands of Veracruz (Coe and Diehl 1980; Pool 2007; Wendt 2010).4

The earliest evidence of agriculture in Belize dates to the Late Archaic. Soil cores from Cob Swamp in northern Belize show the appearance of maize and manioc pollen around 3400 B.C., with more intensive maize cultivation preceded by possible forest clearance about 2500 – 2400 B.C. (Pohl et al. 1996). This corresponds with a date of 2400 B.C. for maize and manioc cultivation, also preceded by forest clearance, at Cobweb Swamp near Colha (Jones 1994). Iceland (1997, 2005) found several stone tools from a Late Archaic sedentary community along the margins of Cobweb swamp but was unable to locate any permanent structures associated with this occupation.

The terms ‘Preclassic’ and ‘Formative’ are synonymous from a chronological perspective and differ in usage by convention. Formative has traditionally been preferred in areas outside the Maya Lowlands, although it is sometimes used in that area as well. I prefer the term Preclassic as a chronological referent (i.e., ‘before the Classic’) that is less loaded with assumptions about cultural developments, but I use Formative when discussing developments beyond the Maya Lowlands in keeping with standard usage. 4 Phillip Arnold (1999) argues not all Early Formative communities of the Gulf Coast were fully sedentary but were probably more residentially mobile than commonly thought. He uses formal, functional, and stylistic characteristics of early Gulf Coast pottery, particularly tecomates, to argue against the generally accepted view that the presence of pottery indicates the adoption of year-round sedentism and greater reliance on agriculture for subsistence. This provocative argument would be greatly 3

Preceramic lifeways, involving horticulture and limited residential mobility (Stemp and Harrison-Buck 2019), persisted throughout the Maya Lowlands for most of the Early Preclassic, with pottery and durable architecture 2 The degree to which Paleoindian peoples relied on big-game hunting and Pleistocene megafauna has been challenged in Mesoamerica (Marcus and Flannery 1996: Chapter 3; MacNeish 1964) and elsewhere, and it is highly likely that Paleoindian people had a much more varied diet than that indicated by preserved materials.

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The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech

Figure 2.1: Partial map of Mesoamerica showing Preclassic sites outside of the Maya Lowlands and geographic regions mentioned in the text.

Early Formative communities near the Pacific coasts of Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico, may have precociously developed into more complex societies, although the nature and level of social organization in these communities remains debatable. Early sedentary societies in this area began to produce the well-developed Barracomplex pottery around 1800 B.C. and established the Mokaya cultural tradition that evolved over the following seven centuries (Clark and Pye 2000). Regional settlement patterning in the Mazatán area of Chiapas, and differences in residential architecture at the early settlement Paso de la Amada, led some researchers to suggest chiefly centres emerged by the onset of the Locona phase around 1700 B.C. (Blake 1991; Clark 1991, 1994), although the evidence for hereditary inequality and chiefs at this early date is not universally accepted.

and occupation may have been interrupted at several sites, including Paso de la Amada, which never regained its elevated status in the local site hierarchy (Clark 1994). Cantón Coralito became the primary regional centre during the following Cuadros phase (1300 – 1200 B.C.), and material ties to the Gulf Coast increased. Clark (2007) interprets this settlement as an Olmec colony placed to control a conquered or otherwise subjected population, while Cheetham (2010a) sees Cantón Coralito as an ethnic enclave of Gulf Coast Olmec that may, or may not, have exerted power over the indigenous Mokaya. Substantial research has focused on sociocultural developments in the second half of the Early Formative, beginning around 1400 B.C., when communities across Mesoamerica began to create artefacts, monuments, and architecture that shared several distinctive aspects of style and iconography. Many elements of this iconographic complex appear to be shared by later Mesoamerican cultures, especially those of the Classic Maya (Reilly III 1995; Schele 1995). Variously called the Olmec style, Olmec Horizon, Olmec, Olmecoid, X Complex, and pan-Mesoamerican symbols, the widespread appearance of this shared iconography and roughly concurrent rise of early monumental centres has generated considerable disagreement among scholars about the nature of interaction between early Mesoamerican complex societies.

Communities in this area maintained distinctive ceramic design styles and other material traditions until the Cherla phase (1400 – 1300 B.C.), when small numbers of imported vessels and figurines from the Gulf Coast of Mexico may have become objects of local emulation in Mazatán (Clark and Pye 2000). Settlement patterns shifted strengthened by a microscopic study of the pottery to determine its provenance and infer possible patterns of population movement.

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization and Henderson 2001, 2010; Sharer 1989). By about 1250 B.C., the Maya Lowlands were effectively encircled by a network of communities with a shared iconographic system expressed on pottery.

This debate centres on the role the Gulf Coast Olmec played in the emergence of complex society in Mesoamerica. The opposing sides comprise scholars who see the Gulf Coast as the primary source of the complex Olmec society and ideology (e.g., Cheetham 2010a; Clark 2007; Clark and Pye 2000), and those who view the Gulf Coast Olmec as one of several chiefdoms (or even tribal societies; see Arnold 2005) engaged in competitive interregional interactions during the Early Formative (e.g., Flannery and Marcus 1994, 2000; Grove 1989; Inomata et al. 2013; Sharer 1989).5 The discussion has become polarized in recent years following the completion of competing provenance studies of Early Formative pottery, although the problem remains largely unresolved (Blomster et al. 2005; Flannery et al. 2005; Neff 2011; Neff et al. 2006a, 2006b; Sharer et al. 2006; Stoltman et al. 2005; Stoltman 2011).

Monumental stone carving and public architecture, both hallmarks of later Mesoamerican civilization, also appeared during this period but did not become widespread until Middle Formative times. Large-scale landscape modification and dozens of carved basalt monuments were discovered at San Lorenzo, although structures and platforms were constructed of earth and clay instead of stone (Coe and Diehl 1980; Cyphers 1997). Many massive basalt blocks, including the materials used in all the San Lorenzo colossal heads, were transported over 50 km from sources at Cerro Cintepec before being carved into monuments (Williams and Heizer 1965). The remains of an early ballcourt have also been uncovered at Paso de la Amada (c. 1600 B.C). Ballcourts became prominent architectural assemblages at sites across Mesoamerica in later times, and Hill and Clark (2001) have suggested the ballgame played a role in developing social complexity and the establishment of chiefly governance in coastal Mazatán. The relationship between the early Mesoamerican ballgame and political developments is not clear, however, and the association of ballcourts with emergent elites is questionable (Anderson 2012)

Early Formative interregional interactions lie beyond the scope of this study, and I will leave this debate to be resolved by others. The importance I place in later chapters on the role of socioeconomic networks in the development of complex Middle Preclassic societies may telegraph my position on the subject, however. Some observations on important developments in later Early Formative Mesoamerica can be made without further comment on the nature of interactions between Gulf Coastal and other societies.

Exchange of materials with restricted source zones also flourished at this time, as networks were established that moved obsidian, marine shell, magnetite, and greenstone artefacts between distant centres. Polished celts of jadeite, serpentinite, and other varieties of greencoloured stone possibly deriving from the Motagua Valley in Guatemala have been recovered at the Early Formative Gulf Coast site El Manatí (Jaime-Riveron 2010) and Cantón Corralito in Chiapas (Cheetham 2010a). Magnetite mirrors were manufactured at San José Mogote and traded into San Lorenzo (Flannery 1968; Flannery and Marcus 1994), and marine shell from the Pacific Ocean, including the enduringly important spiny oyster (Spondylus spp.), reached the highlands of Oaxaca as raw materials (Pires-Ferreira 1976b). Obsidian exchange linked sites in the Gulf Coast, the Valley of Oaxaca, the Basin of Mexico, and the highlands of Guatemala together in overlapping networks (PiresFerreira 1976a). Perishable lowland commodities like cacao, tobacco, and colourful macaw feathers were likely traded for highland mineral resources (Clark 1994:275), although only one side of these exchanges is preserved in the archaeological record.

Several Mesoamerican village communities began to use pottery carved and incised with distinctive motifs at various times after 1400 B.C. Many of these motifs were related to iconographic complexes originally defined as ‘Olmec’ (Joralemon 1971), but the pottery on which they were carved was distributed widely across Mesoamerica at roughly contemporaneous sites. Iconographic studies related certain motifs to the supernatural forces sky/ fire-serpent and earth/were-jaguar, which were believed to be widespread elements of Preclassic Mesoamerican religious ideology (Flannery and Marcus 1994; Pyne 1976). Vessels bearing these motifs were recovered from sites across central and southern Mexico, including San José Mogote in the Valley of Oaxaca (Flannery and Marcus 1994), San Lorenzo near the Gulf Coast of Veracruz (Coe and Diehl 1980), Tlapacoya-Zohapilco in the Basin of Mexico (Niederberger 1987, cited by Flannery and Marcus 1994: 377), and Chalcatzingo in Morelos (Grove 1989). They are also known from sites in the Mazatán area (Cheetham 2010b; Clark and Pye 2000), and from Copán and Puerto Escondido in northwestern Honduras (Joyce

Trade in pottery also appears to have occurred between several centres west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, but the nature of this exchange remains fiercely debated. Some scholars see the early Gulf Coast centre San Lorenzo as being primarily an exporter of fine-textured pottery carved with ‘Olmec’ iconography (e.g., Blomster et al. 2005), while others see evidence of multidirectional trade in pottery among Early Preclassic centres (e.g., Flannery

5 This disagreement is often characterized as the ‘mother vs. sister culture debate,’ following a phrase coined by Norman Hammond (1989). While catchy, this formulation oversimplifies complexities in recent positions taken by both sides in the argument, especially those who argue for the significance of the Gulf Coast Olmec. Most (but not all) scholars have abandoned the idea that the Gulf Coast Olmec were the single source of all Mesoamerican civilization, although several contend they were the most important source.

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The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech et al. 2005).6 Despite the ongoing disagreement over the characteristics of ceramic exchange, it is clear that ceramic vessels, or the materials they contained, did move between Early Formative centres in this area, as they likely did in other areas that have yet to be investigated.

The earliest permanent villages and pottery appear in the archaeological record of the Maya Lowlands sometime around 1100/1000 B.C.8 We know comparatively little about these communities, as the few recorded examples lie deeply buried beneath later constructions. Sites with similarly ancient and decorated pottery stretch like a thin band across central Petén, from the upper areas of the Belize Valley in the east to the Pasión drainage in the west (Figure 2.2). Our knowledge of their geographic distribution is constrained by issues of sampling, accessibility, and visibility, and it seems likely that more will be found in the Petén interior and elsewhere before long. Stylistically similar pottery with slightly later associated dates (c. 900 B.C.) from the far northern lowlands suggests terminal Early Preclassic occupations were widespread across the area (Andrews V et al. 2018), but current reconstructions show a relatively sparse occupation of the Maya Lowlands around 1000 B.C. These settlements are typically conceived of as small agricultural hamlets or villages, although recent excavations at Ceibal suggest some early lowland communities built corporate or public architecture soon after they were settled, or perhaps while their populations remained somewhat mobile (Inomata et al. 2013, 2015).

The transition to the Middle Formative/Preclassic in Mesoamerica: 1100 – 900 B.C. Region-wide trends toward social ranking and increased complexity continued and were elaborated from about 1100 to 900 B.C., when archaeologists mark the transition from Early to Middle Preclassic.7 San Lorenzo began to decline in importance and ceased to be a major centre by about 900 B.C. (Coe and Diehl 1980). Exchange networks moving obsidian and other restricted resources continued to operate but may have shifted geographically, and perhaps qualitatively, as more complex arrangements of commodity distribution were adopted by settlements in western Mesoamerica (Pires-Ferreira and Flannery 1976; Pires-Ferreira 1976a, 1976b). Existing communities west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec expanded as new sites were founded elsewhere. Chalcatzingo grew into a large monumental centre at this time (Grove 1987), which may have been partly due to its position as a ‘gateway community’ in brokering exchanges between settlements in the Basin of Mexico and those farther south (Hirth 1978). Carved stone monuments, and public buildings with white lime plaster and stone facings, appeared at San José Mogote during this period, and the scale of construction steadily increased (Flannery and Marcus 1983a). Teopantecuanitlán, in the Balsas Valley of Guerrero, Mexico, grew into an impressive centre with large-scale stone architecture and ‘Olmec style’ carved monuments toward the end of this transitional period (Martínez Donjuán 1995).

Similarities in stylistic and modal attributes among terminal Early Preclassic pottery complexes suggest the inhabitants of these communities were connected by largescale interaction networks, or that settlers migrated into the Maya Lowlands from the surrounding areas (Andrews V 1990; Willey 1982). Design elements incised on serving vessels are similar to the pan-Mesoamerica symbols on Early Formative pottery from outside the Maya Lowlands, which has generated much discussion over the transmission of these designs to lowland communities and the apparent time-lag of their adoption (Awe 1992; Cheetham 1998; Garber et al. 2004). David Cheetham (2005) grouped these ceramic complexes into a Cunil Horizon and saw them as expressing cultural unity or shared history among early village communities. Garber and Awe (2009), on the other hand, suggested that motifs found on Cunil and Kanocha pottery from the Belize Valley differed enough from the pan-Mesoamerican symbols to be considered a regional variant, as might be expected from culturally distinct groups manipulating representations of a shared ideology. The limited accessibility of terminal Early Preclassic deposits has thus far constrained attempts at regional synthesis of settlement data, and the origin and

Settlement patterns shifted again during the Jocotal and initial Conchas phases (1200 – 900 B.C.) in the Soconusco/ Mazatán region. Cantón Coralito may have been destroyed by flooding at this time, or perhaps saw its fate inextricably linked to the declining fortunes of San Lorenzo on the Gulf Coast; it was temporarily abandoned and replaced by Ojo de Agua as the regional centre of Mazatán (Cheetham 2010a:110-111). A settlement cluster formed around the Rios Naranjo and Suchiate slightly over 40 km away, near the modern border of Mexico and Guatemala. Settlements in this area were neither highly nucleated nor well integrated with the Mazatán centres during the preceding periods (Love 1991:57), but they began to grow in size and importance by the beginning of the Conchas phase (950 B.C.).

Absolute dates for the earliest ceramic occupations of Southern Lowland sites vary and are the subjects of recurrent debate. Most seem to cluster around 1000 B.C. in the Belize Valley and Petén, Guatemala (Lohse 2010), with a few possibly as early as 1100 B.C., but the dating of early ceramic-using settlements in northern Belize is more problematic. Several radiocarbon dates from Cuello point to an early occupation beginning by 1000 B.C., or even as early as 1200 B.C., but the distribution of early dates suggest initial settlement began between 1000 and 900 B.C. (Andrews V and Hammond 1990). Some ceramicists see the Swasey ceramic complex more comfortably fitting in the range of 900 – 800 B.C., and these different interpretations have not been entirely reconciled. The pottery of northern Belize does not include the panMesoamerican symbols discussed above, however, and these settlements will be treated in the following section on the Middle Preclassic. 8

6 Positions in this debate were based on studies using two different methods to investigate the provenance of pottery. The research team led by Blomster analysed elemental composition data obtained from Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, while Flannery and colleagues employed thin section petrography to identify mineral components of ceramic fabrics. 7 This has been referred to as the ‘Terminal Early Formative’ in the Belize Valley (Garber and Awe 2009), where it is defined by the earliest ceramic complexes in the area.

9

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 2.2: Sites with stylistically similar Terminal Early Preclassic pottery.

characteristics of the earliest lowland village communities remain the subjects of debate.

and certainly by the close of the period around 350 B.C. Monumental architecture, evidence of incipient social stratification, and well-defined settlement hierarchies, although arguably present in some regions during the Early Formative, became widespread across the Mesoamerica. This trend toward increasing complexity was by no means uniform at all sites or in all regions, and it likely developed through increasing interaction and competition between communities with growing populations (e.g., Flannery and Marcus 2000; Inomata et al. 2013).

Artefacts of non-local materials, such as obsidian, marine shell, and green-coloured stone, have been recovered from the earliest occupation levels of Belize Valley settlements (Awe 1992; Garber et al. 2004), indicating their participation in long-distance exchange networks comparable in scale to those observed elsewhere in Mesoamerica. Exotic materials, such as obsidian (Aoyama 2017), were also exchanged into Ceibal on the Rio Pasión around this time. Variation in the distribution of exotic materials and decorated pottery has been interpreted as evidence of early social ranking (e.g., Cheetham 1996; Clark and Cheetham 2002), but sampling and contextual problems with deeply buried deposits suggest caution in drawing such conclusions. Differences in social status may have existed at this time, but the number of comparable excavated contexts within lowland sites is insufficient to precisely determine the nature of this differentiation.

The Middle Formative outside the Maya Lowlands Monumental public architecture became a widespread phenomenon across much of Mesoamerica during the Middle Formative. Increased investment in stand-alone monuments and architecture, and the increase in social complexity presumed to accompany this investment, was initially attributed to developments in the Olmec heartland area of Gulf Coastal Mexico. The growth and influence of La Venta, in the modern Mexican state of Tabasco, was particularly implicated, as carved stone monuments and portable artefacts from other regions of Mesoamerica appeared stylistically similar to those found in abundance at that site. Interregional interaction and exchange of materials and ideas have long been seen as important factors in the rise of complexity throughout Mesoamerica,

The Middle Formative/Preclassic outside and inside the Maya Lowlands: 900 – 350 B.C. Archaeologists agree that complex forms of social organization existed across much of Mesoamerica by the beginning of the Middle Preclassic (c. 900 B.C.), 10

The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech but these interactions are now viewed as multifaceted processes and not simply reflecting the dominance of La Venta (e.g., Andrews V 1986; Demarest 1989; Inomata et al. 2013; Sharer 1989).

that are stylistically related to Gulf Coast sculpture (Clark and Pye 2000). The distribution of monumental sites may indicate this region continued to function as an interaction corridor between the Gulf Coast and southeastern Mesoamerica.

La Venta was one of several regional centres that expanded from smaller, earlier communities to become the primate sites in Middle Formative settlement hierarchies (Clark 2017; Rust and Sharer 1988). Formally arranged earthen mounds and plazas, extensive use of megalithic basalt blocks in the construction of tombs, monuments, and drains, and a massive earthen pyramid with cutstone terrace facings characterize the architecture of La Venta and set it apart from the earlier Gulf Coast centre San Lorenzo (González Lauck 1996; Heizer, Drucker and Graham 1968; Heizer, Graham and Napton 1968). Massive offerings of serpentine blocks and buried mosaic pavements speak to the ability of the community’s leaders to obtain non-local materials for displays of conspicuous consumption (Drucker et al. 1959), as does the greater diversity of rock sources used for free-standing stone monuments in comparison to other Gulf Coast centres (Williams and Heizer 1965). Large quantities of portable jadeite artefacts also indicate increased access to non-local goods, although a quantitative analysis of these materials by Drennan (1984) suggested exchange in jadeite remained at a relatively small scale throughout La Venta’s occupation.

Political centres continued to develop west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Public architectural investment increased at San José Mogote and a multi-tiered settlement hierarchy developed in the Valley of Oaxaca (Flannery and Marcus 1983a). The community at Chalcatzingo grew larger and erected numerous carved stone monuments depicting scenes or figures reminiscent of those known from La Venta (Grove 1987). Interregional interaction intensified across Mesoamerica during the Middle Formative, which resulted in broadly similar styles of carved monuments and portable art objects of jadeite and other green-coloured stone (Clark and Pye 2000; Taube 2005). Marine shells from the Pacific coast continued to circulate through the Oaxaca Valley, although the range of imported species was reduced from the preceding period (Pires-Ferreira 1976b:314). The development of prismatic blades co-occurred with shifts in obsidian procurement and exchange networks around 1000 B.C. in Oaxaca, and these changes may reflect the development of a redistributive economy characteristic of social ranking or chiefdom-level organization (PiresFerreira and Flannery 1976:291). Pan-Mesoamerican symbols no longer decorated pottery and were replaced by abstract designs, such as the double-line-break motif (Demarest 1989:322). Distinct regional pottery styles developed and sometimes appeared outside of their core areas, which has been taken as further evidence of interregional exchange between locally developing cultures (Andrews V 1986).

Sites with similarly impressive public constructions appeared in other regions at about the same time, or perhaps before, the emergence of La Venta as a ceremonial centre (Inomata 2017a; Inomata et al. 2013). La Blanca rose to prominence in a three-tiered settlement hierarchy in the Soconusco region following a dramatic population increase during the Middle Formative Conchas phase (950 – 750 B.C.). Massive public and residential earthen mounds were built at La Blanca that dominated the smaller public mounds constructed at minor centres in the area (Love 1991, 2007). Social ranking has been inferred through the differential distribution of jade/green-stone jewellery, earspools, and fine-paste pottery (Love 1991:60-61), and emergent elites are thought to have manipulated a smaller array of valuable materials to signify their newfound status at La Blanca and its secondary centres (Rosenswig 2007:11).

Changes in the size, location, and complexity of settlements characterize the latter portion of the Middle Formative outside of the Maya Lowlands. Urbanism emerged from increasingly nucleated population centres, and the earliest archaic states in Mesoamerica may have coalesced during this period (Clark 2017).9 La Venta collapsed and was abandoned around 400 B.C., and its contemporary Tres Zapotes rose to become the dominant regional centre along the Mexican Gulf Coast (Pool 2009). Settlement in the Valley of Oaxaca was reorganized with the founding of Monte Albán around 500 B.C. (Blanton 1983), which

Large earthen pyramids were also built farther south along the coast at El Mesak (Pye and Demarest 1991), at Chalchuapa in western El Salvador (Sharer 1978, 1989), and at several sites in central Chiapas to the north (Clark 2017; Lowe 1977). Kaminaljuyú rose from relative obscurity as a lakeside agricultural village to become an ‘incipient regional centre’ in a settlement hierarchy located in the central Guatemala Highlands (Michels 1979a:135), although little in the way of social differentiation was noted in the scattered hamlets surrounding the centre (Sanders 1974:98). Several sites in the piedmont and adjacent highlands of southern Guatemala, especially the centre at Takalik Abaj (Love 2007), contain carved monuments

The earliest appearance of states is often difficult to recognize archaeologically. Evidence tends to be obscured or destroyed by later construction activities in mature states, making precise dating estimates of initial state formation problematic. Compounding this issue is the problem of how archaic states should be recognized archaeologically, and if the earliest manifestations of state-level political organization always leave the same recognizable traces. The urban character of settlements, appearance of palaces and/or large religious structures, and the development of four-tiered settlement hierarchies in several areas suggest archaic states may indeed have formed towards the end of the Middle Preclassic (see several papers in Feinman and Marcus 1998, and especially Flannery 1998), although John Clark (2007) sees their appearance much earlier at San Lorenzo. 9

11

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization in Mesoamerica, and the social differentiation and inequality inferred from each, Gareth Lowe’s (1977:198) assessment of the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands as a ‘cultural backwater’ seemed appropriate to many researchers at the time.11

grew to become the capital of a territorial state by 200 B.C. at the latest (Flannery and Marcus 1983b:80). Several existing centres in the highlands of Guatemala and El Salvador, including Izapa, Kaminaljuyú, and Chalchuapa, increased in population density and grew larger than 4 square kilometres by the end of the Middle Formative (Love 2007). Developments in the southern highlands, especially at Kaminaljuyú (Michels 1979a, 1979b), reached a climax during the Late Formative, after which many regional centres collapsed.

Discoveries of the past three decades cast doubt on the ‘simple farming village’ models of the Middle Preclassic lowland Maya and have forced a reappraisal of these societies and their position within greater Mesoamerican cultural history. We now know of several sites with preMamom pottery and absolute dates of at least 1000 B.C. across the southern lowlands, and several others that may date as early or slightly later in northern Belize and the northern lowlands of Yucatán and Campeche. This does more than simply push the chronology of settlement backward; models of Middle Preclassic colonization by more highly developed societies in the neighbouring lowlands or highlands require revision, as communities were already in place in the Maya Lowlands and interacting with the proposed donor-societies at this time. Evidence also suggests these early communities were more complex than originally thought.

The Maya Lowlands during the Middle Preclassic Late Middle Preclassic (c. 600 B.C.) settlement in the central Maya Lowlands was originally documented in Mamom-phase deposits at Group E, Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937; Smith 1955).10 This work demonstrated the considerable time depth of ceramicusing communities in the region, although the dates come more than 1000 years later than similar developments elsewhere in Mesoamerica. A handful of older occupations were subsequently discovered in the Rio Pasión drainage of Guatemala (Adams 1971; Sabloff 1975) and in northern Belize (Hammond 1977), but the ubiquity of Mamomrelated pottery throughout the Maya Lowlands was such that the late Middle Preclassic was viewed as the most significant period of expansion into and throughout area (Willey et al. 1967).

Monumental architecture and evidence for intensified economic activity, long held to be hallmarks of increasingly complex social organization, have been discovered at Middle Preclassic lowland sites. Immense public buildings and evidence for large-scale site planning have been found at several sites in northern Petén, Guatemala and nearby Mexico, and a regional state may have developed in this area at the close of the period (Hansen 1998, 2005). Even earlier large-scale constructions and landscape modifications, dating to the beginning of the Middle Preclassic, have recently been documented at Aguada Fénix in Tabasco, Mexico (Inomata et al. 2020) and Ceibal, Guatemala (Inomata et al. 2019). Exchange of exotic commodities expanded in scope at many lowland sites, and linguistic evidence suggests that market-related terms (e.g., ‘buying,’ ‘selling,’ ‘market’), implying complex economic interactions, emerged in Mayan languages during the first millennium B.C. (Tokovinine and Beliaev 2013:172). Evidence of early social differentiation has accumulated, and Mayanists have begun to overcome their preconditioning ‘to expect (and find) a “simple farming village” stage of cultural development’ in the early occupation levels of long-lived sites (Culbert 1977:42).

Attempts to understand this expansion initially focused on identifying possible migration routes into the Maya Lowlands and the social organization of late Middle Preclassic communities (Adams, ed. 1977). Dennis and Olga Puleston (1971) proposed an ecological model of migration into the lowland interior from the Pacific and Gulf Coasts by means of river systems, but the areas of origin and ethnic identities of these settlers were debated (Adams 1972; Lowe 1977; Sedat and Sharer 1972). Observed similarities in Mamom-sphere pottery, and its direct relation to the even more ‘homogeneous’ Chicanel ceramic sphere, suggested these groups represented an ancestral Maya population (Willey 1977). The initial Mamom occupations, and the few pre-Mamom settlements known at the time, were thought to comprise politically autonomous, relatively egalitarian village communities that supplemented their agricultural base by hunting and fishing (Willey 1977). Little evidence of social differentiation was apparent, and the basis of community leadership was thought to derive from the unique abilities of individuals (Adams 1977). Joseph Ball (1977b) proposed a segmentary tribal organization for the earliest inhabitants of the northern lowlands based on ethnological comparisons of tribal growth in open environments and the dearth of clear evidence for social differentiation. In comparison to the explosive growth of monumental architecture and iconography seen elsewhere

Our understanding of regional patterning in Middle Preclassic lowland settlements is spotty due to their frequent burial beneath later occupations and the tropical forest environment where these sites are found. Modal similarities among pottery assemblages connect several The material for much of this section was drawn from The Origins of Maya Civilization (Adams, ed. 1977), which presented the results of a 1974 School of American Research seminar on that topic. This influential volume shaped discussions of early complexity in the Maya Lowlands for the remainder of the 20th Century, and much (if not all) of its content remains relevant nearly 40 years after its publication. 11

10 David Cheetham (2005) has subsequently identified pre-Mamom pottery within the Uaxactun assemblage.

12

The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech lowland sites from the beginning of the Middle Preclassic (Andrews V 1990), as does the presence of materials like obsidian and marine shell that must have been transported from afar. Current data suggest distinctly regional developmental trajectories throughout most of the Middle Preclassic, however, despite such broad parallels in material culture. Communities in close proximity shared more material ‘traits’ (e.g., building materials and techniques, pottery styles, craft production) with each

other than with groups living farther away, and these conditions held true even after the late Middle Preclassic advent of Mamom pottery. I therefore briefly summarize Middle Preclassic settlement in the Maya Lowlands in terms of different regions, even while recognizing the importance of connections linking many of these sites together (Figure 2.3). A chronological ordering of Middle Preclassic ceramic complexes from the Belize Valley and adjacent areas is presented in Figure 2.4.

Figure 2.3: Selected Lowland Maya sites with Middle Preclassic occupation discussed in the text.

13

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 2.4: Preclassic ceramic complexes and phases of the southern Maya Lowlands. Middle Preclassic complexes at Cahal Pech in bold.

during Middle Preclassic times (Gallareta Negrón 2018; Robles Castellanos and Ceballos Gallareta 2018).

Northern Lowlands Definitive evidence of Middle Preclassic occupation in the northern Yucatán Peninsula was first discovered by several projects of the National Geographic Society and the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University, which ran continuously from 1956 – 71. Survey and mapping at Dzibilchaltun (Figure 2.3) revealed a scattered Middle Preclassic occupation in the western area of the site, and extensive excavations at the Mirador Group unearthed substantial Middle Preclassic platforms (Andrews IV and Andrews V 1980:16, 2531). The earliest Nabanche ceramics from Dzibilchaltun were typologically similar to Acachen pottery from Becán, in the Rio Bec area of central Yucatán, and both were stylistically related to Mamom pottery of the Southern Lowlands (Ball 1977a). This led Ball (1977b), Adams (1977) and others to conclude that the Northern Lowlands were colonized around 600 B.C. by expanding agricultural populations already established along riverine corridors to the south.

Survey in the Yalahau region of northern Quintana Roo, on the opposite side of the peninsula from Komchen, identified at least 18 Middle Preclassic sites through surface collection in an area where little settlement was previously known (Glover 2012:274). Sites with the most impressive Middle Preclassic architecture appear to cluster in the northwest of the peninsula, although traces of public buildings, an early E-Group, and extensive settlement are now known from Yaxuna in central Yucatán (Stanton 2017; Stanton and Ardren 2005). Considerable time depth was added to the Middle Preclassic record of the Northern Lowlands with the re-dating of Ek complex pottery from Komchen and the discovery of stylistically similar pottery at the Puuc site Kiuic (Andrews V et al. 2018). Dating of these complexes to around 900 B.C. places settlement of the Northern Lowlands by ceramic-using populations much closer in time to the colonization of areas farther south, and the impressive public architecture of subsequent phases suggests similarly rapid trajectories toward social complexity were followed by Northern Lowland communities.

Perceptions of the Northern Lowland Maya as latecomers in Maya culture history have begun to change in recent decades. Settlement at Komchen, near Dzibilchaltun, assumed almost urban proportions by the end of the Middle Preclassic (Ringle 1985; Ringle and Andrews V 1988, 1990). Regional survey in northwest Yucatán has documented over 120 sites of varying sizes with Mamom occupations, including some settlements with large architectural groups and ballcourts, such as those found at Xtobo (Anderson 2010, 2011). Data gathered from several sites in northwest Yucatán document increasing interregional interactions through the presence of obsidian and shared pottery styles (Anderson et al. 2018) alongside the appearance of monumental architecture

Rio Pasión Drainage/Southern Petén Excavations from 1958 – 68 by the Peabody Museum of Harvard University at Altar de Sacrificios and Ceibal, located along the Rio Pasión in Guatemala (Figure 2.3), documented occupations at each site that began in preMamom times and continued through the Terminal Classic period (Adams 1971; Sabloff 1975). The most extensive operations focused on monumental structures and settlement survey, but test pits through later structures 14

The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech and plazas produced evidence of buried Middle Preclassic architecture and refuse deposits at both sites (Smith 1972, 1982; Tourtellot 1982). Deep soundings revealed sequences of floors and sub-floor deposits that were presumed to represent early residential structures and associated domestic debris, although the small areas exposed by these units (around 4 m2) were insufficient to determine the size and shape of constructions in most instances. Larger and more elaborate platforms appeared at Altar de Sacrificios toward the end of the Middle Preclassic, which may have served ceremonial (Smith 1972:118-120) or residential functions, or a combination of the two (Willey 1973:29).

and possibly ceremonial, structures of an early village (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937; see Hendon 1999:111113 for ceremonial interpretation). Excavation of early Middle Preclassic (Eb phase) occupation levels at Tikal produced similar evidence (Coe 1965; Culbert 1977), and survey around Lakes Yaxhá and Sacnab suggested central Petén was populated by several small-scale agricultural communities at this time (Rice 1976). The overall impression of settlement was similar to that postulated for the Rio Pasión drainage, with architectural expansion and elaboration occurring later in the Middle Preclassic as regional populations increased. The massive footprint of Classic-period architecture at many Petén sites obscured the extent of the earliest settlements, however, and made interpretations of social organization problematic.

Gordon Willey (1977:137-138) described the earliest occupations at Altar de Sacrificios and Ceibal as small, politically autonomous farming villages whose inhabitants lacked the ability (or desire) to direct their labour toward constructing monumental architecture. Exotic materials were primarily imported for utilitarian purposes (e.g., obsidian for cutting tools), although two early caches from Ceibal contained jadeite artefacts, suggesting exotics were also important in ritual activities (Smith 1982:118). Trade in exotic materials gradually increased alongside population in this area, and small public structures were being built by San Felix Mamom times at Altar de Sacrificios (Willey 1977:141-143).

The discovery of early monumental architecture and massive construction projects at several Petén sites has revised developmental models for the region and lowland Maya society in general. Recent work at the Petén sites Nixtun-Ch’ich’ and its satellite T’up – the only known Maya cities constructed along a planned grid – document their origins in the Middle Preclassic (Pugh and Rice 2017; Pugh et al. 2019). Nixtun-Ch’ich’ exhibits an astonishing level of spatial organization – especially given the early date of construction around 800–500 B.C., and its apparent lack of evidence for rulers – as well as an early monumental E-Group (Rice et al. 2019). E-Group architectural assemblages dating as early as 700 B.C. have also been found at Cival, El Palmar, and Tikal.12 These complexes represent enormous inputs of labour early in the histories of these communities (Doyle 2012, 2017; Estrada Belli 2011, 2017; Laporte and Fialko 1995). Continued investment in E-Groups throughout the Middle Preclassic argues for their importance to early Petén communities, and the scale of construction suggests social configurations complex enough to manage large labour pools were in place at a much earlier date than previously suspected.

Recent research at Ceibal by Takeshi Inomata and colleagues (2013, 2015, 2017) documented large-scale public architecture dating to the Real-phase founding of the site (c. 1000 B.C.), along with several cruciform caches of pottery and green-stone celts similar to those recovered by the Harvard project. A new reconstruction of the early site core mirrors the layouts of Middle Preclassic sites in Chiapas and La Venta on the Gulf Coast (Inomata 2017a; Inomata et al. 2013), which suggests interaction or cultural affiliation with the inhabitants of these areas, who were likely speakers of a Mixe-Zoquean language and not ethnically Maya (Andrews V 1990; Lowe 1977). The large scale and deliberate planning of the early Ceibal public platforms suggest the site developed into a monumental centre shortly after its founding. The incorporation of groups outside the site epicentre into an expanding community continued throughout the Middle Preclassic and succeeding periods (Burham et al. 2020; Munson and Pinzón 2017), and evidence suggests increasing social inequality paralleled this expansion (Triadan et al. 2017). Residents of Ceibal began to acquire marine shell ornaments by at least 775 B.C., and this exotic material increased in quantity – and presumably importance – throughout the Middle Preclassic (Sharpe 2019). It is not clear if Altar possessed similarly early monumental architecture, as the site has not been revisited since the Harvard excavations.

The most striking evidence for precocious social development comes from the Mirador area of northern Petén, where at least five major Middle Preclassic centres were built on elevated ridges surrounded by seasonal wetlands known as bajos (Hansen et al. 2002). The Middle Preclassic record was most extensively documented at Nakbe, where a small sample of packed earth floors and associated postholes cut into bedrock indicate the presence of a village by at least 1000 B.C. (Hansen 1998, 2005;

E-Groups are named after Group E at Uaxactun and form a recognizable, repeated pattern in Maya architecture that persisted through the Classic period. They minimally consist of a rectangular plaza bounded by a square pyramid on the west and a long, north-south oriented rectangular platform on the east. There are numerous known variations on this theme, such as the placement of superstructures on the eastern platform and/or the addition of radial staircases on the western pyramid, and it is likely that the earliest E-Groups served as astronomical observatories. For summaries of the extensive E-Group literature and new discussions, see chapters in Freidel et al 2017. 12

Eastern/Central Petén and the Mirador Area Middle Preclassic occupation in central Petén was recognized early on at Uaxactun, where buried Mamomphase architecture was thought to represent the residential, 15

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Hansen et al. 2018).13 Nakbe expanded to 40 or 50 hectares by 800 B.C., and its residents began building monumental platforms faced with megalithic stone blocks that reached as high as 18 meters after 600 B.C (Hansen 1992, 1998). These structures have no known contemporaneous parallels in the Maya Lowlands, and they demonstrate the ability of community leaders to channel large amounts of labour into quarrying and construction. The early histories of the other major Mirador sites are not as well understood, but by the end of the Middle Preclassic many were linked to the massive centre El Mirador by a system of causeways (sacbes) and may have been unified into an early regional state (Hansen 2005, 2017; Hansen et al. 2018).14 Recent investigations at Yaxnohcah, across the Mexico/Guatemala border, have revealed it as another large, Middle Preclassic monumental centre that may have been bound into this same polity (Reese-Taylor 2017).

personal communication 2012). No evidence for on-site production has been presented from Nakbe, but Hendon and Moholy-Nagy suggest Middle Preclassic household groups were part-time ornament producers at Uaxactun and Tikal, respectively. The evidence for marine shell ornament production is indirect and somewhat ambiguous at these sites, but the presence of significant quantities of Strombus and Marginella shells hints at the existence of a wider exchange network that connected these sites to the Mirador area. More convincing evidence for marine shell ornament production has now been reported from sites in the Belize Valley, which were strategically placed along a natural transportation corridor between the source of these shells and the landlocked interior. Production, exchange, and consumption of marine shell ornaments bound Petén communities to those with easier access to the Caribbean coast, which formed one facet of a multidimensional socioeconomic network or interaction sphere in the Middle Preclassic Southern Lowlands.

Regardless of their level of political integration, Middle Preclassic communities in the Mirador area were bound together in a network of frequent social interactions by the later stages of their development and probably much earlier. The increasing ‘homogeneity’ of Mamom pottery (Hansen 2005:65), along with similarities in stonequarrying and monument-building techniques, suggest intensive interaction between Mirador sites by the late Middle Preclassic, and the presence of exotic goods like obsidian demonstrates their participation in external exchange networks. Middle Preclassic communities throughout Petén engaged in interregional exchange to obtain a variety of non-local materials, some of which were subsistence-related while others obviously were not.

Northern Belize The northern area of Belize, especially the stretch of territory between the New River and Blue Creek southwest of Chetumal Bay, contains one of the most intensely studied records of Middle Preclassic settlement in the Maya Lowlands. Preclassic occupations were identified through regional survey (Hammond 1973), and the limited scale of Classic-period architecture at many sites allowed the targeting and extensive exposure of early deposits. The only known instances of preceramic-to-ceramic settlement continuities in the Maya Lowlands were discovered in this area (Iceland 1997, 2005), and the communities of northern Belize seem to have engaged in intensive interactions from a very early date.

Of particular interest to this study is the acquisition of marine shells from the Caribbean Sea, either as raw materials or finished items, by Middle Preclassic communities in the landlocked Petén interior. Large numbers of drilled conch (Strombus spp.) and margin snail (Marginella spp.) shells were recovered from Middle Ox contexts at Nakbe during the first phase of large-scale architectural expansion (Hansen 1992:173, 2005:62). Broken pieces and finished artefacts of similar marine shell derive from Middle Preclassic contexts at Uaxactun (Hendon 1999; Ricketson and Ricketson 1937), Tikal (Moholy-Nagy 1997:308), Holmul, and Cival (Francisco Estrada-Belli,

Ceramic-using societies probably appeared between 1000 and 900 B.C. in northern Belize, although the precise dating of the earliest settlements has been debated.15 These communities used stylistically similar pottery that lacked pan-Mesoamerican symbols but was related to the Mamom-sphere pottery that eventually replaced it (Kosakowsky 1987; López Varela 2004; Pring 1979; Valdez 1987). Swasey- and slightly later Bladen/Bolay-complex pottery has been found in refuse deposits in the northern area of Nohmul (Hammond 1983:247; Pyburn 1990:188), in a dark midden layer at San Estevan (Rosenswig 2008; Rosenswig and Kennett 2008:132), and from caches and refuse at Ka’Kabish (McLellan and Haines 2013:190). At least four burials at Santa Rita Corozal were associated

13 Richard Hansen reports several calibrated radiocarbon dates for the earliest architecture at Nakbe that range from 1400 – 1000 B.C. The small amounts of early Ox phase pottery found in association with these floors would be in line with early pottery from other lowland sites if placed at the end of this date range. The recovery contexts of neither the carbon samples nor the pottery are explicitly reported in the publications referenced, however, so the significance of the earlier dates is unclear. Early Ox pottery would antedate the oldest lowland ceramics by at least three centuries if the early dates are correct, but the published descriptions (Forsyth 1993; Hansen 2005) resemble early Middle Preclassic complexes known from other sites. 14 Sacbe, or ‘white road,’ derives from Yucatec Maya and is used by archaeologists to describe the raised, white-plastered roads or causeways built by the ancient Maya throughout much of the lowlands. Some authors prefer the plural form sacbeob when referring to more than one of these features, but following David Anderson (2010:2), I see the term sacbe as effectively part of the professional lexicon of Maya archaeology and appropriately pluralized by the addition of an –s suffix.

A series of radiocarbon dates from Cuello initially suggested that the Swasey phase (and the ceramic complex of the same name) may have begun by 2600 B.C. and lasted more than 1000 years (Hammond et al. 1979). A later starting date for Swasey was proposed after more radiocarbon dates were obtained and the contexts of the original carbon samples were re-evaluated, although the authors of this study did not agree on how much later this starting point should be (Andrews V and Hammond 1990:579). Hammond, the excavator of Cuello, thought a date of 1200/1100 B.C. best fit the available evidence, while Andrews V thought a post-1000 B.C. was more appropriate. This debate has not been resolved and will require additional work at sites with early occupations. 15

16

The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech with pre-Mamom ceramics (Chase 1990:Table 10.3; Chase and Chase 2006), and the occurrence of sherd-lined hearths above Middle Preclassic burials suggests the early development of fire-related burial rites among members of this community (Chase et al. 2018). Although not as extensively excavated due to project priorities focusing on Postclassic occupation, exposure of Preclassic deposits and architecture from Santa Rita Corozal indicate it was one of several early occupations surrounding Chetumal Bay (Reese-Taylor 2016). Each of these sites appears to have increased in size and population during later Mamom times, and growth continued into the Late Preclassic.

which led Norman Hammond and colleagues to suggest that social status was ascribed (Hammond, Clarke, and Robin 1991; Hammond et al. 1992). The presence of exotic grave goods (e.g., green-coloured stone) indicates certain community members participated in long-distance exchange networks, as do the igneous grinding equipment and obsidian cutting implements recovered from more mundane refuse disposal contexts (e.g., Buttles 2002; Hammond 1991b, 1991c; McAnany and Ebersole 2004). All three extensively excavated sites produced large quantities of marine shell objects, which is perhaps not surprising given their proximity to Chetumal Bay and the Caribbean coast (Figure 2.3). Conch shells (Strombus spp.) appear to have been used most frequently in Middle Preclassic ornament production, although several other marine molluscs (e.g., Oliva spp.) were identified at each site (Buttles 2002; Hammond 1991a; Isaza Aizpurúa 2004). Indirect evidence for shell ornament production was found at K’axob, but the scale of production was not clear and may have been purely for household consumption (Isaza Aizpurúa 2004). Communities in the area may have produced marine shell beads and ornaments for exchange with groups outside their region, but it is equally likely that these items were locally consumed or circulated only among neighbouring sites.

A series of Middle Preclassic plaster floors, with associated burials and offerings, was uncovered beneath Structure C-13 at Altun Ha (Pendergast 1982:200). Superposition of these floors, and the relationship of caches and interments with the enlargement of the structure, resemble patterns documented from more extensive excavations of Preclassic architecture at other sites in the area. Evidence of Middle Preclassic occupation was discovered at Lamanai (Powis 2002:72), the largest Classic-period centre in northern Belize, but our understanding of this early community is limited by the massive scale of later architecture. A recent comparative study of Middle Preclassic developments at Lamanai and Altun Ha revealed apparently divergent trajectories toward social complexity at the two communities, with Altun Ha more closely resembling its northern Belize neighbours, while inhabitants of Lamanai invested early in monumental architecture, including the construction of an E-Group (Horn et al. 2020).

Little is currently known of Middle Preclassic settlement in the western area of northern Belize known as the ‘Three Rivers’ region. Middle Preclassic domestic platforms were found in test pits at Dos Hombres (Brown 1995), but the size of the early community and its configuration are not known. Major construction at the largest site in the area, La Milpa, appears not to have begun until the Late Preclassic (Zaro and Houk 2012), but the scale of its later architecture made exposure of early deposits difficult. Recent excavation at the small site Kaxil Uinic, near Chan Chich, produced a single ‘Cunil-like’ sherd, which suggests pre-Mamom settlement may yet be found in the Three Rivers region (Houk et al. 2013:183).

The most extensive documentation of Middle Preclassic settlement in northern Belize comes from Cuello (Hammond, ed. 1991), Colha (Hester et al. 1982), and K’axob (McAnany, ed. 2004). Each of these sites had a pre-Mamom occupation that increased in size and organizational complexity through time, with that at Cuello perhaps being earliest. The exceptional architectural sequence documented at Cuello showed the development and elaboration of several structures, grouped around the borders of a shared patio, over at least 700 years (Gerhardt 1988; Gerhardt and Hammond 1991; Hammond and Gerhardt 1990; Hammond, Gerhardt, and Donaghey 1991). These changes may have reflected a gradual increase in the wealth and/or status of the group’s occupants through time and mirrored contemporaneous patterns of residential expansion and elaboration at K’axob (McAnany 2004; McAnany and López Varela 1999) and Colha (Sullivan 1991). The construction of monumental architecture, however, apparently did not begin until the end of the Middle Preclassic at any of these sites.

The Belize Valley Investigations in the Belize Valley have documented the continuous occupation of several Classic Maya centres back to the beginning of the Middle Preclassic (Figure 2.5). Preclassic ceramic chronologies developed from wellstratified deposits exist for Barton Ramie (Willey et al. 1965), Blackman Eddy (Brown and Garber 2005; Garber et al. 2004), Cahal Pech and its satellite centres (Awe 1992; Healy, Cheetham, Powis and Awe 2004; Iannone 1996), Chan (Kosakowsky 2012), and Pacbitun (Healy, Hohmann and Powis 2004). Buried Middle Preclassic architecture is also known from El Pilar (Ford and Horn 2018; Ford et al. 1995), San Lorenzo (Yaeger 1996), and Xunantunich (Brown 2010), and several other sites in the area show evidence of Middle Preclassic occupation but lack well-defined early architectural sequences (Ball and Taschek 2004; Ford and Fedick 1992; LeCount et al. 2011; Willey and Bullard 1956).

Middle Preclassic burials at all three sites contained marine shell beads, pottery, and occasionally jadeite or green-stone beads and artefacts (Buttles 2002; Hammond, Clarke, and Robin 1991; Hammond et al. 1995; Storey 2004), although green-stone artefacts were more common at Cuello and Colha. Children were buried with more grave goods than adults during Bladen times at Cuello, 17

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 2.5: Enhanced Landsat 8 image of the Belize Valley with Middle Preclassic settlements.

The earliest communities of the Belize Valley, best known at Cahal Pech (Cunil phase) and Blackman Eddy (Kanocha phase), appear to have been small villages or hamlets dispersed along the course of the Belize River and its tributaries. The number of settlements in the area at this time is unclear due to the ephemeral nature of early structures and the scale of architecture that later engulfed them. Small excavation samples from this early occupation period severely limit our ability to understand regional settlement patterns and interaction, although the presence of exotic materials and pan-Mesoamerican pottery decorations indicate these communities were connected to groups outside the region.

outlying groups Zopilote and Zubin (Awe 1992:135136; Brown 2003:48-53; Cheetham 2004:132; Garber et al. 2004:37-38; Iannone 1996:287). Evidence for early E-Groups dating to this time has also been reported at El Pilar (Ford and Horn 2018) and Xunantunich (Brown et al. 2018). Rectangular residential platforms separated by narrow alleyways were constructed at Pacbitun (Healy, Hohmann and Powis 2004), and residential architecture expanded and grew more elaborate in the site core of Cahal Pech (chapter six). Marine shell ornament production dramatically increased at Blackman Eddy (Cochran 2009:Table 5.13) and Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:Table 6.2; Hohmann et al. 2018), and modestly increased at Cahal Pech (chapter seven). New forms of pottery with new decorative styles replaced vessels incised with pan-Mesoamerican symbols at Cahal Pech and Blackman Eddy toward the beginning of the early Middle Preclassic, which may reflect increasing

Communities expanded and populations increased during the early Middle Preclassic, with the first possible examples of public building construction occurring at Blackman Eddy, Cahal Pech, and possibly the Cahal Pech 18

The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech interactions between different social groups (cf. Ball and Taschek 2003).16

ranking was institutionalized early in Belize Valley prehistory remains debatable, and the picture becomes even more muddled during the latter half of the period (see chapter ten). Sequences of architectural elaboration, the construction of the first public buildings, increased production of wealth items (e.g., marine shell beads), and the differential distribution of some exotic goods (e.g., jadeite) are seen as indicators of increasingly complex social organization and status differentiation among community members (Awe 1992; Brown 2003; Hohmann 2002). These syntheses move beyond description and attempt to address social change in terms of documentable human behaviour, but they do not address the full range of materials available from the Middle Preclassic record or place enough importance on the intensive interactions that must have occurred among communities in the Belize Valley.

The population of the Belize Valley increased substantially around 600 B.C. (Ford 1990; Ford and Fedick 1992), when existing settlements increased in size and new sites began to fill in the landscape. Public and residential architecture grew in scale at Cahal Pech (Awe 1992; chapter six), and the inhabitants of Blackman Eddy began to build true pyramidal structures decorated with sculpted masks (Brown 2003; Garber et al. 2004). The residential component of Pacbitun increased during the late Middle Preclassic (Healy, Hohmann and Powis 2004; Powis 2020), when and a large pyramidal structure was built in Plaza A, an area that became the locus of a later E-Group (Powis et al. 2020). Several smaller sites were founded or expanded in the periphery of Cahal Pech and were incorporated into a settlement hierarchy of at least two levels (Awe 1992).

The current culture-historical reconstructions of Belize Valley sites show a progression in socio-political complexity from the small, loosely organized farming villages of the terminal Early Preclassic to much larger civic-ceremonial centres during the Classic period. Processes of change can now be seen within the Middle Preclassic, with the parallel growth of several communities in the region along similar lines of expansion and possible social differentiation. The temporal position of the Middle Preclassic in this sequence is critical, as it falls between that of the earliest sedentary communities and the betterdocumented, socially stratified Late Preclassic centres that evolved into Classic-period capitals.

Enormous effort was dedicated to the production of marine shell beads at Pacbitun, with nearly four times as many ornaments and debris fragments found in late Middle Preclassic levels than those associated with the earlier occupation (Hohmann 2002: Table 6.2; Hohmann et al. 2018). Production greatly increased in the Cahal Pech epicentre (chapter seven) and at the peripheral group Cas Pek (Lee 1996; Lee and Awe 1995). Smaller groups, such as those at Chan and the Cahal Pech satellite Tolok, began to engage in ornament production at a more modest scale (Keller 2012; Powis 1996), which indicates access to this exotic material was not restricted or otherwise controlled by the largest sites in the area (Horn et al. 2013). Frequencies of marine shell ornaments and production debris recovered from late Middle Preclassic contexts declined at Blackman Eddy (Cochran 2009:Table 5.13), possibly signalling a decline in the ability of producers to access this material. The large public building (Str. B-1) at Blackman Eddy was burned and defaced at this time, which has been interpreted as evidence for early warfare in the area (Brown 2003; Brown and Garber 2003; Garber et al. 2004). It is tempting to think that such episodes of intercommunity violence were the result of competition over resources, and that perhaps the Blackman Eddy community lost much of its ability to acquire marine shell to other sites in the area. The problem of finding equivalent contexts for comparison renders this statement hypothetical at best, however, as most late Middle Preclassic material from Blackman Eddy derived from construction fill.

The Late Preclassic Consequences of Middle Preclassic Development

Middle Preclassic societies in the Belize Valley have been characterized as incipiently ranked, exhibiting some evidence of social differentiation and unequal access to certain wealth items (Awe 1992; Cheetham 1998; Clark and Cheetham 2002). Whether or not hereditary

Middle Preclassic developments in the Maya Lowlands and elsewhere in Mesoamerica are important to understand in their own right, but they must also be placed in historical context to appreciate their long-term significance. The processes described above directly affected the evolution of societies that were engaging in them, and they produced remarkably similar results in several areas. Large centres outside the Maya Lowlands assumed urban scales and population densities (Flannery and Marcus 1983b; Michels 1979a), and the settlements of northern Petén and southeastern Campeche may have been unified into a regional polity cantered at El Mirador (Hansen 2005). Construction activity greatly increased in scale at Tikal (Coe 1990), and monumental Middle Preclassic pyramidal platforms at Cival and El Palmar were expanded (EstradaBelli 2011; Doyle 2012). Massive pyramidal platforms were also constructed at Lamanai in northern Belize (Pendergast 1981), making it one of the largest Late Preclassic centres in the eastern Maya Lowlands.

Ball and Taschek frame their argument in terms of interaction between different ethnic groups, and I am hesitant to follow them to this extreme. The ceramic variability they discuss is real, however, and I think it can be attributed to the interaction of different pottery-producing groups without necessarily making an argument for different ethnicities.

An interesting pattern of monumental expansion occurred at many smaller sites during the Late Preclassic, in which the remains of older residential structures were buried under public buildings or plazas. The earliest domestic structures at Cerros, dating to about the beginning of the

16

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Late Preclassic, were buried under a public plaza and temple pyramids later in the same period (Cliff 1988), and the long Middle Preclassic sequence of refurbished residences was similarly covered by the Late Preclassic Platform 34 at Cuello (Hammond, Gerhardt, and Donaghey 1991). Thick lime-plaster plazas were laid down over earlier occupations at San Estevan (Rosenswig and Kennett 2008) and Colha at around the same time. The complex early architectural sequences beneath Plaza B at Cahal Pech were paved over with a thick plaster surface at least once at the start of the Late Preclassic, and the early public buildings beneath Str. B-4 were enlarged to monumental proportions (Awe 1992). A similar process occurred at Pacbitun, where the early residences and marine shell production loci were buried and covered by Plaza B (Healy, Hohmann and Powis 2004).

historical and settlement pattern data presented below result from several years of intensive research beginning in 1988 (Awe 1992), before which time archaeological investigations were sporadically conducted by several researchers. Previous investigations at Cahal Pech and its surrounding settlement zone provide the research setting for the Belize Valley Archaeological Project’s excavations and are essential to contextualize the results presented in the following chapters. Early Investigations: Before 1988 Much of the earliest archaeological activity at Cahal Pech consisted of exploratory site visits and small-scale excavations. These were followed by site evaluations and salvage excavations by government officials beginning in the 1960s. Much of this work was not published and exists only as field notes or manuscript reports; these were obtained and summarized by Awe (1992:55-59) in his PhD dissertation, and the reader is directed there for more detailed descriptions of unpublished materials.

Symbolic and iconographic evidence linked to concepts of hereditary rulership proliferated in the lowlands during the Late Preclassic (Freidel and Schele 1988). The most grandiose expressions of these symbols were created through the medium of architectural sculpture, specifically in the form of stucco deity masks placed on the flanks of central platform stairways (e.g., Hansen 1992; Pendergast 1981; Ricketson and Ricketson 1937). An earlier example of this architectural embellishment was noted at Blackman Eddy (Brown 2003; Garber et al. 2004), but it was during the Late Preclassic that these monumental displays became widespread. The residents of Cahal Pech decorated the central stairway of the Late Preclassic temple at Str. B-4 with flanking stucco masks, and they erected a stela carved with the image of a ruler that was later entombed in a nearby temple (Awe 1992; Awe et al. 2009).

J. Eric S. Thompson (1939:278-282) included a reference to Cahal Pech in his ‘Index of Maya sites in British Honduras’ and accompanying map, which was included in his report on excavations at San Jose, Belize. The site was labelled El Cayo and appears in the correct geographic location on Thompson’s map. Thompson (1939: 280) made further note of possible references to this site by earlier archaeologists and explorers, but these are disputed by Awe (Awe 1992:55-56), who convincingly argues that none of these early reports make definite reference to Cahal Pech. Even if such early reports do not represent visits to the site by the men in question, it was almost certainly known before Thompson’s time, given its proximity to San Ignacio Town and the volume of archaeological projects that passed through the area in the early 20th century.

These developments indicate that some form of hereditary leadership had emerged by the Late Preclassic across much of the Maya Lowlands, which was likely rooted in the social relations and interactions of the preceding period. The roughly parallel trajectories of growth and development shared by several Belize Valley communities suggest intensive regional interaction was a major factor in the emergence of more complicated social arrangements. Social changes in the Belize Valley also roughly paralleled the situation in northern Belize, where a handful of regionally important centres developed from Middle Preclassic beginnings to compete with one another during the following period (Rosenswig and Kennett 2008). The movement of exotic raw materials and widely shared decorative styles, however, point to other scales of interaction that may have influenced the development of Maya societies and the eventual emergence of institutionalized hierarchy. By the Late Preclassic, the stage for the kings and nobility of the Classic period had been set.

Linton Satterthwaite conducted the first systematic fieldwork at Cahal Pech in 1950 and published this as a short section in his article ‘Reconnaissance in British Honduras’ (Satterthwaite 1951:22). This provides a limited description of monuments and architecture and characterizes the investigations as ‘exploratory digging.’ A photograph of two unexcavated mounds and a stela, likely Structures B-1 and B-3, was the only visual reference provided. Awe (1992:57) determined that Satterthwaite tested four structures surrounding Plaza B, the ballcourt in Plaza C, and a single structure outside of Plaza C. This fits with Gordon Willey’s (2004:19) later appraisal that Satterthwaite had ‘done some digging’ at Cahal Pech, but ‘his knowledge of the place was still superficial.’ Willey visited Cahal Pech between 1953 and 1955 but conducted no investigations there (Awe 1992:57). He later recounted his aborted 1953 attempt at settlement survey at Cahal Pech, in which he discovered ‘two or three little mounds’ in approximately 200 m while cutting a brecha down the hillside from the site epicentre (Willey 2004:19). These survey efforts were abandoned when Willey learned

Previous Investigations at Cahal Pech The role of Cahal Pech and its peripheral groups in the Middle Preclassic Belize Valley would be largely unknown were it not for the work of earlier projects. The culture 20

The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech more favourable conditions for mapping and excavation existed at Barton Ramie, a site located approximately 16 kilometres down the Belize River from Cahal Pech (Willey 2004:23). Willey and William Bullard (1956) mapped and partially excavated the Melhado Site, a small settlement cluster near the confluence of the Mopan and Macal Rivers. Melhado and other uninvestigated mounds were thought to fall within the Cahal Pech sustaining area and were considered subordinate to the larger site. The discovery of Middle Preclassic Mars Orange Ware sherds at Melhado was perhaps the first indication of the deep settlement history in the immediate environs of Cahal Pech (Willey and Bullard 1956:41).

B-4, which produced a continuous construction sequence spanning the entire Middle Preclassic and on into later periods (Awe 1992; Cheetham 1992). Twenty-four mounds in peripheral settlement groups were also tested (Awe 1992: 173 – 203). The initial focus of this work was to develop a diachronic understanding of settlement at Cahal Pech, track the architectural development of major structures, and locate Preclassic deposits thought to be in the area. Although elements of this original design were maintained throughout the project, the focus shifted specifically to defining the Preclassic settlement when substantial early deposits were encountered. Site core excavations revealed the early construction histories of several major buildings, and subsequent artefact analyses established a long history for Cahal Pech and defined several tool-making industries (Awe 1992). Complementary analyses were also conducted on faunal remains (Dale and Stanchly 1991; Stanchly 1992; Stanchly and Dale 1992) and chipped stone artefacts (Stemp 1991) as part of the broader project.

A hiatus in academic research followed the closing of Willey’s settlement pattern study of the Belize Valley. Two archaeological commissioners of Belize, A.H. Anderson and Peter Schmidt, visited Cahal Pech during the 1960s to evaluate its potential for development as a park, appraise damage done by looters, and conduct limited salvage excavations (Awe 1992:58-59). Reports of these excavations were not published, and looting continued to be a problem throughout the 1970s. Finally, Joseph Ball and Jennifer Taschek made brief visits to Cahal Pech in 1986-87 as part of their Mopan-Macal Triangle Archaeological Project (Awe 1992:59). Aside from these visits, no archaeological work was done at the site during most of the 1980s.

Several peripheral settlement clusters were tested by members of the Cahal Pech Project. Three such clusters lay the immediate southern periphery, comprising the Tzinic, Zotz, and K’ik groups. Six mounds were excavated at Tzinic, approximately 450 m south of the epicentre, and test units were also dug at the base of a stela, within a dry reservoir, and into a possible agricultural terrace (Awe 1992:174; Conlon and Awe 1991; Conlon 1992). All four structures of the Zotz group, which lies only 100 m south of the site core, were tested between 1990 and 1991 (Awe 1992:179; Awe et al. 1992). The nearby K’ik’ group, about 25 m north of Zotz, consisted of two mounds and a plazuela that were also tested in 1991 (Awe 1992:183; Goldsmith 1992). Excavations at two of these settlement clusters, Tzinic and Zotz, yielded evidence of occupation beginning sometime in the Middle Preclassic, most likely in the later part of the period (600 – 400 B.C.). Occupation at both groups continued through the Classic period, during which the later K’ik’ group was constructed.

Summary Investigations prior to 1988 gathered little information on the early history of occupation at Cahal Pech, save the finding of some Middle Preclassic sherds at the Melhado Group in the northern periphery (Willey and Bullard 1956) and the ‘ceramic hints of a longer occupation’ noted by Satterthwaite (1951:22). The placement of Cahal Pech between sites with previously documented Middle Preclassic settlement, such as Uaxactun in Guatemala (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937) and Barton Ramie in the central Belize Valley (Willey et al. 1965), strengthened the case for future investigations of early settlement.

Excavations farther afield in the southern periphery focused on the Zopilote and Zubin groups (Awe 1992: 185-186). Two large pyramidal mounds, a sacbe terminus group, and the causeway itself were tested at Zopilote, located about 750 m south of the site core. The larger Zubin group was discovered approximately two kilometres south of the epicentre and was also tested. Both of these groups produced evidence of occupation spanning the late Middle Preclassic to the Late Classic, and each became the focus of more extensive excavations by later projects.

Excavations After 1988 The initiation of the Cahal Pech Project by Jaime Awe in 1988 changed the nature of archaeological research at the site. Fieldwork has been conducted almost continuously in the site epicentre since that time, and investigations expanded to include several architectural groups lying outside the site core. This work was conducted by several different projects discussed below.

Eastern periphery excavations focused on the Tolok group, although three smaller mounds were also tested as part of salvage operations by Awe (1992: 186). Four mounds at Tolok, which lies 300 m southeast of Cahal Pech, were excavated in 1991 (Awe 1992; Powis 1992). Excavations in the western periphery cantered on the Cas Pek settlement cluster, about 150 m west of the site core (Awe 1992; Awe et al. 1992). Five structures were excavated, and several others investigated and recorded as part of salvage

Cahal Pech Project: 1988-1991 From 1988 to 1991, the Cahal Pech Project mapped and excavated the site epicentre and several outlying settlement groups. Twelve structures were tested inside the site core, along with each of the seven plazas (Awe 1992:69). Particularly relevant to this study was the excavation of Str. 21

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization operations. Both the Tolok and Cas Pek groups contained substantial late Middle Preclassic architectural features.

to restore Classic-period architecture and develop the site into an archaeological and nature preserve for the government of Belize (Ball 1993). Many architectural reconstructions visible at Cahal Pech today resulted from this project.

Operations in the northern periphery consisted primarily of salvage excavations. Willey and Bullard (1956) had previously excavated at the Melhado group and noted some Middle Preclassic pottery. Two 1.5-x-1.5-m test units were dug into mounds 50 m and 80 m north of Cahal Pech before they were destroyed by modern construction (Awe 1992:198-201), and another excavation of identical size was placed in a partially destroyed mound 800 m north of the epicentre (Awe 1992:201-203). The last of these salvage operations uncovered remnants of a probable late Middle Preclassic plaster floor buried by subsequent Classic-period construction.

Detailed reports of these excavations have not been published, and I have not been able to locate any manuscripts on file. A transcript of a lecture given by Ball (1993) provides some information on his excavations and restoration work. Structure A-2, a multi-room range structure, was partially restored to its Late Classic form. Excavation and reconstruction of Structure A-4 were also carried out by this project, and excavations here uncovered a late Middle Preclassic platform (Joseph Ball, personal communication 2011). Major restoration work on the Late Preclassic façade of Str. B-4 included the application of thick lime plaster and the reconstruction of mask armatures flanking the central staircase.

Summary The Cahal Pech Project was the first to document the extent of Middle Preclassic occupation in both the monumental epicentre and peripheral settlement groups. Excavations in the site core and subsequent ceramic analyses demonstrated that Cahal Pech was settled by the terminal Early Preclassic, or about 1000 B.C., and that occupation of the site continued from this time through the end of the Late Classic (c. AD 900). This lengthy occupation was revealed in the architectural sequence of Str. B-4, which contained nine superimposed Middle Preclassic building platforms. These earlier constructions were later capped by Late Preclassic and Classic pyramidal platforms forming a continuous sequence of architectural development spanning nearly two millennia. The earliest structures in this sequence were believed to be domestic, with platforms eventually converted to a non-domestic or ritual function during the early Middle Preclassic (Awe 1992:136). This initial work also documented a construction boom during the succeeding Late Preclassic (beginning ca. 350 B.C.) that reshaped much of the epicentre into a layout that would persist until its abandonment over 1000 years later.

Summary Excavations conducted by this project did not specifically target Preclassic occupation or deposits and do not add much to the overall picture of Middle Preclassic settlement. The discovery of a late Middle Preclassic platform beneath Structure A-4, however, fits the model of an expanding settlement during this time. Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance: 1992-present It is not clear when the Cahal Pech Project was renamed and incorporated into the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance project (BVAR) from the available reports, although this appears to have happened in 1992. From 1992 to 1994, the focus of excavations shifted from the site epicentre to more intensive investigations of peripheral settlements. The large outlying settlement group Zubin was extensively excavated (Iannone 1996), along with the nearby clusters Zopilote (Cheetham 2004; Cheetham et al. 1994; Ferguson et al. 1994), Cas Pek (Sunahara and Awe 1994), and Tolok (Powis 1994).

Excavations in the peripheral groups indicated that the earliest structures were built slightly later than those in the site core, with construction beginning in the late Middle Preclassic at Tzinic, Zotz, Tolok, Cas Pek, Zopilote and Melhado (Awe 1992:211). This suggested settlement began with an initial occupation of the Cahal Pech hilltop and expanded outward to surrounding areas (Figure 2.6). The extent of early occupation within the site core was not known, but its temporal primacy and later development into a Classic-period centre suggested it functioned as a central place for a growing Middle Preclassic community.

Beginning in 1995, BVAR began a long-term change in direction to other sites in the Belize Valley, especially focusing on survey and excavations at Baking Pot. From this time through 2000, BVAR may have occasionally worked at Cahal Pech, but I have been unable to locate any information pertaining to investigations if they did occur. In 2000, collapse debris was stripped from the terminal phase architecture of Structure D-1 (Lee 2001), and multiple test units were excavated in Structure F-2, Plaza G, and Plaza F (Audet 2001). Geophysical prospecting was conducted in Plaza B during the 2005 field season (Haley 2007), and other operations were conducted at the site epicentre from 2006-2009. Large-scale excavations resumed in the Cahal Pech epicentre following the completion of this study and continue under the BVAR project umbrella (e.g., Peniche May 2016).

San Diego State University Excavations A major program of excavation and reconstruction at Cahal Pech, under the direction of Joseph Ball and Jennifer Taschek, began concurrently with the Cahal Pech Project. The aim primary aim of this project was 22

The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech

Figure 2.6: Map of Cahal Pech and nearby settlement clusters with Middle Preclassic occupations (georeferenced and redrawn from Conlon 1997: Figure 2).

Summary

four times during the Middle Preclassic and continued to be renovated through the Classic period. It was the largest peripheral construction in the Middle Preclassic landscape, and it eventually reached a height of 5.5 m around 400 B.C. (Cheetham 2004:132).

The results of the early BVAR excavations that bear most directly on this study involve work at Zubin and Zopilote in the southern periphery of Cahal Pech. Excavations at Zubin documented a limited early Middle Preclassic presence in the form of a single rounded platform (Iannone 1996:378). No traces of other structures or typical domestic debris (e.g., manos, metates) were found in Middle Preclassic contexts, which led Iannone (1996) to conclude that Zubin was founded as a specialized ceremonial site.

Excavations at Zubin and Zopilote suggested that not all peripheral ‘settlement’ groups were in fact settlements, and some may have served different functions to promote or regulate community ritual activity. This led Iannone (1996) and Cheetham (2004) to hypothesize how political factions or elite groups may have tried to control sacred space through the building of ritual architecture and the placement of monuments.

Preclassic construction activity at Zopilote appeared to follow a similar pattern: no early residential architecture was discovered, and a single temple platform represented the only structure in the area during Middle Preclassic times (Cheetham 2004:130-132). This temple was rebuilt

The later excavations in Structure F-2 and Plaza G in the Cahal Pech epicentre revealed sections of late Middle 23

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Preclassic platforms that had not been detected in earlier testing (Audet 2001). Only small segments of these structures were revealed in units penetrating later architecture, and little was recorded concerning their probable functions.

Belize Valley Preclassic Maya Project: 1994-1997 The Trent University Belize Valley Preclassic Maya Project, led by Paul Healy and Jaime Awe, conducted excavations in and around Cahal Pech in 1994 and 1995. This project was designed specifically to define Preclassic occupation in the area, and it continued work at multiple peripheral settlements and the site epicentre. Excavations resumed at Cas Pek (Lee 1996; Lee and Awe 1995) and Tolok (Powis 1996; Powis and Hohmann 1995), and the northern peripheral site Ch’um was investigated for the first time (Powis et al. 1996).

The change in project names was not consequential in terms of the general research program, and fieldwork conducted under the auspices of the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance project continued what the Cahal Pech Project had begun in the outlying settlement clusters. A similar continuity in research occurred with the Belize Valley Preclassic Maya Project. Excavations along the southern edge of Plaza B, and into some of the later structures bounding the plaza in this area, revealed a series of structures dating from Cunil times through the end of the Preclassic (Peniche May 2016). The relationship of these structures – and the people who built and used them – to the architecture and consumer groups discussed in this study is not fully understood, but the developmental sequence of dynamic architectural change parallels that seen elsewhere in Plaza B over the course of the Middle Preclassic. Excavations into a later eastern triadic group along the eastern border of Plaza B revealed basal constructions dating to the late Middle Preclassic (Awe et al. 2017), which raises the possibility that additional public buildings were constructed in the epicentre later in the period.

Within the site core, excavations focused on the Eastern Ball Court (Ferguson et al. 1996), Str. B-4 (Cheetham 1995), and Plaza B (Cheetham 1996). David Cheetham (1995) excavated a 5-x-5-m block at the base of the north face of Str. B-4 to expand the sample of terminal Early Preclassic ceramics and architecture previously discovered inside the structure (Awe 1992). In the subsequent field season, Cheetham (1996) excavated a series of nine 1.5-x-1.5-m test units in different areas of Plaza B. These units were not placed at random; they were designed to sample a variety of areas within the plaza for evidence of Middle Preclassic occupation (Figure 2.7).

Figure 2.7: Map of approximate locations of Belize Valley Preclassic Maya Project excavation units in Plaza B (georeferenced and redrawn from Cheetham 1996: Figure 1).

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The Culture History of Preclassic Mesoamerican and History of Research at Cahal Pech Summary Excavations at the peripheral groups Tolok and Cas Pek documented different patterns than those discovered at Zubin and Zopilote. The remains of two superimposed late Middle Preclassic circular platforms – possessing no evidence of superstructures and containing multiple intrusive burials – were uncovered at Tolok (Powis 1996). Surrounding these apparently non-residential structures were several other contemporaneous building platforms interpreted as dwellings. A nearby collapsed chultun was filled with Middle Preclassic domestic debris that was probably associated with the residential platforms (Powis and Hohmann 1995). Investigations at Cas Pek revealed several modest-sized late Middle Preclassic platforms also interpreted as residences, as well as large quantities of marine shell beads, marine shell production debris, and chert drills (Lee 1996; Lee and Awe 1995). Although much of this material was recovered from secondary contexts (e.g., construction fill), the sheer quantity of artefacts and the associations between shell production debris, manufacturing implements, and finished products suggested this group was a locus of household-level marine shell ornament production (Lee 1996). The 5-x-5-m block (Figure 2.7) excavated to the north of Str. B-4 revealed an upper series of plaza floors that correlated with late Middle Preclassic and Late Preclassic construction phases inside the structure (Cheetham 1995). Beneath the final plaza floor was a series of superimposed platform surfaces originally dated to the terminal Early Preclassic Cunil phase. The platform remains consisted of two marl surfaces raised above what may have been a prepared marl patio floor, which Cheetham (1995) described as dwellings related to the Cunil-phase floors uncovered at the base of Str. B-4 (Awe 1992:133-135). These early structures were interpreted as a patio group inhabited by a domestic unit or extended family (Cheetham 1995). Cheetham’s (1996) 1.5-x-1.5-m test units around Plaza B revealed several complex stratigraphic sequences that included sections of deeply-buried Middle Preclassic platforms and cobble surfaces beneath later plaza floors. Cheetham (1996) and others (Healy, Cheetham, Powis and Awe 2004) reconstructed the settlement history of the Cahal Pech epicentre from these excavations, in which a terminal Early Preclassic hamlet was remodelled into a ritual centre during the early Middle Preclassic by levelling the area and laying down plaza floors. The residential component of the site was thought to have been relocated outside of Plaza B at this time, as the buildings surrounding the plaza took on public or administrative functions, and the plaza itself became the site of ritual activities. Cheetham (1996) further suggested that the residents of Cahal Pech may have relocated to structures in or around Plaza A, which became an elite residential area during the Classic period (Awe 1992).

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3 Theoretical Approach and Small-World Networks Introduction

polity development (e.g., Brown 2003; Hohmann 2002). A shift in theoretical perspectives, from culture-ecological models to those grounded in individual agency, likely accounts for this change in analytical scale, which has been important for understanding local variability but has left the effects of larger-scale interactions and processes under-theorized.

The research summarized in the preceding chapter demonstrates the deep history of social development that led to the emergence of later states and empires across the Mesoamerican landscape. Rank societies precociously developed outside the Maya Lowlands during the Early Formative and became more widely distributed during the succeeding period.1 Villages emerged across the Maya Lowlands at, or just before, the onset of the Middle Preclassic, and some indications of status differences accompanied this shift in settlement strategy. Some researchers have suggested that hereditary ranking emerged almost immediately after the founding of the first lowland villages (Clark and Cheetham 2002; Lohse 2010), although the small sample of intact early deposits makes differentiating inherited rank from achievement-based status or other non-heritable social positions problematic. Clearer evidence for social differentiation, likely related to the development of rank or inherited status, appeared later in the Middle Preclassic at several communities, and large monumental centres dotted the lowland landscape toward the end of this period (c. 350 B.C.). The institution of kingship and hereditary rule appears to have arisen at some lowland sites by at least this time, and over the course of the Late Preclassic divine rulers became increasingly embedded in the social structures of communities throughout the region (Estrada-Belli 2011; Freidel and Schele 1988; Hansen 1992).

I propose a new framework for analysing the Middle Preclassic social landscape that allows local and regional processes to be examined simultaneously by viewing social groups as a series of nested interaction networks. This framework combines existing anthropological theories on the origins of social inequality with sociological perspectives on interaction network attributes to examine the roles networks played in the development and maintenance of social identities at the household, community, and regional scales. I suggest that the acts of forming and participating in interaction networks were essential to the development of social complexity in the Belize Valley and elsewhere, and that recursive relationships between network structures and participant action drove the increasing social differentiation apparent in the Middle Preclassic record. This framework has the power to account for different behaviours thought important to developing social complexity without unduly privileging any one, and it situates these behaviours within a broader natural and social environment that is too often missed in agency-based approaches. I provide a brief summary of earlier and current models for developing social complexity before outlining the network model in the remainder of this chapter.

The central question of why these transitions in social organization occurred has occupied researchers for at least 50 years. Maya archaeologists, following a general shift in the discipline toward the explanation of culture process in the 1960s (Willey and Sabloff 1974), have offered myriad theories for the rise of complex society in the Maya Lowlands. Explanatory models were expanded, revised, or discarded as more data became available and perspectives changed, and their focus has swung from broad, regional syntheses of culture process (see chapters in Adams [ed. 1977]) to site-specific models of individual

Previous Models: Ecology vs. Agency, Regional vs. Local Ecological Approaches Earlier inquiries into the development of social complexity in Mesoamerica were grounded in a cultural-ecology perspective that viewed environmental conditions as primary factors influencing human societies. These ranged from almost purely ecological settlement models, such as William Sanders’ (1977) explanation of Maya settlement in Petén based on productive soil types, to more socially oriented models that stressed competition over scarce resources. David Webster (1977) generated carrying capacity estimates for the Maya Lowlands and concluded raiding was an inevitable consequence of population growth and swidden agriculture. Warfare subsequently spurred the formation of population centres and complex social organization, as groups either banded together for

1 ‘Rank societies’ is the term used by Morton Fried (1967:109) to describe societies where ‘positions of valued status are somehow limited so that not all those of sufficient talent to occupy such statuses actually achieve them.’ Kinship groups, like lineages and/or clans, are ranked in relation to one another, with higher ranked groups having greater authority and privilege in the society. This term is sometimes used synonymously with ‘chiefdom,’ although social ranking also occurs in complex tribes that lack hereditary chiefs or chiefly lineages (Sahlins 1968; Service 1962). Rigid evolutionary classifications of social organization have fallen out of favour, but the concept of social ranking remains relevant to studies of pre-state societies even when political and economic systems are unknown.

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization (Wells 2006: 279-80). Wealth items can act as means of payment and stores of value or surplus labour (D’Altroy and Earle 1985; Earle 1987b; Hayden 1998), and they have also been used to symbolize the rights of some individuals to access other commodities (e.g., food supplies; Earle 1987a). Brian Hayden (1998:11) states that ‘[t]he purpose of creating prestige artefacts is not to perform a practical task, but to display wealth, success, and power,’ and he contrasts these functions with those of utilitarian artefacts (‘practical technology’), such as chipped stone tools.

mutual defence or were subjugated by others (see also Carneiro 1970). William Rathje (1971, 1972) suggested exchange of vital commodities between highland and lowland Maya groups facilitated the emergence of complex organizational structures to manage trade between different resource zones. His model described settlement in terms of cores and peripheries and focused on exchange instead of conflict, but it shared the view that environmental constraints were important in structuring the rise of complex society; if the lowland Maya had not been forced to trade for salt, obsidian, and volcanic grinding stones – thought to be absent from the lowlands but abundant in the highlands – they may not have developed ritual paraphernalia and other export goods, or the capacity for higher levels of social organization.

Archaeologists tend to associate prestige goods with elite members of ancient Mesoamerican communities, whereas access to practical technologies would have been more evenly distributed among social segments. Successful attempts by emerging elites to gain control over the production, exchange, and/or consumption of prestige goods are often cited as factors in the development of political authority and hereditary inequality (Blanton et al. 1996; Earle 1987b). Prestige goods are associated with competitive feasts and ostentatious displays of wealth in rank societies, where they symbolize social distinctions and can be manipulated by community members seeking to increase their social status. Hayden and Gargett (1990; also Hayden 1995, 1998) have argued that competitive feasts, where prestige goods could be given away to attendees to create debt obligations, were essential tools used by ambitious individuals (‘accumulators’) to gain prestige and exert power over other community members. Clark and Blake (1994) have similarly argued that successful ‘aggrandizers’ could manipulate competitive feasts to build factions within their communities, and that the successful pursuit of prestige could unexpectedly lead to the development of hereditary inequality over time. The construction of elaborate architecture could also be used in conjunction with prestige goods circulation to impress followers and cement political alliances (Brumfiel 1992). Brown (2003 concluded that processes like these were represented in the Middle Preclassic architectural sequences at Blackman Eddy, where emerging elites manipulated feasting rituals in ceremonial settings to legitimize their increasing power and authority, and this model has since been applied to interpret structural remains at Cahal Pech and Xunantunich (Brown et al. 2018).

Power, Prestige, and Agent-based Approaches Ecological approaches fell out of favour following critiques that they were too deterministic and left little room for individual action and agency (e.g., Brumfiel 1992; see also Freidel 1979 for an earlier critique on empirical grounds). Researchers began to view ecological factors not as determinants of social action, but as the settings where individuals enacted strategies to bring about desired outcomes. The natural environment provided opportunities for, and constraints upon, the actions of community members, and these actions produced sociopolitical consequences that could be either intentional (e.g., Blanton et al. 1996) or unforeseen (e.g., Clark and Blake 1994). Much of this research explicitly focused on the generation and maintenance of political power by nascent Mesoamerican elites, especially in the area of overlap between political and economic systems. Studies of prestige goods and wealth items underlie many political and economic models for the origins of social complexity in Preclassic Mesoamerica and elsewhere in the world (Arnold 1991; Blanton et al. 1996; Brumfiel 1992; Brumfiel and Earle 1987; Earle 1982, 1987a, 1987b; Frankenstein and Rowlands 1978; Hohmann 2002; PiresFerreira 1976b).2 Wealth items are socially valued goods that are the products of skilled craftsmanship. They are frequently made from geographically distant resources (‘exotics’) and can be manipulated by community members to enforce and maintain social distinctions

Conspicuous consumption of prestige goods requires the acquisition of materials and manufacture of artefacts, and both processes factor into the models above. Aggrandizers had to establish ties to like-minded individuals outside their communities to maintain the near exclusive access to exotic commodities and information they needed to succeed (Clark and Blake 1994; Hayden and Gargett 1990). Blanton and colleagues (1996) argued that Early and Middle Preclassic interregional exchange was controlled by elite households pursuing individual-cantered ‘network’ strategies to acquire prestige goods and increase power. Network ties to distant trading partners were vital to political success but were difficult to control through time, and intensified efforts to maintain local dominance (e.g., increases in warfare and the scale of feasting, and control

2 Bobbi Hohmann (2002:12-13, 26-27) notes that the terms ‘wealth items’ and ‘prestige goods’ are not synonymous, even though they are frequently treated as such in the archaeological literature. The prestige goods model describes economic systems where access to certain wealth items (prestige goods) is strictly limited to a certain societal segment, and community members outside this segment must enter into patronclient relationships to obtain access to the restricted goods. Hohmann further notes that archaeologists invoke the prestige goods model when wealth items are found but rarely demonstrate correlates of the patronclient relationships that are a part of this model. I follow the terms used by the original authors in this summary section but will use the term ‘wealth items’ in later sections, unless a prestige goods system can be demonstrated.

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Theoretical Approach and Small-World Networks of prestige goods production) eventually led to changes in social structure. Hirth’s (1978) gateway communities, which he proposed were placed at strategic locations to control access to resources, fit well with this model of network interactions. Hohmann (2002:214-215) suggested aggrandizers may have followed similar network strategies at Middle Preclassic Pacbitun by attempting to control marine shell ornament production and distribution, and Awe (1992:365) tentatively inferred that the occupants of Str. B-4 at Cahal Pech controlled interregional trade in exotic obsidian, jadeite, and marine shell during the earliest phases of settlement.

change models that do not assume communities developed in a social vacuum, but what did these interactions look like, how and why were they begun and maintained, and how do they show up in the archaeological record? A brief review of what we know, what we do not know, and the assumptions underlying current models of Middle Preclassic exchange and interaction is necessary before turning to a description of the network model. What We Know Three lines of evidence that have influenced exchange and interaction models are population estimates, the presence of exotic commodities at lowland sites, and shared pottery decoration styles. The population of the Maya Lowlands appears to have been relatively low throughout much of the early Middle Preclassic, but a general trend of population growth characterized this period and increased substantially after 600 B.C. Much of this growth was accomplished through the founding of new villages or hamlets in unoccupied territory, although previously established centres also grew larger, and some became truly monumental in scale. It would be difficult to argue, however, that even the largest late Middle Preclassic lowland centres approached the population densities suggested for Late Preclassic El Mirador (Hansen 2005) and larger Classic-period capitals.

Models stressing faction building, competitive feasting, and control of prestige goods production and exchange provided new insight into social processes that were lacking from ecological models. They have been widely adopted as frameworks for interpreting social change at times of increasing complexity in the Maya Lowlands, but they can also be criticized for their extreme focus on individual selfinterest and lack of attention to other possible motivations. Personal or family ambition certainly motivated people in the past, but the relentless pursuit of prestige and/or dominion over others seems overly simplistic and perhaps too overtly political an explanation. Marcello Canuto (2017:468) notes that agents in these models ‘are imbued with such discretionary knowledge that their eventual development into an elite seems inevitable,’ but that their abilities and knowledge would have to be learned from someone else. This leads to the question of why certain agents could develop and deploy these abilities when others could not, which the above models fail to address.

Long-distance exchange occurred from the earliest times of village settlement in the Maya Lowlands, although it seems not to have been important to Archaic communities (Lohse 2010). Obsidian, jadeite and green-coloured stone, marine shell, and igneous grinding tools have been recovered from Middle Preclassic contexts in the lowlands and must have been acquired through exchange (see chapters five, seven, and eight). Marine shell ornaments, manufactured from whole shells at some sites in the Belize Valley and Petén, provide the best documented examples of exotic artefact production at Middle Preclassic sites (Cochran 2009; Hendon 1999; Hohmann 2002; Hohmann et al. 2018; chapter eight).

There are also empirical problems with demonstrating the operation of true prestige goods systems in many early lowland Maya communities (see Footnote 19), where sample sizes are constrained by large amounts of overburden and distributional analyses are difficult. The assumption that wealth items moved through prestige goods systems creates expectations for social organization that are tautological if the system is not first demonstrated, and more complicated arrangements to produce and exchange wealth items may well go unrecognized. Finally, these models incorporate intercommunity and longdistance interaction networks as necessary functional components, but they fail to fully explore the costs and benefits of participating in these networks or how they may have arisen in the first place. The nature of interactions along these networks remains under-theorized, and it has too often been reduced to nebulous terms like ‘exchange’ and ‘competition.’

Possible evidence for pottery exchange comes from the petrographic identification of volcanic glass in sherds recovered from lowland sites (López Varela 2005; Shepard 1955:32; Sullivan 2006; Sunahara et al. 2006), but the provenance of the volcanic glass has not been established (Ford and Spera 2007). Ash-tempered pottery appears early in Middle Preclassic ceramic sequences but is usually rare and limited to certain forms of serving vessels. Some level of interaction between Middle Preclassic lowland communities is demonstrated by shared styles of pottery decoration throughout much of the period. PanMesoamerican symbols occur on serving vessels at many of the earliest communities in the Péten and Belize Valley areas (Cheetham 2005), which suggests connections among early lowland settlements and between these communities and other groups outside the area. Orangefiring serving vessels (Mars Orange Ware) and other fine-

Interaction and Exchange in the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands Our understanding of Middle Preclassic socioeconomic interactions in the Maya Lowlands is limited despite several decades of active speculation and the accumulation of relevant data in recent years. Interaction and exchange at different geographic scales are essential to social29

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization The idea that only finely made serving vessels would have value in Middle Preclassic exchange systems has historically relied on stylistic and modal analyses (Cheetham 2005; Gifford 1965, 1976; Sabloff 1975; Sharer 1976), with few composition or provenance studies conducted to date. One ceramic provenance study included substantial samples of Middle Preclassic pottery from K’axob (Angelini 1998), and this appears to have recognized only a handful of sherds representing imported serving vessels from outside the northern Belize region (López Varela 2004:173). Two recent neutron activation analysis studies of Middle Preclassic pottery from the Belize Valley and an adjacent area of Petén suggest some movement of vessels (Callaghan et al. 2017; Ebert, Pierce and Awe 2019), although the level of macroscopically observable variability in Middle Preclassic pottery assemblages argues for caution when attempting to discern local production from exchange (see chapter nine). A petrographic study of Mars Orange Ware sherds accompanying one of these chemical studies makes a more convincing case that some Middle Preclassic serving vessels were exchanged over long distances (Callaghan et al. 2018), and a similar approach should be applied to understand whole assemblages.

textured pottery gained even wider distributions later, and potters replaced the pan-Mesoamerican decorative motifs with more regional design styles. Stylistic similarity increased around 600 B.C. with the widespread adoption of Mamom-related pottery by many newly established settlements (Willey et al. 1967). What We Do Not Know and How We Think About Exchange and Interaction No studies have definitively demonstrated the systems through which commodities circulated in the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands. This is partly due to difficulties in obtaining adequate samples from deeply buried occupations, as well as a general lack of provenance studies for materials other than obsidian (but see Hammond et al. 1977 and Angelini 1998 for sourcing of other materials). Ethnohistoric and ethnographic comparisons are invoked to deal with these problems, but these often rely on concepts of social organization that are assumed rather than demonstrated. Middle Preclassic lowland communities are typically viewed as too small and underdeveloped to have relied on commercial systems and markets to exchange materials.3 Elite intervention is seen as necessary to ensure the flow of exotic goods into communities without complex socio-political structures (Brumfiel and Earle 1987), and prestation models were developed to explain the movement of certain goods (e.g., serving vessels; Canuto 2017; Clark and Cheetham 2002). Political economy models see these exchanges as opportunities for emerging elites to create debt obligations that enhanced their prestige and power (Clark and Blake 1994; Hayden 1998). Prestige goods obtained through elite exchange could be redistributed to lower ranking groups within the community to consolidate control of factions (Blanton et al. 1996). This type of interaction also involved the exchange of ideas and information, which accounts for similarities in serving ware decorations and the use of shared symbols (Cheetham 1998, 2005).

The exclusive exchange of serving vessels, as opposed to coarse-textured utilitarian wares, is a common-sense proposition that fits the idea of elite gift-giving and prestige goods circulation. Researchers have largely ignored the possibility that coarse-textured pottery, especially storage jars, could also be circulating at this time, again on modal and stylistic grounds (Clark and Cheetham 2002). We cannot say with certainty that pottery was circulating in elite prestation networks if we do not know where our sherds came from (i.e., the physical location where they were manufactured), and we risk missing important perishable commodity exchange if we do not view storage jars as possible containers for moving materials within or between settlements. A focus on exotic materials and decorated serving wares may also overlook exchange at the local or community level. It seems unlikely that each lowland community relied on a single pottery producer during the Middle Preclassic, and equally unlikely that every household produced pottery for its own use. Many studies have simply stated that utilitarian pottery was locally produced without investigating assemblage variability from technological or provenance perspectives (Cheetham 2005; Clark and Cheetham 2002; Gifford 1965, 1976; Sabloff 1975; Sharer 1976). It seems quite possible that utilitarian pottery was produced and consumed through complex exchange networks within Middle Preclassic communities, given the evidence for social differentiation and other craft production at this time. Exchange may also have occurred between non-elite producers and consumers from different communities, who were not acting through prestation networks but were bound by marriage, trade relationships, or other less overtly political ties. These types of relationships have not been investigated, and

These ideas of exchange are problematic for several reasons, the most important being that they assume only a limited segment of society (elites or emerging elites) engaged in long-distance exchange. Evidence cited to support this position includes intra-site artefact distribution analyses and architectural comparisons (Clark and Cheetham 2002), in which exotic items have restricted distributions and certain dwellings are more elaborate than others. This approach is appropriate for large-scale excavations or at settlements that lack substantial later architecture, but it is frequently applied to much smaller samples and can produce misleading results. 3 This perspective derives from assumptions about Middle Preclassic social organization and the often-made connection between commercial economic systems and state-level political structures. Scholars do not universally take this position, but the possibility of Middle Preclassic markets is rarely raised in the current literature.

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Theoretical Approach and Small-World Networks a vital piece of the overall picture of Middle Preclassic exchange is missing.

exotic goods are only quantified as aggregated totals and intra-site contextual analyses are not reported.

Finally, scholars have given little thought to the efforts required to create and maintain exchange relationships over the several centuries comprising the Middle Preclassic. Exchange relationships are regularly treated as elite prerogatives that almost magically flow from one’s social position – elites somehow manage the importation of commodities from long distances while competing with local and regional rivals through competitive feasts and gift-giving. In communities where social organization was rapidly changing, as seems to be the case during much of the Middle Preclassic and certainly in the latter half, individuals presumably did not have the luxury of a ‘free ride’ when it came to obtaining needed materials from trading partners. Marcello Canuto (2017:491) suggested that ‘specially orchestrated exchanges’ were arranged to cement alliances, pay marriage dowries, or create new trade agreements, which appear to be good reasons for forming exchange contacts. Once contacts were created, however, they must have been rigorously maintained through certain practices (described below) or risked dissolution or co-option by competitors. Trade contacts appear to have been maintained through generations at Cahal Pech, which likely required considerable effort and expenditure on the part of social groups engaging in exchange. Externally focused efforts would have had local consequences that must be considered when examining changes in social organization at the local level.

Conceptualizing communities in the Middle Preclassic Belize Valley as groups acting within small-world networks provides a model to understand interactions at the local, community, and regional scales. The integration of these scales of analysis is not possible when using only the outward-looking, prestige goods models or inwardlooking, local processes models described above. Network forms of organization are defined by Podolney and Page (1998:59) as ‘any collection of actors that pursue repeated, enduring exchange relations with one another and…lack a legitimate organizational authority to arbitrate and resolve disputes that may arise during the exchange.’ This description, with some slight modification in the areas of household and community interactions, fits well with our current understanding of Middle Preclassic lowland societies as small, relatively autonomous villages that lacked hereditary rulers and engaged in low-volume, longdistance trade. The network model provides a framework from which to view all scales of interaction necessary to understand changes in social roles at this time of increasing complexity. Households as Networks The structuring principles of Belize Valley Middle Preclassic households are not well understood. Several kinship- or descent-based configurations are possible, but little direct evidence exists to support one model over another. Few Middle Preclassic burials have been recovered from Belize Valley sites, and complete household groups have not been excavated, which makes drawing conclusions about family structures difficult. The non-hierarchical external relationships that characterize network interactions would best fit with the ‘house model’ proposed by Lévi-Strauss (1982) and later espoused by Maya archaeologists (e.g., Gillespie 2000), but intra-site comparative data is too sparse to draw definitive conclusions. It is therefore productive to think of the smallest archaeologically visible social units as households, or perhaps larger corporate groups (e.g., Hayden and Cannon 1982), and to reserve judgments on their specific makeup for a time when more data becomes available.

Middle Preclassic Social Organization as Nested Interaction Networks The idea of loosely organized, non-hierarchical interaction networks in Preclassic Mesoamerica is not new. David Freidel (1979) suggested that Maya rulers emerged from a Late Preclassic regional interaction sphere like that proposed for the Hopewell complex in North America, where elite material culture and practices were adopted across a wide area by different ethnic groups and communities. Arthur Demarest (1989) proposed a latticelike network composed of multiple interacting centres to describe shared symbols and iconography across Middle Preclassic Mesoamerica outside the Gulf Coast, and a similar network of interacting settlements was suggested as a framework for the cyclical rise and fall of chiefdoms in Formative Mexico (Flannery and Marcus 2000). Lohse (2010) revived the idea that long-distance exchange networks were important to the development of social complexity in the Maya Lowlands by comparing evidence for trade at Archaic and Middle Preclassic occupations: exotic items were absent from Archaic sites, but they were always found in the earliest phases of village settlements. These models deal with networks at the regional or interregional scales, however, and do not consider smaller networks at the community or household levels of analysis. An additional shortfall of these network models comes from the conflation of intra-community behaviours with those operating at the intercommunity scale, such as when

Households are the most basic units of social production and reproduction in any community (Netting et al. 1984). Household members engage in face-to-face interactions with each other more frequently than with other community members under normal circumstances, and these interactions form the basis of familial relationships and cores of individual personalities. Relationships between household members are most frequently structured by age, gender, and productive activities, but these relationships are dynamic, and positions within households are constantly negotiated (Allison 1999). Members regularly work to promote household or corporate group interests by engaging in the acquisition of resources and wealth, 31

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization which facilitates social reproduction and the passing of acquired wealth to future generations as inheritance (Wilk and Rathje 1982).

value systems and worldviews (Redfield 1960). These interactions shape the overall structure of the collective community identity but are not necessarily symmetric; certain households may be tightly bound through marriage ties or common descent, but each may engage in economic interactions with other groups within or outside the community that are not equally shared. The network model I develop below provides a framework for describing, and eventually quantifying, the structure of community-scale interactions that left traces in the material record.

The resolution provided by excavations usually does not permit us to see the effects of intra-household interaction in Middle Preclassic communities, but the network model allows households to be conceptualized as something more than artificial constructs working in robotic fashion to replicate themselves over generations. Authority and decision-making processes within households are fluid and can be maintained or challenged through the daily interactions of group members (Netting et al.1984). The economic output of households provides the material base for societies, and the material consumption patterns of these corporate groups can be recognized in the Middle Preclassic record of the Belize Valley.

Middle Preclassic community relations may have been partially structured by individual attributes, such as age and gender, but it seems likely that social personae were just as important to inter-household relations (e.g., Canuto 2017). Social personae are socially recognized identities, which ‘signify a category of being that may be coextensive with specific groups, property, and places,’ but are not necessarily associated with specific individuals (Gillespie 2001:82). Individuals acquire social personae and come to embody and modify these identities through their own personal experience, characteristics, and practice. Community members, acting as social personae on behalf of (or possibly against) the wishes of their households, could choose to interact with others in several ways, and to do so more or less intensively depending on their goals and social relationships. Social ranking systems may have been developing during Middle Preclassic times, and household members could choose to cooperate with others in collective actions (e.g., Blanton and Farger 2008) or compete for factions of followers and prestige (Brumfiel 1992; Clark and Blake 1994; Hayden 1995, 1998). Little evidence suggests that interpersonal interaction was impeded by entrenched socio-political control structures, and community members likely had considerable leeway to pursue multiple pathways of interaction with people outside their households. A network model of interaction allows for this freedom, and differences in consumption between interacting households should be comparable in the archaeological record.

Communities as Networks Archaeological research focused on the social construction of communities examines how groups of people built and maintained shared identities through repeated daily practices (Canuto 2004; Canuto and Fash 2004; Eberl 2007; Isbell 2000; Yaeger 2000b). These studies draw on the work of Benedict Anderson (1991) and others on ‘imagined communities,’ which view the community as a shared identity that is continuously shaped and reshaped through daily practice (sensu Bourdieu 1977) rather than a spatial configuration to be discovered by archaeologists. Practicebased approaches to interpreting communities have been employed by Maya archaeologists to understand Classicperiod political relationships and community responses to the Terminal Classic Maya Collapse (Howie 2012; Yaeger 2000a), and community research has provided a method for integrating regional and local scales of settlement as well as political and economic processes (Canuto and Fash 2004). Middle Preclassic communities are usually seen as small, tightly integrated groups that coalesced at discrete locations and developed into more complex societies through a combination of internal processes and external interactions (Awe 1992; Brown 2003; Cheetham 2004; Hammond, ed. 1991; Hohmann 2002; McAnany, ed. 2004; Powis 1996), but they have rarely been conceptualized from practice-based approaches.

Regions as Networks We can extend the model to the broader regional scale and view the Middle Preclassic Belize Valley as network of interacting communities in a way that parallels the earlier network models outlined above. The resolution of network actors (entire communities) at the regional level is much higher than at the intra-community or household scales, although our knowledge of settlement patterning remains far from complete. Intercommunity interactions might have been limited to certain individuals, as suggested by elite prestation models (Cheetham 2005; Clark and Cheetham 2002), but they may also have included entire households linked by social ties, or non-elite individuals engaged in economic partnerships. Competition between communities over access to resources and political power is the most commonly envisioned form of intercommunity interaction at the regional scale (e.g., Clark and Blake 1994; Flannery and Marcus 2000), although less-

Our knowledge of Middle Preclassic communities is constrained by the same factors that limit our understanding of households, but the body of research on community organization suggests a network model is appropriate for these social groups. We can conceptualize Middle Preclassic communities as loosely organized networks of households or corporate groups interconnected by economic, kinship, political, and other social relationships. Shared community identities arise from these relationships and are enforced or modified by frequent face-to-face interactions that occur between members of different households (e.g., chapters in Canuto and Yaeger 2000). Interpersonal relationships and interactions form the social basis of such ‘little communities’ and underlie shared 32

Theoretical Approach and Small-World Networks A Hypothetical Network Structure: The Small World and its Properties

belligerent forms of communication and cooperative exchange relationships may have arisen from individual ties and personal relationships.

The network model proposed above allows interactions to be viewed at multiple scales but says little of the way these interactions may have been structured. Network structure is important to understand when attempting to explain the flow of commodities into and within a community, and certain network structures have emergent properties that can affect the behaviours of participants. Data currently available from Middle Preclassic communities in the Belize Valley do not lend themselves to meaningful social network analyses, so this model must remain hypothetical until additional information can be gathered.4 Anthropological theory about the operation of households and the social construction of communities can be combined with what we know about Middle Preclassic transportation, technology, and exotic goods exchange to suggest a specific type of network, known as the ‘small world,’ was important in structuring exchange relationships in the Belize Valley area.

Interactions at this scale would be less frequent than those between community or household members due to the geographic and social distances between settlements, but they must have been relatively intense. Inter-site comparisons are complicated by the different excavation, sampling, and reporting strategies employed by different researchers, but the best-documented Middle Preclassic communities in the Belize Valley appear to have developed complex social institutions in tandem and several shared practices along the way (e.g., marine shell ornament production). Repeated contact between communities is the most basic explanation for the spread of information and innovations, and repeated contact over 500 years could certainly shape similar trajectories toward social complexity within a region. A Complex Web of Networks

Small-world networks derive from graph theory and are defined as graphs with high levels of clustering and low overall path-lengths (Watts 1999; Watts and Strogatz 1998).5 These properties place small worlds along a continuum between completely ordered regular graphs (high clustering coefficients, high overall pathlengths) and disordered random graphs (low clustering coefficients, low overall path-lengths). Duncan Watts (2003:99) simplifies this description into ‘any network can be a small-world network so long as it has some way of embodying order and yet retains some small amount of disorder,’ where ‘order’ refers to high clustering coefficients and ‘disorder’ to the low overall path-length. Watts (ibid) brings this network model into the social sphere by suggesting that ‘local order’ can result from the structure of human social networks, while the element of random disorder can be attributed to actors exercising agency within those networks. This is analogous to the recursive relationships between Bourdieu’s (1977) doxa and habitus and Giddens’ (1984) structure and agency, and it suggests that principles of practice and structuration can be applied to understand participation in small-world networks.

The proposed network model can accommodate, without unnecessary conflation, interactions at multiple scales and provides freedom to conceptualize social relationships at a time when they are poorly understood. Middle Preclassic individuals interacted with family members, friends, and trading partners regardless of whether they were organized into patrilineal descent groups or horizontally integrated ‘houses.’ House interactions were embedded within the broader structure of the community, which was created and modified by these interactions and others between members of different household groups. Interpersonal relationships forged between members of different communities could affect the more frequent interactions at the household and intra-community scales while entangling whole communities in complex webs of competitive or cooperative action. Interregional interaction and the exchange of exotic commodities can also be viewed at multiple complementary scales within this framework. The ability of individuals to acquire exotic goods may have involved network interactions at any one of the three scales outlined above, or at any combination of the three simultaneously. Household production of goods for exchange may have required the negotiation of duties and privileges among household members or the exchange of materials and information with members of other households (e.g., Allison 1999; Netting et al. 1984). Entire communities may have been mobilized to attract trading partners away from regional competitors through individual persuasion or collective action (Blanton and Fargher 2008), and the beneficiaries of these actions may have included several individuals or households. The successful negotiation of networked relationships at multiple scales may have been essential to acquire the materials necessary for social display, and actions taken within these networks would impact community structure and the structure of the networks themselves.

Sociologists use this network structure to model interactions between groups of individuals or corporations, with each This would ideally involve detailed contextual reporting of certain artefact classes from previously excavated Middle Preclassic occupations, microscopic characterization and quantification of pottery from equivalent contexts in existing collections, and expanded provenance studies of obsidian and ground stone tools from equivalent contexts. Regional-scale network structure might be possible to reconstruct by looking at sitelevel artefact totals, but this risks collapsing the timeframes of network operation and conflating the scales of network interaction. 5 The mathematics underpinning small world graphs are complex, and I have decided to provide descriptive statements here in lieu of formulae that cannot be used with the current dataset. I refer interested readers to literature cited in the text for detailed explications of the mathematical procedures. 4

33

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization group demonstrating higher levels of interaction among its constituent members than with different groups that occupy a larger social space (Borgatti et al. 2009; Gulati et al. 2012). Information and commodities can be actively channelled between the individuals or groups connected by network ties, and the arrangement of these ties – the network structure – is important to the ways these resources spread (Watts 2004). Small-world networks are recognized as common social structures composed of local interaction groups linked to each other through particular nodes – individuals – and are thought of ‘as robust drivers of individual and collective action’ (Gulati et al. 2012:449). In other words, membership and participation in small-world networks can push individuals or groups into new ways of doing things, and these processes have the potential to encourage learning or synthesis of new technology and ideas (Podolney and Page 1998:62).

in the Belize Valley. Middle Preclassic communities were relatively small and were sparsely distributed across the landscape, but shared material culture and the presence of exotic goods indicate contact between members of these communities and people living beyond their boundaries. The most frequent interpersonal interactions took place at the household and community levels, where relationships formed through daily face-to-face encounters. Social ties between households were probably not distributed symmetrically throughout these communities, however, given that a variety of economic, kinship, and statusbased relationships were possible and would have depended on group histories and decisions. Interactions involving trading partners or rivals from outside each community would have been less frequent and even more asymmetrically distributed than intra-community ties. Maintaining these relationships, whether they involved cooperative exchange with distant groups or regional status rivalries, would have required some amount of investment from individuals, corporate groups, and/or communities, and this was likely to vary through time as relationships became more, or less, important to the groups involved.

Small-world network theorists have recognized the recursive relationship between network structure and individual actions and have identified conditions under which small worlds will form. Watts (2003:72) suggests that small-world social networks are not static, that all potential relationships within any given network are not equally likely to be pursued and will be conditioned by individual histories, and that new social connections arising from personal preferences of participants can change the overall network structure. Gulati and colleagues (2012:451) propose two key processes necessary for the formation of a small-world network: 1) the establishment of ties at the local level that bind individuals into dense clusters; and 2) the forging of bridging ties between different clusters that convey an advantage in competitive environments. They see individuals or groups striving for resources within an existing social structure as the foundation of small-world networks.

The same processes responsible for the formation of shared community identities would have also created wellintegrated, locally ordered network structures through which information and commodities could flow between connected actors. Interactions with members outside local communities acted as ties that bridged well-connected local clusters and introduce necessary degrees of disorder into the small-world network structure (Gulati et al. 2012). Some element of disorder can also be introduced through the unpredictable actions of human agents participating in interaction networks (Watts 2003:72). This general network structure describes relationships at the household, community, and regional scales simultaneously (Table 3.1); actor participation in the network is the foundation for all interactions, and this participation has effects at multiple scales.

Several parallels exist between small-world network models and what we know of Middle Preclassic society

Table 3.1: How local clusters and bridging ties might be viewed at different analytical scales, and the interactions that would have occurred at these different scales Scale Household

Local Cluster (local actors)

Bridging Ties (distant actors)

Interactions

Family members

Trading partners

Economic exchange

Co-residential kin

Exogamous marriage partners

Social alliance

Local fictive kin

Status rivals

Competition/social display Economic exchange

Community

Households/corporate groups Recognized social personae

Trading partners Kin/descent related families Rival families

Social alliance Collective action Status competition Innovation/adoption of symbols and technology Economic exchange

Regional

Communities

Trading partners

Cooperative action

Larger descent groups

Large-scale status competition

Rival communities

Diffusion of innovations Warfare

34

Theoretical Approach and Small-World Networks Networks and Social Identity

communities (or organizations; Burt 2001, 2002). Social capital can be seen as ‘a metaphor about advantage’ that derives from social structure and makes individuals more likely to succeed in social endeavours (Burt 2002:202).7 Successful Middle Preclassic brokers may have been able to acquire exotic materials for a number of purposes (e.g., dowry payments, social insignia) without incurring debt obligations, and they would have been well positioned to take advantage of new information and innovations before other community members.

The reasons why actors, whether individuals or corporate groups, chose to participate in Middle Preclassic interaction networks can be partly explained by the important role networks play in the formation and maintenance of social identities. At the most basic level, participation in exchange networks allows the acquisition of materials necessary to publicly negotiate social identities. The processes by which identities were created and maintained could have involved shared crafting of wealth items at the household level (e.g., marine shell ornaments; Hendon 1999), the display and consumption of socially valued goods, or combinations of these activities. Special insignia made from exotic resources may have been used to materialize and outwardly display aspects of social personae or as diacritical markers of other social statuses (e.g., Isaza Aizpurúa and McAnany 1999; Gillespie 2001). Badges of rank or ornaments made from exotic materials also signal participation in certain exchange networks and become ‘material symbols of interpersonal relationships’ that existed between network partners (Trubitt 2003:246).6

Actors in Middle Preclassic social networks would not require elite prerogatives to assume structurally advantageous positions, although these certainly may have been invoked once social ranking developed and become entrenched in community social structures. The emergence of social personae that existed beyond the household sphere, and the need to maintain and materialize these identities through the display of distinctive insignia (Gillespie 2001), may have provided an initial impetus to construct and participate in socioeconomic exchange networks. The social identities of network participants, and the personal preferences that arise from these identities, are viewed as important factors that drive the creation of modern social networks (Watts 2003:166). There is little reason to assume that network formation processes were significantly different in the past.

Intangible aspects of network participation may also have been important to social identities. Exchange networks that included interregional components linked participants not only to exotic goods, but to exotic people and information. Connections to distant communities and access to foreign esoteric knowledge were sources of power and potent aspects of chiefly identity in later Panamanian rank societies (Helms 1979:134, 1988:4). New and useful information is more likely to be transmitted to network actors through ‘weak ties’ that form bridges between groups than the ‘strong ties’ that bind group members together (Granovetter 1973). This condition results from the regular dissemination of information within groups that are closely bound by frequent interpersonal interactions, as in a household or community. Knowledge is passed between regularly interacting group members until everyone knows what everyone else knows, but actors with links outside the close-knit network of strong ties stand a better chance of obtaining new information before others who have no such relationships.

Once networks were established, however, considerable costs in time and resources were likely required to maintain them. Urry (2004:117) critiqued network models that assume connections are ‘cost-free,’ and suggested that ‘a network only functions if it is intermittently ‘activated’ through occasioned co-presence.’ Urry’s argument focused on the importance of meetings and conferences to the upkeep of modern professional interaction networks, but his emphasis on travel costs and intermittent face-toface interaction between network partners is instructive. Economic exchange relationships would have required maintenance in the Middle Preclassic as they do today. Exchange obligations would have to be met through production or acquisition of desired materials, which may have required travel or other cost-incurring behaviour. Trading partners may have also required special treatment, such as celebratory feasts upon their arrival, to be persuaded to maintain the flow of desired goods. Investment in impressive architecture, which is usually thought of as a community-focused strategy (e.g., Brown 2003), may have simultaneously served to impress external connections.

Network participants with connections outside their communities may have occupied special positions vis-àvis other community members by virtue of these contacts. Limited access to external connections has the potential to confer certain benefits on actors that possess them, which may allow them to act as brokers of information or materials across ‘structural holes’ in the network (Burt 1993). Brokers occupy key positions in interaction networks that allow them to bridge clusters of tightly integrated actors that would otherwise remain unconnected. The position of brokers as conduits for the flow of materials, ideas, and information between groups provides a structural advantage that endows them with social capital within their

Choices to actively maintain network connections, perhaps at significant cost in resources, were made by persons or households, who could choose to either ‘buy in’ or ‘opt out’ The concept of social capital was originally defined by Bourdieu (1980; Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992, both cited in Burt [2002:203]) and has been significantly expanded. The elegant simplicity of Burt’s definition captures the most salient aspects of the social capital concept (i.e., its source in social structure and contribution to success). 7

6 Trubitt’s statement arises from a synthesis of works describing kula exchange of marine shell ornaments in the Trobriand Islands.

35

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization of these relationships. Some people may have been more willing or able than others to engage in costly maintenance behaviours, while others may have capitalized on preexisting network positions to maintain and expand their connections. Repeated network maintenance activities could become embedded in regular practices of network actors and eventually incorporated into social personae, which would encourage additional repeated investment to maintain connections. The positions of actors in network structures (e.g., brokers) may thus have become as integral to their social identities as the original materials obtained through exchange. Persistent inequality in wealth distribution could develop over time if the objects of network exchange were generalized wealth items, and we might expect these items to become concentrated in the hands of persons or groups who maintained advantageous positions within multiple overlapping socioeconomic networks.

pottery styles) between neighbouring communities could also create the conditions for rivalries to form. Locally integrated communities may have employed collective action strategies (e.g., Blanton and Fargher 2008) to effectively compete with neighbours over access to trading partners. Collective action projects could have included the lavish feasts usually ascribed to individual aggrandizers, the construction of monumental public architecture, and raiding or warfare against rival communities. Participant action in small-world network structures by persons and/or entire communities may be the social impetus underlying peer-polity interactions. The peerpolity interaction model attempts to explain why certain shared structures (‘structural homologies’) develop among independent polities or communities in the same region, and it views various forms of information exchange as vital to these developments (Renfrew 1986). Change in one group is quickly paralleled by similar changes in its regional peers, which produces apparently simultaneous change in social structures at the regional level. Warfare, competitive emulation, the adoption of developed symbolic or information systems (‘symbolic entrainment’), and an increased flow in traded goods are forms of information exchange that connect peer polities into socioeconomic networks.

Networks and Politics Network structures may also have been manipulated for political purposes that are most frequently visible at the regional scale. Schortman and Urban (2012:500) suggest ‘processes of political centralization and hierarchy building can be profitably explored by attending to the ways in which resources were manipulated in search of power by people organized in social webs of varying sizes and spatial extents.’ This study views the Terminal Classic Naco Valley of Honduras as a politically decentralized landscape, populated by networks of heterarchically organized groups of specialized craft producers that mobilized resources through network connections to enhance political power (Schortman and Urban 2012:503). The authors proposed multiple scales for viewing the agency of network actors similar to those described above, but they viewed the goals of network participation differently from those proposed here. The Naco Valley was integrated into a regional polity prior to its political fragmentation in the Terminal Classic (800 – 1000 A.D.), and its inhabitants would have been familiar with at least some of the structures and mechanisms of entrenched political institutions. The political history of the Naco Valley makes direct comparisons with Middle Preclassic Belize Valley communities problematic, but this study supports the utility of network models for understanding loosely integrated interaction groups.

Peer-polity interactions are occasionally invoked to explain interactions between Middle Preclassic lowland communities and groups living elsewhere in Mesoamerica (Lohse 2010). Hansen (2005: 65) suggested that peerpolity interaction could be employed to understand the ‘rise of parallel, complex political, economic and religious polities’ in the Mirador area of Guatemala and the Olmec heartland, but the distance between these areas, and the dearth of structural homologies between the Olmec and their Maya contemporaries, suggests a different interaction model may be more appropriate. Middle Preclassic communities in the Belize Valley may have been connected to counterparts in the Mirador area through socioeconomic networks with small-world structures, however, as suggested by similar marine shell ornaments at communities in both regions. A better case for peer-polity interaction can be made from the structural homologies and similar developmental trajectories seen at Cahal Pech, Blackman Eddy, and Pacbitun in the Middle Preclassic Belize Valley, but these developments can perhaps be better explained by the participation of these communities (and their members) in a nested series of small-world networks that included connections with distant communities.

Middle Preclassic socioeconomic networks may have structured emergent political interactions in different ways, however, and they were probably co-opted by later elites for similar political purposes. Politically ambitious individuals may have attempted to exploit advantageous network positions to build political factions within communities (Brumfiel 1992; Clark and Blake 1994). Brokers with access to exotic items and foreign information may have attempted to control the distribution of these commodities to create debt obligations among those who desired but could not access them directly. Network connections that acted to disseminate information (e.g.,

Summary I have outlined a new model for conceptualizing interactions at multiple scales in the Middle Preclassic Belize Valley. This model views participation in smallworld networks by community members as an important engine that drove socio-political change in the region. It is flexible enough to accommodate many behaviours 36

Theoretical Approach and Small-World Networks (e.g., competitive feasts) that have been previously cited as mechanisms for social change, and it does not rely on assumptions about Middle Preclassic social organization that are not grounded in archaeological data. The creation and maintenance of network connections is rooted in processes of social identity formation and negotiation, but the network structure also provides frameworks for political strategies. This network model allows incipient socio-political complexity to be investigated from the perspective of interpersonal interaction and exchange relationships without designating certain groups as ‘elite’ when clear evidence of this status is lacking. The focus on informal, repeated exchange relationships that form interwoven networks at multiple scales also provides a framework to test the model with archaeological data. Integrated local exchange relationships might be discovered by examining the circulation of locally made goods (presumably some types of pottery) through contextual analysis of where these goods were consumed. Analysis of exotic materials consumption patterns can identify bridging ties to groups beyond the local community. Comparison of both local and exotic materials from different depositional contexts can define some of the ways social groups engaged in exchange relationships over long periods of time.

37

4 Methods and Bridging Arguments Introduction

Cheetham 1995, 1996), and the project was co-directed by James Garber and Jaime Awe throughout this phase of research. My involvement with the project began two years after its inception, in 2006, and continued through the close of excavations in 2009.

The primary goals of this study include examining aspects of socioeconomic networks at Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech and reporting the results of excavations and artefact analysis. I present geological, architectural, contextual, and artefact data in the following chapters to achieve these ends, and I integrate this information to delineate social groups and investigate differences in artefact consumption among them. I define discrete depositional contexts in relation to architecture and view these as resulting from activities by different ‘consumer groups,’ which created a record of specially deposited objects, trash, and lost items around structures they used.1 Variability in artefact assemblages reflects differential consumption of materials channelled to consumer groups through exchange networks, and comparisons of these assemblages can reveal different strategies of network participation and unequal levels of involvement in exchange relationships.

The original objectives of the Plaza B excavations comprised the following: 1) to quickly access the terminal Early Preclassic and early Middle Preclassic deposits partially revealed through previous test-pitting programs; 2) to expose larger areas of Middle Preclassic platform surfaces and architectural features; 3) to discover and define diverse Middle Preclassic depositional contexts (e.g., caches, burials, middens); and 4) to explore the spatial distribution of Cunil pottery and generate a larger sample to better define that early ceramic complex (Garber et al. 2005:24-25). A north-south trench was begun at the north end of Plaza B to achieve these objectives, and trench excavations continued until the southern edge of Plaza B was reached in the 2007 field season. Numerous trench extensions, non-contiguous test units, and a medium-sized block excavation were later added to increase the exposure of Middle Preclassic architecture and associated deposits.

This chapter outlines the methods used to investigate Middle Preclassic exchange networks in the Cahal Pech community. I begin with an overview of the excavation and recording strategies that generated data for this study before describing analytical procedures used in the field laboratory. I then describe the architectural and contextual analyses that defined consumer groups and the methods used to compare artefact assemblages among them. I conclude by discussing how these diverse data can be integrated to produce a more holistic picture of Middle Preclassic behaviours, and how these behaviours can be interpreted through the framework of participation in small-world interaction networks.

Excavation and Recording Methods Excavations in Plaza B followed procedures established by BVAP and the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance project (BVAR) during previous field seasons. The first trench unit in this series, Op. 1a, was oriented roughly perpendicular to Strs. B-6 and B-7 at the northern boundary of Plaza B. These structures were not cardinally aligned, and grid north for all excavations was set to approximately 16.5 degrees west of true north. ‘North’ thus refers to grid north in the following discussion unless explicitly stated otherwise. The initial trench units of Operation 1 (Op. 1a1e) were tied into an existing site grid, and later units were plotted on maps by their relationships to these fixed points. Sub-datums were established for taking depth measurements of contiguous units.

Belize Valley Archaeological Project: 2004-2009 The Belize Valley Archaeological Project (BVAP) carried out large-scale excavations at Blackman Eddy and several smaller secondary centres in the central Belize Valley from 1990 to 2003 before beginning investigations at Cahal Pech in 2004. Excavations were designed to expand on previous fieldwork in Plaza B that produced substantial evidence of Middle Preclassic occupation (Awe 1992;

Plaza B excavations were recorded in a hierarchical system that recognized operations, sub-operations (subops), and lots as increasingly smaller units of horizontal space. Large operations were partitioned into contiguous sub-ops to facilitate greater horizontal and vertical control over excavations, and operations could be expanded in any direction by extending additional sub-ops outward from existing unit edges. Sub-ops could not be horizontally expanded beyond their original boundaries and always had rectangular or square outlines. An operation could thus be square, rectangular, or irregular in shape and grow from

1 I use the term consumer groups to refer to small, cooperative social units that would have collectively used architectural spaces and contributed to the formation of deposits in and around structures. The internal organization of these groups is not clear from the available data: they may have been nuclear families, extended family households, or some other form of residential group that has not yet been recognized. I try to obviate this shortcoming in the dataset by focusing on differences in consumption behaviour between contexts that were likely produced by different groups instead of the internal structure of the groups themselves.

39

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization one to twenty sub-operations over the course of several seasons, but a 2-x-2-m sub-op would always be exactly that.

and block excavation units (Figure 4.1). Main Trench units measured one-by-four meters and were placed in a northsouth alignment to create a meter-wide trench across Plaza B. Trench extension units were connected to the Main Trench but varied in size and orientation; they were created to expose architecture and special deposits, and were similar to the ‘wing trenches’ used at Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:109). Test units were excavations placed in areas of Plaza B away from the Main Trench, consisting mostly of 2-x-2-m squares, although there were no formal criteria for their dimensions. Block excavations comprised several 2-x-2-m test units grouped together into contiguous blocks to provide larger horizontal exposures of a given area.

We employed a hybrid lot/level system within suboperations to increase horizontal and vertical control. Levels were stratigraphic units with some amount of compositional integrity thought to relate to depositional or construction activities (e.g., a Late Preclassic floor ballast layer). We attempted to identify similar levels in adjacent units to keep field designations consistent, but this was not always possible in areas of complex stratigraphy. Lots were the smallest units of excavation and were not divisible into smaller elements. A lot might correspond to an entire level and span the total area of a sub-op, but new lots could be created to break up larger units in the horizontal and vertical planes. We used lots to vertically divide thick levels, to excavate special deposits or features separately from surrounding materials, and to keep deposits found off the edges of platforms separate from those on platform surfaces.

A summary of the BVAP excavations is presented in below (Table 4.1), and more detailed accountings of each operation accompany the lot descriptions in Appendix A. Forty-five units were excavated in Plaza B over a total area of about 159 m2, and approximately 85% of this area (135 m2) reached Middle Preclassic occupation levels.

We created combinations of lot and level designations within sub-ops to record spatial and contextual information for excavated deposits. Field provenience identifiers (‘lot numbers’) included information from the scale of the operation down to the lot, and were written as follows:

Artefact Processing and Preliminary BVAP Analyses Artefacts recovered from Plaza B were cleaned and recorded at the BVAP off-site laboratory. Faunal remains were separated into broad categories (e.g., jute shells, mussel shells, bone fragments) and tallied by lot. Lithic debitage was similarly treated: cores were separated from flakes, and flakes were classified according to completeness, the amount of cortex present, and raw material. These materials were not analysed in detail but were processed and re-bagged by lot for long-term storage.

Op. 1r-7 Level 6 The first number following the abbreviation ‘Op.’ designates the operation number – 1 in this example. The lowercase letter that follows identifies the sub-operation, and the number connected to this via hyphen is the lot. This label thus identifies the seventh lot from sub-operation ‘r’ of Operation 1, which falls within Level 6. We recorded excavation data in field notebooks and transferred this information to BVAP lot forms – an example of which is provided in Appendix A – and documented features separately on modified feature forms.

Ceramic vessels from special deposits and sherds from lots considered critical to understanding architectural sequences were more intensively studied. Project ceramicist Lauren Sullivan analysed these materials according to standard type-variety procedures to provide chronological assessments for critical lots, and her determinations are presented in tabular form in Appendix B. Additional measurements and Munsell colour readings were taken on cache vessels, which were bagged and stored separately from sherd lots.

Excavators screened deposits through ¼-inch wire mesh and bagged all materials according to provenience in the field. Potsherds, lithic debitage, and faunal remains (primarily freshwater mollusc shells) were the most abundant cultural materials in most lots, and we separated these in the field before sending them to the laboratory for processing. Other types of artefacts, such as chipped and ground stone tools, ceramic figurine fragments, greenstone ornaments, or marine shell beads, were collected as ‘small finds’ and processed separately from the highervolume materials. We also collected carbon samples from in situ contexts (i.e., not from materials recovered through screening) and took soil samples from feature fill and anomalous deposits when encountered.

Small finds were sequentially catalogued, given a general material classification (e.g., chert, marine shell), and photographed by James Garber. Some were drawn by talented field students, but the project lacked a dedicated illustrator and most small finds were only photographed. Similar artefacts recovered in the same lot were occasionally given the same small find number, especially if they occurred in large numbers. It was therefore possible for 377 pieces of marine shell debris to share a single small find number in the project catalogue.

Excavations in Plaza B

Additional Fieldwork and Laboratory Analyses

The Plaza B excavations can be grouped into four categories based on size, shape, and placement in relation to each other: Main Trench units, trench extension units, test units,

I carried out additional mapping and laboratory analyses after the conclusion of BVAP field operations to refine the 40

Methods and Bridging Arguments

Figure 4.1: Plan map of Cahal Pech Plaza B showing locations of BVAP excavation units. Table 4.1: Summary data for BVAP excavations at Cahal Pech Operation N Sub-Ops Type of Sub-Op

Area

Field Seasons

Comment

1

25

Main Trench, Trench 84 m2 Extension

2004-2008

All Main Trench units excavated to bedrock except Op. 1p; most extension units did not reach bedrock; 71 m2 reached Middle Preclassic levels

2

1

Test Unit

3 m2

2005

Exact location unknown; not included in spatial and architectural analyses

3

4

Test Unit

14 m2

2006, 2009

Op. 3c and 3d excavated to bedrock; part Op. 3a reached bedrock; Middle Preclassic round platform edge left in place in Op. 3a and Op. 3b

4

1

Test Unit

4 m2

2006

Excavated to bedrock

5

1

Test Unit

4m

2007

Excavated to bedrock

6

4

Test Unit

12 m2

2007-2008

Trenches placed on southern slope of Str. B-4; not included in this analysis

7

13

Block Excavation

50 m

2009

Four sub-ops (Op. 7c – 7f) excavated to bedrock; Op. 7i placed north of known architectural features; Op. 7b penetrated surface of Platform 1; all other sub-ops closed after exposure of Phase IV architectural features.

2

2

spatial picture of Middle Preclassic settlement and gather more detailed information from artefacts and pottery. I constructed a geographic information system (GIS)

geodatabase with ESRI ArcGIS 10.1 software that allowed artefact and architectural data to be integrated and visually represented. Artefact analysis expanded preliminary 41

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization allowed quantitative artefact data to be graphically displayed for intrasite spatial analysis. Georeferencing published architectural plans from previous projects in Plaza B (e.g., Cheetham 1996) and incorporating them as GIS features helped integrate earlier architectural data with that produced by BVAP excavations.

observations by providing more detailed qualitative and quantitative descriptions of artefact classes and raw material determinations. Ceramic analysis focused on formal/functional attributes of diagnostic sherds, quantifying the total numbers of sherds and estimating the minimum number of vessels present in sherd lots, and macroscopic identification of ceramic fabrics in rim sherds from different vessels.2 I then examined data from these analyses for spatial and contextual patterning to investigate variability in assemblage composition related to differences in artefact consumption.

Pan-sharpened LANDSAT and other satellite images provided the basis for maps that extended beyond the borders of Cahal Pech. I georeferenced existing geological maps (see chapter five) to these images to measure distances from resource zones to Cahal Pech, which allowed the exploration of raw material acquisition and movement from a regional perspective. Other Middle Preclassic settlements were plotted on this map by UTM or latitude/longitude coordinates obtained from principal investigators when possible, and I obtained additional site coordinates from the Electronic Atlas of Ancient Maya Sites (Witschey and Brown 2010). I combined these elements into a regional map that included Middle Preclassic settlement, raw material source zones, and major landforms that proved invaluable to analysis of interaction across the Middle Preclassic landscape.

Remapping Plaza B and Creating the Cahal Pech Geodatabase Additional mapping was required to create the geodatabase needed to store, integrate, and analyse spatial and artefact data for this project. The coordinates of the original trench units, which tied them into the larger site grid and allowed their placement in real space, were unavailable and presumed lost. New excavation units had been plotted relative to those fixed points on paper maps, but errors in the accuracy of these maps presumably accumulated with the addition of each new unit, and these were especially problematic in dealing with test units not directly connected to the Main Trench. Graphic maps were the only repositories of spatial information for Cahal Pech that were available in 2009, and any errors included in them would be transferred to the geodatabase if they were not first corrected.

Small Finds Analysis I collected descriptive and metric data on all small finds from Middle Preclassic contexts to facilitate a detailed reporting of the recovered artefacts and comparisons with other Middle Preclassic assemblages. All artefacts were measured, weighed, and qualitatively described before being classified into formal and/or functional types. I used the SPSS 16.0 statistical software package to produce summary statistics of artefact measurements and identify variability within artefact classes that required explanation. Raw materials were identified in the field when possible, and photographs helped refine these identifications through comparisons with reference materials not available in Belize. Accurate identification was important to recognizing the movement of materials and defining aspects of exchange networks, and this facet of analysis received more attention than others (e.g., stylistic, technological) in some circumstances. Small finds were divided into three material categories (stone, bone/shell, ceramic) for the purposes of analysis and presentation, and I report 2356 artefacts in the following chapters of this study.3

I mapped the structures bordering Plaza B with a total station in 2011 to begin addressing this issue, then dug out and remapped the corners of excavation units to spatially anchor them in the geodatabase and improve the accuracy of their location. Three old and two new site datums were included in this map, which allowed me to georeferenced it to the existing site grid and give units Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates in real space. I then drew excavation units in ArcMap as features anchored to unit corners mapped in the field. Some amount of error was certainly introduced into the map this way, but the output represented a significant improvement in accuracy over digitizing the original maps. The digital representations (features) of the excavation units formed the skeleton of the geodatabase. I scanned and georeferenced field maps of architecture, features, and caches to the appropriate excavation units and used this digitized data to create geodatabase features. I then linked tables of artefact counts, attributes, and measurements to excavation units through common name fields, which

I classified stone artefacts by production technology, formal/functional typology, and raw material. Production technology was first divided between chipped stone tools, ground, pecked and polished stone tools, and unmodified

2 Diagnostic sherds possessed attributes that allowed the shape class and form of their parent vessel to be determined (Howie 2012:49). Minimum numbers of vessels per lot were estimated from counts of rim sherds after searching for cross-mends across all adjacent lots. The term ‘fabric’ refers to the combination of clay minerals and aplastic inclusions that constitute the body of ceramic artefacts after firing. Fabric is roughly synonymous with ‘paste’ and the two terms are used interchangeably in the following discussion.

This total reflects only those small finds recovered from Middle Preclassic contexts; it excludes artefacts that likely date to this time but were found in later or mixed deposits. The total also includes several artefacts that were removed from the collection before my analysis in 2010 and could not be directly examined. Contextual and typological data, and sometimes photographs, were available for these objects, and they have been counted as parts of assemblages and included in higher level analyses. Missing artefacts are noted in following chapters. 3

42

Methods and Bridging Arguments Pottery Analysis

manuports; further distinctions were made within these categories as needed (e.g., uniface vs. biface, flake vs. blade). Functional determinations derive from form and comparisons with previously reported artefacts, and raw materials were identified by macroscopic inspection. Rocks and minerals that could not be identified in the field were described and photographed for later comparison with standard geological references, and the identification of some green-stone artefacts benefited from a petrographic study of Middle Preclassic green-stone triangulates from Pacbitun (Powis et al. 2016). Grant McCall and I also conducted a more detailed technological analysis and replicative study of chert drills to explore possible causes of variation in drill form.

Pottery analysis focused on quantifying sherd assemblages according to functional and compositional variables.5 The type-variety analyses conducted by Sullivan (2010) were essential to establishing relative chronologies for the Plaza B architectural sequences, but they did not provide information for reconstructing the ceramic consumption patterns necessary to investigate network exchange. This incompatibility arose due to differences between the methods and goals of type-variety analysis and studies seeking to characterize sherd assemblages from functional and provenance perspectives. For example, type frequencies are based on sherd counts in type-variety analyses, and relative type frequencies are compared to determine the age of an assemblage within an established ceramic sequence. These counts usually do not report the portion of the vessel from which the sherds derived, however, and regularly ignore the possibility that they might have originated from different parts of the same vessel. Frequencies recorded in this way limit what can be said about the number of different stylistic or functional vessel categories in a given assemblage. Surface treatment, decoration, and vessel form often take precedence over paste attributes when assigning type designations to sherds, and variability in paste composition within types may be overlooked once type frequencies are tallied. Compositional variability is an important indicator of technological and provenance differences that can be easily missed in type-variety analyses, and these differences are important to recognize when comparing pottery consumption patterns.

Bone artefacts, marine shell, and worked freshwater shell ornaments were analysed as a part of this study, but bone fragments and unworked freshwater shell remains were not. Totals for the latter two groups could not be obtained from the project records at the time of this writing and were not included in the contextual analyses, although they probably represent food waste and could provide comparative data on subsistence practices. Bone artefacts were rare – I describe them by form and decoration but could not make taxonomic identifications – and I identified freshwater and marine shell artefacts to the lowest recognizable taxonomic level. I discuss finished shell artefacts in terms of form and describe the anatomical elements represented by shell debris fragments whenever possible. I use the typology developed by Hohmann (2002:105-108) for the larger Middle Preclassic marine shell assemblage at Pacbitun to classify marine shell ornaments and allow comparisons with contemporaneous settlements.

Sherd assemblages were sorted and assessed through a hierarchically organized classification system that focused on functional and compositional attributes visible at the macroscopic level (Figure 4.2). This system was adapted from Howie’s (2006, 2012) analyses of Terminal Classic and Postclassic pottery at Lamanai, Belize, and it allowed quantities of stylistically, functionally, and compositionally distinct vessels to be estimated within contexts. Sherds were first sorted into diagnostic and non-diagnostic categories and then divided into serving and utilitarian vessel categories. Diagnostic sherds provided information on the size and shape of their parent vessels and derived almost entirely from vessel rims. Sherds were then sorted by shape class, vessel form, and surface treatment, and I collected data for each sub-group of serving and utilitarian vessels produced through the sorting procedures (Table 4.2).

I separated ceramic artefacts by production technology (e.g., modelled clay vs. reworked sherd) and classified them according to form and/or function. Surface treatment and decoration were recorded when present, and type designations were attempted for artefacts made from recycled sherds. I described macroscopically visible characteristics of the slips and fabrics of figurine and ocarina fragments. These observations were limited to the eroded surfaces of figurines and were not ideal for fabric characterization, but they did allow some general comparisons to be made between figurine fabrics and the materials identified in ceramic vessels.4 The technological and provenance relationships between similar-looking figurine and pottery fabrics could not be precisely determined and must be further studied through thinsection petrography and/or geochemical characterization methods.

I examined fabrics from fresh fractures in the field laboratory and described them according to a standard set of physical criteria, which I used to build a fabrictype reference collection to facilitate comparison between specimens and speed identification. The reference

4 Fresh fractures that provide much clearer views of ceramic fabrics can be created by intentionally breaking off small sections of ceramic artefacts, but this was not a viable option given the relative rarity of figurine and ocarina fragments.

I was not able to examine all cached vessels, as several of these were being studied by other researchers. Several sherd lots had also been removed from the collection at the time of study. 5

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 4.2: Procedures for sorting and classifying potsherds (after Howie 2012:Figure 4.2). Reproduced with permission of BAR Publishing, www.barpublishing.com. Table 4.2: Examples of variables and attributes recorded during macroscopic pottery analysis Variable Category Vessel morphology

Surface treatment

Fabric

Variable

Examples of Attributes

Shape class

Plate, dish, bowl, jar, chocolate pot, etc.

Form

Wall profile; rim form; lip form; neck angle; foot type; handle type

Slip

Presence/absence of slip; location/coverage of slip; slip colour; preservation/erosion

Quality of surface finish

Waxy, glossy, matte, streaky

Decoration

Incising, punctating, filleting, gouging, appliqué, gadrooning, burnishing

Matrix colour

Colour determined through reference to Munsell chart

Firing horizons

Presence/absence; description if present

Aplastic inclusions

Presence/absence. If present: size, sorting, abundance, distribution, and roundness using a geotechnical gauge; colour; rock and mineral identification if possible

collection allowed diagnostic sherds to be directly compared to previously described examples, and it was easily expanded when new fabrics were encountered. I used characteristics of both the clay matrix and inclusion content observable with a 10x magnification hand lens to differentiate fabric types. Inclusion attributes (Table 4.2) were combined with those related to the colour and structural characteristics of the clay matrix to produce fabric type descriptions, and other researchers were able to independently replicate identifications of fabric types by comparison to the reference collection

in the field laboratory. I documented fabric types with photomicrographs, taken at 40x magnification with a Dino-lite AM411T USB digital microscope, to aid in later mineral identifications. Mineral identifications were often not possible with these techniques and the association of inclusions (e.g. if they were naturally occurring in the clay or represented a tempering material added to the clay) was even more difficult to discern. A petrographic study was planned once the scope of macroscopically observed variability between fabric types was recognized, but microscopic analysis of these compositional patterns was 44

Methods and Bridging Arguments not initiated by this project and should be the subject of future research.

datums during different field seasons further complicated the process. I constructed Harris Matrices (Harris 1975, 1979) from lot forms and field notes using the trial version of the Harris Matrix Composer v2.0 computer application to overcome some of these difficulties. This software allows the creation of ‘deposit’ and ‘surface’ units that must be linked by specified stratigraphic relationships (e.g., ‘beneath,’ ‘above’), and these units are automatically rearranged into a graphical representation of stratigraphy once all relationships are ‘validated’ (e.g., every unit has another above and below it). The application also allows descriptive data to be stored with each unit for easy access when interpreting stratigraphic matrices. Stratigraphic analysis enabled structure size and shape, and a more complete picture of the built environment, to be sequentially examined for changes through time in the building practices of different consumer groups.

Architectural and Contextual Analysis Structures, features, and associated depositional contexts provided the physical framework for studying network interactions at Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech, and analysis of architectural and contextual data was critical to defining consumer groups and discerning patterns of network interaction. I analysed architecture from spatial, stratigraphic, and compositional perspectives to define the Middle Preclassic built environment and identify changes related to increasing social complexity. Depositional contexts were studied along the same dimensions as architecture to discover material consumption patterns that could be linked to network participation. Contexts were connected to architecture through proximity in space, and I used the artefacts found in contexts to define activities at associated structures and patterns in the consumption of goods.

I also examined the materials used to construct platforms and floors for patterns that might reflect network participation. Building materials reflect the choices of groups involved in erecting, refurbishing, or expanding structures, but these choices are regularly constrained by technological, social, or environmental factors. We recorded several different Middle Preclassic building materials (e.g., plaster, cutstone, marl) during excavations, and understanding the stratigraphic and spatial relationships between structures made from different materials was an important goal of the analysis. The amount of labour needed to build a structure can change as different construction techniques are adopted (e.g., Abrams 1994), and access to labour or specific technologies may depend on a person or group’s position in socioeconomic interaction networks. Choices to build or expand may also be influenced by the need to maintain network connections.

Architectural Analysis Architectural analysis included direct observations of structure form, size, orientation, and building materials in the field, and the stratigraphic and spatial analysis of this data after excavations. The Middle Preclassic architectural assemblage consisted of partially excavated building platforms with at least one clearly defined boundary, floor surfaces of unknown extent, minimally raised structures represented by postholes cut into bedrock, and possible stone wall-braces set atop larger substructures. It was necessary to estimate the original size, shape, and orientation of architectural features due to the incomplete exposure of structures and the extensive modification and destruction of buildings in antiquity. I digitized handdrawn architectural plans and georeferenced them to the Cahal Pech geodatabase by matching sub-operation boundaries on field maps to the excavation-unit features created in ArcGIS (see above). I then converted plan maps to features in ArcGIS that could be measured directly in terms of perimeter and area, and I created simple shape features (e.g., rectangles, ellipses) and fitted them to partially exposed platform outlines to generate estimates of original sizes and shapes. Integration of architectural plans from all excavation units also allowed me to examine the built environment from a site-layout perspective that was previously impossible. I examined the relative orientations of structures for information on social affiliation or differentiation and recognized the space between structures as potentially important for certain activities (e.g., Robin 2003).

Contextual Analysis Contextual analyses compared artefact assemblages from different depositional contexts to discover patterns in materials consumption and relationships between deposits and architectural features. Different depositional contexts resulted from different artefact consumption practices, and contextual analyses examined associations between artefacts and the settings where they were found (Garber 1981:24). Contextual analyses also provided supporting evidence for determinations of structure function (e.g., Leventhal and Baxter 1988) and allowed manufacturing activities to be recognized through artefact associations (e.g., Hohmann 2002). The functions and significance of certain artefacts and materials were also investigated by comparing their distributions across different contexts. Several contexts were encountered by excavations in Plaza B, but only Middle Preclassic deposits were included in this study and reported in the following chapters.6 Middle Preclassic contexts were arranged in a typology that

Stratigraphic analysis of architectural sequences and associated deposits provided the foundation for interpreting architectural remains and the ways structures changed through time. I did not have access to all the original fieldwork records usually necessary for stratigraphic analysis (e.g., profile drawings), and the use of different

Brief descriptions of later contexts (e.g., humus, Classic-period floors) are given at the beginning of ch 6, and the reader is directed to the BVAP 6

45

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 4.3: List of context classes with descriptions of their attributes and associated practices Context Class Burial

Cache

Attributes and Possible Associated Practices Interred human remains; stone-lined crypt incorporated into platform corner; burial furniture Mortuary ritual; consumption of valuables related to social persona/identity Intentionally deposited artefacts; located in platform core, on floors, overlying bedrock, and in bedrock pits; often vertically stacked/layered; include exotic goods and/or ceramic serving vessels Dedicatory ritual; possibly termination ritual; celebratory events (feasts?); consumption of socially valued goods

Floor

Later Refuse

Artefacts found on or embedded in floors Loss; structure abandonment (de facto refuse); at-location use Refuse found above Middle Preclassic platforms in north area of Plaza B; formation of deposit unclear; refuse may have originated from use of buried structures, from unknown later MP structures, or may be redeposited from elsewhere as fill Domestic refuse disposal; possibly construction

Midden

High artefact density; location near centre of Plaza B, in between north and south architectural groups; large quantities of marine shell production debris Off-platform activities; large group refuse disposal?

Off-Platform Refuse Occupation Horizon Pit Fill Platform Core (Construction Fill) Subfloor Unknown

Lower artefact densities than middens; located adjacent to platform faces; may be found on platform perimeter floors Domestic refuse disposal; loss Sherds almost entirely absent; overlies bedrock; sticky organic clay-like soil Early occupation, refuse disposal; gardening?; formation process unknown Artefacts contained in pit; high artefact density, high organic content Domestic refuse disposal Building materials retained by platform facing; relatively low artefact densities (except in problematic Ops. 4a and 5a); more artefacts included with northern group platform core than recorded for southern group platforms Refuse recycling; possible intentional deposition in core above burial Problematic contexts below floor surfaces; cannot relate refuse to known architecture Recycling or refuse disposal Operation 2a; cannot definitely locate unit in space, contexts unclear (but appear to be off-platform refuse or midden).

spatial and artefact data to strengthen and refine these determinations.

connected them to behavioural patterns (Garber 1981:24), but they were also differentiated by their locations in space, associations with architecture, and positions in stratigraphic sequences. This approach recognized, for example, that the contents of all refuse deposits were trash but that not all refuse deposits were necessarily the same; it allowed site-wide patterns of artefact consumption to be examined alongside those that were specific to certain architectural groups. The contexts considered in this analysis and descriptions of their attributes are presented in Table 4.3.

Depositional contexts were viewed as the aggregate results of consumer group actions through time. Refuse deposits represented the accumulation of trash from regularly repeated practices over longer periods, but even ‘single-episode’ deposits possessed some time-depth in terms of the behaviours that produced them. Grave goods and cache artefacts had to be acquired before deposition, and the variety of materials included in special contexts indicates exchange was integral to their formation. This was especially true in cases where exotic artefacts, which must have been acquired from outside the community, were intentionally deposited and removed from circulation. For example, the four carved Oliva shell tinklers inhumed with Burial 1 in Plaza B may have been possessions of the interred person that were obtained earlier in life, or they may have been procured after his death as necessary elements of mortuary ritual.7 In both scenarios the burial

Some contexts were easily recognizable and during excavations (e.g., caches), while others were definable through later analyses of artefact densities, location, and stratigraphy. The complexity of architectural sequences and burial of all Middle Preclassic contexts beneath later plaza floors made differentiating between refuse deposits and construction materials difficult in the field, and several deposits initially classified as ‘plaza fill’ have been reassigned to other contexts on the basis of association with structures and/or artefact densities. Some ambiguity remains in the classification of contexts that were minimally exposed or otherwise problematic, but the context typology presented here used supporting

Burial 1 was the only Middle Preclassic interment discovered in Plaza B; it is described in ch 6 and Appendix C, and associated grave goods in ch 7 and ch 8. Few securely dated Middle Preclassic burials are known from Belize Valley sites despite the many excavated domestic structures. A single AMS date taken from a bone interred in Burial 1, obtained after the completion of this study (Ebert et al. 2019), returned a Late Preclassic date, suggesting this burial was intrusive into the platform corner where it was discovered. All data indicate that platform (Platform B) was built during Middle Preclassic times, and I will continue to treat Burial 1 as a contemporaneous feature until additional data confirming 7 32

excavation reports for additional information (Garber 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010).

46

Methods and Bridging Arguments context reflects the consumption and deposition of goods acquired through participation in socioeconomic interaction networks.

have approached Preclassic stone exchange in similar ways (e.g., Garber 1989; McAnany and Ebersole 2004). An understanding of regional geology also provided the baseline to study pottery exchange and consumption, although these determinations remain tentative until a petrographic analysis can be completed. Constituents of ceramic fabrics (e.g., rock fragments, minerals, pedofeatures) can be linked to resource zones even in areas characterized by relatively homogeneous or repetitive bedrock geology through studying processes of soil genesis and sediment deposition at different scales (Howie 2012; Whitbread 1995). An understanding of these processes allows locally produced vessels to be differentiated from pots acquired from other resource zones and provides the basis for recognizing variability in local pottery production networks.

The contexts listed in Table 4.3 were connected to architectural groups through analysis of spatial proximity and most reflected the consumption patterns of social groups associated with structures.8 Architectural features provided the spatial reference points for defining consumer groups, and the contents of related deposits represented the consumption of materials acquired by those groups. These consumption contexts, and the consumer groups that produced them, can therefore be viewed as fixed points within socioeconomic networks: they are nodes to which resources were channelled through networked exchange relationships and ultimately deposited in the archaeological record. Variability in resource consumption patterns observed among groups may reflect both participation in different networks and different levels of engagement with the same networks, and these patterns can be investigated by comparing materials across consumption contexts.

Investigating Variability Variability in artefact distribution provides a measure of different consumption practices that relates to network participation and the acquisition of material goods. I converted counts of small finds from recognized resource zones to relative frequencies and densities (per excavated volume) for comparisons across contexts associated with different structures.9 Correlation coefficients were calculated for chert drill and marine shell debris densities to examine depositional patterns that may have related to marine shell ornament production. These comparisons provided the framework to assess differences in activities and access to materials between consumer groups, both of which may have related to differential participation in socioeconomic networks.

Resource Zones and Consumption Variability: Conceptualizing Networks If depositional contexts represent ‘end points’ in networks that channelled materials and information within and between groups, then the areas where materials naturally occur are ‘starting points’ linked to those contexts through network exchange and interaction. Materials with limited geographic distributions indicate connections between the groups that consumed them and identifiable resource zones, which suggests some form of contact and interaction even when the exact mechanism of exchange is unknown (e.g., direct acquisition, down-the-line trade, market exchange). Material variability can be quantified from a provenance perspective once resource zones have been defined, and this variability can be compared across consumption contexts to investigate patterns in network participation by different consumer groups.

Quantitative functional and stylistic assessments of sherd lots provided additional information on activities that took place around the structures associated with different consumer groups (e.g., food preparation and storage, food serving). Macroscopic and low-magnification compositional assessments were not able to assign sherds (or the vessels they represented) to specific source areas, but they did provide the means to measure variability in the consumption of vessels made by different groups of producers. Compositional variability in coarse/utilitarian and fine/serving vessels of the same stylistic types that derived from the same depositional contexts indicates that pottery production, exchange, and consumption were integrated by more complex relationships than are usually assumed for the Middle Preclassic. The relative frequencies of different fabric groups, as represented by diagnostic sherds from individual vessels, were calculated for consumption contexts to estimate consumer group access to different pottery producers.

Resource Zones I reviewed the geological and archaeological literature for information on raw material distributions in Belize and neighbouring countries and incorporated this data into the Cahal Pech geodatabase. Most available geological studies were not fine-grained enough to identify tightly circumscribed material ‘sources,’ but they did allow the identification of larger resource zones where certain materials likely originated. This information was useful in linking stone artefacts to geographic areas where their parent materials are known to occur, and several previous studies a later age come to light, while acknowledging the possibility that this burial was intrusive. 8 Platform core and subfloor contexts were exceptions, because artefacts recycled as building materials may be farther removed from their original behavioural contexts. Some artefacts may have been intentionally deposited in platform core above Burial 1, but this was not clear from the excavation notes.

Variability in the material content of depositional contexts reflects the ability of different consumer groups to Weights were also considered for high-volume, fragmented materials like marine shell production debris. 9

47

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization obtain the resources necessary for a variety of pursuits. Materials may have been channelled through community exchange relationships or contacts from other regions, and a quantification of materials consumption provides a baseline for understanding the webs of connections that linked different groups and facilitated flows of goods and information through exchange. Persons or groups with connections to areas outside the local community were able to acquire the exotic goods we discover in archaeological contexts, and they may have been able to synthesize new information into socially advantageous ideas and practices because of their position in multiple exchange networks (Burt 2004:350). Interaction among local groups, as estimated by measures of pottery consumption, would have been important to both collective action and local competition; persons or groups with many bridging connections within a community were positioned to broker integration at the local level regardless of the motivations behind such action (Burt 2004:354). Variability in artefact consumption is therefore central to defining dimensions of exchange networks and is integral to the interpretation of network interactions. Summary This chapter defines a methodology for understanding Middle Preclassic exchange networks from the perspective of artefact consumption. These methods are a first step toward conceptualizing network interactions, and not an explicit framework for mapping their structure, as the available data do not permit a detailed social network analysis. Depositional contexts link the practices of consumer groups associated with architectural features, and these contexts represent the ‘end points’ of multidimensional socioeconomic networks. Resource zones provide approximations of network ‘starting points’ that connect consumer groups to points of contact outside the community. Variability in the consumption of both local and exotic materials suggests social groups did not participate equally in all realms of materials exchange, and that some may have benefitted from more advantageous network connections. Changes in network participation can be tracked through time and associated with changes in architecture that reflect the increasing importance of certain social groups at Cahal Pech. The following chapter presents an overview of the resource zones mentioned above and discusses aspects of the natural landscape that are important to understanding Middle Preclassic exchange. This discussion provides a baseline for understanding the movement of materials discussed in the artefact chapters that follow.

48

5 The Natural Environment and Resource Zones Introduction

Regional Climate and Weather

The study of socioeconomic networks in the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands requires an understanding of the raw materials exchanged between groups and the areas where they naturally occur. Identifying resource zones and linking them to specific consumption contexts enables facets of socioeconomic networks to be delineated, and a discussion of available resources and their geographic distributions is an appropriate starting point for analyses of artefact consumption patterns.

Much of Belize is low-lying territory with a subtropical climate (Wright et al. 1959:15). The weather conforms to the regional pattern of tierra caliente lowlands in Mesoamerica, with a mean annual temperature of approximately 26oC and pronounced dry and wet seasons (Vivó Escoto 1964; Wright et al.1959:15). Mean annual rainfall varies across the landscape but generally increases from north to south. Annual rainfall totals average 1524 mm in the northern Corozal and Orange Walk districts, while the southernmost Toledo district may receive more than 4064 mm of rain annually (Department of the Environment [DoE] 2006:8). Typical annual rainfall for the Belize Valley ranges from about 1500 – 1700 mm.

This chapter describes the geographic distributions of important economic resources throughout the Maya Lowlands and adjacent highland regions and contextualizes Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech within its immediate environs. I present descriptions of geological resource zones to create a comprehensive baseline for later interpretations. An understanding of the geological landscape is essential to determining artefact provenance and investigating processes of materials exchange. The discussion begins with an overview of modern geography and regional climatic patterns before moving to detailed descriptions of the topography and geology of Belize and adjacent areas. The local environment of Cahal Pech is then contextualized within the landforms, geology, hydrology, soils, and biotic resources of the Belize Valley.

The cyclical pattern of dry and wet seasons is a common feature across Belize, although the onset and intensity of each season can vary geographically and annually. Areas of northern and central Belize, including the Belize Valley, are influenced by subtropical weather systems from November through January that create a transitional period of variable rainfall and somewhat cooler temperatures (DoE 2006:8). The dry season runs from about February through April and is characterized by low rainfall and gradually increasing temperatures (Wright et al. 1959:15, Figure III). Southern Belize experiences fewer subtropical influences and has a more pronounced transition from wet to dry seasons (DoE 2006:8).

Modern Political Geography

The end of the dry season in April is followed by a transitional period of increasing rainfall when corn is traditionally planted (Wright et al. 1959:21). The wet season lasts from June through October and accounts for 70 – 85% of annual rainfall (Jenkin et al. 1976:34). This wet season also roughly corresponds to the Atlantic hurricane season, when powerful tropical cyclones occasionally make landfall in Belize. Hurricane storm surges pose considerable risks to coastal cities, while high winds and excessive rainfall can damage crops and cause river flooding farther inland. Most hurricanes affecting Belize tend to occur between August and October – near the end of the wet season (DoE 2006:13) – and can contribute substantially to rainfall totals in any given year.

Belize is located along the southeastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, immediately south of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo and east of the Guatemalan Department of El Petén. Its total area, including that of the offshore islands, is approximately 22,962 km2 (Jenkin et al. 1976:17). The northern border with Mexico follows the natural course of Blue Creek and the Rio Hondo to Chetumal Bay, where it extends across the Boca Bacalar Chico channel that divides Ambergris Cay from the mainland. Belizean territory is bounded on the east by the Caribbean Sea and includes the offshore islands and coral atolls (known as Cays) south of the Boca Bacalar Chico and north of the Gulf of Honduras. The southern border of Belize is separated from the Guatemalan department of Izabal by the Sarstoon River, and its western border with Guatemala runs roughly north-south near longitude 89o 10’ W and connects points on the Sarstoon River with Blue Creek (Ower 1928:497). Belize was a British Crown Colony from 1862 until 1981 and was officially known as British Honduras.

Paleoclimatic reconstructions indicate that modern temperature and precipitation regimes first appeared at the end of the early Holocene, or about 6000 B.C. (Leyden 2002:93). Drier conditions prevailed for a relatively brief period (4500 – 2000 B.C.) before a return modern climatic regimes (Leyden 2002:94; Moyes 2006:96-7),

49

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization zones in Belize, and adjacent areas of Guatemala and Mexico, with a focus on materials of potential importance to Middle Preclassic communities.

and this dry period roughly corresponds to the time when forest clearance began in northern Belize and agricultural populations may have spread throughout much of the Maya Lowlands (Pohl et al. 1996). Recent studies suggest the Maya Lowlands entered a period of unstable climatic fluctuations, characterized by significant variability in annual rainfall, around the 2000 B.C., and that chaotic conditions persisted for about two millennia before stabilizing (Ford and Nigh 2014). Additional studies point to the possible role of droughts in the collapse of Classic Maya civilization (Curtis et al. 1996; Gill et al. 2007; Hodell et al. 1995, 2001), but evidence for similar episodes has not been identified in the Middle Preclassic record.

Much of the regional landmass of Belize is an extension of the Yucatán Platform that consists of a low-lying limestone shelf embayed on the east by the Caribbean Sea (Wright et al. 1959). This platform extends between 15 and 50 km eastward beneath the Caribbean as a continental shelf and is bounded by a steep escarpment and reef systems to the east (Purdy et al. 1975; Thorpe and Stoddart 1962). The southern area of Belize contains an upfaulted block of rugged Palaeozoic rock formations known as the Maya Mountains (Bateson and Hall 1977; Dixon 1956), which adds considerable geological diversity to the predominately carbonate landscape of the Yucatán Platform. The territory of Belize can be divided into five broad physiographic provinces defined by landforms and their underlying geology: 1) the Coastal and Offshore areas; 2) the Northern Karst and Plains; 3) the Southern Karst and Hills; 4) the Maya Mountains; and 5) the Belize River Valley. The distinctive landforms (Figure 5.1) and

Landscape: Topography, Geology and Resource Zones A comprehensive review of geological research in Belize lies beyond the scope of this study, but concise reviews may be found in Bateson and Hall (1977:1-3), Fedick (1988:74-76), and Howie (2012:61-69). This section instead presents descriptions of topographic and geological

Figure 5.1: Geographic division of Belize by landform.

50

The Natural Environment and Resource Zones

Figure 5.2: Geological deposits of Belize (georeferenced and redrawn after Furley and Crossbie 1974; Howie 2012: Map 5.2; Jackson 1995: Figure 1).

geological deposits (Figure 5.2) of the first four provinces are discussed below, along with the location of important resource zones located outside of Belize. A description of the Belize River Valley is given in the section that describes Cahal Pech and its surrounding area.

the coastal areas of the mainland are low-lying mangrove swamps and inland lagoons. Habitable lands within this zone are positioned within the boundaries of a large, active reef system, which provides access to reef and marine fish and molluscs for modern inhabitants. The remains of reefdwelling fish and molluscs have been found in Middle Preclassic contexts at Cahal Pech and elsewhere in the Belize Valley (Awe 1992; Cochran 2009; Hohmann 2002; Powis et al. 1999), which demonstrates an awareness of resources available in this zone despite its distance of over 160 kilometres by river.1

Coastal and Offshore Zone Areas of Belize along the Caribbean coast, and the reefs and islands situated just offshore, constitute the first physiographic zone. Most distant from the modern shoreline are the fringing reef atolls composed primarily of coral detritus and sand built on a submerged platform of Pleistocene limestone and Holocene alluvial sediments (Howie 2012:61; Thorpe and Stoddart 1962:162). The continental shelf parallels the coast for 250 kilometres from south to north and is divided into a shallow north and deeper south coastal lagoon system by numerous islands, known locally as cayes (Purdy et al. 1975). Along

The continental shelf in the north is composed of Holocene calcium carbonate sediments transported by rivers draining the northern plains and Belize Valley (Pusey 1975). The most recent coastal and offshore deposits comprise coral This distance is approximate and derives from a georeferenced Landsat 8 photograph. 1

51

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization limestones and dolomites on Ambergris Cay, as well as gypsum-containing and dolomitic limestones near Chetumal Bay (Mazzullo et al. 1995). These distinctively fossiliferous formations were created by reef-building processes, and their composition is reflected in the characteristics of overlying clays and other sediments (Howie 2012:67).

worked in great quantities at the Colha lithic workshops, and nodules of ‘Colha chert’ were easily accessible throughout the ‘chert-bearing zone’ (Hester and Shafer 1984:521). Colha chert was intensively exploited for chipped stone tool production and circulated widely in Belize during Preclassic times (Shafer and Hester 1983). Southern Karst and Hills

The southern coast and continental shelf consist of lithified siliceous clastic sediments originating in the Maya Mountains (Pusey 1975), and the sedimentary deposits created when this bedrock weather in situ (e.g., clays) may be recognizably different from those formed in northern coastal areas. Pumice is occasionally found on the cayes off the southern and central coastal areas (Thorpe and Stoddart 1962:165) and is assumed to have washed down from the southern highlands of Guatemala.

The Southern Karst and Hills zone is similar in topography to the hilly portion of the Northern Karst and Plains, although its underlying geology is different. This zone encompasses much of the modern Toledo District, and is largely a karstic terrain of steep, conical limestone hills that stretches southeastward from the Maya Mountains to within five kilometres of the coast (Wright et al. 1959). A thin coastal margin of alluvial deposits acts as a buffer between the karstic zone and the Bay of Honduras to the southeast. Much of this zone is underlain by the Toledo Series, which consists of thinly-bedded shales, mudstones, and blue calcareous sandstones interbedded with limestone and dolomite (Dixon 1956; Ower 1928). The weathering of Toledo Series deposits is known to produce highly fertile soils (Ower 1928:502), but the rugged terrain constrains the extent of modern settlement away from the coastal margins.

Northern Karst and Plains Zone The Northern Karst and Plains zone begins at the Yalbac Hills, approximately 25 kilometres north of the confluence of the Macal and Mopan Rivers, and includes all of the territory north and east of this area until the boundary with the Coastal and Offshore Zone (Figure 5.1). This includes the Three Rivers Region, drained by the Rio Bravo, Booth’s River, and Blue Creek (Rio Azul), which flow into the Rio Hondo along the northern border with Mexico and eventually into Chetumal Bay. The Yalbac Hills are an area of ‘modest karst topography’ and contain no caves (Miller 1996:117), although a series of pools to the east, formed in limestone dissolution features, somewhat resemble the larger cenotes of the northern Yucatán Peninsula (Kinkella 2009). These and other limestone scarp features provide a measure of topographic relief to the northwestern area of the zone (Wright et al. 1959), which gradually flattens into a low-lying plain as it approaches the Caribbean coast.

Maya Mountains The Maya Mountains zone contains the most rugged and geologically diverse terrain in Belize. It includes much of the central area of the country and stretches from the Guatemalan border to an area less than 10 kilometres from the central coastline (Figure 5.1). Tower karst, conical hills, and cockpits characterize the extreme northeast of this zone, and several large cave systems are known from the Vaca Plateau in the west (Miller 1996). The central mass of the Maya Mountains contains many peaks and ridges that rise to 900 meters, and it is dissected into a broken and inhospitable landscape by several rivers (Bateson and Hall 1977). The Maya Mountains as a landform are a physiographic aggregate of several geological formations, some of which are known to be circumscribed to relatively small areas.

The geology of this region consists entirely of limestone and alluvial deposits of relatively recent origin (Figure 5.2). Enough variation exists in the age and composition of these deposits, however, that they can be discriminated through microscopic analysis (e.g., Howie 2012). Limestone from the lower Cretaceous Cobán formation crops out in the area of the Yalbac Hills and is partially overlain by younger limestone deposits (Miller 1996; Vinson 1962). These limestone deposits decrease in age moving north and northwest across the low-relief plain (Flores 1952); they have distinctive lithologies and are often overlain by deposits of Neogene to Pleistocene ‘unconsolidated chalky rubble,’ ‘marl,’ or ‘sascab’ (Wright et al. 1959), which are produced by in situ weathering of the underlying bedrock. Deep alluvial deposits of quartz-rich sand also occur in the northern region that represent remnants of ancient strandlines and shoals made of transported Maya Mountains sediments (Howie 2012: 68).

The primary mass of the Maya Mountains consists of uplifted Palaeozoic sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks comprising sandstones, mudstones, siltstones, shales and slates (Dixon 1956). This mass forms part of the Santa Rosa Group, which continues into adjacent upland areas of Guatemala in southeastern Petén (Bateson and Hall 1971). An important feature of the Santa Rosa Group in Belize is the Bladen Volcanic Member, which is a long and narrow zone of lava (rhyolites and porphyries), pyroclastic rocks, and sedimentary formations containing devitrified volcanic ash that runs along the southern periphery of the Maya Mountains (Hall and Bateson 1972:950-953). Vesicular lavas and andesite also form a part of this extrusive formation, and blocks of pumice occasionally occur in volcanic sediments surrounding lava flows

Limestone deposits in northeastern Belize contain an abundance of cryptocrystalline chert with a distinctive honey-brown colour. This high-quality material was 52

The Natural Environment and Resource Zones different granites, granodiorite, and tonalite (Jackson et al. 1995). The granodiorite, tonalite, and biotite granite appear to be widespread throughout the intrusive pluton, but the muscovite granite is circumscribed in a small, lenticular shape to the south and east of the main body (Figure 5.3). The granitoid intrusions of the Maya Mountains provide sources for a variety of economically important raw materials which can be linked to specific locations on the landscape. Granite and granodiorite, for example, are superior materials for heavy-duty grinding equipment (e.g., manos and metates) because of their relative hardness. Microscopic analysis of intrusive granitoids from the Maya Mountains allowed Shipley III and Graham (1987) to demonstrate that the inhabitants of Uaxactun and Ceibal obtained ground stone tools derived from Mountain Pine Ridge batholith sources.

(Bateson and Hall 1977:13). Maya settlements have been discovered in this ancient volcanic area and ground stone tools from sites farther north in Belize have been linked to raw material samples from this formation (Abramiuk and Meurer 2006). The volcanic tuffs and tuffaceous sandstones of the Bladen Volcanic Member may also have been exploited by the ancient Maya as tempering materials for pottery (Graham 1987). Igneous batholiths intrude into the Santa Rosa Group in three primary areas, all of which include extensive outcrops of granitic rock but differ in terms of composition (Dixon 1956). The Cockscomb and Hummingbird batholiths, located near the northeastern and southeastern corners of the Maya Mountains zone respectively (Figure 5.2), contain both granite and granodiorite, but the Hummingbird batholith also includes a gneissic quartz monzanite component (Bateson and Hall 1977; Dixon 1956).

Santa Rosa Group constituents show signs of low-grade regional metamorphism throughout their distribution and intense hydrothermal alteration near contact zones with intrusive batholiths. Bateson (1972:960; Bateson and Hall 1977:19) describes the occurrence of sericite, chlorite, and tourmaline, among other minerals, in areas of more intensive metamorphism. Jackson and colleagues

The Mountain Pine Ridge batholith, which lies close to the Belize Valley, has been the subject of more intensive study than either of the other two batholiths and is better understood. It is composed of two mineralogically

Figure 5.3: The Mountain Pine Ridge batholith and surrounding formations. Hillshade background shows ruggedness of terrain (georeferenced and redrawn after Jackson et al. 1995: Figure 1; hillshade map layer: United States Geological Survey (USGS), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Esri Inc.).

53

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Resource Areas outside Belize

(1995:28) note the presence of chloritoid porphyroblasts in mica and quartz near the Mountain Pine Ridge batholith, as well as the predominance of slate and quartzite in the lithology of the area. Slate and quartzite are found in abundance at several ancient Maya sites in the Belize Valley, most of which are located on limestone hills or alluvial terraces.

Artefacts made from raw materials that do not naturally occur in Belize are found at Middle Preclassic sites in the Belize Valley, and a brief mention of their possible source areas is warranted. Microscopic and chemical analyses of these materials are not a part of the current study, so only a general description of possible locations is given here (Figure 5.4).

The metamorphic minerals listed above can impart a green colour to rocks and are potentially important to understanding practices of exchange and raw material procurement. Unidentified ‘greenstone’ artefacts2, which do not fit archaeologists’ ideas of what Maya jade should look like, are found in Middle Preclassic contexts at several sites in the Belize Valley and potentially derive from Maya Mountains sources, although some evidently travelled much greater distances (Powis et al. 2016). An early geological survey of the Maya Mountains around the eastern end of the Bladen Volcanic Member reported multiple instances of green rock, which the surveyor believed to be serpentine and possibly nephrite (Wilson 1886, cited in Thompson 1990[1970]:140). The Trio Branch of the Monkey River was surveyed in the early 1990s by Peter Dunham (1996:327-28) in an attempt to locate this ‘lost’ source of jadeite or serpentine, but no evidence of either mineral was found. Dunham’s team did find several varieties of metamorphic green-coloured stone that contained chlorite and epidote, which they suggested were mistaken for jadeite and serpentine by previous surveyors (Dunham 1996:328). This area is situated approximately 50 kilometres southeast over extremely rugged terrain from the Mountain Pine Ridge batholith, where green metamorphic minerals have also been documented in the vicinity of igneous intrusions. Multiple sources of green metamorphic rock were available for exploitation in the Maya Mountains, some of which were visually similar to jadeite and serpentine and may have been equally valued in the minds of early settlers in the Maya Lowlands.

The Guatemala Highlands are often believed to be the primary source for many artefacts found in lowland contexts. Materials found in abundance in the volcanic region forming the backbone of southern Central America include obsidian, vesicular lavas such as basalt or andesite, and volcanic ash. 3 Multiple chemical sourcing studies (e.g., Braswell and Glascock 1998; Braswell et al. 2000; Dreiss 1989; Hammond 1972; Sidrys et al. 1976) have demonstrated that most obsidian found in the Maya Lowlands did in fact come from sources in this area. Additional studies demonstrate that obsidian recovered from Middle Preclassic contexts at three Belize Valley sites also derives primarily from known sources in Highland Guatemala (Awe 1992; Awe et al. 1996; Kersey 2006). Studies of vesicular lava sources, by contrast, are largely lacking in the lowland Maya literature, and artefacts made from these materials are thought to derive from the Guatemala Highlands (e.g., Garber 1989; Hammond 1991d; Rathje 1972; Thompson 1990[1970]). This seems logical, given that obsidian has already been shown to come from the highlands, and the lack of pack animals in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica made water transport the only efficient means to carry quantities of heavy materials over long distances. Accepting this conclusion at face value creates a risk of overlooking variability in the record, however, which should be tested by more detailed analyses. Vesicular lava deposits occur in many areas of Mesoamerica, including sources near the Olmec heartland in the Tuxtlas Mountains of Veracruz, Mexico. Given the ongoing debate about the role of the Gulf Coast Olmec in the development of complex societies in Mesoamerica, and the appearance of pan-Mesoamerican motifs on early pottery from the Belize Valley, investigations of other lines of evidence that might support (or refute) a direct connection to the Gulf Coast seem warranted. Thompson (1990[1970]:131) suggested that metates of ‘worked lava’ may have once been traded from Jalapa, Veracruz,

The Maya Mountains are flanked on the north and south by dense Cretaceous marine limestone that weathers into conical hills and extensive karstic systems. These deposits are equivalent to the Campur and Coban Formations that stretch across the Guatemala border to the northwest and southwest of the Maya Mountains, respectively (Howie 2012: 63). The Campur Formation limestone to the north of the Maya Mountains is of Upper Cretaceous age, and comprises a series of dense marine limestones, dolomites, and dolomitic limestones (Flores 1952:404-9). Limestone of this formation lies along the boundary between the Maya Mountains and the upper section of the Belize River Valley zone, forming the bedrock upon which many of the Belize Valley Maya sites were built.

As Norman Hammond (1991d:196) notes, pieces of vesicular lava grinding equipment are often referred to as being made of basalt or andesite in the Maya Lowlands. He implies that these terms are often imprecisely applied by archaeologists lacking sufficient geological training to distinguish between chemically and mineralogically different forms of vesicular lava. I tend to agree with this, while at the same time wondering why the recognition has not led to more investigations of the microscopic or chemical characteristics of these artefacts. 3

2 I have chosen not to use the word ‘greenstone’ when describing greencoloured stone artefacts to avoid confusion with the geologically specific term greenschist and to convey the sense that, in most cases, we do not know what types of stone were being used.

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The Natural Environment and Resource Zones

Figure 5.4: Map of documented obsidian and serpentine distributions in highland zones (georeferenced and redrawn from Hammond et al. 1977: Figure 2; and Sidrys 1977: Figure 1).

Mexico, to Quirigua, Guatemala, via a circumpeninsular canoe trade route, albeit during a later time period.4

the landscape. This study also showed that inhabitants of La Venta, the most prominent Olmec centre of the Middle Preclassic, procured materials for their monuments from multiple sources in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Without further evidence to suggest otherwise, a volcanic zone outside the Guatemala Highlands should not be discounted as a possible resource zone for material goods (e.g., grinding equipment) made from vesicular lava or other fine-grained (aphanitic) igneous rocks.

Geological studies show that vesicular lavas in Central America and elsewhere can be compositionally differentiated through geochemical and microscopic techniques (e.g., Bennett 1990; Carr et al. 2007). A petrographic study of Gulf Coast Olmec monuments from over 50 years ago (Williams and Heizer 1965) demonstrated that igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Gulf Coast area can be attributed to specific sources on

Volcanic ash is another resource found in lowland contexts believed to originate in the highlands of Guatemala or Chiapas (e.g., Simmons and Brem 1979). Volcanic ash or ash-containing clays are distinctive ingredients in pottery fabrics from the Middle Preclassic and later time periods that have been recognized since the time of Anna Shepard (1939, 1955; also Callaghan et al. 2018; Sunahara 2003; Sunahara et al. 2006). Ford and Spera (2007) have

4 Thompson based this suggestion on stylistic similarities between a pair of distinctively carved metates from the two areas, one of which was in a museum collection and reportedly came from Quirigua, and the other from a plate in a 19th-century publication. He did not attribute these artefacts to a specific period, but his use of ethnohistoric data on canoeborne trade suggests he may have had a Classic or Postclassic date in mind.

55

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization of the Belize Valley, in the area where Cahal Pech other Maya centres are located.

demonstrated that different volcanic events produce ash deposits that are mineralogically and chemically distinguishable, raising the possibility that multiple ash deposits were exploited at different points in Maya prehistory that remain unknown today. The possibility of a lowland ash source in Petén was investigated by Shepard but never discovered (Thompson 1990[1970]:142 footnote 1, citing personal communication). More recent work notes the occurrence of welded tuff and volcaniclastic sediments in the Bladen Volcanic Member (Abramiuk and Meurer 2006; Graham 1987), but a lowland source for unconsolidated, ‘fresh’ ash has yet to be identified.

The southern uplands are a series of limestone hills and other karstic features south of the Belize River along the northern boundary of the Maya Mountains (Jenkin et al. 1976:70). This area includes the gently rolling hills in the vicinity of Cahal Pech and the more rugged, dissected foothills closer to the Maya Mountains around the site Pacbitun (Figure 5.5). These limestone hills are riddled with extensive cave systems near the Maya Mountains that were used in antiquity (e.g., Awe et al. 1997; Miller 1996; Moyes 2006).

A final resource zone that bears mentioning is the area in and around the Motagua Valley of Guatemala, at the juncture of the Maya Highlands and Lowlands, which is believed to have been a primary source of precious green-coloured stones for much of ancient Mesoamerica (Hammond et al. 1977). Deposits of true nephrite, the extremely hard rock that was the jade of ancient China, are not known from Middle America, although a number of rocks and minerals similar in colour and appearance do occur in the region and are often called ‘jade’ by archaeologists (Harlow 1993:10). Many green-stone artefacts identified as jadeite rock and serpentinite have been geochemically and microscopically matched to natural deposits in the Motagua Valley (Foshag 1957; Hammond et al. 1977; McBirney et al. 1967), although sources in Costa Rica (Bishop et al. 1993) and Veracruz (Jaime-Riverón 2010) are also known. Recent reconnaissance also shows that a possible source for the well-known ‘Olmec Blue’ variety of jadeite, a distinctive and widely circulated material in the Preclassic, exists south of the Motagua River in the Sierra de las Minas (Seitz et al. 2001). The tendency of jadeite rock and serpentinite to form together, under the same geological conditions (Harlow 1993), has led to speculation that some lower-quality green-coloured stone may have originated as serpentinite from the same source areas, but this has yet to be widely tested.

The Belize River Valley lies on the northern boundary of the southern upland area. The transition is stark in the upper part of the Central Valley where the limestone hills approach the modern course of the Belize River. The valley broadens as one moves farther up the river, with up to four alluvial terraces in some areas forming prime agricultural lands today (Jenkin et al. 1976:51). The upper terraces rarely flood and appear to have been preferred locations for prehistoric settlement (Willey et al. 1965). North of the Belize River, and between its primary tributaries the Mopan and the Macal, is an area of escarpments and plains. This landform complex grades into the Northern Karst and Plain zone and resembles it topographically. The ground surface begins to rise north of the Belize River and becomes ‘rolling dissected uplands,’ ‘undulating areas,’ and ‘rounded hills’ that eventually merge with the karstic uplands of the Yalbac Hills (Jenkin et al. 1976:74). Geology The underlying geology of the Belize River Valley zone consists primarily of limestone, recent alluvial deposits, and Quaternary terraces (Figure 5.6). Limestone deposits in the area are not uniform and can be divided by age and composition into deposits lying north and south of the Belize River. Deposits forming the southern uplands and mantling the Maya Mountains to the south include consolidated, fine-textured limestone of Cretaceous to Eocene age (Flores 1952: Figure 1; Jenkin et al. 1976; Vinson 1962:432). This Cretaceous limestone is distinguishable from the Miocene limestone found north of the Belize River, which eroded from earlier formations around the Maya Mountains into a series of escarpments and unconsolidated chalky marl flats (Dixon 1956:27; Jenkin et al. 1976:48; Ower 1928:501). The marl deposits of the Cayo Series contain chert cobbles (Ower 1928) that are distinctive from those found in the northern chertbearing zone.

The Belize Valley Zone: Local Environment and Resources Landforms The Belize Valley zone, as defined here, is a relatively long and narrow corridor that brackets the Belize River along much of its course toward the Caribbean Sea (Figure 5.1). This area is bounded on the south by the Maya Mountains and on the north by the Yalbac Hills and northeastern plain, stretching eastward from the Guatemala border until the river bends north. This zone includes three landform groups originally described by Jenkin and colleagues (1976) for the Belize Valley: the southern uplands, escarpments and plains, and the river valley itself. 5 The descriptions presented here focus on the upper section

Much of the land adjacent to the upper Belize River and one of its tributaries, the Mopan, consists of alluvial terraces. The highest terraces along the valley are quartzrich Pleistocene to Recent alluvial deposits, below which lie the unconsolidated sascab or marl deposits that cover

5 The coastal deposits landform that Jenkin et al. (1976) describe occurs farther down the Belize River, in what I have called the Coastal and Offshore zone.

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The Natural Environment and Resource Zones

Figure 5.5: Landforms of the upper and upper-central Belize Valley, showing sites with known Middle Preclassic occupation (redrawn and georeferenced from Jenkin et al. 1976: Text Map 19).

much of the northern region (Wright et al. 1959:24-5). Fluvial deposits of limestone boulders in unconsolidated white marl are found upstream along the Mopan River near the border with Guatemala. These give way to the grey and iron-and-gypsum-rich red clays of the Red Bank Group near the confluence of Mopan and the Macal Rivers (Dixon 1956:26). Rounded chert pebbles are also found in alluvial fans along the north bank of the Belize River (Jenkin et al. 1976:51).

rivers create a roughly triangular-shaped area of land along the western border of Belize marked by low, undulating limestone hills. The area between the two rivers is often referred to as the upper Belize Valley, where several Maya sites were established at the transition from the Early to Middle Preclassic periods (~ 1000 BC). The Belize River’s two major tributaries each drain areas of the Maya Mountains and incorporate streams that dissect the terrain into their respective watersheds. The Mopan originates in southeastern Petén and is joined by the Chiquibul River, which drains the complex karstic landscape of the southwest Maya Mountains before flowing across the border into Belize. The Chiquibul and several tributaries continue to modify the landscape of the Vaca Plateau by creating and abandoning extensive cave systems and underground channels in the limestone bedrock (Miller 1996). After receiving the drainage of more erratic streams from the Vaca Plateau, the Mopan flows steadily through the plain of southeastern Petén and across the border into Belize.

Hydrology The Belize River and its tributaries drain over 6300 km2 of land in Belize (DoE 2006: Table 2.2) and additional areas of Guatemala. This drainage system contains two primary tributaries, the Mopan and Macal Rivers; the large perennial streams Barton Creek and Roaring Creek; and several other smaller perennial and seasonal watercourses that join the river before it empties into the Caribbean Sea (Fedick 1988:96). Barton Creek and Roaring Creek drain northward from the Maya Mountains into the upper-central section of the Belize River and flow through incised paths in the rugged terrain to join the river in its floodplain. The confluence of the Mopan and Macal, known locally as Branch Mouth, is located about 2.5 kilometres north of modern San Ignacio town, or about 3.5 kilometres in the same direction from the Cahal Pech epicentre. These two

The Macal River originates in the west-central area of the Maya Mountains and is joined by the Rapasculo and other small streams as it drains westward. These streams and rivers, like those that drain eastward into the Caribbean, are controlled to some degree by jointing and faulting 57

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 5.6: Geological deposits of the upper Belize Valley (redrawn and georeferenced from Howie 2012: Map 5.2).

in the Palaeozoic Santa Rosa Group and the intrusive granitoids of the Mountain Pine Ridge batholith (Bateson and Hall 1977; Dixon 1956). After joining with several streams originating in the Mountain Pine Ridge area, the Macal River cuts a deeply incised path northward through the Cretaceous limestone marked by steep gorges unnavigable by larger watercraft. These streams bring weathered cobbles of granite, slate, quartzite, and other materials down from the Maya Mountains during times of flood (Awe 1992; Graham 1987; Yaeger 2000a), although it is not clear if these materials would be of suitable size and/or quality, or consistently available, to be exploited by the ancient inhabitants of the Belize Valley.

The Belize River is an important source of freshwater and a line of communication and transport to the people living near it today. It flows approximately 200 kilometres in a meandering path toward the Caribbean Sea and was the main transportation route from coastal Belize City to San Ignacio before the Western Highway was built in the mid-20th Century (Willey et al. 1965:23). Navigability becomes limited along both the Mopan and Macal past the confluence at Branch Mouth, but upstream travel can still be accomplished with smaller craft and limited portages. Quantities of marine shell and other coastal products found at upper Belize Valley sites suggest the Belize River was used to transport commodities and people into and out of the interior in ancient times. Early occupations at several sites in the Belize Valley suggest the river may also have served as a pathway for the dispersal of pioneering agriculturalists into the forested interior (e.g., Puleston and Puleston in 1971). Occupation in the Belize Valley persisted into the Postclassic at several sites (Aimers 2002; Hoggarth 2012), and the Belize River likely remained an important communication channel with the rest of the reorganized Maya world during later times.

The flow rate of both the Mopan and Macal Rivers reflects the alternation of the wet and dry seasons, with marked spikes in the event of a hurricane or lesser tropical cyclone (Jenkin et al. 1976:59). The Mopan has a steadier flow that reflects the gentle plain through which it runs, although it still regularly overtops its banks during wetter-than-usual seasons or particularly strong precipitation events. The flow of the Macal is somewhat erratic due to the incised terrain of its watershed, and it is more prone to flash flooding than the Mopan (DoE 2006:25). The flat, lowlying areas of San Ignacio town, which the Macal flows by after exiting a steep-sided gorge, are frequently flooded by particularly strong or prolonged rains.

Soils Agriculture is a dominant economic pursuit in the Belize Valley, and several economically oriented soil studies exist 58

The Natural Environment and Resource Zones

Figure 5.7: Map of soil subsuites found in the upper Belize Valley (redrawn and georeferenced from Jenkin et al. 1976: Text Map 20).

Flora and Fauna

for the area and elsewhere in Belize (e.g., Jenkin et al. 1976; Wright et al. 1959). The distribution of soil types is also important to understanding Maya economic practices and settlement patterns in the Belize Valley (Fedick 1988, 1995), as these agricultural populations were dependent on productive soils for subsistence and the production of food surpluses.

The native vegetation of the upper Belize Valley is typical of Tropical Rainforest Formation series forests in tropical lowlands, which thrive in high temperatures and are intolerant of frost (Wagner 1964; West 1964). This habitat supports a high diversity of fauna typical of many tropical areas. Differences in the geography of the area create two distinct ecological zones that support different species of flora and fauna (Awe 1992).

Wright and colleagues (1959:23) recognized that soils formed over limestone are among the most fertile in Belize, second only to those that form in active floodplains on welldrained silty alluvium (Fedick and Ford 1990). The soils of the Belize Valley and the greater Maya Lowlands are dominated by mollisols, which are highly productive and comparatively rare in tropical areas (Fedick 1988:106). The underlying geology of the Belize Valley provides a heterogeneous substrate for the formation of different soils, and greater variability in soil types occurs towards the lower end of the valley (Jenkin et al. 1976:Text Map 20). Slightly less variability exists in soils of the upper Belize Valley at the macro-scale (Figure 5.7), but these soils include some of the most fertile types (Jenkin et al. 1976:85).6

The well-drained soils of the alluvial river bottomlands are highly productive and support a variety of high canopy tree species, including the ceiba, mahogany, and strangler fig; the Spanish cedar and cohune palm, among others, fill in the lower story in the alluvial areas (Willey et al. 1965:23). Economically important species such cacao also thrive in the well-drained valley soils (Awe 1992:51). Several species of edible fish and turtles live in the river, and iguanas and Morelet’s crocodiles inhabit the shores. Howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and tapirs also prefer the communities that could not be extrapolated from modern regional soil studies. Much more variability in soil types and locations was revealed by this study, which calls into question any sweeping generalizations of ancient land use based on modern, large-scale, economically oriented soil surveys.

6 Scott Fedick’s (1988) detailed study of land resources in the upper Belize Valley was conducted at a much finer scale of analysis. It produced soil data amenable to the study of land use by households and small

59

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization alluvial bottoms, along with multiple species of waterfowl (Awe 1992:51; Willey et al. 1965:23). Freshwater snails (Pachychilus sp.), known locally as jute, and river mussels (Nephronais ortmannii) live along the bottoms of rivers and streams.

production, and Cretaceous-Eocene limestone, Miocene marl, and alluvial quartz sand were readily available as tempering materials. All these resources fall within a ninekilometre radius of the site, which has been shown to be the effective maximum distance most traditional potters will travel to obtain their materials (Arnold 1985: 54-55). These resources could be obtained locally, and they can be considered a baseline for recognizing exchange items in the Cahal Pech community.7

The hilly areas to the north and south of the river support several broad-leaf forest trees, which include the cohune palm, avocado, copal, and ramón that were used in ancient times (Awe 1992:52). These uplands are home to several species of large, edible mammals, such as deer, peccary, brocket, and gibnut. Jaguars and pumas, as well as the venomous coral snake and the aggressive fer-delance, also reside in this area (Awe 1992:53; Willey et al. 1965:23). These biotic resources would have provided a varied diet for the original inhabitants of Cahal Pech, who may not have been fully reliant on maize agriculture when the site was founded. Modern settlement is significantly encroaching on the natural habitats of many animals, and much of the forest that once covered the upper Belize Valley has been fully or partially cleared for mechanized farming and animal grazing. The extent of land clearance in ancient times is not fully understood, but it was likely far less than that caused by modern agricultural practices (Ford and Nigh 2014). A recent vegetation survey in the greater Maya Mountains area classified the environment around Cahal Pech as a zone of ‘highly disturbed tropical forests’ (Penn et al. 2004: Figure 3), and several species of animals listed above have all but disappeared from the area. Summary The natural environment of Belize includes several geographic and geological zones, each of which has the potential to provide inhabitants with a distinct suite of resources. The diversity of natural resources, and their sometimes-restricted distribution, provide tools for archaeologists to reconstruct ancient trade and exchange if used conservatively (Graham 1987; Shipley III and Graham 1987). Along with source area identifications for artefacts made from distant or ‘exotic’ raw materials, knowledge of the basic mineralogical and compositional characteristics of local geological resources (e.g. clayey soils, rock formations and other sedimentary deposits) can allow non-local pottery to be recognized. The study of socioeconomic network connections through an analysis of recovered artefacts can proceed only after a familiarity with the local ‘geological baseline’ of a site has been achieved. The local environment of Cahal Pech provided materials that could have been used to make many different objects and tools. Chert nodules in the alluvial gravel fans of the Belize River and marl deposits of the Cayo Series were available for chipped stone tool manufacture. Large deposits of unconsolidated marl and fine-grained limestone were available for use as building materials. Several clay sources in the area would have been suitable for pottery

Other materials such as granite and slate may be washed into the area by periodic flooding of the Macal, but it is unclear if such materials would be of sufficient size or quality for artefact manufacture after a long and high-energy journey down the river from the Maya Mountains. Given these questions, they are not considered as part of the geological baseline here. 7

60

6 The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech Introduction

The Main Trench (Operation 1) produced a large dataset, which I break down into three smaller sections to facilitate presentation. These sections follow discrete architectural sequences in different areas of Plaza B and reflect more than an analytical partitioning of the data. I present noncontiguous test units separately, as these were sometimes difficult to link with the Main Trench stratigraphic sequence. I conclude this chapter with a summary of the architectural sequences and a comparison of Plaza B structures with other Middle Preclassic examples.

An integral part of investigating Middle Preclassic interactions at Cahal Pech involves reconstructing the built environment and the interpreting the use of architecture and associated space (e.g., Kent 1990; Lawrence and Low 1990; Rapoport 1977, 1982; Robin 2003). Architectural spaces shape and are shaped by those who construct and use them, and architectural analyses provide insight into the communities that built these environments (McAnany 1998; Rapoport 1990). Continuity and change in building practices may reflect patterns in social organization and interaction, and the intensity of construction activities can be compared across space and through time to detect variability related to social change and interaction. Architectural space also structures the contexts where artefacts are recovered and provides a baseline for behavioural inferences once a reconstruction has been attempted.

Overburden and Later Plaza Floors The uppermost cultural deposits in Plaza B postdate the Middle Preclassic occupation and will only be summarized here. I provide details of these layers in Appendix A, which includes stratigraphic information for units excavated from 2006 to 2009. I refer the reader to the relevant field reports for information on excavations prior to my involvement with the Belize Valley Archaeological Project (Garber 2005, 2006).

This chapter presents the results of excavations in Plaza B and partially reconstructs the Middle Preclassic built environment through an analysis of architecture and stratigraphy. I synthesize data from six seasons of excavations to paint a picture of the changing architectural landscape of Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech. I use descriptions of building materials, platform size, and stratigraphy to explore changes in architectural investment and construction tempo in different areas of Plaza B in relation to materials consumption practices of different social groups. These analyses also define the contexts referenced in subsequent chapters.

The modern surface of Plaza B is a mostly cleared, manicured park space maintained for tourism. Several large trees dot the open plaza, and a relatively uniform layer of humus or topsoil covers the final plaza floor surface (Figure 6.1). This humus layer is mixed with occasional artefacts and occupation debris, which were likely incorporated into the developing soil horizon through the collapse of surrounding structures and the actions of tree roots and burrowing animals. We uncovered the most recent architectural remains in Plaza B immediately beneath the humus layer. Plaza B was maintained as a formal architectural space throughout the Classic period and possibly beyond,1 and architectural remains dating to later periods were encountered in all excavated units. These remains comprised a series of plaster plaza floors, often poorly preserved due to their proximity to the modern ground surface, which occurred as discontinuous patches of plaster above limestone pebble ballast or were inferred from ballast layers when no plaster surface remained. Preserved floor surfaces ranged from two to four centimetres thick and capped layers of pebble ballast ten or more centimetres deep. Ceramic cross-dating (Sullivan 2010) of sub-floor materials and correlation A limestone cobble feature and associated deposit of smashed Terminal Classic pottery were uncovered in the humus layer of Operation 7 (Ops. 7c-7f). Substantial Terminal Classic construction activity at Cahal Pech involved stone robbing modification of Classic-period buildings and architectural spaces. This activity may represent a reoccupation of the site following its initial abandonment. 1

Figure 6.1: Plaza B of Cahal Pech, facing south toward Structure B-5. Photo by James Garber for the BVAP project.

61

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization centimetres below the modern ground surface.3 Floor 4 was found in almost every Plaza B excavation unit, and its absence in the northern and western areas was most likely due to later construction activities or disturbance by large root systems.4 Floor 4 was between 8 and 10 cm thick and was very well preserved. Its hard-white plaster surface exhibited a ‘polished’ finish in several units, and it was underlain by a layer of ballast similar to that beneath Floor 3.

with surrounding structures (Awe 1992; Cheetham 1995) placed the construction of these later floors in the Classic period. Two or three Classic-period plaza surfaces were present in all units. Differences in recorded numbers of late floors were likely due to differential preservation and excavators’ ability to recognize superimposed ballast layers. Later floors near structures along the margins of Plaza B were better preserved and more easily followed than corresponding surfaces in the central plaza. In some areas, however, ancient refurbishing or maintenance of floor sections likely accounted for observed differences.

Floor 4 appears to have been the first surface to completely cover Plaza B. Test pits elsewhere in the plaza (Cheetham 1996) suggested a late Middle Preclassic construction date, but this assessment must be revised in light of three critical pieces of recent evidence. The more extensive BVAP excavations unearthed larger numbers of Late Preclassic sherds from levels directly beneath Floor 4, and the remains of a cut-stone superstructure and associated Late Preclassic cache vessel were discovered atop this floor near the centre of the plaza. Finally, Floor 4 was determined to be the latest plaster surface in a series of tightly superimposed plaster floors in the southern end of Plaza B, the earliest of which belonged to a late Middle Preclassic platform and not a plaza surface.

The poor state of preservation of these uppermost plaza floors may be attributed to several post-depositional processes, including root action, faunal turbation, and foot traffic from modern visitors to the archaeological park. Although sections of intact Late Classic floors were uncovered in several units across Plaza B, the poor preservation of these floors precludes their consideration as reliable ‘seals’ of earlier deposits.2 The condition of these floors may also relate to their use in antiquity and their construction materials. A detailed study of these architectural features lies beyond the scope of this study, but a clear change in construction methods and materials is visible between Late Preclassic and Classicperiod plaza floors.

Several lots below Floor 4 were assigned Late Preclassic dates (Sullivan 2010). Temporal assessments were not made for all lots recovered from below this floor, and some lots were assigned Middle Preclassic dates. The most important lots for dating Floor 4, however, came from deposits that were stratigraphically sandwiched between this floor and earlier surfaces (Table 6.1). Examples of these Late Preclassic lots come from the northwest (Op. 3a), south (Ops. 7f, 7g), and north-central (Op. 1y) areas of Plaza B, which argues against isolated cases of post-depositional mixing as the reason later sherds were recovered. Several of these lots also contained late Middle Preclassic pottery types, which suggest that Floor 4 was laid down early in the Late Preclassic.

Late Preclassic Plaza Floors The inhabitants of Cahal Pech laid down a series of thick plaster plaza floors in Plaza B during the Late Preclassic that paved the area in an early approximation of later architectural configurations. Segments of a well-preserved plaster floor were uncovered in nearly all units at depths between 30 and 40 cm below ground surface, which was usually the third floor in every sequence. This floor was 4-10 centimetres thick and was underlain by a ballast layer of limestone pebbles and loose sediment. Pottery fragments mixed with the sub-floor ballast were mostly composed of Late Preclassic types, although some late Middle Preclassic examples were also noted (Garber et al. 2005:27). Two distinct floor layers (called Floors 3A and 3B) were uncovered that may represent the replastering of the plaza surface in the southern units of Operation 1.

BVAP excavations uncovered a series of parallel wall stubs resting on top of Floor 4 near the centre of Plaza B during the 2005 field season. These large, well-trimmed and plastered limestone blocks represent the foundation of a building, and a Hillbank Red:Variety Unspecified (Brown) vessel was cached between them on top of Floor 4 (Garber et al. 2006:9). Only a portion of the building was excavated due to time constraints and its function remains unknown. These Late Preclassic structural remains and associated cache are the only known features associated with the surface of Floor 4, and they can be used to approximate the time of its use if not necessarily its construction.

An earlier floor surface likely constructed at the beginning of the Late Preclassic was uncovered between 50 and 60

2 The idea of deposits being sealed beneath or inside later architecture in a sub-tropical environment like the eastern Maya Lowlands is problematic, as bioturbation from a wide variety of flora and fauna can affect artefacts after deposition. Large root intrusions burrowed through even the thickest plaster plaza floors at Cahal Pech, and rootlets were observed in varying numbers in nearly all strata above bedrock. The presence of intact later architecture should add a measure of confidence in interpreting spatial patterning of earlier deposits, but the possibility of post-depositional disturbance must be taken into consideration.

A gentle dip of about 10 cm from north to south was noted in both Late Preclassic floors. Healy, Cheetham, Powis and Awe (2004:109) suggest that these gradations in floor depth may have functioned to divert and capture rainfall. 4 Floor 4 was not recorded in Ops. 1b, 1c, 1e, 1g, 1o, and 4a. 3

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The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech Table 6.1: Selected lots below intact Floor 4 with Late Preclassic dates. LP = Late Preclassic; LMP = Late Middle Preclassic; MP = Middle Preclassic (temporal assessments from Garber 2007; Sullivan 2010) Lot

Level

Date

Context

Depth (cmbs) Note

1y-5

4

LP

Sediment, rubble, and trash fill between Floor 4 and cobble platform

49-62

Platform dated MP

3a-6

5

LMP – LP

Sediment and trash fill beneath Floor 4 and above flagstone surface

52-65

3 diagnostic LP types given; level below dated MP

7f-7

5

LP

Thin sediment fill between Floor 2d and Floor 2e

50-55

Floor 2d corresponds to Floor 4; level below dated MP

7g-6

7

LP

Thin sediment fill between Floor 6 and Floor 7

50-53

Floor 6 corresponds to Floor 4; levels above and below dated MP

Figure 6.2: Plaster floor sequence in Operation 7, facing south. Early and later Late Preclassic plaza floors are exposed above a late Middle Preclassic plaster platform surface, and the final Late Classic floor surface is indicated in the profile. Additional plaza floor surfaces were exposed between those pictured here. Note the thickness of the plaster floor sequence in profile.

Excavations near the southern edge of Plaza B encountered several superimposed plaster floor surfaces immediately beneath Floor 4 that were unlike any other sequence elsewhere in the plaza. These floors represented several replastering events that seemed to be localized in this area and ranged from 25 to 30 cm in thickness (Figure 6.2). Three distinct plaster surfaces were recognized below Floor 4 in Operation 7 and two were observed in Op. 1u and Op. 1v. Very little space and almost no ballast or other materials were deposited between these different floor layers and it was difficult to distinguish them during excavation. The earliest of these floor surfaces appeared to be restricted to the southern area of Plaza B, where they were found covering earlier platform architecture and deposits containing Middle Preclassic pottery. It is therefore likely that the earliest of these plaster floors date to the Middle Preclassic as suggested by previous investigators (Cheetham 1996;

Healy, Cheetham, Powis and Awe 2004), but that these floors did not entirely cover Plaza B. Given the three lines of evidence presented above, Floor 4 was likely constructed early in the Late Preclassic. It seems to have formed the latest in a sequence of plaster floors in the southern end of Plaza B that may have had much earlier roots, but it was not until this slightly later time that a plaster pavement was extended across the entire area. As with the Classic-period floors, a more detailed consideration of Late Preclassic architectural remains lies beyond the scope of this study. We know little about Late Preclassic life within the site core despite the massive increase in construction activity during this time (Awe 1992). The formalization of large plaza spaces and increasing embellishment and expansion of monumental 63

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Archaeological Project. I have relied on field reports (Garber 2005, 2006) and partial sets of field notes, photographs, and drawings to reconstruct the architectural sequence for much of this area. This is especially true for deeply buried deposits in the extreme northern end of the trench. Two trench extension units (Op. 1x and 1y) were excavated in 2008 that revealed a complex architectural sequence in the north-central area of Plaza B, and I rely heavily on these data in the following synthesis.

architecture, which included temple pyramids, indicates an increasing importance of civic and ritual activities in the community. Any residences in the area that may have existed at this time are probably buried beneath Classicperiod buildings and remain unknown. The Late Preclassic floor surfaces are important to this study for reasons beyond documenting the expansion of monumental architecture and attendant socio-political and economic changes. As a single architectural feature stretching across most of Plaza B, Floor 4 acts as a baseline for correlating the depths of earlier deposits and architecture.5 This was useful when different unit datums were employed, which has occurred over time with multiple independent projects working in Plaza B (e.g., Awe 1992; Cheetham 1995, 1996; Garber 2005). The comparative thickness of Floor 4 (8 – 10 cm) and its well-preserved condition in most areas also offered some reassurance against post-depositional disturbance of artefacts and architecture.

I have defined the Plaza B North Sequence as all units of Operation 1 north of Op. 1h (see Figure 4.1). This was an analytical decision, but the architecture and associated deposits in this area formed a related series that was cohesive enough to justify its treatment as a discrete unit. Phase 0: Bedrock Modification and Soil Occupation Horizon (Cunil or Earlier?) The earliest occupation in the Plaza B North Sequence was represented by an occupation horizon of black soil, called a paleosol in previous reports, and intentionally modified sections of bedrock.6 The bedrock surface undulated and dipped downward nearly 65 cm from the southern end of Op. 1c to the northern limit of Op. 1a (Figure 6.3). Excavators did not note signs of bedrock levelling or preparation for construction purposes in this area, and it is not clear how the shape of the natural hill may have affected the early occupation. Bedrock modifications were minimal and not associated with any prepared floors or architectural features, and all examples were covered by black dirt or later construction fill.

Plaza B Architectural Sequences This section presents the results of BVAP Plaza B excavations as a series of stratigraphic sequences and architectural reconstructions. The extent of the excavations discussed, and the complexity of the architectural sequences revealed, necessitates their presentation in discrete but related segments. I break the Main Trench down into three separate sections (Plaza B North, Central, and South), and Operations 3, 4 and 5 are discussed separately. Operation 7 was located adjacent to the southern end of Operation 1 and is included in the discussion of the Plaza B South section. Architectural sequences in all sections are connected to other features when relationships could be discerned.

Modified Bedrock Features

Each sequence begins with the earliest architectural features and progresses upward in the stratigraphic sequence until reaching the Late Preclassic Floor 4. I present this data by architectural or depositional phase, following the approach used in the description of architecture at Preclassic Cuello (Hammond, Gerhardt, and Donaghey 1991). Where appropriate, I retain the original designations assigned to features in the field (e.g., Platform B). Any differences between structural designations used here and those from previous field reports are noted.

An irregular, basin-shaped depression was intentionally dug into bedrock in the southern end of Op. 1a. This pit measured approximately 88 cm wide and 25 cm deep, and it was filled with black, organic-rich clay mottled with white marl. A nearly complete mano was the only recovered artefact and the function of this pit was not clear.7 It may have originally been used for storage, but its volume was far smaller than other Middle Preclassic bedrock storage pits discovered at peripheral settlements (e.g., Powis and Hohmann 1995:49).

Operation 1: Plaza B North Sequence The northernmost units of Operation 1 were excavated in 2004 and 2005 before I joined the Belize Valley

BVAP excavation reports use the term paleosol to describe the dark, organic strata often found above bedrock. This partially matches the common usage of the term in geology, because these strata may represent ancient ground surfaces buried by later depositional events (e.g., Goldberg and Macphail 2006:42). The term paleosol, however, also carries a connotation of the ground surface being natural, and these strata clearly are not. They contain ceramic, lithic, and faunal debris, and they have a high organic content that likely resulted from the inclusion of other waste. Soils found within these strata are perhaps best classified as anthrosols, but I will refer to them as an occupation horizon as no soil micromorphology study has yet been conducted and we do not know their precise characteristics. 7 I was unable to locate this artefact during laboratory analysis in 2010. 6

5 Labelling Floor 4 as a single architectural feature is probably incorrect in the strictest sense. Patching, replastering, cutting and removing sections, and burning are all examples of floor modifications observed on the Floor 4 surface. Although localized burning events may relate more to past activities carried out on plaza floors, construction activities probably changed the original character of floor. The investigation of Late Preclassic construction practices was not an objective of BVAP excavations, and these architectural features were not studied in detail. The documented variability in floor construction, use, and maintenance, however, would be a productive avenue for future research.

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The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech

Figure 6.3: Profile of northern trench section from 2004 excavations, showing cultural deposits and the shape of bedrock (after Garber et al. 2005:Figure 5).

A shallow bedrock depression was located near the southern limit of Op. 1c beneath two later platforms (see Figure 6.3). This feature may have been natural or man-made, and it contained a cache (Cache 5) of 20 battered limestone spheroids (see Appendix C for full description of caches). The intentional deposition of these objections suggests the depression may have been deliberately excavated. Approximately 50 cm to the southwest of Cache 5, near the northeast corner of Op. 1e, a 16 cm round hole penetrated 19 cm of bedrock. This cavity lay below a cache that contained ceramic vessels, a marine shell ornament and a slate disk (Cache 10), and its shape and depth suggested it may have been a posthole. Excavators concluded that the hole was a natural dissolution feature based on the rough, ‘bubbly’ appearance of its interior surface, and its interpretation remains uncertain. The hole was filled with sediment and devoid of artefacts, and no prepared floors or other architectural features were associated with it.

and freshwater mussel (Nephronais ortmanni) shells were also recovered. Artefacts made from non-local materials – igneous grinding stones, marine shell beads, and slate ornaments – were present in very small numbers. Pottery was also present in some lots but absent from others. All recovered sherds were eroded and were probably exposed to the elements for some time before being buried. Sherd frequencies decreased with depth in this layer, and both Cunil and early facet Kanluk types were identified. The thickness of this layer varied with the depth of bedrock and the presence of later architecture. In the northern end of the Main Trench, for example, the surface of bedrock undulated and began dipping northward to eventually reach 2 m below the current ground surface (Figure 6.3). A Kanluk-phase platform was encountered at 1.65 m below ground surface in this area, which yielded an approximate thickness of 35 cm for the occupation horizon. By contrast, the shallower depth of bedrock at the southern end of Op. 1c and the presence of the same platform compressed the thickness of the black clayey soil to about 20 cm.

Dating the bedrock features was complicated by a dearth of associated sherds or other diagnostic materials, but their stratigraphic positions suggest these features were produced by the earliest Cunil-phase inhabitants. If all these bedrock features were created around the same time, the latest limit for their construction would be near the end of the Cunil phase. An earlier date is possible, but these features lack absolute dates.

The occupation horizon was absent in some units that contained later platforms and may have been scraped away to prepare the ground surface for construction. Removal of this layer and its replacement with a sterile grey marl fill preceded the Phase I construction of a hard white marl floor in Op. 1x, but a soft white marl floor was laid directly atop the black clay at the same time two meters to the east (Op. 1y). Awe (1992:133) noted similar scraping and levelling beneath the floor of the earliest Cunil-phase platform in Str. B-4.

Occupation Horizon A stratum of black, dense, clayey soil was encountered directly overlying bedrock throughout most of the Plaza B North Sequence, which had a sticky or greasy feel that probably reflected a high organic content. It was notably different in colour and texture from the modern humus and likely included significant amounts of organic occupation waste. Deeper deposits were mottled with white marl that were probably products of in situ bedrock weathering.

Phase I: Marl Dwelling and Patio Floors and Cobble Surface (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk) Phase I was marked by the appearance of low platform and patio floors that were the earliest architectural features in this area of the plaza. These simple floor surfaces were made from different materials and probably served different functions. All were encountered near bedrock and were

Artefacts in this layer suggest human actions were important to its formation. Chipped stone flakes were the most abundant remains, and hammerstones were less common but present. Numerous jute (Pachychilus spp.) 65

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 6.4: Plan map of Phase I architecture in Op. 1x and Op. 1y.

minimally raised above the black clay occupation horizon. Only portions of these early architectural features were revealed in two trench extension units, Op. 1x and Op. 1y (Figure 6.4). I found no mention of similar features in a review of excavation notes for Op. 1e, which was the Main Trench unit located between the two trench extensions.

assigned a transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk date like those recovered from Cache 10 in Op. 1e, which was located at roughly the same depth below the ground surface in an adjacent area. The spatial relationship between Cache 10 and the Op. 1x refuse deposit suggests that the two were produced by a group that used the marl-floor structure, which appears to have been a dwelling based on the domestic character of the associated debris.

Marl Dwelling Floor (Marl Floor 3) and Cobble Surface The best preserved Phase I architectural feature was a section of white marl floor (Figure 6.4 Marl Floor) encountered 1 m below surface (1.34 m below datum) in Op. 1x. This section of floor was relatively hard, averaged 2 cm thick, and had a surface area of about 75 cm2. It was laid over a nearly sterile grey marl fill, and any traces of black soil were removed before its construction. The few sherds in the fill deposit (lot Op. 1x-20) were eroded and could not be assigned a more precise date than the Kanluk phase. The northwestern portion of the floor was built over a naturally flat bedrock shelf that dipped slightly downward toward the south and east. Approximately 1-2 cm of fill was added to elevate the floor above the bedrock shelf, whereas 5-10 cm was needed to fill in the sections of uneven bedrock. No facing stones or postholes were associated with this floor and no artefacts were found on its surface.

A pavement of small limestone cobbles abutted the southern limit of the marl floor and curved westward into the Op.1x sidewall. The surface of this pavement was flush with the marl floor, and the cobbles were set in a dark brown soil matrix similar to the occupation horizon but lacking its greasy feel. The occupation horizon was scraped away before the cobbles were laid down but was encountered slightly below and outside the cobble surface in the rest of the unit. No refuse concentrations like that described above were deposited on or outside this cobble surface, and no other features were associated with it. A few eroded fragments of utilitarian vessels distributed among and below the cobbles (lot Op. 1x-18) dated this feature to the early facet Kanluk phase. Marl Patio Floor (Patio Floor 5) Patio Floor 5 was a less-formal Phase I surface encountered 1.03 m below surface (1.34 m below datum) in Op. 1y (Figure 6.4). A soft, thin white marl surface was laid over the occupation horizon and extended 2.25 m south from the north unit wall before terminating in loose brown sediment. Excavations uncovered only a portion of this surface and its original extent is unknown. The north and east profiles of Op. 1y (Figure 6.8 and Figure 6.9) show Patio Floor 5 extending in these directions, and this

A domestic refuse deposit, consisting of concentrations of broken pottery and at least one mano fragment8, was located adjacent to the eastern edge of the floor and more closely resembled a sheet midden than a cache or fill deposit. Pottery fragments in this deposit (1x-15) were 8 These materials were the subject of a separate study and were not analysed by the author. The brief description here is taken from field observations.

66

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech

Figure 6.5: Patio Floor 5 surface, showing freshwater shell deposits. Trowel is pointing north, with tip near embedded partial vessel.

floor may be equivalent to a thin marl surface noted near bedrock in nearby Op. 1c.

include the marl-floored substructure in the discussion of Phase II because it was likely part of the same construction. Deposits beneath the marl floor appeared in profile as undifferentiated cobble-and-sediment construction fill set in a grey matrix, with a thin line of grey demarcating the marl floor (Figure 6.6 and Figure 6.7).

Patio Floor 5 was poorly preserved and only about 2 cm thick, and its surface was much softer than the nearby marl dwelling floor in Op. 1x. No architectural features were associated with Patio Floor 5, but concentrations of river mussel (Nephronais ortmanni) and jute (Pachychilus spp.) shells were deposited on its surface along with a partial bowl base (Figure 6.5).

Limestone cobbles and sediment were first deposited as fill over the occupation horizon and Phase I architecture throughout Op. 1x. The cobbles were set into and over the older occupation surface to raise this section to the level of the earlier marl floor and perhaps to provide a solid foundation for later construction. This cobble layer was originally called Platform S (Garber et al. 2009:8), but I have dropped this designation because the deposit was more likely a layer of construction fill. A similar fill deposit, consisting of cobbles and grey-coloured sediments, was then laid down over the entire area of Op. 1x (Figure 6.6 and Figure 6.7). This deposit varied in thickness from 10 to 20 cm and contained few artefacts. It was levelled off at about .92 m below surface (1.26 m below unit datum) and covered with a thin layer of whitish-grey marl.

Sherds on and below this floor showed a mixture of Middle Preclassic types (Op. 1y-14) like those from Op. 1x and were mostly utilitarian vessel fragments. Late facet Kanluk sherds may have been introduced into this lot by the large disturbance – evidently caused by a root system – near the northeastern unit corner that penetrated Patio Floor 5 and reached bedrock (Figure 6.8). Patio Floor 5 was encountered at roughly the same depth as the features in Op. 1x and the three features may have functioned together as an architectural unit. Phase II: Cobble and Marl Platform, Marl Patio Surface (early facet Kanluk)

The partial remains of Platform R sat atop the grey marl floor in the southeastern section of Op. 1x. Platform R was a cobble surface raised 5-10 cm above the floor that extended 2 m north from the south unit wall in a roughly triangular or crescent shape (Figure 6.10). Angular cobbles (10-15 cm) were closely packed to form a level surface and traces of soft marl coating were noted on some of these cobbles. A rounded cavity near the centre of Platform R may have been a posthole but the evidence for this was somewhat ambiguous. An irregularly shaped mass of greyish-white marl was encountered at the same level that abutted the western edge of the cobble mass, and the combined surface area of these two features was approximately 2.79 m2. Less-substantial ‘chunks’ of marl were also uncovered throughout the unit at this level.

The Plaza B North Sequence became more complex in Phase II with the adoption of new architectural forms and building practices. Phase II architecture (Figure 6.10) was only identified in trench extension units (Ops. 1x and 1y), which provided broader exposures and more detailed profiles than the comparatively narrow Main Trench. Excavation notes and drawn profiles showed marl lenses and cobble features at similar depths elsewhere in the Main Trench, but these were originally thought to represent construction fill of later platforms. Platform R-sub and Platform R Platform R was a cobble and marl feature built on top of a thin, grey marl surface in Op. 1x (Garber et al. 2009:8). I 67

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 6.6: North wall profile, Op. 1x. Legend for deposit symbols included with Figures 6.7 and 6.8.

Figure 6.7: West wall profile, Op. 1x.

The limited exposure of Platform R and apparent demolition by later construction precluded detailed functional assessments. The original surface area of Platform R and Platform R-sub could not be determined, and no artefacts or in situ refuse were associated with the platform or its substructure. Excavators reported finding no sherds in Platform R fill, but lots from Platform R-sub construction fill (Op. 1x-14, 1x-17) and materials surrounding the rubble of Platform R (Op. 1x-12) were dated to the Kanluk phase. Sherds were small, eroded, and mostly from utilitarian vessels, and they could not be assigned to a more specific facet of the phase.

about 3 cm, but it was also soft, weathered, and poorly preserved. Its surface was discontinuous across the unit and covered slightly more area than Patio Floor 5 before terminating in a similar deposit of loose brown sediment to the south. The extent to which this floor extended outside Op. 1y in any direction is unknown; it was not noted in nearby units Op. 1c and Op. 1e, but it appears to have extended some distance to the north and east (Figure 6.8 and Figure 6.9). A feature of rounded and angular limestone cobbles, called Platform P (Garber et al. 2009:11), was built near the centre of Op. 1y on top of Patio Floor 4. Neither facing stones nor traces of marl surfacing remained, but the Platform P cobbles were tightly packed to form a level surface with an area less than 1 m2. The function of Platform P was not clear: it may have been the foundation of a building platform that was destroyed by later construction, or it may have been a stand-alone cobble feature like that discovered in Op. 1p near the centre of Plaza B (see next section, this chapter).

Marl Patio Floor (Patio Floor 4) and Cobble Platform P A thin (avg. thickness < 10 cm) layer of brown clay was laid down over Patio Floor 5 in Op. 1y at about the same time that Platform R and its substructure were built, and a soft white marl surface (Patio Floor 4) covered this deposit. Patio Floor 4 was somewhat more substantial than its predecessor, with an average thickness of 68

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech

Figure 6.8: East wall profile, Op. 1y, showing Middle Preclassic patio floors and platforms.

Sherds recovered from the Platform P cobbles (lot Op. 1x11) and beneath Patio Floor 4 (lot Op. 1x-13) consisted of Kanluk-complex types that could not be faceted. Some later sherds9 must have been introduced into the patio floor by a large disturbance noted on the eastern wall profile (Figure 6.8), so the date of construction is certainly earlier than the generic Middle Preclassic assignment that was given. The close proximity of Platform P to Platform R, the fragmentary nature of each, and the similarity of their construction suggest that these two features were related and perhaps the remains of a single structure. Differences in the respective substructures of these features and their relationships to later architecture complicate this interpretation, however, and little more can be said with certainty regarding their relationship. Phase III: Patio Floors and Small Cobble Platforms (early facet Kanluk) The third phase in the Plaza B North Sequence comprised multiple platform and patio floor construction events that represented a significant architectural investment. The scale of construction increased as larger platforms were built on thicker patio floors over the remains of earlier features (Figure 6.11). Phase IV modifications changed the landscape in this area and partially destroyed earlier features, however, which obscured their extent and configuration.

Figure 6.9: North wall profile, Op. 1y. Legend for deposit symbols included with Figures 6.7 and 6.8.

new results in detail (see Garber et al. 2005:14-16 for full description).

The analysis below is a synthesis of stratigraphic data from excavations in 2008, which provided more details on the construction history of Phase III architecture, and data from the Main Trench excavations in 2004 and 2005. The results call into question some of the architectural reconstructions presented in previous field reports but support others (e.g., Garber 2005, 2009). I present a brief summary of the earlier interpretation before discussing the

The earliest platform in the north of Plaza B was named Platform C, which was described as a thick tamped marl platform of Cunil age that extended through the eastern sections of trench units Op. 1b, 1c, and 1e (see Figure 6.11, Patio Floor 1). A larger stone-faced platform (Platform B) was built during early facet Kanluk times to the west of Platform C and along the same alignment. The construction of Platform B partially truncated Platform C, which was presumably no longer in use. Sometime after Platform B was completed, but still during early facet Kanluk times, a second large cobble-and-marl platform (Platform A) was built near the northern edge of Plaza B

9 This lot included a z-angled base fragment that was characteristic of later Belize Valley types and was not introduced until the Protoclassic (Gifford 1976).

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Figure 6.10: Plan map of Phase II architecture in Op. 1x and Op. 1y.

Figure 6.11: Plan of Plaza B North Sequence architecture (georeferenced and modified from Garber et al. 2005:Figure 7). Lines A – A’ and B – B’ show the positions of two schematic cross-sections of the largest horizontally-exposed area.

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The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech that partially overlapped the northeast corner of Platform B. The functional relationships among all platforms were unclear, but the sequential use of Platforms C, B and A was discerned on stratigraphic grounds.

before construction. It was made of white marl tamped into a level surface but was soft and not well preserved, and it was only encountered in the northern section of Op. 1y. The floor surface appeared to run up to Platform P and stop, and it was not seen in profile to the south of this platform or noted by excavators in this area.

The trench extension units Op. 1x and Op. 1y revealed two different architectural sequences, which might be expected from the interpretation summarized above. These sequences, however, did not match other expectations of the proposed interpretation. I suggest two broad changes to the Phase III and IV architectural sequence based on an analysis of stratigraphy from Op. 1x and Op. 1y and the correlation of architectural features and deposits from these two units with materials from the Main Trench. The data suggest Platform C was not a single architectural feature, but was a series of related patio floors that continued a building pattern established in earlier phases. The patio floor sequence also seems to have been built slightly later than originally proposed and probably dates to early facet Kanluk times. All data for Phase III architecture was recovered from Op. 1y, which was designed to investigate the surface of Platform C. Any contemporaneous architectural remains that may have existed in Op. 1x were apparently destroyed by construction in the following phase.

The position of Patio Floor 3 in the stratigraphic sequence and its relationship to Platform P provide some clues to deciphering architectural development during Phase IIIa. Platform P remained uncovered at this time, but the new marl floor created a surface flush with its top in the north. This suggests that Platform P was either a step to access Patio Floor 3 from the south or was a structure at the southern edge of this patio that was demolished by later construction. If the latter is correct, Platform P may have originally been elevated higher than the single-layer cobble surface encountered during excavations. A third possibility is that Patio Floor 3 was not a floor but was instead a fill layer placed to level the area with the top of Platform P before proceeding with construction. The third scenario seems the least likely but cannot be ruled out. If Patio Floor 3 was a fill unit, presumably to level the area north of Platform P in preparation for building Patio Floor 2, then why was it not placed in the 1.20 m2 south of Platform P as well? Patio Floor 2 extended across the entire length and width of Op. 1y and was laid directly over a deposit of greyish-brown clay in the southern 1.20 m of the unit. This suggests that a relatively thick marl fill deposit was not required for the construction of the later architecture and that Patio Floor 3 functioned in some other way.

Phase IIIa: Patio Floor 3 The Op. 1y east wall profile (Figure 6.8) revealed that the tamped marl surface originally called Platform C consisted of three superimposed floors of white marl. During excavation, however, only the uppermost of these floors (Patio Floor 1) was identifiable as a hard, distinct surface. The floors were separated by thin deposits of loosely compacted brown clay that easily mixed with the softer surfaces of the underlying floors, which appeared to represent a continuous lens of white marl mixed with clay during excavation. These conditions led to a loss of stratigraphic control in the area of the marl floors, and only the first surface was isolated and removed separately. The tight vertical positioning of the floors, however, with only a centimetre or two separating them, may have helped to mitigate the mixing of associated materials. The stratigraphic position of Patio Floor 3, which was the first of the thick white marl floors, suggests it was functionally related to the limestone cobble surface of Platform P. I have included Patio Floor 3 with Phase III because it was more closely associated with the later white marl floors than with Patio Floor 4, as seen in the Op. 1y east profile.

The stratigraphy of earlier and later features also suggests that Patio Floor 3 was not oriented to the south, and that Platform P was not an entryway step. The earlier Patio Floor 4 did not continue south past the area where Platform P was built, as might be expected if the focus of earlier architecture was toward the south. The later Patio Floor 1 and apsidal Platform L (see discussion below) had similar north-facing orientations. The orientation of architecture may have changed from north to south and back again within the span of the early Middle Preclassic, but a simpler interpretation is that the architectural features present in Op. 1y maintained northfacing positions. Excavations through Patio Floor 3 (Op. 1y-10) and beneath Platform P (Op. 1y-11) produced a few Kanlukcomplex sherds that were small and eroded, and the decision not to assign the lots to a specific facet was justified if conservative. High percentages of Cunil pottery, and the presence of early facet Jenney Creek types such as Chacchinic Red-on-orange-brown (Gifford 1976), indicate this floor was built early in Kanluk times. Patio Floor 3 was also intruded upon by two features: the same disturbance (probably a large tree root) that penetrated the earlier floors in Op. 1y, and a possible posthole originating at the surface of Patio Floor 1. Either of these, or some

Phase IIIa began with the deposition of about 5 cm of loose brown clay over the surface of Patio Floor 4. Patio Floor 3 was laid down over top of this clay deposit so that its surface was flush with the top of Platform P (1.15 m below unit datum). This floor had a more ‘formal’ appearance than the earlier patio floors found in Op. 1y: it was thicker (5 cm or slightly more), more consistently level throughout the unit, and related to Platform P in a way that implied a degree of planning 71

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization excavation of Op. 1y, and its subsequent modification and expansion in the following architectural phase made estimations of its size problematic. The remains of this platform comprised a single course of limestone cobbles arranged in a semi-circular or apsidal shape that protruded from the eastern sidewall and measured approximately 1 m north-south by .30 m east-west. Nothing remained of its original surface or extent save a few traces of grey marl and one of its northern facing-stones.

other unrecognized formation process, may have allowed later sherds to filter into the earlier levels. The extent of Patio Floor 3 is not known, although it continued to the north and east of Op. 1y. A single deposit of ‘fill’ from Platform C was excavated from Op. 1c at a depth (.86 m below surface) equivalent to the top of Patio Floor 3, but no mention was made of a floor surface. Photographs of the eastern profile of Op. 1e show three thick layers of marl extending toward the north end of the unit and suggest this floor continued to the west at least as far as the edge of Platform B (Figure 6.11).

Platform L/1st was located directly above a section of Platform P and may have served in a similar capacity. No other features and few artefacts were associated with either of these structures, however, and their use remains far from clear. More sherds were included with the cobble fill of Platform L/1st (Op. 1y-9) than in any of the Phase III architecture yet discussed, but these still numbered only 48 and were mostly small, eroded fragments. The structural fill of Platform L/1st was consequently assigned a Kanlukphase date. Jocote group sherds, which occur in both the early and late facets of the Kanluk complex, were most common, although seven of these had a thin red wash and may be Chacchinic Red-on-orange-brown. These sherds suggest an early facet Kanluk date despite the presence of a single groove-incised Savana Group sherd.10

Phase IIIb: Patio Floor 2 and Platform L/1st Phase IIIb was characterized by an increase in construction and an expansion in the size of patio floors and platforms. Excavation of Op. 1y revealed that the pattern of building white marl patio floors and limestone cobble platforms continued, although the extent of construction activities was again obscured by later modifications. Construction techniques and materials remained largely the same as in the earlier part of Phase III. A deposit of loosely compacted brown sandy clay separated Patio Floor 2 from the earlier Patio Floor 3. This deposit was so thin (1-2 cm) that it could have formed from the natural accumulation of sediment over the earlier patio surface. A floor of white marl was then laid over the brown clay and remaining Platform P cobbles (see Figure 6.8). Patio Floor 2 was 3 to 5 cm thick and covered all of Op. 1y. The preservation of this floor varied, with areas presumably exposed to the elements being softer and more friable than those that supported architecture. No in situ artefacts were recovered from the exposed surface of Patio Floor 2, and excavators were not able to recognize the interface between it and Patio Floor 3.

Phase IIIc: Patio Floor 1and Platform L/2nd The final stage of Phase III involved raising both Platform L and the white marl patio floor above their previous elevations. Platform L/1st was partially dismantled and a second stage (Platform L/2nd) was built on top of its core, which expanded its area westward and increased its height by almost 15 cm. Both roughly cut blocks and unmodified limestone cobbles were used in the expansion and at least two courses were visible. No surface remained on the top of Platform L/2nd except for streaks of marl on the smaller limestone cobbles.

South of the earlier patio floors and Platform P, in the southern 1.50 m of Op. 1y, a deposit of greyish-brown clay 20 cm deep stretched from the base of Patio Floor 2 to the surface of the occupation horizon below. The clay was similar to layers separating the patio floors but differed slightly in colour and texture. This area was excavated in two separate lots (Op. 1y-12 and 1y-15) that contained few sherds, and it remains unclear whether this deposit was associated with a construction phase or resulted from accumulation over time. The relative paucity of artefacts seems to favour the first explanation, and the few diagnostic sherds below Patio Floor 2 are Kanluk, with the facet undetermined but possibly early.

The extent of Platform L/2nd was not revealed by excavations. Its western face was rounded or apsidal and protruded approximately 2 m into Op. 1y from the south before curving eastward into the sidewall (Figure 6.11). A review of field notes from the 2005 excavations showed no mention of such a structure in Op. 1k (see Figure 4.1) to the south, which suggests it was either partly destroyed by later construction or curved back to the east in the intervening space between units. This was probably a small platform, but any size estimates of Platform L/2nd must remain tentative, given the observed architectural variability across Plaza B and the possibility of partial later destruction. If a maximum north-south dimension of 2.40 m and east-west symmetry are assumed, an area of slightly less than 5.70 m2 can be estimated for Platform L/2nd.

An apsidal platform of limestone cobbles was built over a section of Patio Floor 2. This platform was originally called Platform O (Garber et al. 2009:11) and was considered separate from the later Platform L. A comparison of the Op. 1y east wall profile and the position of this feature in plan view revealed it to be an earlier construction stage of Platform L, which I have renamed Platform L/1st. Only the western segment of Platform L/1st was revealed in the

The early facet Kanluk assessment is based on my observations because the lot containing Platform L/1st sherds was not assessed by the project ceramicist. 10

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The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech The final patio floor in this sequence, Patio Floor 1, was laid down about the time Platform L was enlarged. A thin layer (1-2 cm) of brown clayey sediment, almost identical to that separating Patio Floors 2 and 3, covered the surface of Patio Floor 2 before construction of the final floor. Patio Floor 1 was the thickest (5-8 cm) and best preserved of the three floors in this sequence and was made of the same tamped white marl. It extended from the northern wall of Op. 1y throughout the unit and surrounded Platform L/2nd at a depth equivalent to the top of Platform L/1st (.99 m below unit datum). This surface appears to correlate with descriptions of Platform C, which extended 6 m past the northern limit of Op. 1y and at least as far westward as the later Platform B (Figure 6.11).

No artefacts were recovered in association with Patio Floor 1 or Platform L/2nd, but a partial Savana Orange: Rejolla Variety dish (Cache 4) was deposited on the surface of Patio Floor 1 in Op. 1c. Few sherds were recovered beneath Patio Floor 1 (Op. 1y-8) and even fewer came from the cobble fill of Platform L/2nd (Op. 1y-7). Construction fill lots were assigned Kanluk-phase dates, but the presence of Cunil pottery in these lots and the early facet Kanluk vessel on top of Patio Floor 1 suggest these features were constructed early in this phase. Phase IV: Large Cobble-and-Marl Platforms (early facet Kanluk-Kanluk) The largest Middle Preclassic architectural feature uncovered by excavations was constructed during Phase IV along with several smaller platforms and features. Platform B represented a significant investment in architecture, in terms of both the volume of materials needed to create it and the valuable items cached during its construction. The placement of Platform B also changed the Middle Preclassic built environment by partially destroying the older Patio Floor 1 and creating an elevated surface where new platforms were constructed (Figure 6.12 and Figure 6.13). Platform A continued the shift to large cobble platforms, but little of this structure was excavated and it is not well understood. Data on the shape and size of Platforms A and B came primarily from excavations in 2004 and 2005, while the excavation of Op. 1x in 2008 provided information on the methods and materials used to build Platform B.

Patio Floor 1 was most likely present in the unexcavated areas directly north of Op. 1y and east of the Main Trench, which produces a minimum areal estimate of about 13 m2 for this floor. Excavations in 2004 uncovered the possible northern limit of Patio Floor 1 and did not note that it was modified by later architecture. The original western extent of this floor cannot be estimated given its truncation by Platform B in the following phase, and it was not noted in Cheetham’s (1996:8-9) Unit 9, approximately 20 m east of Op. 1b (see Figure 2.7). If the absence of Patio Floor 1 in the Main Trench units south of Op. 1y and Cheetham’s Unit 9 was not due to later disturbance, its surface area may have been no larger than 205 m2 after the construction of Platform B. The eastern profile of Op. 1y showed a possible posthole cut through Patio Floor 1 approximately 30 cm north of Platform L/2nd (Figure 6.8). Several disturbances were noted in this area and the interpretation of this feature as a posthole is ambiguous. It had a v-shaped cross section, was about 20 cm in diameter, and appeared to originate at the surface of Patio Floor 1 and terminate just before the base of Patio Floor 3. These characteristics and the location of this feature near Platform L/2nd suggest that it was a posthole and probably related to a perishable superstructure atop the platform.

Phase IVa: Platform B, Platform N Platform B was a large platform faced with roughly trimmed, coursed limestone blocks and surfaced with cobbles covered in tamped marl (Garber et al. 2005:15). The eastern face of Platform B was discovered in the Main Trench in 2004 and its alignment of roughly 22 degrees west of north was close to the same as the trench. A cache (Cache 2) was encountered inside the eastern face of

Figure 6.12: Schematic cross-section A – A’, showing all Patio Floors in relation to Platform B.

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Figure 6.13: Schematic cross-section B – B’, showing Phase II platforms and final Phase III and IV architecture.

Platform B (Figure 6.11) that was interpreted as marking its northeastern corner, although any actual corner was obscured by later construction. The southeastern corner of Platform B was discovered in the sidewall of Op. 1g approximately 17.72 m southeast from this cache and was marked by the only Middle Preclassic burial (Burial 1, Cache 7) in Plaza B. A distinct corner was not encountered in this area either, but the orientation of the crypts that enclosed both the burial and cache, and the lack of recognizable platform fill to the south, suggested this was indeed the southeastern corner.

A seven-centimetre deposit of brown sandy clay (Op. 1x12) covered the remains of Platform R and created a level at a depth of 1.17 m below unit datum. It is not clear if this layer was associated with the construction of Platform B or should be assigned to an earlier construction phase that may have been associated with the Phase III patio floor sequence described above. This layer did not contain any larger limestone blocks or cobbles, and associated pottery yielded a generic Kanluk age. Excavators noted that the texture of this deposit was similar to that of sediments from levels overlying it, however, which suggests that it related to Platform B. Directly above this deposit was a layer of limestone blocks and cobbles (Op. 1x-11), some exceeding 20 cm in length, which formed an irregularly shaped surface that extended outward from the north and west unit walls. This was originally named Platform Q but was later determined to be a Platform B fill unit.

Excavations through the narrow section of Platform B exposed in the Main Trench suggested it was built on top of bedrock and had a core ‘composed of marl and rubble fill’ that chopped through the earlier Platform C (Garber et al. 2005:15), and that this platform was built during the early facet of the Kanluk phase. Excavations in Op. 1x, which were designed to reveal more about the surface of Platform B and its construction, indicated it did chop and displace the earlier patio floor, but that it was built at least in part over earlier architecture that was not completely destroyed in the process (see Phases I and II above).

Above this deposit was another layer of limestone cobbles in brown sandy clay (Op. 1x-10) that appeared to be split into two distinct cobble pavements separated by approximately 1 m. The cobbles were smaller than those in the underlying fill layer (10 – 15 cm), although a large (> 30 cm long) limestone slab was encountered in the southeast unit corner. These materials were similar to those incorporated into the eastern face of Platform B, and a thin layer of tamped grey marl (Op. 1x- 9) was laid down above these pavements. This marl layer was the floor of Platform B; it was found at a depth of .65 m below surface (1 m below unit datum), which was equivalent in depth to the stone face of Platform B in adjacent Op. 1e (.64 m below ground surface).

The north (Figure 6.6) and west (Figure 6.7) profiles of Op. 1x showed a 40-cm-thick layer of limestone cobbles and brown sediment lying above the thin marl surface of Platform R-sub and below a Late Preclassic plaster floor. Deposits found within that depth range were considered Platform B construction fill, as the uppermost of these deposits corresponded to the depth of Platform B encountered in adjacent Op. 1e.11 Rather than revealing the haphazard deposition of construction fill, however, the levels of Op. 1x show a layered sequence of building materials that may have provided a measure of stability to the platform surface.

The construction of Platform B was marked by several special deposits. Some of these were probably dedicatory caches, while others may have marked the completion of its construction. The probable dedicatory deposits were Cache 2, Burial 1, and Cache 7, and the latter two were closely related in space as well as symbolic meaning. Cache 2 comprised thirteen pieces of worked ‘greenstone,’ a headless figurine, and three slate bars that were vertically

11 Depth below surface was used cautiously to correlate deposits excavated in 2008 with those from 2005, because the earlier datum was missing in 2008. This is not ideal vertical control but can be used in conjunction with descriptive information from excavation notes to increase the accuracy of the stratigraphic interpretation.

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Figure 6.14: Plan of Burial 1 and Cache 7 crypts in southeast corner of Platform B and adjacent caches (georeferenced and modified from Garber et al. 2006:Figure 7).

stacked or layered.12 This cache has been interpreted as an early ‘creation-cosmogram’ reflecting the Classic Maya conception of the world as vertically layered and horizontally partitioned, with links to beliefs expressed in later mythological narratives such as the Popol Vuh (Garber et al. 2005). This cache was placed beneath a layer of limestone cobbles similar to those used in Platform B (1.15 m below unit datum).

in a bracelet or attached to a costume. An obsidian blade was also recovered near the individual’s right hand and may have been clutched at the time of interment. A separate crypt was built to house Cache 7 immediately southeast of Burial 1. This cache included a bowl (Sampopero Red:Variety unspecified) that held a poorly preserved human skull and six polished green-stone beads.13 The location of this ‘head-in-bowl’ cache next to an apparently decapitated skeleton and similarities in crypt construction suggested that the human remains in both deposits belonged to the same individual (Garber et al. 2006:13).

Burial 1 and Cache 7 were located at the inferred southeastern corner of Platform B and were excavated in units Op. 1g and Op. 1o (Figure 6.14). Each deposit was housed in a limestone slab crypt built directly on top of bedrock after any earlier deposits were removed. A shaped slab of grey-black slate was incorporated into the crypt of Burial 1. The body in Burial 1 was in a poor state of preservation but was mostly articulated except for the removal of its head. Four shell tinklers were recovered near the individual’s right arm and may have been strung

No caches or other special deposits were uncovered in Op. 1x, but the expanded exposure helped contextualize some of the special deposits recovered from Op. 1e. A concentration The description of this vessel seems to fit well within that outlined for Sampopero Red: Sampopero Variety, except for the inclusion of volcanic glass shards in its paste. The authors suggest that it may be an unspecified and early ‘Rough-exterior Variety’ of this type, although the brief description given in Gifford (1976:78) does not mention ash as a component of the paste. This vessel was not available for analysis. 13

12 The term ‘greenstone’ is used here as it appears in the cited publication. The materials referred to here were not available for analysis and more specific identifications of the minerals were not possible.

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization architecture. Nine of the fifteen partially reconstructible vessels from Cache 9, which was deposited before the final surfacing of Platform B, were determined to be Savana Group types, and most of the remainder comprised Jocote Group vessels and a single Pital Cream jar. Awe (1992:2325) noted that representatives of the Savana and Jocote Groups, as well as rare cream slipped vessels, were present in early facet Kanluk deposits, but that these became much more common in late facet Kanluk assemblages. Cunil rims and other sherds were recovered from this deposit, but these sherds were ‘very eroded’ and ‘[did] not necessarily represent whole Cunil vessels’ (Garber et al. 2006:11). Similar mixtures of later types with eroded Cunil sherds were identified in fill lots from Op. 1x, and it is possible that the fragmentary early pottery excavated with Cache 9 came from deposits underlying this cache.

of smashed ceramics and Cache 9 were deposited with fill inside the eastern face of Platform B just slightly below its surface (.72 – .82 m below surface). Cache 9 included at least 15 partially restorable vessels, a tranchet-bit adze of distinctive dark brown chert, a polished jadeite mosaic fragment, and a small brown-coloured crystal. The depths of Cache 9 and a ceramic concentration to its south corresponded almost exactly to the upper cobble and sediment layer beneath the marl floor of Platform B (Op. 1x-10). The placement of these deposits may therefore reflect activities associated with the completion of Platform B. James Garber and others (2006:10) have suggested that these deposits represent the results of a feast to dedicate the newly constructed platform. A second dense concentration of sherds was recovered from the eastern face of Platform B north of Cache 9 and slightly higher (.62 m below surface). This concentration of smashed vessels was apparently sitting on top of the marl floor noted in Op. 1x (.65 m below surface) and may represent debris that was swept from other areas of Platform B and accumulated in a midden near its edge.

A construction date for Platform B during early facet Kanluk times remains likely, but the ceramic evidence suggests that it may have been built in the later part of this period, perhaps around 650 BC. The inclusion of a complete obsidian prismatic blade with Burial 1 adds a measure of support to this later construction date, as blades appeared and became dominant during the late Middle Preclassic in the stratified architectural sequence of Str. B-4 (Awe and Healy 1994). The lack of blades from early facet Kanluk levels in the Str. B-4 sequence does not preclude their existence elsewhere at equivalent levels, but they are more common in late facet and mixed early/late facet Kanluk lots from Plaza B than in lots securely dated to early facet Kanluk times.

The function of Platform B is not clear from the data at hand, but analyses of associated artefacts (see chapter ten) suggest that it was a raised terrace that supported multiple residential structures. Platform B had a surface area of approximately 314 m2 and a volume of 126 m3, which is far larger than any Middle Preclassic domestic structure excavated at Cahal Pech or elsewhere in the Belize Valley (cf. discussions of architecture in Awe 1992; Brown 2003; Cheetham 2004; Hohmann 2002; Powis 1996; Willey et al. 1965). The remains of at least two low platforms or wall braces on top of its marl surface demonstrate that Platform B was used as a terrace for smaller-scale structures and may have functioned as an elevated or delimited plaza space. Domestic refuse was recovered on top and off the edge of this platform in areas of the Main Trench and other test units, and the positions of two partial vessels on top of or just off the eastern edge of Platform B are suggestive of provisional discard of domestic materials (e.g., Hayden and Cannon 1983; Johnston and Gonlin 1998).14

The remains of at least one structure were encountered on top of the surface of Platform B in this area, and similar remains were found elsewhere that may also have been Platform B superstructures (see Operation 5 section). A small stone alignment, called Platform N, was built on top of the tamped grey marl surface of Platform B (Figure 6.11). This alignment emerged from near the southwestern corner of Op. 1x and extended north approximately 1.7 m before curving back into the west unit wall. Two courses of roughly cut, angular limestone blocks formed the foundation of this structure that appeared to be slightly rounded or apsidal in shape. It was not clear if Platform N represented a building platform or the remains of a wall brace for a perishable superstructure.

Platform B was given an early facet Kanluk date by cross-dating partial vessels and sherds from caches and construction fill (Garber et al. 2006:Table 1). The excavation of Op. 1x did not refute this chronological placement, but the sherds in three lots from Platform B fill layers (Op. 1x-9, 1x-10, and 1x-11) were assigned to the late facet of the Kanluk complex.

Platform N was located approximately 2.5 m west of the edge of Platform B and was not associated with any architectural features aside from the marl platform floor. Too little of this feature or areas within it was excavated to estimate its size, but the small size and rough quality of its facing stones and its slight elevation (5 cm) above Platform B suggest that it was a modest structure. Pottery from the brown sandy clay deposit surrounding Platform N (Op. 1x-7) was given a Kanluk-phase assessment, while sherds from within the stone alignment (Op. 1x-8) were assigned to the late facet of this complex. Sherds were larger than those from earlier lots but were still eroded and relatively scarce. A transitional early/late Kanluk date for Platform N

These assignments complicate the dating of Platform B, especially because Main Trench lots thought to contain only platform fill also likely included unrecognized earlier 14 These vessels were designated as caches (Cache 1 and 4) but were deposited along the edge of Platform B with no other materials. Partial vessel caches were interpreted as feasting residues (Garber et al. 2005), but it seems equally plausible that these vessels were provisionally discarded refuse based on their contexts.

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The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech was suggested by its stratigraphic relationship to Platform B and the pottery recovered from associated fill.

below, although neither layer approached the thickness or artefact density beneath Floor 4b at the north end of the Main Trench.

Phase IVb: Platform A

Late Preclassic sherds were common in two lots (Op. 1y-5, Op. 1y-6) beneath Floor 4 in Op. 1y, but lots from the floor segment in Op. 1x produced primarily Middle Preclassic pottery (Op. 1x-5, Op. 1x-6). Sherds from these lots were few and small, and large disturbances further complicated a precise dating of these floor segments through ceramic cross-ties.

A second cobble-and-marl platform was built in the north end of Plaza B sometime after the construction of Platform B. Little can be said about Platform A, which was encountered in the northern 2.8 m of the Main Trench (Figure 6.11). It was built over a northeastern section of Platform B’s edge with limestone cobbles and tamped whitish-grey marl. A single large, rectangular limestone block set adjacent to its southern edge may have served as a step up to Platform A (Garber et al. 2005:15), but no other architectural features were found on its surface. The Platform A was built after Platform B in the stratigraphic sequence but the functional and spatial relationships between these two structures remains unclear. The surface of Platform A was constructed on top of a grey fill layer that capped a thick white marl deposit. This marl was not believed to be related to the white marl patio floors farther to the south and its relationship to the platforms above is unknown (Figure 6.3). Sherds found in the fill below Platform A were assigned an early facet Kanluk date, but these may also have included materials from earlier constructions and deposits.15

The floor sections from Op. 1x and Op. 1y were probably equivalent to each other and formed a single surface that originally covered Op. 1e. These units lie four meters north of Op. 1h, where a well-preserved Late Preclassic plaster plaza floor was encountered at the same surface depth, and it is tempting to see this floor extending much farther to the south. Operation 1: Plaza B Central Sequence The Plaza B Central Sequence was bounded in the north by Op. 1g and extended southward to the approximate midpoint of Op. 1t (see Figure 4.1). Floor 4a was encountered in all units of this sequence and provides a baseline to correlate deposits and features. This floor supported the Late Preclassic stone structure mentioned earlier in this chapter and its construction has been firmly dated.

Phase V: Plaster Floor 4 (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal) A 20 – 25- cm thick artefact-rich deposit accumulated over Platform A and the northern section of Platform B during the late Middle Preclassic, and a thick plaster floor was built on top of this layer around the transition to Late Preclassic times. The remains of this floor stretched most of the length of Op. 1a (Figure 6.3) and then stopped, despite being well-preserved throughout the unit. Correcting for datum heights yields a depth below surface of about .51 m for the southern end of Floor 4, which is close to the depth of the Late Preclassic Floor 4a seen in other trench units farther south in Plaza B. The absence of this floor in the intervening trench units (Ops. 1b, 1c, 1e, 1g, and 1o), however, makes any attempt at correlation based on surface depth perilous at best.

The lack of complicated architectural sequences provides the rationale for treating the Central Sequence as an analytical unit (see Figure 6.19). The area covers 22 m2 from north to south across Plaza B and is remarkably free of the complex building episodes that characterize the Middle Preclassic landscape in other tested areas. This suggests that the central plaza area functioned as a space between different groups within the epicentre or possibly an early courtyard. Phase 0: Bedrock Modification and Soil Occupation Horizon (Cunil or Earlier?) No bedrock modification was discovered in the northern section of the Central Sequence. The bedrock surface was mostly level in Op. 1h but dipped gently to the south in Op. 1i in a series of two smooth, natural ‘steps.’ The depth to bedrock dropped .57 m from north to south across Op. 1i before levelling out at 1.69 m below surface. Somewhere in the northern 3 m of adjacent unit Op. 1p, which were not fully excavated due to time constraints, the bedrock surface rose over .70 m to about 1 m below surface.

Units Op. 1x and Op. 1y contained the fragmentary remains of a floor that was similar to Floor 4b in its stratigraphic relationship to underlying architectural features. These floor sections were each labelled ‘Floor 4,’ as they were the fourth floor level encountered in their respective sequences and were all located about .50 m below surface (.83 m below unit datum). Partial destruction by later disturbances introduced some variability into the depths of the preserved sections and neither appeared smooth nor polished. This floor capped layers of ballast and sediment that separated it from the Middle Preclassic architecture

The undulating bedrock surface levelled off at the northern edge of Op. 1r and began a gentle dip southward. A series of five possible postholes were cut into the intact rock surface in this level area (Figure 6.15). All but the northernmost of the four possible postholes in Op. 1r were irregularly shaped and around .10 m deep; they may have

15 I could not locate sherd lots from below the surface of Platform A for reanalysis in 2012, and therefore cannot offer an independent assessment of the date of these materials.

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 6.16: Possible postholes cut into bedrock, Op. 1r. Northernmost posthole is near centre of photograph.

They were not contiguous with each other: one unnamed surface was encountered in the northern half of Op. 1h and did not directly connect to any other features, and Platform G was uncovered throughout Ops. 1r and 1s, and in the northern half of Op. 1t (Figure 6.17). No edging stones, marl surfaces, or other features were associated with either of these surfaces, and no deliberate coursing of cobbles was observed. The few sherds from the cobble surface of Op.1h were too small and eroded to provide a reliable age, and the few that were recovered beneath Platform G were analysed with lots from the occupation horizon. The stratigraphic position of these features, however, suggests a relationship to Phase I architecture in the North and South Sequences.

Figure 6.15: Possible postholes cut into bedrock, Op. 1r and Op. 1s.

The cobbles in Op. 1h were closely packed in a dark greyish-brown sandy clay matrix. They were placed directly on bedrock after scraping away the black clay soil horizon, and the pavement extended 2.55 m into Op. 1h from the north unit wall. No similar features were noted in the adjacent unit Op. 1g, but the construction of Platform B and the placement of the two crypts in its southeast corner may have destroyed earlier features. The cobbles of this pavement levelled a .12 m northward dip in the bedrock surface, and they were similar in appearance to the Phase I cobble surface from Op. 1x.

been natural features of the pitted bedrock (Figure 6.16). The single bedrock feature in Op. 1s had a regular circular plan and was about .20 m in diameter. These features did not form any definite pattern and were not related to any other architectural features, and their classification as posthole cuts remains tentative. The black, organic-rich occupation horizon was encountered in nearly all units between .9 m and 1 m below ground surface. These deposits were not sealed beneath later architectural features in most areas and a mixing of Cunil and early facet Kanluk sherds occurred (Ops. 1r-8, 1s-6, and 1t-14). A concentration of river mussel shells like that on Patio Floor 5 (see Figure 6.5) was uncovered in the black clay beneath a slightly later cobble surface in Op. 1s. This concentration was not resting on top of any discernible floor, but its position directly beneath a cobble surface suggests it was placed on the surface of the occupation horizon. The mussel shells were largely intact and represented a deposit of in situ refuse. Fragmentary sherds from this deposit (Op. 1s-7) comprised a mixture of Cunil and early facet Kanluk types.

The cobbles of Platform G, by contrast, were placed on top of the black clayey stratum. They were somewhat larger and more loosely packed than those in Op. 1h and were set in a dark clayey matrix similar to the deposit they covered. No facing stones were recovered from Platform G and its limits were marked by the absence of limestone cobbles. Its surface extended an unknown distance to the east and west and measured about 9.25 m from north to south. Platform G completely covered the area where the possible Phase 0 bedrock postholes were encountered but showed no evidence of posthole cuts through its surface.

Phase I: Cobble surfaces (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk)

Phase IVb: Cobble feature and Plaster Floor 5 (early facet Kanluk -Kanluk)

Two limestone cobble surfaces or pavements were laid directly on top of bedrock or the black occupation horizon.

No architecture equivalent to Phases II, III or IVa was encountered in the Central Sequence. This area was 78

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech

Figure 6.17: Plan map of Phase I cobble surfaces in the Central Sequence. The gap in Platform G is an artefact of excavation.

encountered approximately .56 m below surface or 6 cm below the thick Late Preclassic Floor 4 that covered all units in this section of the trench. It deteriorated toward the middle of Op. 1p and was not preserved in the western half; it may have been partially destroyed in antiquity as no defined edge was identified. The southern end of Floor 5 terminated at a roughly oval or lenticular limestone cobble surface that extended westward into a section of Op. 1q. The cobbles were laid down in a single-layered pavement overtop an earlier refuse deposit and had no associated superstructure. Soot stains and blackened plaster across the top of this feature and the adjacent southern section of Floor 5 indicate the area was burned, and concentrations of special purpose vessels (see chapters nine and ten) suggest the structure was ritually terminated.

evidently open space during these phases, and the earlier cobble surfaces may have remained in use for some time. Dense deposits of broken pottery and artefacts covered both of cobble surfaces, however, which were likely middens related to Phase IV architecture. These deposits were overlaid by ballast from the Phase V plaza floor. The only Phase IV architecture from the Central Sequence consisted of an irregularly shaped feature of flat-lying limestone cobbles abutting the south end of a wellpreserved section of plaster floor (Floor 5). These features were confined to Ops. 1p and 1q, although they appeared to extend some unknown distance to the east (Figure 6.18). A flat-lying deposit of sherds (Op. 1p-7), which included the partial remains of a censer-like vessel, was encountered directly west of Floor 5 and at the same level, and a partial Savana Orange bowl (Cache 12) was recovered to the south of the cobble feature and slightly below its surface.

The surface of Floor 5 was not penetrated by excavations, but the sherd scatter near its western edge was assigned an early-to-late facet Kanluk date. A similar age assessment of the partial vessel from Cache 12 supports this, as do sherds from the refuse deposit beneath the cobble feature (Op. 1p-

Floor 5 was made of approximately 4 cm of plaster and was well preserved in the eastern half of Op. 1p. It was 79

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 6.18: Phase IV architecture and associated deposits.

Figure 6.19: Schematic profile of Central Sequence excavation units. North is to the left.

9). Data from associated ceramics was too ambiguous to match the architecture to either Phase IVa or IVb from the North Sequence, but the stratigraphic position of these two features close to base of Floor 4 suggests a later placement is appropriate.

through Op. 1v, and the entirety of Operation 7. These excavations revealed the most complex architectural series encountered in Plaza B, which consisted of multiple superimposed platforms of different shapes, sizes, and building materials (Figure 6.20). Five plaster floor surfaces covered the Middle Preclassic architecture in some units of Operation 7, and only the uppermost of these extended across the plaza. The extreme southern end of the Main Trench also revealed substantial bedrock modification that provided access between north and central Plaza B and a naturally lower area of the hilltop in the south.

Phase V: Floor 4 The Late Preclassic Floor 4 covered all units in the Plaza B Central Sequence. It was present as a single floor that stretched across all units at approximately .50 m below ground surface, and it supported a Late Preclassic stonewalled structure to the west of Ops. 1h and 1i. The construction of this floor probably took place early in the Late Preclassic and may have been responsible for some of the partial destruction of earlier architecture.

Significant construction activity in this area throughout the Middle Preclassic led to the progressive elevation of the ground surface (Figure 6.21), which suggests considerable amounts of labour and resources were invested here. This ongoing construction activity had the unfortunate effect of destroying much of the earlier architecture, especially the soft marl floors whose fragmentary remains were only recognizable in profile.

Operations 1 and 7: Plaza B South Sequence The Plaza B South Sequence included the southern end of the Main Trench, from the south end of Platform G 80

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech

Figure 6.20: Plan view of multiple phases of architecture encountered in the Plaza B South Sequence, showing palimpsest nature of architectural features. C- C’ marks the position of the schematic cross-section of this sequence.

Figure 6.21: Schematic cross section C – C’ in the Southern Sequence architecture, showing Main Trench and Operation 7 units.

Building materials changed through time and structures generally grew larger. No simple correlation of platform size with more advanced or elaborate building materials was observed, however; plaster was used early in the

sequence alongside different types of marl flooring, and marl floors continued to be used for a variety of construction purposes after the development of plaster technology. 81

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Phase 0: Bedrock modification and Occupation Horizon (Cunil or Earlier?) Modified Bedrock Features The most extensive modification of the natural hilltop was encountered in the southern half of Op. 1v. This area lay just beyond the southern limits of the Operation 7 excavations and its eastward extent is not currently known. Excavators encountered a plaster-covered section of bedrock about 1.5 m north of the southern limit of Operation 1 at approximately 1.82 m below ground surface or 1.22 m below the surface of Floor 4. The plaster probably related to a later architectural feature and will be discussed below, but the bedrock beneath it had been cut to produce a narrow trough or depression running east-west with a v-shaped profile. This feature may have served as a drain to divert water away from the lower-lying southern area beneath the plaza.

Figure 6.22: Bedrock steps and plaster feature, south end of Op. 1v. North is to the right.

concentrated in this lot, along with a single, heavily patinated triangular biface of brown chert. This type of tool is not considered diagnostic of any earlier time period in the Maya Lowlands, but it appeared to be unique among chipped stone bifaces from Plaza B and hinted at a possible earlier occupation.

Bedrock to the south of this plaster feature plunged approximately .37 m at a near-vertical angle (Figure 6.22). This also appeared to be an intentional modification that formed the riser of a stair leading downward to the south. Bedrock was levelled into the tread of a second stair .20 m long at about 2.12 m below surface. The southern edge of this stair was slightly rounded before again descending at a near-vertical angle to a level surface approximately 2.70 m below the ground. This surface extended at least a meter to the south and beyond the southern limit of excavation. Its length, about five times that of the single stair tread found, suggested this was not another stair but a lower surface of the hilltop. David Cheetham (1996: Table 1) reported finding similar depths for bedrock in his Units 10, 11, and PU-94-1, which indicates this lower surface extended at least 53 meters from east to west.

Phase I: Cobble surfaces, marl floors, and a plaster patch (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk) Phase I was the most difficult to decipher stratigraphically. Remnants of an early platform were encountered above the bedrock stair in the south of Op. 1v and three earlier surfaces were built beneath this platform. The excavation window beyond the stair was only one square meter and little beyond general descriptions can be given for these early surfaces. Stratigraphic evidence was of little help in relating the buried architectural features to those located on the elevated section of the hilltop, and removal of the black clay from beneath the earliest constructions in the south further complicated the analysis.

Occupation Horizon The familiar black, organic-rich clay was encountered in at least part of all units excavated to bedrock. In Op. 1u and 1v, and the adjacent units Op. 7c and 7d, this layer overlaid a tan sandy deposit of weathered bedrock that was nearly sterile. In some units, such as Op. 7f and 7d, the black clay layer contained limestone cobbles similar to those used to create later cobble surfaces, but these cobbles were not levelled and did not form any recognizable pavement. This layer ran continuously through the Main Trench from Central Sequence units to just before the v-shaped drain feature in Op. 1v, where it was apparently removed. The black clay was also absent from the bedrock steps and the lower southern surface exposed in Op. 1v.

Two competing interpretations arose from this data: 1) the lower area was settled first, and it was raised nearly a meter to the level of the rest of the hilltop before construction began on the higher ground; or 2) the earliest architectural features in the elevated area were coeval with at least some of the features in the south. I tend to favour the second interpretation given the substantial evidence for Phase I occupation discovered in the Plaza B North Sequence, although the architecture in the lower area may be slightly older. 16 As the earliest architectural features from the elevated area of the Plaza B South Sequence covered at

Sherds from the lowest lot in Op. 1v (1v-14) were not assessed by the project ceramicist. There appeared to be more bowl fragments with the dull red slip, buff margins and thick dark cores characteristic of Cunil-complex pottery, as well as thick, coarse-textured utilitarian jar fragments in this lot. Two eroded buff-orange sherds may have been Savana precursors. My overall impression was that these sherds were early, probably of late Cunil age at the latest, but this must remain tentative as the definition of Cunil-complex utilitarian vessels continues to evolve and the relationship between it and later unslipped utilitarian (Jocote group) types is better defined. 16

Sherds from the occupation horizon were few, eroded, and small, and they contained a mix of Cunil and early facet Kanluk types (1t-14, 1u-11, 7c-18, 7f-14). One of these lots (7c-18) was covered by a later platform and only contained sherds near the base of that feature. A large amount of coarse-grained lithic debitage was 82

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech least part of the southern area during construction, I limit the designation of Phase I architecture to features that covered the bedrock stair.17

12) again showed a mixture of Cunil and early facet Kanluk types, which suggests a transitional date similar to the architecture below. No remains of an associated superstructure were identified.

Phase Ia-Lower: Marl floor (2007: Floor 7)

An interesting sill-like feature of hard, white plaster covered the northern side of the top bedrock step and filled in the earlier v-shaped cut in the bedrock. This feature abutted the northern edge of the cobble surface just described, and it contacted bedrock in the north at a nearly 45o angle that replicated the v-shaped cross-section of the original bedrock modification. Any of the black organic clay that may have accumulated in the area had been cleared away before the plaster was laid down directly on top of the bedrock surface. No sherds were found in the plaster, and a section of it was left in place (Figure 6.22). This feature was associated with the cobble surface to the south and may have functioned as a step up to the pavement as well as a means to divert water runoff to the east or west.

A tamped marl floor 1-2 cm thick covered the entire area of the lower hilltop exposed in Op. 1v between 2.5 and 2.6 m below ground surface. This floor was clearly visible in profile (see Figure 6.33) but was not recognized during excavations due to its thinness and similarity to the fill deposit above it. It extended from the south unit wall and abutted the second bedrock step around .2 m above the lower bedrock surface. This floor capped two distinct fill deposits that consisted of cobbles in a grey sediment matrix and a roughly rectangular block of pure grey marl. The placement of the grey marl against the riser of the second bedrock step and its rectangular shape suggest it functioned as a third step down to the lower level before the area was raised. The depth of this floor was roughly equivalent to the tamped marl Floor 10 described by Cheetham (1996: Table 1) from his Unit 10.

Phase Id-Lower: Gray marl surface (2007: Floor 6)

Phase Ib-Lower: Cobble surface

The final Phase I architectural feature in the lower area of the hilltop consisted of a thin (4-5 cm) surface of tannish-grey marl laid over limestone rubble and greyish clay construction fill. The surface of the floor was located 1.45-1.50 m below ground surface and the fill layer was .20 m deep. Both fill and floor extended 2.55 m north from the south end of the Main Trench and terminated in a deposit of black organic clay. The black clay was not encountered beneath the rubble fill layer, suggesting that it had once again been removed before construction began. No facing stones marked the northern boundary of this floor, and its surface was flush with the top of the black dirt stratum. No posthole cuts or other features were identified on this floor surface and its function was not clear.

A .50 m thick deposit of soft, fine-textured brown sand was placed on top of the marl floor and second bedrock step in the following subphase. A layer of angular limestone cobbles set in a brown clayey matrix was placed on top of the fine brown sand to form a roughly level pavement about 1.95 m below ground surface. This cobble layer extended 1.4 m from the south unit wall and abutted the uppermost bedrock step just below the midpoint of its riser. The large size of some of the cobbles (> 30 cm) and the unevenness of the surface raise the possibility that this layer was construction fill and not a platform floor, although it was distinctive in profile from fill deposits above and below. The small exposure of this layer (1.4-x-1-m) unfortunately did not provide adequate data to make more definitive statements about its size or function.

The depth of this marl floor placed it within the range of Operation 7 but it was not encountered in any of those units, which suggests it was destroyed by later construction or did not extend past the southern limit of the Operation 7 block. Its depth was below that of any other architectural features revealed by Operation 7, and it was the final construction that elevated the southern area of the hilltop to the level of Plaza B. This floor was poorly preserved and only distinguishable from the construction fill deposit below in profile (see Figure 6.33). Sherds from beneath this floor looked early (1v8) and contained eroded serving vessel fragments with thick dark cores alongside fire-clouded coarse-textured jars. These seemed to fit within the Cunil complex, although the occurrence of Savana group sherds from levels beneath this floor suggests it was likely built in transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk times.18

Phase Ic-Lower: Cobble surface and plaster ‘sill’ A greyish-brown clayey sand fill deposit covered the top of the lower cobble surface before a limestone cobble surface was laid down and levelled to the top of the bedrock stair. These cobbles formed a level pavement that extended 1.6 m north from the south unit wall at a depth of approximately 1.75 m below surface. This floor completed the covering of the bedrock stairs and the earlier architecture of the lower southern hilltop but was found at a depth lower than the occupation horizon in adjacent units. Sherds recovered from this surface and the fill immediately below it (1v17 A cobble layer was found in Op. 1t and 1u slightly below that of Platform G in adjacent units and was named Platform K in the field report (Garber et al. 2008:11-12). Excavations in Op. 7c exposed a wider area of this surface, and it did not appear to be a formal pavement, but instead was a fill layer for later construction. It is therefore not discussed as a part of Phase I.

Assessment based on my observations. Lot 1v-8 was not analysed by BVAP project. 18

83

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization (Figure 6.30). This surface was laid directly on top of the black occupation horizon in Op. 1u but was elevated above that stratum by a limestone pebble and clay fill layer in Op. 1v. Sherds from beneath this floor in Op. 1u (1u-11) were mixed with the occupation horizon and comprised both Cunil and early facet Kanluk types.

Phase II: Soft and hard marl surfaces, raised marl platform (Transition Cunil-early facet Kanluk) Three distinct architectural features made of different building materials were built during Phase II and mostly destroyed by later construction. Continued platform building and the lower durability of some marl surfaces has made the full extent of Phase II architecture difficult to grasp, although the old ground surface of black clay was completely covered at this time and the naturally higher and lower areas of the hilltop were integrated into a new, raised living surface. These features were roughly contemporaneous and are considered part of the same construction phase (Figure 6.23).

Hard marl-and-pebble floor (2009: Platform 2) One of the best preserved architectural features from the South Sequence was the hard packed marl-and-pebble floor designated 2009:Platform 2. This floor formed a continuous surface in Ops. 7c – 7f at an average depth of 1.18 m below surface (1.37 m below Operation 7 datum), and a section of it was uncovered beyond the limits of later architecture in the extension units Op. 7l and 7m at the same depth. The eastern profile (Figure 6.31) of Ops. 7d and 7f show this floor surface extending eastward through the unexcavated baulk, and it probably connected with the exposed section in the extension units where a deposit of later rubble fill was not removed due to time constraints. This floor surface was flat but irregularly shaped, and its original form was partially destroyed by later construction. No facing stones were located along any of its limits.

Soft marl floor (Floor 5) A weathered, soft grey marl floor was encountered around 1.20 m below surface in Op. 1u. This floor was partially chopped by later construction fill but appears to have originally extended at least 6.5 m north from the southern wall of Op. 1v. It was clearly seen in the eastern profile of Op. 1v (Figure 6.33) but was probably destroyed farther to the east, where only traces were discernible in the western profile of Op. 7e at the edge of an ancient disturbance

This floor measured 3.06 m east-west and 2.95 m northsouth in the primary block of Operation 7 and had a surface area of just over 9 m2 (Figure 6.25). The area exposed in the extension units added approximately 4.5 m2 to this total, bringing the total exposure to 13.5 m2. Its surface was composed of small limestone pebbles (< 4 cm) that were crushed and compacted into a tan marl matrix to form a well-preserved, hard floor. This contrasted with the Phase II soft marl surface in the Main Trench, which did not contain limestone pebbles and was far less compact. The hard floor was laid atop a thin grey construction fill layer similar to that encountered beneath the softer marl floor in Op. 1v, which in turn was laid on top of the black clay occupation horizon. Two related special deposits were uncovered on top of this floor near its eastern end (Figure 6.24). These were designated 2009:Cache 1, and consisted of the

Figure 6.24: Cache of slate objects and vessel base on marland-pebble floor.

Figure 6.23: Phase II architecture in the Plaza B South Sequence.

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Figure 6.25: Exposed surface of marl-and-pebble floor 2009: Platform 2. Raised marl feature, partially excavated, in upper right corner with stone alignment on top.

observed in the southern profile of the adjacent unit Op. 7e (Figure 6.32). Any connection between these two features was obscured by later disturbance, and excavators did not note the ramp-like surface within the unit.

base of a ceramic vessel, an intact slate disk or plaque, and a concentration of slate fragments that represent a shattered artefact. Beneath the slate disk was a similar but broken slate object, and between the two disks was a blade-like obsidian flake that formed a vertically layered cache similar to the caches associated with the corners of Platform B (Caches 2 and 13). The concentration of slate fragments was located in the southeastern corner of Op. 7d to the north of the layered deposit and partial vessel. The vessel belongs to the Cunil complex, but sherds from beneath the floor (7c-17, 7d-14, 7f-13) showed a mix of Cunil and early facet Kanluk types.

Interpretation of this raised marl feature is problematic for several reasons. Field notes indicate excavators considered it a construction fill unit related to later architecture, which seems to be the case for another tan marl deposit described below. The regular, flat-topped and sloping-sided shape of this feature in profile, however, suggests it was a platform. The marl-and-pebble floor did not run beneath it but was coterminous with its sloping northern side and even elevated slightly above its base. The possible stone alignment on its summit (1.08 m below surface) could not be investigated due to its location along the southern wall of Op. 7f.

Raised tan marl platform/ramp A deposit of yellowish-tan marl with sloping sides abutted the southern edge of the 2009:Platform 2 marl-and-pebble floor and was raised above its surface by approximately .15 m. This feature may have been built slightly before 2009:Platform 2, as it extended below the level of the marl-and-pebble floor to the surface of the black clay. Excavators did not note a level surface at its top, but a possible stone alignment found along the sidewall of Op. 7f appeared to be resting on its surface, which suggests this feature was a platform raised above the marl-andpebble floor. The thickness of this feature reached .45 m at the southeast corner of Op. 7f and its surface sloped downward to meet 2009:Platform 2 in the north half of that unit. A sloping, ramp-like surface of tan marl was also

Phase III: Cut stone rectangular platform and marl floors (early facet Kanluk) At the close of Phase II the existing architecture was covered by several construction fill deposits and a rectangular platform faced with large limestone slabs was built on this foundation (Figure 6.26). Greyish-white marl floors extended outward from the base of this structure and may have been exterior patio space, although the extent of these surfaces is not known. The size of this platform, and the labour invested in its construction, provide evidence 85

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 6.27: Eastern face of Platform H, limestone slabs coated with grey marl. Section of 2009: Platform 2 floor visible to left of the stone alignment.

Figure 6.26: Plan map of Phase III architecture in Plaza B South Sequence.

of a much greater energy expenditure in comparison with earlier structures and may signal a shift toward formal site planning and building layout.

coating.19 These stones stretched 3.8 m along the same magnetic north alignment followed by the marl floor in the Main Trench. An additional cut stone slab of similar size and shape was uncovered 1.38 m north of this wall in the same alignment (Figure 6.27).

Platform H Platform H was first discovered in the Main Trench as a line of large (.30-.40 m) rectangular limestone slabs running roughly east-west across Op. 1v and a section of marl floor extending north into Op. 1u. Some sections of this floor were still hard and intact, but much of it was poorly preserved and had weathered to a layer of limestone pebble ballast. A separate white marl floor abutted this surface along a clear interface aligned to magnetic north, although no cut limestone slabs were encountered along this junction. A single posthole, .20 m in diameter, cut through an intact section of floor near the eastern sidewall of Op. 1u about 6 m from the southern end of the Main Trench.

The floor of Platform H was mostly destroyed by later construction. It is known almost entirely from the narrow section exposed in trench excavations, except for a small intact surface encountered in Op. 7k and isolated white lenses in the east and west profiles of Operation 7 (Figure 6.30 and Figure 6.31). A large pit also destroyed a section of this floor in Op. 1v. Excavators noted small sections of tamped marl beneath the cobble surface of a later platform in Ops. 7b and 7d, but these were not continuous and were thought to be marl fill layers rather than a platform floor. A minimal estimate of 52 m2 for the original size of Platform H can be made from the alignment of the facing

The Operation 7extension units (Ops. 7k, 7l and 7m) uncovered the eastern face of Platform H while attempting to define a later platform. Facing elements consisted of eight large (.25-.50 m) rectangular limestone slabs, which resembled the stones encountered in Op. 1v but were covered in a thick, well-preserved white marl

I reported this alignment elsewhere (Garber et al. 2010) as an extension of a Phase IV platform based on a preliminary analysis. A more intensive review of all stratigraphic materials made clear this was not the case. Both stone alignments were located at approximately .30 m below the level of the Late Preclassic Plaza Floor 4, which I used as a baseline to correlate depths taken from different datums in 2007 and 2009. 19

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The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech stones and the interface of the interior and exterior floors in Op. 1u. The exact northern extent of Platform H is not known, although its northern face probably ran beneath an unexcavated section of a later platform (2009: Platform 1) in Ops. 7g, 7h, and 7j. Platform H construction fill consisted of limestone rubble set in a grey matrix of sandy clay. Approximately 8.5 cm of this sediment matrix separated the facing stones from the Phase II marl-and-pebble floor in the eastern extension units, but to the west the depth increased to .20 m or slightly more. A ramp-like deposit of tan marl, similar in colour to the architectural feature described above, was observed in the profiles of both Operation 7 and Operation 1 but did not appear to represent a separate feature. Fill deposits were relatively clean in terms of sherds and other artefacts, and recovered sherds were small and eroded (7b-9, 7b-10, 7f-12). They consisted primarily of unslipped coarsewares that were difficult to identify, although many were Cunilcomplex types. The presence of Savana Group sherds in a refuse deposit beneath these fill layers, however, suggests that an early facet Kanluk age is appropriate. Marl perimeter floors Greyish-white tamped marl surfaces were laid out south of Platform H in Op. 1v, and north and west of its floor surface in Ops. 1u and 1t. The southern marl surface extended from the southern face of Platform H beyond the excavation limit, and no additional architectural features were associated with this floor. The floor surface to the north and west of Platform H was well-preserved and bright white; it extended from the interface with Platform H through most of Op. 1u, but began curving to the east and into the sidewall near the southeast corner of Op. 1t. This floor was visually distinct from Platform H and was placed over a grey sediment fill layer instead of the limestone pebble ballast deposited beneath the platform floor. Sherds from beneath these floors (1u-8, 1v-7) match the early facet Kanluk date of Platform H.

Figure 6.28: Plan of 2009: Platform 1, showing location of earliest floor surface and differences in edge construction.

(Figure 6.29), but other facing sections were removed, and its original outline is not clear. The intact northern face appeared to run west-east in a gentle arc from a point near the western wall of Op. 7g, then bent toward the south at a more acute angle near the western corner of Op. 7j, and finally plunged in depth and eventually disappeared near the level of Platform H. This face also abruptly stopped near the western wall of Op. 7g, which suggests its western area was also partially dismantled, although no clear chop line was observed.

Phase IV: Cut stone rounded platform with plaster floor (early facet Kanluk-Kanluk) The southern sector of Plaza B was elevated during Phase IV, when Platform H was partially demolished and a rounded structure (2009: Platform 1, hereafter Platform 1) was erected over the earlier features (Figure 6.28). The surface of Platform 1 was refurbished at least three times before it also was partially destroyed during the construction of Plaza Floor 4. The final resurfacings of Platform 1 became the foundations for some of the earliest plaster floors to span Plaza B and were virtually indistinguishable from the later constructions. Phase IVa: Initial Platform 1 construction

Estimates of the size and shape of Platform 1 are complicated by these factors. A circle approximating the curvature of the intact edge has an area of approximately 63.40 m2 but extends far beyond the area where Platform 1 remains were found to the east and west. Estimates using oval or apsidal shapes range from about 42 m2 to 54 m2, which are considerably different in terms of surface area. The smaller estimates seem more appropriate given the lack of structural remains in the Main Trench and Operation 7 extension units, and the 54 m2 estimate is shown in Figure 6.28.

Platform 1was only encountered in Operation 7 despite the position of the Main Trench .20 m to the west of these units. Its northern face was rounded in a circular or apsidal shape

The construction of Platform 1 began with the partial dismantling of Platform H and the deposition of a limestone cobble and sediment layer .10 – .15 m thick over 54 m2. 87

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization A single arc of rough-cut, irregularly shaped limestone blocks formed the western part of the northern face, but this changed when the face bent more sharply to the south. The larger facing blocks were replaced by smaller cobbles that were sometimes stacked in two courses near the boundary of Ops. 7h and 7j, and these smaller stones were arranged in two evenly spaced parallel arcs along the face. The reason for the difference in materials and shape of two sections was not clear and may indicate an unrecognized phase in the construction of Platform 1. At a depth just below the facing stones (1.02 m below Operation 7 datum), a surface of rounded limestone cobbles was laid down over the fill layer as ballast for the plaster floor of Platform 1. The original floor was intact in only one small area of Ops. 7h and 7j and stretched south from the platform edge over the cobble ballast. This floor consisted of a 2 cm thick layer of hard grey plaster and was not cut by postholes or any other recognizable features. Dating the construction of Platform 1 by ceramics included in its fill was problematic due to low frequencies of all artefacts in these deposits. Sherds from the construction fill beneath the cobble pavement (7b-8, 7c-10, 7d-11, 7e11) comprised both Cunil and early facet Kanluk types, although Cunil sherds predominated. The presence of a handful of later types in this fill, the stratigraphic position of Platform 1 over early facet Kanluk architecture, and the later dates of refuse deposits immediately to the west of this structure suggest it was first constructed near the end of early facet Kanluk times. Phase IVb: Platform 1 resurfacing A second 5 cm plaster surface was laid over the original floor along the northern face of Platform 1. This surface was first recognized in Op. 7h after the exposure of the facing stones, and its depth (.90 m below Operation 7 datum) matched that of floor surfaces throughout Operation 7 that were originally thought to be part of the Late Preclassic plaza floor sequence. Few sherds were recovered from lots beneath this floor (called Floor 7 and Floor 6 in the units of Operation 7), and these could not be placed within a distinct facet of the Kanluk complex (7c-9, 7d-10, 7e9). This suggests that Platform 1 remained in use for an appreciable amount of time after its initial construction, and probably continued to be used throughout the late Middle Preclassic.

Figure 6.29: Northern face of 2009: Platform 1. North is to the left.

Phase V: Plaza Floor 4

in the Operation 7 extension units (Ops. 7k-7m). These floors may relate to the construction of Late Preclassic buildings to the south, where Classic-period structures came within four meters of the Main Trench.

The thick, hard white plaster Plaza Floor 4 described in preceding sections was encountered in all South Sequence units. Multiple superimposed plaster floor surfaces of apparently limited spatial extent were revealed in the main block of Operation 7 (Ops. 7a-7f), which appeared in profile as an unbroken layer of plaster .35 m thick in places. This series of floors was much thicker than any other found in BVAP excavations and was not encountered

A .50 m deep pit was excavated just to the west of the Platform 1 final floor surface in Op. 7e, which seems to have chopped the edge of that platform and penetrated the floor of Platform H. This disturbance was noted by excavators as a lack of cobbles and flooring at the extreme western edge of Op. 7e, but it appears clearly in the profiles of both that unit and the adjacent Main Trench unit Op. 1v as a round-bottomed depression 88

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech

Figure 6.30: West wall profile of Operation 7 units.

Figure 6.31: East wall profile of Operation 7 units.

Figure 6.32: South wall profile of Op. 7e and 7f.

Operation 3

containing a distinctive grey fill. The Late Preclassic floor surfaces above this pit were intact, but the excavated sections revealed little in the way of artefacts and the pit was apparently not used for refuse disposal. A similar disturbance was noted beneath the Late Preclassic floor levels in the eastern profile of Op. 7f. The purpose of this partial destruction of Platform 1 is not clear, but it seems to have related to the construction of the later floors of Plaza B.

Operation 3 was the largest of the test unit operations not connected or closely adjacent to Operation 1. Some architectural features revealed in these units may be part of Platform B, although there are potential problems with this interpretation. The units of Operation 3 nonetheless revealed a complex architectural sequence (Figure 6.34) that spanned the Middle Preclassic and included multiple 89

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 6.33: East wall profile of Op. 1v, south end of the Main Trench.

Figure 6.34: Schematic northern profile of Operation 3 units. Op. 3d not shown.

types of architecture built with different materials and construction techniques (Figure 6.35).

most Main Trench units. None of the Operation 3 units encountered this stratum, which was either scraped away before the construction of later architecture or simply did not form in this area of the site. The surface of bedrock was naturally pitted and uneven in this area, and it was covered over and levelled by deposits of brown clay before construction began.

Phase 0: Bedrock Modification and Occupation Horizon Phase 0, as defined in the sections above, was not encountered in Operation 3. Bedrock was modified through intentional excavation in Op. 3a (discussed below), but this modification probably related to the construction of a later platform. This is suggested for two reasons: the bedrock feature was located beneath the corner of a later platform and appeared to have been part of a layered cache relating to its construction, and it was not covered by the organic-rich black clay found in

Phase I: Low plaster floors (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk) The earliest architecture in the Operation 3 sequence consisted of two plaster floors in Op. 3c that were not located in any other unit of this operation. These floors 90

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech

Figure 6.35: Middle Preclassic architecture in Operation 3.

were stratigraphically related to each other and may have also been associated with a slightly later floor in Op. 3d. Little can be said about these floors as only sections were exposed, and fewer than 150 eroded sherds were recovered beneath them. They are, however, notable as early examples of hard lime plaster being used in the north of Plaza B.

Phase Ib: Op. 3c Floor 7 Directly on top of Floor 8 (1.59 m below unit datum) was a well-preserved white plaster floor that stretched the length of Op. 3c from east to west. Floor 7 was not burned, and more of its original area was preserved than that of its predecessor. The surviving section of Floor 7 measured approximately 4 m2 but its original extent could not be estimated, as neither it nor Floor 8 were encountered elsewhere in Operation 3. Floor 7 construction fill was similar in composition and sherd content to that described for Floor 8 (3c-17), although this deposit contained with higher percentages of tiny, eroded Cunil sherds than were recovered from most lots in Operation 3.

Phase Ia: Op. 3c Floor 8 A section of a well-preserved, hard plaster floor measuring approximately 1.31 m2 was revealed in the northwest corner of Op. 3c. This floor was a dark greyishblack colour and was evidently burned across its entire surviving surface. It was encountered at a depth of 1.61 m below unit datum and capped a .50 m fill deposit of greyish-brown sandy clay and limestone pebbles. Sherds recovered from this fill comprised a mix of eroded Cunil and early facet Kanluk types (3c-18) and an assignment to Phase I seems appropriate. The edges of Floor 8 were destroyed in antiquity and its original extent is unknown.

Phase II: Eroded plaster floor (early facet Kanluk) The fifth floor (Floor 5) in the Op. 3d sequence was encountered at the lowest depth of any architectural feature in the operation (1.76 m below unit datum, 1.63 m below ground surface) and was made of weathered marl. Sherds deposited on and beneath its surface, 91

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization however, indicated that it was built after the Phase I floors described above. Sherds beneath this floor (3d11) were larger and less eroded than those from Floor 7 and 8 fill deposits, and they did not include Cunil types despite being concentrated almost .66 m below the floor on the bedrock surface. Bedrock was encountered at a considerably lower depth in this unit (2.42 m below unit datum) than anywhere else in Operation 3, and this area may have been used for refuse disposal before being raised and paved by Floor 5. Floor 5 was weathered and poorly preserved, which contrasted with the condition of early floors in Op. 3c. The reason for this is not clear, but it may relate to a difference in building materials and function if Floor 5 was built as a patio or terrace associated with Floor 7. Differential preservation of interior and exterior floors was noted in the Main Trench North Sequence and provides a plausible, if not definitive, explanation for the different conditions of early floors in Operation 3. The interpretation of Floor 5 as a later, slightly lower exterior addition to the Phase I floors could also resolve the apparent conflict between its stratigraphic position and ceramic content. Several large early Kanluk sherds (3d-10), figurine fragments, and a ceramic ocarina deposited on top of this floor further suggest a Phase II assignment, although little more can be said about its size, shape, or function.

Figure 6.36: Platform corner, Op. 3a, showing earlier rounded platform face in upper left and marl floor inside of corner. Grid north is up.

A surface of uncut, angular limestone cobbles was revealed in Op. 3d at approximately the same depth (1.36 m below unit datum) as the curved platform face. This cobble surface was .14 m thick and capped a .26 m deep layer of brown sandy clay that was placed on top of Floor 5. Sherds from the sandy clay deposit (3d-10) were assigned a Kanluk age. The relationship between this surface and the rounded platform was not clear, as no remains of the platform face were encountered in Op. 3d and the shape of the platform was not determined.

Phase IV: Cut-stone platforms, marl floors, refuse pit (early facet Kanluk – late facet Kanluk)

Phase IVb: Rectangular cut-stone platform, marl floor A soft greyish-brown marl was laid down over top of a refuse deposit south of the rounded platform sometime after its construction at the beginning of Phase IV, and a rectangular platform of cut limestone blocks was built on top of this surface. This platform was elevated approximately .10 m above the earlier structure and incorporated part of it into its northern face (Figure 6.36). A clear corner was revealed in Op. 3a, where a north-south aligned platform face met an east-west alignment at a 90o angle. The northern face of the rectangular platform continued through the eastern sidewall of Op. 3a and into Op. 3c, but it was partially destroyed in the eastern unit by the excavation of a later refuse pit.

No architecture equivalent to Phase III from the Main Trench was identified in Operation 3. Beginning in Phase IV, perhaps toward the end of early facet Kanluk times, two stone-faced platforms were built in series above the earlier floors. Elevation by infilling and the use of cut stone blocks to face these platforms indicates an increase in labour investment, but it is interesting that softer marl floors replaced the plaster of Phase I during this construction phase. A refuse pit chopped through part of the northern face of the later platform in Op. 3c, disturbing its limestone rubble fill and penetrating sections of the Phase I plaster floors beneath. It was presumably dug after the platform was no longer in use but before the construction of the Phase V cobble surfaces that covered all Operation 3 units. Any structure that was associated with this pit must have been built beyond the limits of Operation 3, as none were found at a level with its opening.

Limestone cobbles and sandy clay sediment were placed on the underlying marl floor inside the corner to form a roughly level surface, and traces of grey marl on the facing stones and inside the corner may be the remains of a weathered marl platform floor. No remains of a superstructure or other features were found in association with the platform surface, although refuse deposits with higher frequencies of shell, bone, and inorganic artefacts were encountered to the north and west of the platform corner and directly atop its surface (3a-10, 3a-11, 3a-16). Pottery collected from these deposits and the area inside the platform (3a-12) included early and late facet Kanluk types.20

Phase IVa: Rounded cut-stone platform, cobble surface The rounded southern face of a circular or apsidal platform was revealed in Ops. 3a and 3b, which curved westward from beneath the edge of a later structure and into the north wall of Op. 3b. This unnamed platform was faced with roughly cut rectangular limestone blocks of varying sizes that did not appear to be coursed. No traces of a floor were found in association with these stones.

Assessment based primarily on my observations. Only 3a-12 was assessed by BVAP, and 3a-16 could not be located. 20

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The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech A .35 m thick construction fill deposit containing mottled brown clay and limestone cobbles was placed on top of bedrock beneath the marl floor. This deposit was rich in artefacts and contained a layered cache (Cache 13) of three smoothed stones, a ceramic ‘death’s head’ figurine, and thirteen obsidian flakes. The obsidian flakes were placed in a small depression dug into bedrock, but the other artefacts were deposited in the fill above. This has been interpreted as a dedicatory cache placed during the construction of the rectangular platform, which was linked to the layered Cache 2 (13 green-coloured stones, headless figurine, 3 slate bars) as part of a ritual circuit symbolically representing the death and rebirth of an ancestor or otherwise important person (Garber and Awe 2008).

Figure 6.37: Deposit near base of refuse pit. Cut stone at far left is part of intact platform face in Op. 3a. Floors 7 (white, top) and 8 (black, above sign) show partial cut by pit. Partial Savana Orange and Jocote Orange-brown vessels visible.

Several lines of evidence indicate the rectangular platform corner in Op. 3a was the northwestern corner of Platform B from the Main Trench, but a level of uncertainty remains in this determination. The placement of Op. 3a was based on the assumption that Platform B was square and was calculated from the length of its known edge and the positions of two other corners marked by caches. A corner was indeed found, almost exactly where it was calculated to be, with a layered cache inside that seemed to fit the pattern. The building materials were similar, and the northern platform face in Op. 3a originally extended toward the northeast corner of Platform B before it was destroyed by a refuse pit. Sherds from within the Op. 3a corner included several late facet Kanluk types, which would place its construction at odds with the original early facet Kanluk date proposed for the construction of Platform B (Garber and Awe 2006); however, if the slightly later construction date proposed above is correct, this problem is resolved.

was irregular in plan and roughly four square meters at its opening, but it tapered into a rounded bell-shape at its base approximately .86 m below. Large cut limestone blocks resembling the facing-stones of the rectangular platform were found out of alignment at approximately the same depth as the intact portions of the face (1.26 m below unit datum), and limestone cobbles were also strewn throughout the unit at this depth. Excavators reported that sediments at this level had an ashy, greasy texture that increased with depth, and noted increasing frequencies of bone and shell fragments along with other artefacts. Frequencies of marine shell detritus and chert drills increased; sherds became larger and less fragmentary, and four partially reconstructible vessels were recovered near the base of the pit (Figure 6.37). Sherds comprised both early and late facet Kanluk types (3c-9, 3c-13, 3c-14, 3c-15), including several arguably late examples near the bottom.

Uncertainties arise in equating this corner with Platform B from the fact that a continuous northern face for this platform has not been demonstrated and from discrepancies in depths. The northern sections of Operation 1 and Operation 3 were excavated using two different unit datums that are not directly relatable, and correlation by depth below ground surface is impossible because the units were separated by about 17 meters. The Late Preclassic baseline Floor 4 was present in Op. 3a, but the platform corner was located .65 m below its surface. This was below the .30 m distance between Floor 4 and Platform B in the north end of Operation 1, and well below the .15-.25 m distance recorded in Ops. 1x and 1y. No well-defined surface covered the corner in Op. 3a, so the possibility exists that it was partially dismantled in antiquity and was subsequently found at a lower depth in this area.

This refuse pit could not be directly associated with any architectural features. It was clearly intrusive into both the square platform from Op. 3a and the Phase I plaster floors and could not have originated from either. It also could not have originated from use of the overlying cobble surfaces, as these capped the pit and appeared to be largely intact. The fact that the pit did not disturb the actual corner of the platform, and the cache that lay beneath, suggests a conscious effort to avoid these features by people who knew they were there, and the pit may have been dug not long after the burial of the earlier platform. Phase V: Cobble surfaces, plaster floor (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal) In the final architectural phase of Operation 3, the entire area was buried beneath a thick deposit of brown clayey sediment and limestone pebbles, covered with two superimposed cobble surfaces, and finally paved over by Plaza Floor 4. The cobble surfaces encountered in these units were the only clear examples of Phase V architecture that antedated the construction of Plaza Floor 4.

Phase IVc: Refuse pit The surface of the refuse pit was not recognized by excavators, but it appears to have originated at 1.12 m below unit datum, or about .14 m above the northern face of the rectangular platform in Op. 3a (Figure 6.38). It 93

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 6.38: West and south wall profile drawing from Op. 3c, showing bottom section of refuse pit, early plaster floors, and depth of rounded platform facing stone in Op. 3a.

Phases Va and Vb: Cobble surfaces

Phase IV: Limestone cobble platform (early facet KanlukKanluk)

Two superimposed cobble surfaces were encountered in all units of Operation 3 at approximately .81 – .89 m below unit datum. These layers were made of round and angular limestone cobbles closely packed in a pavement that spanned the units, but no platform facing stones were located and the extent of the surface is not known. No traces of a superstructure or other related features were associated with these pavements, and ceramics (3a-7, 3a-8, 3c-8) from fill dated their construction to late facet Kanluk times. The cobble pavements in Op. 3c post-dated and effectively sealed the contents of the earlier Phase IVc refuse pit.

The earliest clear construction was a limestone cobble surface located 1.74 m below unit datum that stretched throughout the unit. Beneath this surface, at a depth of 2.18 m below unit datum, two large, roughly cut limestone boulders were encountered in a roughly north-south alignment (see Figure 6.40). These stones were similar in size and shape to those forming the rectangular corner found in Op. 3a and appeared to be resting on a foundation of rounded limestone cobbles. An unusually large and well-preserved figurine head was recovered from the brown sediment fill between the upper and lower cobble surfaces. This has been interpreted as a cache placed at the southwest corner of Platform B that was the final element of the ritual program represented by the other three corner caches (Garber and Awe 2008). Sherds from construction fill (4a-8 through 4a-13) deposited beneath the uppermost cobble surface ranged in age from Cunil to late facet Kanluk, which placed its construction in line with that of Platform B.

Phase Vc: Plaza Floor 4 The thick white plaster Plaza Floor 4 was laid down on top of the upper cobble surface in all Operation 3 units, although the state of its preservation varied. It was encountered about .52 m below the ground surface and matched the characteristics of floors found at that depth elsewhere in Plaza B. Late Preclassic pottery became more prevalent in lots just below this floor, although significant numbers of late Middle Preclassic sherds suggest an early Late Preclassic date for its construction.

Phase V: Plaster floor (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal) A well-preserved but damaged plaster floor was revealed at 1.23 m below unit datum (.82 m below ground surface) that may have been the remains of Plaza Floor 4. Substantial later construction above this area obscured its relationship to the rest of the sequence, but its thickness and the quality of its plaster suggest that it may have been the same Late Preclassic floor seen elsewhere in Plaza B. Excavators noted an intentional chop through the southern end of this floor that was filled with clayey sediment and a few fragments of human bone (Garber et al. 2007:12). The remains of a possible second, deeper plaster floor can

Operation 4 Middle Preclassic architecture from Operation 4 was more difficult to relate to features from the other sequences due to its limited exposure (4 square meters) and Classicperiod construction that removed parts of the earlier sequence. Intact bedrock was revealed more than two meters below ground surface, which made Operation 4 one of the deepest excavations in Plaza B. No architecture equivalent to Phases 0 – III was recorded in this sequence. 94

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech be seen in profile along the northern and eastern walls but were not otherwise recorded. Operation 5 The architecture in Operation 5 presented problems both similar to and different from those encountered with Operation 4. An intact plaster floor equivalent to Floor 4 was located, and earlier surfaces were sealed beneath it. The distance between the uppermost of these surfaces and Floor 4 most closely matched those from Operation 3 than Op. 1x, which was located much closer to Operation 5 and would be expected to be a closer match to its stratigraphy. A stratified sequence of floors and some associated structures was nonetheless uncovered, and the pottery recovered from subfloor deposits indicated how this sequence developed through time.21 Phase 0 bedrock modification and organic-rich clay were not present in this unit. Phase I: Stone alignment, carbon stains (Transitional Cunil-early facet Kanluk) An alignment of small, roughly cut, rectangular limestone cobbles ran east-west along the south wall of Operation 5 at approximately 1.86 m below unit datum (Figure 6.39). No recognizable floor surface was associated with this alignment, and its limited exposure makes any estimation of the size and shape of the structure problematic. It was surrounded by loose, grey clayey sediment that became more compact with depth and eventually reached bedrock at 2.24 m below unit datum. Sherds from this level were eroded and small (5a-8), but some preserved traces of early decorative modes, such as dull red slip and post-slip incising. A colander fragment was also recovered from this level.

Figure 6.39: Stone alignment and carbon stains of Phase I, Op. 5a.

features were revealed, and the size and extent of these surfaces remain unclear. Lots from below these floors (5a6, 5a-7) contained more Savana and Jocote group sherds than those associated with the deeper stone alignment, but a number of eroded Cunil and post-slip incised Savana group sherds were also included and suggested an early facet Kanluk date for these features. Phase IV: Marl-and-flagstone surface, stone alignment (Kanluk-late facet Kanluk)

Several large carbon stains were encountered in the grey clayey sediment north of the stone alignment. These originated from approximately the same depth (1.92 m below unit datum) as the base of the aligned stones, which suggests this was a surface either within or outside the stone-edged structure. The carbon deposits did not form any discernible pattern, and all but the largest seemed too small to be the remains of burned posts.

Two surfaces were encountered within five centimetres of each other that were separated from the preceding Phase II marl floors by a .35 m deposit of brown sandy clay, limestone pebbles, and refuse. The upper surface was made of tamped marl and corresponded in depth to the platform corner in Operation 3. A stone was alignment on top of this marl surface may have been the foundation of a superstructure. Ceramics from beneath these surfaces were later than those of Phase III elsewhere within Plaza B and the features have been included in Phase IV.

Phase II: Marl surfaces (early facet Kanluk) A layer of greyish clayey sediment was deposited on top of the Phase I stone alignment and carbon stains and two distinctive marl floors covered this layer. A grey coloured surface, barely distinguishable from the sediment beneath it but somewhat more compact, covered most of the unit at approximately 1.65 m below unit datum. A separate yellowish-tan marl surface extended from the south wall in a semi-oval shape and was compacted into a surface like the grey floor that surrounded it. No associated architectural

Phase IVa: Marl-and-flagstone surface A pavement of large, flat limestone slabs capped the .35 m sediment deposit 1.30 m below unit datum. This surface differed from previously described cobble surfaces in the size and flatness of its stones (25 – 45 cm in length) and their somewhat looser spacing. Several larger cut limestone slabs were also laid down to create the level pavement. A 4 cm floor of grey marl was laid atop this

21 All assessments for Operation 5 are based on my observations, except for Lot 5a-5, which was assessed by BVAP.

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Figure 6.40: Phase IV architecture in the north of Plaza B. Dashed lines show hypothetical extents of Platform B, the unnamed rounded platform, and Platform N.

surface, and a foundation brace of a possible superstructure was encountered running parallel to and partly inside the southern unit wall. Several artefacts, including a ceramic ocarina and four oval pieces of smoothed green-coloured stone, were recovered from this floor surface.

surface from Op. 4a each represented corners of the same early facet Kanluk platform, then an architectural feature from below the known levels of this platform should not contain significant numbers of sherds that postdate this time.

The flagstone surface in Operation 5 was encountered .64 m below the level of Late Preclassic Floor 4, which compares favourably with the corner in Op. 3a (.65 m below Floor 4) but is far deeper that the .15-.25 m depth of Platform B in Op. 1x. Sherds from the deep deposit beneath this surface (5a-5) were assigned a late facet Kanluk date, which is problematic given the stratigraphic relationship of this surface to the edge of Platform B and its position in what should have been the centre of this platform. If the corner located in Op. 3a and the cobble

A simple solution to this problem might be that the sherds from beneath the flagstone surface were not full members of the late facet Kanluk complex, but instead represented a transitional time between the early and late facets. Cunil sherds were present but in much smaller frequencies than in lower lots. Black-slipped Chunhinta sherds were also present in low numbers, but the majority of sherds from lot 5a-5 belonged to the Savana and Jocote Groups. Types within each of these groups occur in both the early and late facets of the Kanluk complex, and the lack of any 96

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech Issues with Plaza B data comparison

northern Belize types may not necessarily make this lot of definite late facet Kanluk age. What can be gleaned from stratigraphic comparison suggests a construction date somewhere in the middle of Kanluk times may be more appropriate.

Architectural data from previous work in Plaza B (Awe 1992; Cheetham 1995, 1996) were not always comparable with the results of the BVAP excavations, even in instances where units were located near each other. Several architectural features in Plaza B that were assigned Cunil complex dates (Cheetham 1996: Table 1) would predate all of the features described in this chapter, with the possible exception of the lowest Phase I floor from the Plaza B South Sequence. The Cunil complex has been redefined since these excavations (Sullivan and Awe 2013; Sullivan et al. 2018), however, and it is not clear if these features would retain their early dates under the new classification. Cunil architecture buried within and in front of Str. B-4 (Awe 1992; Cheetham 1995) is more securely dated and is anchored by a suite of radiocarbon dates (Awe 1992; Healy and Awe 1995).

Phase IVb: Stone alignment An alignment of rough-cut, rectangular limestone blocks, similar in size and position in the unit to the earlier Phase I alignment, was built on top of the Phase IVa marl surface. This alignment was uncovered along the south unit wall and ran parallel to it, which suggests it was part of a straight-sided structure. This alignment disappeared beyond the boundaries of Operation 5 to the east and west and little can be said about the shape and size of the structure it represented. A possible right-angled corner was revealed in the southwest unit corner, but this was formed by only two stones and did not continue farther into the excavated area.

Correlating architectural features based on stratigraphy is problematic in many cases as well, due to the lack of a standard site datum from which to compare depths. Cheetham (1996: Table 1) standardized depth measurements to a single unit datum, but this datum was not permanent and was removed well before BVAP excavations began. The sequences of later plaza floors he reported does not always match those from the BVAP excavations and finding a plaza-wide floor to use as a baseline of comparison was not possible. Floors that appeared to have the same depths in his sequence were sometimes assigned widely divergent construction dates, which may relate to complex construction activity through time, sampling bias in sherds from small test units, or a combination of these and other factors.22

Pottery fragments recovered north of this alignment and above the underlying marl floor (5a-4) appeared later than those of lot 5a-5 and were probably fully within the late facet of the Kanluk complex. These included several examples of groove-incised Savana Group sherds, higher numbers of Joventud Group sherds with glossy red slips, and at least ten sherds with red slips approaching the waxy feel distinctive of the Late Preclassic Sierra Group. A late facet Kanluk date for this structure is somewhat appealing, as this would match the age of sherds associated with Platform N in Op. 1x. Phase V: Plaster Floor 4 (late facet Kanluk-early facet Xakal)

Discrepancies also existed in nearby units that might be expected to yield comparable data sets. Cheetham (1996:7-8) reported three cobble surfaces and a tamped marl floor in his Unit 7, for example, which was located around 1m to the east of the trench unit Op. 1h.23 The two reported late Kanluk plaster floors may correspond to the Late Preclassic Floors 3 and 4 from Op. 1h, but only one cobble surface was encountered in the trench unit directly on top of bedrock. This cobble surface may correspond to the basal Floor 8 reported in Unit 7, which leaves two cobble surfaces and a marl floor unaccounted for in the larger exposure. The adjacent trench units Op. 1g and 1i also did not contain any corresponding features. It is not surprising to find architectural features with such limited

A .40 m deep brown sandy clay layer with frequent limestone cobbles was deposited over the final Phase IV architecture in Operation 5, which was in turn covered by a distinct ballast layer of smaller limestone pebbles in a grey sandy matrix. Plaza Floor 4 covered these deposits at .57 m below unit datum, or about .52 m below ground surface. This was the only thick plaster floor encountered in Operation 5. Summary of Plaza B Architectural Remains and Intrasite Comparisons The following summary of architectural sequences provides synchronic and diachronic views of the Middle Preclassic built environment at Cahal Pech. The potential for synchronic reconstruction is limited by the extent of excavations; extrapolations of site-wide building patterns are made cautiously, are necessarily tentative, and are given less interpretive weight than sequences of architectural change in specific areas. This summary also reconciles data from the BVAP excavations to previous studies in Plaza B when possible and examines earlier interpretations of Middle Preclassic architectural development at Cahal Pech.

For example, several floors appeared at approximately .52 m below datum in Cheetham’s (1996: Table 1) depth table. In his Unit 7, this is the fifth floor, and is dated late facet Kanluk. In Units 5 and 9, it is the second floor, and dated to the late facet Xakal phase (AD 1 – 350). Two floors with depths slightly below this, in Units 3 and 11, were assigned Late Classic dates. 23 This distance measurement is based on a map from Cheetham’s report (1996: Figure 1) that I georeferenced to the map of BVAP excavations and the surrounding architecture of Plaza B. The actual distance between the east wall of Op. 1h and the west wall of Unit 7 is .48 meters, but an unknown amount of measurement error was probably introduced through georeferencing a rectified map and a conservative measure is used here. 22

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization to the Phase I cobble surfaces and final marl floor in the South Sequence, which were assigned a transitional date between Cunil and early facet Kanluk.

spatial extents, given the complexity of the construction sequences revealed by larger horizontal exposures elsewhere in Plaza B. Variability in the extent of floor surfaces can complicate the extrapolation of site-wide developmental patterns, however, especially when units with limited exposure are considered.

Awe (1992:205-8) characterized Cunil-phase architecture (his Phase I) as low building platforms made from tamped marl, dirt, or clay, which supported apsidal superstructures made of perishable materials. Wattle-and-daub buildings were sometimes furnished with low retaining walls or basal mouldings of roughly shaped stones, and building platforms began to be faced with lime plaster coatings toward the end of the phase. Cheetham (1995, 1996) subsequently added coursed-cobble building platforms and tamped marl patio floors to the Cunil architectural repertoire. Numerous Cunil cobble or flagstone surfaces of uncertain extent were suggested to be were either platform surfaces or outdoor patio floors.

Phase 0 – Initial Occupation (Cunil or before) The earliest evidence of occupation in Plaza B was revealed in most units of the Main Trench and Operation 7, which consisted of bedrock modification and the creation of a black, organic-rich soil horizon. Few examples of posthole cuts in bedrock were uncovered in the southern half of Plaza B, although bedrock pits were discovered in the north. The most significant shaping of bedrock was a small stairway cut into the hillside in the southern end of Plaza B that connected the naturally lower southern area with the raised area to the north. The north side of the uppermost step was cut into a steep-angled ‘v’ shape, which may have served as a drain to divert water away from the lower-lying areas.

Phase I (Cunil-early facet Kanluk) Phase I architecture was exposed primarily in Operations 1 and 7, although limited sections of floors were located in Operations 3 and 5. Construction appears to have been concentrated on the north and south sides of the plaza, with little in the centre, although this might be the result of sampling error. Both plaster and hard-packed marl were used to create floors that probably supported perishable superstructures, although scant evidence of such superstructures was found. Limestone cobble pavements were also laid down in some areas, but it is unclear whether these areas were functionally different from those paved with plaster or packed marl. Phase I architecture was localized, and there were no recognizable plaza-wide features. Architecture from the time transitional between Cunil and early facet Kanluk thus did not appear to differ from that described for the preceding Cunil phase (Awe 1992; Cheetham 1995, 1996).

All Phase 0 bedrock modifications, except the stairway and possible drain, were covered by a black soil horizon that was an ancient ground surface mixed with natural and human-produced organic debris. This occupation horizon was not present in all units and was much thicker in the north end of Plaza B than in the south. Cheetham (1996) reported similar deposits in three units placed near the northeast and southwest entrances to Plaza B, but he did not encounter this layer in the remainder of his plaza units. The black soil was sometimes scraped away before construction in Plaza B, just as Awe (1992:133) noted deep within Str. B-4, but this was not always the case. Black soil accumulated during the initial occupation of the Cahal Pech hilltop and continued to do so until it was removed for construction or was engulfed by later construction. Such processes could account for the comminuted and mixed early sherd types often found within this layer.

A sequence of stratified surfaces in the southern end of Op. 1v raised the lower area of the hillside to a level with, and then above, the top of the bedrock stairs. A final tamped marl floor raised this area to the top of the occupation horizon in the northern section of the same unit. These surfaces included, from bottom to top, a thin, early tamped grey marl floor; two superimposed limestone cobble surfaces, the uppermost of which was abutted by a plaster sill-like feature or possible drain; and a final, thick grey marl floor. The plaster feature on top of the stairs represented one of the earliest uses of this building material encountered in the BVAP excavations. Similar building practices may have elevated other lower areas of the hilltop during Phase I (Healy, Cheetham, Powis and Awe 2004).

None of the architectural features encountered in BVAP excavations were definitively assigned to the Cunil phase through ceramic cross-dating, and the focus of this study is on later developments during Kanluk times. Excavations along the southern periphery of Plaza B (Cheetham 1996) and in the area of Str. B-4 (Awe 1992; Cheetham 1995) documented significant Cunil-era construction. The only BVAP unit that reached the lower section of the hilltop where this architecture was found was Op. 1v, which exposed only 1.5 m2 of early deposits at most. The thin, early marl floor near the base of this section may correspond to one of the three Cunil tamped marl floors described by Cheetham (1996:16, Table 1) at the base of his Unit 10, which was located roughly four meters to the southeast. This was tentatively included with Phase I architecture in the South Sequence but may be somewhat earlier. Healy and colleagues (2004:108) state that at the end of Cunil times, the lower area of the hilltop was raised and surfaced with a cobblestone and marl floor. This may correspond

The black clay occupation horizon was removed from the bedrock and two thin plaster floors were laid down in the northwest corner of Plaza B. The original floor in this sequence was blackened and appeared to have been intensely burned. A natural dip in the bedrock was also cleared and may have been used for refuse disposal by the occupants of the plaster-floored structure. Portions 98

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech of the floors were destroyed by later activity, and their original shape and extent are unknown. No evidence of a superstructure or platform facing stones was located near any of these surfaces. A section of tamped grey marl floor was encountered in Op. 5a that supported a straight alignment of roughly shaped stones that may have been the basal moulding of a perishable superstructure. Associated charcoal deposits may represent burned posts associated with this structure.

à-vis those from Phase I suggests it was an extramural space exposed to the elements like the weathered patio floors from the Main Trench North Sequence. At the southern end of the Plaza B, the occupation horizon was completely buried by architecture and related fill. A grey marl floor extended over the earlier surfaces above the bedrock steps and ended in a ramp-like tan marl feature of unknown function. A raised platform surface of the same tan marl was built directly on top of the occupation horizon and probably supported a superstructure with a basal moulding of small, roughly cut limestone blocks. This platform was attached to a sloping access-way to the west that may have connected it to the grey marl surface, although this feature was mostly destroyed by later construction. A well-preserved, hard floor of small limestone pebbles in a tan marl matrix extended to the north and west of the raised marl platform and probably served as an outdoor patio floor. The only cache from the southern excavations, comprising worked slate objects, an obsidian flake, and a partial bowl, was placed on this floor before it was buried by later construction.

A small pavement of close-packed limestone cobbles was laid down on top of bedrock in Op. 1h, and a similar but larger surface stretched across Ops. 1r, 1s, and the northern half of Op. 1t. Unlike the surface in Op. 1h, the larger cobble pavement was placed on top of the black occupation horizon. No other features were associated with these cobble pavements, although the surface in Op. 1h probably relates to the lowest cobble floor reported by Cheetham (1996) in Unit 7. A Phase I assemblage of three related architectural features and associated refuse deposits was revealed in Ops. 1x and 1y in the north-central area of Plaza B. The architecture consisted of a hard, white marl floor abutted by a pavement of limestone cobbles, and a soft white marl surface to the east. The black clay was scraped away from the area beneath the hard marl floor and cobble surface and was found just beyond the limits of these features. The hard marl surface was swept clean of artefacts, but a deposit of broken pottery and a mano fragment were recovered just off its eastern edge. In contrast, quantities of river mussel and jute shells were recovered from the surface of Patio Floor 5. This surface consisted of a thin layer of white marl or powdered limestone tamped down on top of the occupation horizon. The thin, ephemeral nature of Patio Floor 5 is reminiscent of the outdoor sascab patio floors still made and used by the Maya of Yucatán, Mexico, today (personal observation, 2007). Taken together, these three surfaces probably represent the remains of a Phase I domicile and associated outdoor space.

The Phase I dwelling floor and associated cobble surface in Op. 1x were encased in the rubble fill of Platform R-sub. This platform was surfaced with whitish-grey marl and supported the cobble-and-marl Platform R, which was mostly destroyed by later construction. The function of Platform R was difficult to judge from its remains, but its small size, minimal elevation, possible apsidal shape, and location above an earlier domestic structure suggest it was a dwelling. The extent of Platform R-sub is not known; it may have extended six meters to the west of Op. 1x, where a Phase II grey marl surface with a semi-circular tan marl floor segment was encountered in Op. 5a. It was not present in Op. 1y to the east, where a second thin patio floor of white marl (Patio Floor 4) covered the earlier patio surface. This thin marl floor was thicker than the earlier Phase I patio and supported a limestone cobble feature (Platform P) at its southern end. Like Platform R, Platform P was destroyed by later construction but appears to have been a small cobble structure at the southern end of the raised patio surface.

Phase II (early facet Kanluk) The second major construction phase in Plaza B involved the building of modestly elevated platforms and patio surfaces. These raised surfaces served as foundations for small cobble platforms that likely supported perishable superstructures, and some may have functioned as paved outdoor spaces. Construction continued to be limited in extent, with no continuous plaza floors noted, although the area covered by prepared floors increased. Building materials were broadly similar to those used in Phase I, but no lime plaster floors were recorded.

Cheetham (1996) reported eight early facet Kanluk cobble surfaces and three plaster floors, but none of these features were related to the Phase II architecture reported here. Three limestone platforms surrounded by cobble, marl, and plaster patio floors were recorded in Unit 10 (Cheetham 1996:14-16), but these structures appeared either too early (Cunil phase) or too late (late facet Kanluk) to correspond to the Phase II architecture in the BVAP excavations. Nothing in the descriptions of these features matched the marl-and-pebble floor of Platform 2 or the tan marl platform associated with it.

The bedrock dip near the Phase I floors in the northwest corner of Plaza B was raised .66 m and paved with a marl surface during Phase II. This may represent the addition of a terrace or patio to the early plaster floors in Op. 3c, which remained about .15 m higher than the newly raised surface. The weathered appearance of the newer floor vis-

Awe (1992:209) described the transformation of Str. B-4 into a non-domestic structure at the beginning of the early facet Kanluk phase (his Phase II). A .70 m high platform – built over earlier, lower platforms – supported one or 99

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization area into a functional set of architectural features. A rectangular platform (Platform H) faced with large, rectangular, trimmed limestone blocks was built atop the Phase II floors and marl platform. The facing stones of Platform H were covered in a thick coating of white marl that was also apparently used as a floor. A perimeter floor of hard whitish-grey marl extended a short distance from Platform H to the north, and a similar floor extended beyond the limits of excavation to the south.

more perishable superstructures and was refurbished three times. A plaster floor supporting at least one perishable superstructure may have been associated with the north face of this platform (Cheetham 1995:27). Healy, Cheetham, Powis and Awe (2004:108-9) have suggested an L-shaped plaza was constructed along the south and east sides of Plaza B during early facet Kanluk times, which was bordered by a temple at Str. B-4 and perhaps by an early E-group beneath Strs. B-1 through B-3. They further suggested that residential architecture was relocated away from Plaza B at this time, perhaps to the west in what would later become the elite residential area of Plaza A (Cheetham 1996:22).

This stage in the development of Plaza B is difficult to relate to any of the architecture found in previous plaza excavations. It represents another construction phase beyond the limits of the proposed L-shaped ritual plaza in the south and east (Healy, Cheetham, Powis and Awe 2004:108) and, at least in the case of Platform H, demonstrates the persistence of a domestic architectural component within Plaza B during the early Middle Preclassic. The second construction of Str. B-4 during the early facet Kanluk phase included a significant expansion and elevation of the platform and the building of two structures on its summit (Awe 1992:136). The eastern face of Platform H was located roughly 20 m from Str. B-4 and was aligned about 8o west of north. This was much closer to the alignment of Str. B-4 than Patio Floor 1 and Platform L in the north, which were aligned roughly 18o west of north. This differentiation between ‘northern’ and ‘southern’ architecture suggests these platforms were used by distinct social or corporate groups, and that Platform H was more closely associated with the Str. B-4 temple than with the architectural groups at the northern end of Plaza B.

BVAP excavations did not locate an early plaster plaza floor in the south end of Plaza B, but this does not preclude its existence farther to the south and east. Excavations did reveal substantial residential architecture in other areas of Plaza B that dated to the early facet Kanluk phase and later. This suggests the shift toward non-domestic architecture and ritual space seen in the Str. B-4 sequence and nearby areas did not apply to all construction in Plaza B, and that the area continued to be lived in as well as used for ceremonial activities throughout early facet Kanluk times. Phase III (early facet Kanluk) Phase III architecture also dated to the early facet of the Kanluk phase and was found only in northern-central and southern areas of Plaza B. Construction in the northern trench units continued to include white marl plaza floors, but these were elevated, enlarged, and formalized compared to earlier examples. Southern platforms reflected a shift in building materials and structure layout, and the centre of Plaza B appears to have been left open. The early facet Kanluk cobble surface noted by Cheetham (1996:8) near the plaza centre was not located in any trench unit.

Phase IV (early facet Kanluk – Kanluk) A major expansion of construction activity marked Phase IV in Plaza B at the end of early facet Kanluk times. New examples of large, round or apsidal platforms were built in both the north and south ends of the plaza, and construction began in the north on what may have been the largest Middle Preclassic platform in the site epicentre. Construction techniques varied, but larger, cut limestone blocks were regularly employed as platform facings, and both plaster and tamped marl were used to create platform floors.

A sequence of three thick patio floors marked Phase III in the north. This sequence of floors was best revealed in Op. 1y, although the uppermost surface was also recognized in three contiguous Main Trench units. These floors were made of white marl and were thicker than the patio surfaces that preceded them. The middle floor in the sequence (Patio Floor 2) extended the patio to the south and provided a surface for the construction of the cobble Platform L\1st. A thicker layer of marl was later added over top of this surface (Patio Floor 1), and Platform L was raised by a single course of stones and slightly enlarged (Platform L\2nd). Little of the surface of Platform L\2nd was exposed, but a possible posthole through Patio Floor 1 near the northern edge of this platform suggests it may have supported a perishable superstructure. Patio Floor 1 was truncated by a later platform to the west and its original extent is not known. It was at least ten meters long from north to south and may have supported a second perishable structure represented by a single posthole in Op. 1b.

Platform H and most of the southern excavated area was buried by a large rounded structure (Platform 1) during Phase IV. Estimates of the size and orientation of Platform 1 are tenuous due to the later removal of large sections of its facing stones, but it was probably slightly larger than Platform H and may have shared its alignment. It was faced with an arc of roughly cut limestone slabs and cobbles, which were smaller and less regular in shape than those used to build Platform H. A layer of close-packed limestone cobbles was levelled to the top of the facing stones, and a coating of lime plaster was placed over top to create a hard floor. This original floor survived only as a small section near the northern face of the platform, but the structure was resurfaced later with a much thicker

Phase III construction in the south involved different building materials and incorporated all the South Sequence 100

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech coating of plaster that was largely intact. No evidence of a superstructure was encountered atop Platform 1, but deposits of domestic refuse began to accumulate to the north and west of this structure and continued until the first plaza-wide floor was laid down.

An isolated plaster floor and limestone cobble feature was built in the central area of Plaza B during Phase IV. The plaster floor did not continue north of Op. 1p and abutted a cobble feature to the south with a roughly oval outline. The southern area of the plaster floor and the cobble feature were blackened by intense or repeated burning, and an unusual number of censer or brazier vessel fragments were deposited just off the western edge of the floor. This architectural assemblage was located at an equal distance (11.1 m) from the southeast corner of Platform B and the northern face of Platform 1. Too little of these features was excavated to determine their shape or orientation, but their equidistant location between the northern and southern architectural groups suggests they may have been shared by the community, or else related to an undiscovered architectural group.

A second rounded structure was built in the northwest area of Plaza B that is not well understood. A small arcing segment of ten rectangular, cut limestone blocks was all that remained of this platform, and five of these were incorporated into the facing of a later platform. Excavations to the north and east along the path of the arc segment revealed no additional traces of this platform, which may have been partially dismantled for materials used to build the overlying platform. A large, roughly square platform (Platform B), faced with cut limestone blocks and surfaced with limestone cobbles and tamped marl, was built in the northern end of Plaza B toward the end of early facet Kanluk times. Platform B was a large terrace that had an eastern face 17.72 m long and a possible surface area of 314 m2; it was also endowed with four corner caches of symbolically charged items and the only human burial discovered in Plaza B (Figure 6.40).24 The remains of two stone alignments were revealed on top of its marl surface in Op. 1x and Op. 5a, which were separated by approximately 5.5 m and apparently represented basal mouldings of two different perishable superstructures.

The larger exposure of Platform 1 may explain some of the isolated cobble surfaces reported by Cheetham (1996) in different areas of Plaza B. The cobble pavement beneath the plaster floors at first appeared to represent a similar buried cobble surface, and it was not until the northern platform face was located and a section of the original floor uncovered that this was recognized as the foundation of a platform floor. The early and late Kanluk cobble surfaces reported throughout Plaza B may represent the interiors of similar platforms. Large Phase IV platforms continued in use through much of the late facet Kanluk phase, when Str. B-4 was raised to a height of three meters and supported a circular building, and Str. B-2 was raised and enlarged (Awe 1992:211-2). Architecture in Plaza B became larger and more formalized but retained a residential component through this time.

The construction of Platform B involved destroying an unknown portion of Patio Floor 1 and replacing it with cobble and marl construction fill. This raised the surface of Platform B about 15 cm above the level of Patio Floor 1, which may have continued in use as an outdoor surface for a time. The northwest corner of Platform B incorporated a section of the earlier Phase IV rounded structure as a foundation for its northern face, which elevated Platform B roughly 10 cm above the earlier platform.

Phase V (transitional late facet Kanluk – early facet Xakal) Phase V architecture was limited in most units to the thick, smooth plaster plaza floor (Floor 4) that approximated the Classic-period Plaza B layout. Two distinct, tightly superimposed plaza floors were revealed in some units of the Main Trench and probably represent localized maintenance and floor repair. In the northwest corner of Plaza B, however, construction continued after Platform B fell into disuse but before the area was paved by Floor 4.

A second large, cobble platform (Platform A) was built over the northeast corner of Platform B. No evidence of a superstructure was identified on its surface but only 2.5 m2 were excavated. Platform A was built in an area of the Main Trench that was less than ten meters west of Cheetham’s (1996: Figure 1) Units 4 and 8, where he reported three cobble platforms built on bedrock. Platform A was constructed on a thick layer of white marl that resembles bedrock and was encountered at a depth comparable to the cobble platforms from Units 4 and 8 (Cheetham 1996: Table 1). If Platform A was related to these features, it would have had a minimum area of 25 m2, which would greatly increase if it extended beneath the Classic-period Str. B-7 to the north.

Two surfaces of close-packed limestone cobbles were laid beneath Floor 4 in all Operation 3 units except Op. 3c, which contained only the upper of the two surfaces. These cobble surfaces were similar to the cobble pavement below the plaster floor of Platform 1, but no platform facing stones or traces of a superstructure were located. Substantial construction continued through the late facet Kanluk phase on Strs. B-4 and B-2 to the south and east of Plaza B, which added thick coats of lime plaster to increasingly elevated building platforms (Awe 1992). Plaza B was thought to have been raised and covered by a thick plaster plaza floor, while Plaza A was also elevated, plastered, and separated from Plaza B by an architectural

24 As noted above, the size of Platform B is somewhat questionable and based on ‘circumstantial evidence’ in lieu of complete excavation. The complex architectural sequences seen throughout Plaza B suggest such an interpretation should remain tentative, if plausible.

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization feature or stair at this time (Healy, Cheetham, Powis and Awe 2004:109). The BVAP excavations support this interpretation of the Plaza B construction history, although they place the first plaster floor to cover the plaza at the end of the late facet Kanluk phase. Floor 4 might best be considered as transitional between late Kanluk and early facet Xakal times, when raised plazas and terraced platforms were added to the existing architectural inventory (Awe 1992:213).

possibly indicating the emergence of a more centralized planning authority. The architectural evidence suggests no such authority existed for most of the Middle Preclassic. Trends in the preferred form of platforms through time were less straightforward. Syntheses of Middle Preclassic architecture from Cuello (Gerhardt 1988), Blackman Eddy (Brown 2003; Garber et al. 2004), Cahal Pech (Aimers et al. 2000), and the Southern Maya Lowlands (Doyle 2012) describe developmental sequences in which early rounded platforms were dismantled and replaced by rectilinear structures or plazas.25 Aimers and colleagues (2000:80) noted several cross-cultural studies that suggest rounded dwellings are replaced by rectilinear structures as social complexity increases, and these authors suggested this was the case with multiple round and apsidal structures at Cahal Pech. The Plaza B architectural sequences do not necessarily dispute these conclusions, but they do suggest that architectural evolution in the site epicentre involved more complex processes. The partial demolition of a rounded structure and its incorporation into the foundation of rectilinear Platform B fits with this developmental model; however, the superimposition of Platform 1, a rounded structure, over Platform H, a large rectilinear structure, does not.

Diachronic Developmental Trends The Middle Preclassic architectural sequences from Plaza B reveal glimpses of a complex and changing built environment over roughly 600 years. Broad patterns in the development of architecture and site layout are apparent, but the developmental sequence is less straightforward than that found within Str. B-4 (Awe 1992). At least two distinct architectural groups existed in the plaza by the early Middle Preclassic that differed in form and layout. The use of different building materials, platform orientations, and structural forms represent choices by builders to meet different requirements. These choices may relate to platform function, the expression of distinct group identities, or both, but they also reflect the ability of groups to marshal resources (materials and labour) for construction.

A similarly ambiguous trend can be seen in the choice of building materials. Awe (1992:209-10) noted an increase in the quality of building materials in construction sequences across the site, where lime plaster surfaces replaced tamped earth/marl, and rectilinear cut-stones replaced roughly worked or unworked cobbles in platform facing. This would seem to parallel the trend in formality described above and is somewhat attested to in the Plaza B architectural sequences. A unidirectional development scheme does not appear to fit the plaza sequences, however. Plaster floors and features were encountered in some of the earliest levels and were covered by later platforms with marl floors. The large, trimmed rectilinear facing stones of Platform H stand in contrast to the smaller, irregular blocks and cobbles of the later Platform 1, even though Platform 1 was surfaced with plaster and Platform H was not. Different materials may have been used to build platforms with different functions or may reflect choices about which materials were appropriate for specific structures. Their use may also reflect technological, material, or labour constraints, which could include an inability to surface a large platform (e.g., Platform B) with plaster due to a lack of production facilities, technical skill, or workers to perform the task.

Platforms generally increased in size through time. A similar trend was noted by Awe (1992) in the Str. B-4 sequence and elsewhere at Cahal Pech. The earliest architectural remains consisted of a handful of bedrock postholes representing ground level structures, and slightly later platform floors were raised just above this level. Subsequent construction elevated the platform surfaces above previous levels while usually expanding floored areas. The expansion of Platform B compared to Patio Floor 1 in the north was a clear example of this, even though it included a shift to the west. The construction of Platform 1 above Platform H in the south is interesting in view of this trend; both were partially dismantled, which complicated size estimates, but Platform 1 may have only been marginally larger than Platform H. A general trend toward more ‘formal’ platform design can also be seen. Smith (2007:8) derives this term from art history and uses formality to describe architecture with ‘organizational principles [that] are clear to observers and participants’ in his examination of city planning. Formal plazas or monumental buildings on the scale of the Late Preclassic were not encountered in the earlier levels of BVAP excavations, but a progression from small platforms that lacked stone-facing to platforms with cobble or cutstone faces occurred. Later platforms were larger and were also more formally designed, with well-defined straight or curved edges and specific orientations. Increases in the formality of platform layout suggest a higher level of planning before and during construction (Smith 2007), with the first plaza-wide plaster floor and associated monumental structures of the initial Late Preclassic

A final trend involves the development of two distinct architectural groups in the northern and southern ends of Plaza B. Previous excavations (Awe 1992; Cheetham 1995, 1996) documented early architectural sequences along the southern margin of Plaza B beyond the bedrock stairway in Op. 1v, and BVAP excavations did not include

25

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‘Rounded’ here refers to both apsidal and circular platforms.

The Middle Preclassic Built Environment of Cahal Pech enough of this area to definitively relate it to the rest of the plaza. By early facet Kanluk times, however, a small patio surrounded at least one raised platform in the area. Only a small portion of this platform was exposed but an orientation of approximately 8o west of north can be estimated from its remains. Platform H encompassed much of the earlier patio floor and platform in the following construction phase, but it maintained the same rough alignment 8o west of north. This is very close to the orientation of the later phases of Str. B-4, and it is possible that Platform H was similarly aligned with that structure. Such a similarity in layout suggests a degree of cooperative planning that might be expected if the structures were built by members of the same social group. The exact orientation of Platform 1 unfortunately could not be determined due to its partial destruction, but the orientation of its northern face and the concentration of refuse off its western edge – likely to be found behind such a structure – suggest it may have been similarly aligned.

1991), K’axob (McAnany 2004), and Colha (Sullivan 1991) in northern Belize. Hearths have been uncovered on a Cunil-phase platform in the fourth construction stage of Str. B-4 (Awe 1992:135), possibly at the outlying centre Cas Pek (Awe et al. 1992), and in the basal occupation layer of Str. B-1 at Blackman Eddy (Brown 2003), but few other contemporaneous examples are known from the Belize Valley. Two approaches employed to interpret structure function with few associated features rely on implicit assumptions of building form and stratigraphic succession. In the Belize Valley, for example, platform floors lacking stone facings and built on or near bedrock are often interpreted as domestic structures (Cheetham 1996; Conlon 1992; Powis 1993), especially if they lie beneath Classic period ‘housemounds.’ In some instances, domestic debris and other features lend support to these interpretations (Brown 2003), but in others such corroborating evidence is lacking. Conversely, when elevated Middle Preclassic platforms were later covered by non-residential or monumental architecture, the initial construction may be interpreted as non-residential. This was the case with the earliest platforms at the Zopilote (Cheetham 2004) and Zubin groups (Iannone 1996), each of which was the first in a sequence of increasingly larger structures that eventually became steep-sided pyramids.

The largest architectural features in the northern end of the plaza were oriented about 18o west of north, which clearly set them apart from the southern group. The truncation of the earlier Patio Floor sequence by Platform B makes its alignment difficult to discern, but Platform L\2nd was oriented in this direction, as was the eastern edge of Platform B and Platform N on its surface. The corner from Op. 3a also fits this alignment.

Both approaches have drawbacks, and each should be used only in framing hypotheses. Examples exist in the Belize Valley of apparently public, non-domestic structures built over the remains of earlier dwellings (Awe 1992; Brown 2003; Brown et al. 2018; Garber et al. 2004; Powis and Cheetham 2007), so the position of a platform beneath later temples should be considered shaky evidence for determining its function. A simplistic formal analogy of equating low platforms to domestic structures can potentially gloss variability in preferred building practices by assuming that non-domestic architecture should somehow be different in kind or scale from its domestic counterpart.

The contemporaneous existence of two preferred platform alignments suggests that (at least) two groups occupied the Cahal Pech hilltop throughout most of the Middle Preclassic. These may have been extended families (Haviland 1988), corporate groups (Hayden and Cannon 1982), political factions (Brumfiel 1992), or something else. Regardless of the nature of the affiliation, however, the people who built, maintained, demolished, and rebuilt the structures in these two areas chose to do so in ways that symbolically set them apart from each other, just as the largely open terrain in the middle of the plaza spatially separated each group. It is interesting that towards the end of the late Middle Preclassic, sometime before Plaza B was paved, a third group of architectural features was built almost exactly midway between the two early groups and was associated with censer/brazier fragments and other ritual paraphernalia (discussed in the following chapters). It is tempting to think of the burned cobble feature and plaster floor in Op. 1p as a community-integrative structure that may have linked the two groups at a time before the site was under the control of a single leader or ruler.

Some amount of analogy in functional inference probably cannot be avoided in addressing the Plaza B architecture, and I have used analogy in some of the names applied to the architectural features described above. Analogies based on structure form must be backed up by analysis of associated artefacts, however, and I provide more detailed assessments of structure function in a discussion of artefact distributions in later chapters. The Patio Floor sequence of Op. 1y and adjacent units in the north, for example, is so named because it consists of a series of unroofed floors that supported a sequence of cobble platforms at its southern end. The earliest of these floors did not support a platform, was barely discernible, had in situ shell and other domestic debris on its surface, and was close to a well-preserved floor that was swept clean. It appeared to be outdoor space, analogous to that seen between platforms at in the deepest levels at Cuello (Hammond, Gerhardt, and Donaghey 1991), and this quality was repeated upward through the

Interpretations and Conclusions Functional interpretations of the Plaza B architecture are made difficult by the lack of total exposure of any single structure and the comparatively low number of features associated with the structural remains. Hearths were not located on or near any of the Plaza B platforms, in stark contrast to the Middle Preclassic architecture of Cuello (Gerhardt 1988; Hammond, Gerhardt, and Donaghey 103

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization sequence. The marl-and-pebble floor originally called Platform 2 is also a patio floor, as are the marl floors around the perimeter of Platform H. Domestic debris deposited on or just off of these floors suggests a residential function for their associated platforms.

The Middle Preclassic architectural record of Plaza B is almost paradoxical in its complex simplicity. Cahal Pech does not appear to have been built upon a carefully planned monumental template, as is now being recognized for sites in Petén like Ceibal (Inomata et al. 2013), Cival (EstradaBelli 2011), El Palmar (Doyle 2012, 2013), El Mirador (Šprajc et al. 2009), Nakbe (Hansen 1998), and NixtunCh’ich (Pugh and Rice 2017). Neither does the record exhibit the steady, incremental superposition of platform upon platform recorded at contemporaneous sites in northern Belize (Gerhardt 1988; Hammond, Gerhardt, and Donaghey 1991; McAnany 2004). The Middle Preclassic architecture of Plaza B seems somewhat messier than either of these models, with shifts in the position of platforms, changes (and changes back) in building materials, and a lack of unified site planning principles (Smith 2007) possibly indicating the absence of centralized authority. These differences may be an artefact of sampling bias, but they may also reflect other processes at work in the development of more complex social institutions.

Platform H itself is similar in size and shape to several Middle Preclassic rectangular residential platforms from nearby Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002), although it predates the examples that are most completely exposed. The area of Platform H may be nearly double the minimum William Ringle (1985:117) used to identify Preclassic dwellings at Komchen, and a single posthole provided limited evidence for a perishable superstructure. Platform B resembled basal platforms of later periods that supported multiple domestic superstructures. Quantities of domestic debris were deposited along its edges and off its sides, although the trash also included high frequencies and densities of certain exotic items. The southeast corner of Platform B also contained the only Middle Preclassic burial in Plaza B. Two small stone alignments on its cobble and marl surface probably represented the domestic structures of a co-residential group, and I suspect more structural remains await excavation. Details of the construction and use of Platform B were revealed in artefact and spatial analyses, which I discuss in chapter ten.

Some areas of Plaza B were clearly sites of intense and prolonged investment in the construction and refurbishing of platform architecture while others were not, and architectural growth and development happened at different tempos in different areas. Whether or not an individual or group succeeds in mobilizing the resources to build and maintain architecture may be related to other socioeconomic relationships, which may be revealed as patterns in materials consumption associated with particular structures. The following chapters examine the Middle Preclassic artefact assemblages from Plaza B, with focus on materials related to exchange within and beyond the greater Cahal Pech community.

The interpretation of several rounded structures based on formal analogy is more problematic. Aimers and colleagues (2000) argued that Preclassic round structures are a special class of platform used for ritual performances or orations, which may have been involved in placemaking rituals and linked to important group ancestors. They provide multiple examples, from Cahal Pech and elsewhere, of circular platforms that lack superstructures and become repositories for human burials after they are partly dismantled and replaced by rectangular platforms in later periods. They also note a distinction between apsidal and circular platforms, where apsidal structures are usually thought to be residences or related domestic structures. Platform 1 and the unnamed rounded structure from Operation 3 were both partially dismantled, and no trace of a superstructure was encountered on either. The removal of facing stones from these platforms makes the differentiation between circular and apsidal outlines impossible with current data, and there is no guaranty that more intact facing stones will be revealed in future excavations. Five 2-x-2-m units penetrated the surface of Platform 1, but no intrusive burials or caches were uncovered. Platform 1 also replaced the rectangular Platform H, which is contrary to the expected sequence. Platform L was also rounded and was rebuilt once before being abandoned, but it was not destroyed or even covered by later architecture until all of Plaza B was paved. Additional round structures from recent excavations in the south of Plaza B have expanded this inventory (Peniche May 2016), suggesting this architectural form may have had multiple functions during the Middle Preclassic. 104

7 Objects of Stone Introduction

Different techniques were used to produce a variety of chipped stone tools at Cahal Pech, but these were limited to utilitarian forms in Middle Preclassic times. Nothing resembling the eccentric flints and obsidians of later periods was recovered from Plaza B contexts, and most chipped stone artefacts were designed to fulfil one or more quotidian functions. Flakes and tools were occasionally included in architectural caches, however, and may have been used in ceremonies related to structure dedications. Every chipped stone artefact in the assemblage was made from fine-grained silicate rocks (e.g., chert, chalcedony) or obsidian, which have been previously defined as locally available and exotic raw materials, respectively (Awe 1992:311).

Numerous Middle Preclassic stone artefacts demonstrate the varying importance of different rocks and minerals to the Cahal Pech community. The 583 artefacts in this class represented three types of production technology: 1) chipped stone tools; 2) ground, pecked, and polished stone tools and decorative objects; and 3) unworked minerals and crystals. Locally available and exotic resources were present in each category, and stone artefacts were recovered from a variety of contexts throughout all phases of occupation. Tools for accomplishing utilitarian tasks like cutting, grinding, drilling, and hammering were most common in this assemblage, although several decorative, ornamental, or ritual objects were made from specific types of raw materials (e.g., green-coloured stone).

Chert Artefacts

This chapter follows the three technological divisions outlined above and begins by presenting data on Middle Preclassic chipped stone tools. Artefacts in this class are first divided by material type then presented in groups of formal (and presumably functional) similarity. Ground, pecked, and polished stone objects are presented by artefact form, because functionally similar artefacts were sometimes made from different raw materials; counts of artefacts in each material type are then presented in summary. The few unworked minerals and crystals transported to Cahal Pech are described by material type at the close of the chapter.

Fine-grained silicate sedimentary rocks, referred to here under the umbrella term ‘chert,’ were the most abundant chipped stone artefacts in the Plaza B assemblage. Chips or flakes, which numbered in the thousands, were not formal tools and were not analysed as part of this study; most were probably debitage (waste flakes) from tool reduction, but many could have been retouched flake-tools or utilized flakes.1 Materials in this assemblage varied considerably in colour, texture, and opacity, and probably included true chert and chalcedony along with unidentified fine-grained rocks (e.g., siliceous limestone). Chert and chalcedony cobbles are found in alluvial deposits in the upper Belize Valley in a range of colours and opacities, and some larger outcrops on the predominately limestone landscape were intensively quarried by the Classic-period Maya and may have been exploited by the late Middle Preclassic (Horowitz 2013, 2014). Cobbles of high-quality chert also occur in the chert-bearing zone of northwestern Belize and were used from Preclassic to Postclassic times, with large-scale manufacture of stone tools at Colha beginning by the Late Preclassic (Shafer and Hester 1983). Chert from this area is distinguishable from lower-quality chalcedonies (Hester and Shafer 1984), but the extent to which it differs from fine-grained materials in the upper Belize Valley is not clear.2 The assumption

Chipped Stone Artefacts Chipped stone artefacts are common at Maya sites in all periods and occasionally predate the appearance of pottery at sites with long settlement histories (e.g., Iceland 1997, 2005; Lohse et al. 2006). The manufacture of chipped stone tools involves the controlled removal of material from an objective piece that produces sharpedged and pointed flakes or blades. The goal of this reductive process may be the production of such sharp pieces, as is the case with core-blade and expedient flake-tool technologies, or to shape the objective piece into a desired form through the removal of unwanted material, as happens in the uniface and biface reduction. These production techniques are not mutually exclusive, because tool reduction produces usable flakes and flakes can be retouched into tools; both were likely employed at times to economically use raw materials. Tool makers prefer rocks with cryptocrystalline or glassy textures, which fracture in predictable ways that create sharper edges and points.

Awe (1992:311) reports that 68% of the chert assemblage from his excavations at Cahal Pech comprised informal tools and debitage but suggests debitage made up less of this percentage than expedient tools. 2 Yacubic (2006:38-39) collected 40 chert cobbles from areas near El Pilar, Blackman Eddy, and Colha, and concluded that the overlap in material quality was such that chert from these areas could not be visually distinguished. His study tested only two cobbles from each area – a very small sample from which to draw conclusions about variability in chert sources – and apparently did not include samples from larger chert outcrops in either area. 1

105

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Flakes were removed at near-vertical angles along both lateral edges, but there was no apparent edge grinding or other signs of modification for hafting. A convex working edge with a sloping cross section was produced by a transverse flake removal across its distal end, in a process that may have been analogous to the removal of tranchet flakes from tools at Colha (Shafter and Hester 1983). The small size and lack of a hafting element suggest that SF150 would not have been used for heavy-duty chopping, and two clusters of step fractures on its bit likely resulted from light to moderate use against a hard surface.

that Middle Preclassic chert artefacts were made from locally available materials in the upper Belize Valley may be correct, but the possibility that high-quality tool stone or even finished artefacts were traded into the area cannot be ruled out. A wider range of formal tool types were made from chert than obsidian at Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech, which may reflect raw material availability, the level of technological development and familiarity with working each material (Awe and Healy 1994), and/or the performance characteristics of each material in accomplishing different tasks. Chert is considerably less brittle than obsidian, for example, and is better suited to a range of activities where maintaining a razor-sharp edge is not a concern (e.g., chopping wood or digging earth). Formal chert tools from Plaza B included one uniface, two fragmentary and two complete bifaces, three blades, and 308 drills. I describe these artefacts and their contexts in detail below.

Small chert unifaces have been recovered at many sites in the Maya Lowlands and were used from Preclassic to Postclassic times. Many of these have been classified as scrapers (Coe 1959:12; Kidder 1947:7; Mitchum 1986:109; Willey 1978:113; Willey et al. 1965:437), characterized by blunted scraping edges and near vertical unifacial retouch. No clear examples of scrapers were identified in the Plaza B chipped stone tool assemblage, although they likely exist in the unanalysed flake collection and have been noted elsewhere at Cahal Pech (Awe 1992:311). The distinctive Middle Preclassic ‘t-shaped’ unifaces identified at several sites in northern Belize (Hester 1982; McSwain 1991; McAnany and Peterson 2004) were also absent from the Plaza B assemblage and may be a regionally specific early tool type. The closest parallels to SF-150 in form and date were the three ‘adzes or planes, plano-convex’ tools described by Willey and colleagues (1965:433) from Barton Ramie. These were trapezoidal in form and similar in size, had flat plane faces that were unworked and retained sections of cortex on their worked faces; one of the three came from a Jenney Creek-phase deposit roughly equivalent in age to SF-150. The examples from Barton Ramie were more heavily worked along one face than was SF-150 (Willey et al. 1965:Fig. 274a-c), but they may have had similar functions.

Type: Uniface (Figure 7.1A, Table 7.1) Form: Trapezoidal, adze or plane? Frequency: 1 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk) Context: Later Refuse

Artefact Description and Comparison: SF-150 was a small unifacial tool of unclear function made on a cortical flake of pinkish-grey, coarse-grained chert. It had a planoconvex cross section and a roughly trapezoidal outline that was wide at the bit and tapered toward the proximal end.

Context Description: SF-150 was included with refuse above and around the southeastern corner of Platform B. Materials from this lot may have included trash produced during the occupation of Platform B and debris from the collapse of its eastern face. Type: Uniface (Figure 7.1B, Table 7.2) Form: Triangular, tranchet adze Frequency: 1 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk) Context: Cache

Artefact Description and Comparison: SF-193 was a roughly triangular, plano-convex adze made on a macroflake of dark brown chert. The flat, planar face was minimally modified, but the opposite face was heavily scarred from shaping- and thinning-flake removals. Patches

Figure 7.1: Chert uniface, tranchet adze, and triangular biface. A) SF-150; B) SF-193; C) SF-769.

Table 7.1: Descriptive data and measurements for the unifacial adze/plane tool type SF#

Lot

Colour

Section

L (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

Mass (g)

150

1g-5

Pink/Gray

Complete

58.0

48.6

13.6

46.9

106

Objects of Stone Table 7.2: Descriptive data and measurements for tranchet adze tool type SF#

Lot

Colour

Section

L (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

Mass (g)

193

1e-60

Dark Brown

Complete

81.4

60.1

29.6

148.0

of cortex remained near the middle of the convex face and covered the proximal end of the adze despite the extent of flaking. The bit may have been created by the tranchet technique described by Shafer and Hester (1983:524), involving the removal of a transverse flake from the shaped proximal end of a macroflake, although other methods of producing tranchet tools are possible and have been observed in Middle Preclassic assemblages (Hester 1982:43). Distinctive tranchet flakes were not recognized among other flakes in the field, but a detailed analysis of the debitage assemblage has not been conducted. Overlapping clusters of step fractures extended onto both faces along the working edge, which probably resulted from use in chopping or pounding a hard substance. The forward projection of the lower bit edge had been almost completely eliminated, and this tool would have needed refurbishment to be useful at the time it was discarded.

production of these tools was less standardized and more locally oriented at this time. Tranchet bit tools are not widely distributed outside northern Belize in any time period, and they appear to have been a regional technology during Middle and Late Preclassic times. They are rare or non-existent in Belize Valley assemblages of similar date, although they have been previously recovered at Cahal Pech (Awe 1992:311). Context Description: SF-193 was deposited in Cache 9, which was a large deposit of partial vessels and other artefacts along the eastern edge of Platform B. This cache was placed on a layer of limestone cobble platform fill less than ten centimetres below the surface of Platform B and may relate to its dedication or expansion. SF-193 was the only chipped stone tool included with this cache, which contained primarily ornamental or ceremonial objects (e.g., ceramic earspools, a green-stone mosaic fragment, unworked crystal) and pottery. Its unusual form and material may indicate value, perhaps as the product of a skilled manufacturer or an object made from a scarce resource, but the damage to its bit suggests that it was not too valuable to use.

The source of the dark brown chert used to make SF-193 is not known, but the presence and location of cortex on the tool indicate that it was made from a cobble or nodule. Chert nodules occur in the soils of northern Belize, and cobbles are carried down the Mopan and Belize Rivers and deposited close to Cahal Pech. Tools made from a visually similar material have been recovered near Buenavista del Cayo in the upper Belize Valley (Rachel Horowitz, personal communication 2014), which may indicate a source in this area. A handful of drills may have been made from a similar material, but these were usually too small to say this for certain. Some later eccentric pieces from Lamanai appear to be made from a similar dark brown chert (Meadows 2001:Fig 5.5, 5.9b), and exotic ‘dark chocolate’ chert bifaces have been previously noted from northern Belize and were suggested to come from the Belize Valley (Hester and Shafer 1984:160).

Type: Biface (Table 7.3) Form: Non-diagnostic fragment Frequency: 2 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk) Context: Later Refuse: 1 Off-Platform Refuse: 1

Artefact Description and Comparison: The original forms of the two non-diagnostic biface fragments could not be determined – their outlines were not sufficiently preserved, and no comparable complete specimens were recovered. SF-260 may have been a stem or hafting element that was broken where it would have attached to a tool bit or blade. It was made from fine brown chert roughly ovoid in outline, with an intact, tapered proximal end that was blunted and lightly ground. Both faces were bifacially thinned by percussion flaking, although one face was noticeably thicker and bulged in cross section. The intact edges were not sharpened, and deep flake removals from both edges that constricted the width of this piece near the fractured area may have related to hafting. SF-564 was a medial fragment from a thin, fine-grained grey chert biface, which appeared to be from the blade element of a projectile point or knife. It had a biconvex cross section with a slightly curved, possibly triangular outline, but its

Tranchet bit tools like SF-193 have been recovered from Middle Preclassic and Late Preclassic contexts at Cuello (Hester 1982; McSwain 1991), and in Late Preclassic deposits at Cerros (Mitchum 1986), Colha (Hester 1982) and K’axob (McAnany and Peterson 2004). A specific tranchet tool production sequence was identified by Shafer (1976; Shafer and Hester 1983) in the massive Late Preclassic lithic assemblage from Colha, where these tools were mass produced for consumption beyond the local community (Hester and Shafer 1984). Early tranchet adzes were made with different techniques at Cuello, and no large-scale Middle Preclassic lithic workshops were identified at Colha (Hester 1982), which suggests

Table 7.3: Descriptive data and measurements for non-diagnostic biface fragments SF#

Lot

Colour

Section

L (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

Mass (g)

260

4a-7

Brown

Stem/Haft?

82.5

42.9

25.5

116.4

564

1t-9

Gray, red banded

Medial, blade element

47.0

31.4

10.3

 20.8

107

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization biconvex edge, which may have allowed it to function in different chopping tasks, although its outline suggests it may have been used primarily as an adze.

original shape could not be determined. The edges of this fragment converged at a tip that had broken away, and both were sharpened by parallel pressure-flake removals along each face. A second break at its proximal end made it impossible to tell if a hafting element was originally present.

SF-769 was different from all Plaza B chipped stone artefacts in terms of shape and material, and nothing similar has been reported from previous excavations at Cahal Pech. Most types of chert used to make the rarer tool types were also used to make the more numerous drills, but no other recovered tools were made from this material. Its form appears similar to several tools called ‘standard choppers, bifacial’ by Willey and colleagues (1965:423426), which occurred in all phases at Barton Ramie, and to the ‘twisted biface’ recovered at Guerra de Buenavista in the upper Belize Valley (Ball and Taschek 2004:Fig. 9.2). ‘Small bifaces’ occur throughout the occupation sequence at Cuello (McSwain 1991:165), and patterns of persistent use of similar tools have been documented at many lowland sites (Kidder 1947; Rovner and Lewenstein 1997; Mitchum 1986; Willey 1978). Form reflected function with these tools – made for a variety of heavy chopping and pounding tasks – and does not appear to have been temporally sensitive.

Few comparisons can be made with certainty while the original forms of these artefacts remain unknown, which is especially true of the medial blade fragment SF-564, which could have come from any number of thin biface forms. SF-260 resembles the stem section of stemmed macroblades or daggers from Cerros (Mitchum 1986:Fig. 7.3f-h), Colha (Hester and Shafer 1984:Fig. 5), Cuello (McSwain 1991:Fig. 8.3), and K’axob (McAnany and Peterson 2004) in northern Belize, from the central Belize Valley (Willey et al. 1965:Fig. 264 and 265), and from previous excavations at Cahal Pech (Awe 1992:Fig. 92). All these examples, with the exception of stemmed macroblades from Cuello, appear to postdate Middle Preclassic times, and it is not clear if they are appropriate analogies. Context Description: SF-260 came from a refuse deposit above a cobble surface in Op. 4a that may have related to Platform B. Ceramics from this lot were consistent with a Phase IV date, but its association with the architecture in this unit was not clear. SF-564 was deposited with refuse off the western perimeter of Platform 1 and was associated with that structure.

Context Description: SF-769 was recovered from a section of the basal occupation horizon beneath Platform 2 (Phase II) and was the only formal chipped stone tool recovered from a Phase 0 context. Several large pieces of similarly patinated chert debitage were included in this deposit of black dirt, which contained no sherds and was located in an area near the bedrock stairs at the southern end of the Main Trench. This area was not directly associated with the stairs or any architectural feature, but it was covered by an intact, hard floor that may have prevented later materials from filtering in. The lack of ceramics and qualitative difference between the lithic materials from this and all other lots suggest this area may have been occupied before the advent of pottery, but too few equivalent contexts have been excavated at Cahal Pech to evaluate this hypothesis (but see Cheetham 1995:27 for another example).

Type: Biface (Figure 7.1C, Table 7.4) Form: Triangular, general utility Frequency: 1 Architectural Phase: 0 (Cunil or earlier) Context: Occupation Horizon

Artefact Description and Comparison: SF-769 was a crudely flaked and heavily worn triangular biface made from patinated brown chert with grey banding and inclusions. One face was minimally worked and relatively flat, while the opposite was steeply retouched along its margins toward a crest running down its midline, giving the tool a plano-convex cross section. The working edge was rounded at both corners and slightly convex; it was also heavily battered, with small step fractures extending onto both faces along its entire length. The relatively flat underside of this tool was retouched near its bit to create a

Type: Blade (Table 7.5) Frequency: 3 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk) Context: Later Refuse: 1 Midden: 1 Off-Platform Refuse: 1

Table 7.4: Descriptive data and measurements for the triangular biface tool type SF#

Lot

Colour

Section

Length (mm)

Width (mm)

Thickness (mm)

Mass (g)

769

7c-18

Brown/Gray

Complete

70.7

52.0

28.7

120.0

Table 7.5: Descriptive data and measurements for Phase IV chert blades SF#

Lot

Colour

Section

L (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

Mass (g)

561

5a-3

Red; grey mottled

Complete

71.2

17.5

8.5

-

562

1t-9

Brown; white patina

Complete

49.5

14.4

6.7

5.0

563

1s-5

Pink; red mottled

Complete

39.0

14.9

4.2

2.4

108

Objects of Stone Artefact Description and Comparison: The chert blades from Plaza B were cutting tools that were at least twice as long as they were wide, were less than one centimetre thick, and had sharp, sub-parallel margins that converged into points at the distal end. They were rarer than obsidian prismatic blades in Phase IV contexts and were less uniform in size and shape. The two smaller blades, SF562 and SF-563, could have been fortuitously struck during the manufacture of a larger tool, but each had at least three blade-shaped facets on its dorsal surface and patterned edge-damage along its margins. Both were made of moderate-quality translucent chert or chalcedony, and SF-562 had traces of a white patina around its edges. SF561 was made of a lower quality red-and-grey banded chert with several large inclusions, but it was more than three times longer than it was wide and had patterned edge-damage near its distal tip; it appears to have been intentionally produced as a cutting tool. All blades had trapezoidal cross sections and elongated-triangular outlines.

SF-563 was deposited in a midden near the centre of Plaza B, and SF-561 was included in a deep problematic deposit overlying a marl-and-flagstone platform surface (possibly Platform B) in Op. 5a. Type: Drill (Figure 7.2, Table 7.6) Subtype:Multiple Frequency: 308 Architectural Phase: II (Early Kanluk): 1 III (Early Kanluk): 4 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 303 Context: Fill: 12 Floor: 15 Later Refuse: 83 Midden: 106 Off-Platform Refuse: 33 Pit: 37 Op. 2a: 22

Artefact Description and Comparison: Drills were the most common chipped stone tools in the Middle Preclassic assemblage and were clearly important to activities at Cahal Pech. The category ‘drill’ was based on tool morphology; function was largely implied and not investigated through microscopic study, but repeated dulling of tool tips and wear patterns indicating circular or twisting contact with hard surfaces suggest this functional inference is correct. Nearly two-thirds (n = 200, 64.9%) of the recovered drills were complete, but many of these were dulled, small, and probably considered exhausted at the time of discard.

Similar small, chert blades have been reported from previous excavations at Cahal Pech (Awe 1992:311) and occur in Middle Preclassic contexts throughout the Belize Valley (Hohmann 2002:132; Willey et al. 1965:440; Yacubic 2006:79) and the Maya Lowlands (McAnany and Peterson 2004; McSwain 1991; Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:187). They likely represent an expedient tool technology similar to flake production and distinct from the manufacture of larger blades, formal tools, and obsidian prismatic blades.

Two different methods were used to make drills that produced tools with distinct shapes. One method involved retouching small or medium-sized chert blades into what may have been hand-held drills. Retouched blade drills

Context Description: All three chert blades were recovered from refuse deposits, one of which (Op. 1t-9) was located adjacent to Platform 1 and associated with this structure.

Figure 7.2: Representative sample of chert burin spall drills. Drills on the left are primary, drills on the right are secondary.

109

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 7.6: Frequencies, percentages, and length measurement summary statistics of complete chert drills by type Drill Type

n

%

Min L (mm)

Max L (mm)

Mean L (mm)

SD L

Primary, double point

 74

 37.0

15.0

62.0

27.4

 8.24

Primary, single point

 68

 34.0

17.0

57.0

28.5

 8.38

Primary, no point

  5

  2.5

21.0

53.0

37.8

12.78

Secondary, double point

  3

  1.5

19.0

30.0

24.0

 5.57

Secondary, single point

 25

 12.5

22.0

54.0

32.1

 7.72

Secondary, no point

 19

  9.5

19.0

44.0

30.9

 6.70

Retouched blades

  6

  3.0

27.0

44.0

30.5

 6.72

Total

200

100.0

Secondary burin spalls were probably the opportunistic products of tool makers seeking to economize labour and resources, but they were frequently discarded immediately after manufacture or limited use. These spalls could be produced with minimal modification of an original flake blank but had higher rates of production failure than primary burin spalls. Failures were likely the result of decreased control over the shape of the cross section and overall thickness of the tool; both of these attributes would have been important if burin spalls were hafted into shafts of composite drills. Higher frequencies of used primary burin spalls indicate they were preferred for use as drill bits, and this pattern becomes even more apparent when broken drills are included in the analysis (Figure 7.3).4 The organization of drill production will not be fully understood until the lithic debitage assemblage is analysed, but the presence of unused secondary burin spalls suggests that drills were produced somewhere in the vicinity of Plaza B.

made up a small fraction of the total assemblage (n = 8, 2.6%) and had distinctive ‘key-shaped’ outlines, which resulted from leaving the proximal end of the blade unmodified while retouching the distal end into a narrow shaft. The distal ends of each lateral margin were pressureflaked into a convergent tip but were left untouched near the striking platform, which produced drills with squared or rectangular elements opposite their pointed bits. These drills could have been gripped by their proximal ends and turned by hand, but they may also have been inserted into a slotted haft. The second and more common method of drill manufacture produced burin spalls from the prepared distal ends of flakes or medium-sized blades. These were probably used as bits in drill shafts made from perishable materials. Burin spall drills were narrow tools with twisted-triangular cross sections and transverse flake removals on two of three faces. They were not uniform in either of these two dimensions, and six sub-forms were identified through a combination of two production-related (primary, secondary) and three use-related (double point, single point, no point) attributes (Table 7.6).

Drills were made from fine-grained stone that varied in colour and opacity. Completely opaque materials were classified as chert and translucent stones as chalcedony, although materials often graded from translucent to opaque. Six colour groups occurred in different frequencies and came in both opaque and translucent varieties, but these may all have been local materials, given that similar colours of fine-grained siliceous rocks have been described from nearby areas of the Belize Valley (Horowitz 2014; Yacubic 2006:41). Gray, brown, and white stones were used to make over 84% of all recovered drills, with grey accounting for nearly half the assemblage (Table 7.7). Gray drills were split almost equally between opaque (n = 74) and translucent (n = 64) varieties of stone, and each of the three drill types were made from grey materials. It is not clear if the relative scarcity of yellow, pink, and red drills reflects the natural distribution of these materials on the landscape or a preference for making drills out of other types of stone.

Primary burin spalls had regular triangular cross sections, numerous transverse flake scars, and more evidence of use, while secondary burin spalls had flattened cross sections, fewer or no transverse flake scars, and less use-related damage and modification. These attributes likely relate to the sequence in which burin spalls were removed from a prepared flake: primary spalls represented first removals, and secondary spalls resulted from attempts to produce an additional drill from a burinated flake.3 The number of tips that were intentionally modified or damaged was recorded for each drill and presumably reflected intensity of use. Both tips of double-pointed drills were worn through use that may have occurred sequentially, but only one end was used on single-pointed drills. Complete burin spalls with no use or modification on either tip were probably rejects discarded after manufacture.

Hundreds of virtually identical drills made from chert or chalcedony burin spalls have been recovered from Middle Preclassic deposits at Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:Table 8.2;

3 I conducted a replicative study with Grant McCall, an experienced flintknapper, to explore production-related explanations for the observed variability in the burin spall drill assemblage, especially in terms of cross section shape and number of flake scars present. McCall was able to reproduce burin spalls with flattened cross sections and fewer flake scars – like those observed in the assemblage – by removing a second burin spall from a flake after an initial spall was removed.

Broken burin spalls could be recognized as primary or secondary by their cross sections and numbers of flake scars present, but one or both points were occasionally removed when drill bits broke, and the original number of points on broken burin spalls could not be determined. 4

110

Objects of Stone

Figure 7.3: Frequencies and percentages of broken and complete chert drills by technological type.

embedded in Patio Floor 1. None of these drills had usewear on their tips, but one secondary spall from each context was broken.

Table 7.7: Frequencies and percentages of chert drills by material colour Colour

Frequency

Percent

Cumulative Percent

Gray

138

 44.8

  44.8

Brown

 68

 22.1

  66.9

White

 53

 17.2

  84.1

Yellow

 28

  9.1

  93.2

Pink

 17

  5.5

  98.7   100.0

Red

  4

  1.3

Total

308

100.0

The remaining drills (n = 303, 98.4%) came from Phase IV refuse contexts. All types of drills were distributed evenly across these refuse deposits except for the rarest examples (secondary double-pointed spalls, retouched blades), and no patterns were apparent in the distribution of different coloured materials. Over one-third (n = 106, 35.0%) of Phase IV drills came from midden deposits near the centre of Plaza B, and over half of these (n = 66) were deposited in the midden covering most of Op. 1r and the adjacent northern meter of Op. 1s. A substantial number of Phase IV drills (n = 83, 27.4%) were deposited with later Phase IV refuse in the northern end of Plaza B, and these were particularly concentrated in Operations 3 and 4 (see chapter ten). The refuse pit in Op. 3c contained 37 drills of every type, save those made on retouched blades, and contained a significant amount of marine shell production debris and a small number of drilled shell ornaments. Few drills were recovered from Phase IV floors (n = 15), which would be expected with pointed stone tools, and relatively few were deposited in Phase IV platform fill (n = 12), which probably reflects less intense use during earlier times.

Powis 2010:Table 3) and the Cas Pek group (Lee and Awe 1995; Lee 1996). Drills were associated with marine shell ornaments and manufacturing debris at each site and were more plentiful in the latter half of the Middle Preclassic. A handful of burin spall drills were also associated with limited amounts of shell debris at the Tolok group southeast of Cahal Pech (Powis 1996:Table 2). Chert tools with use-wear indicating drilling were recovered in relatively low numbers at Blackman Eddy in association with marine shell beads and detritus (Cochran 2009:83; Yacubic 2006:95), but the shapes of these drills were not reported. Burin spall drills were associated with marine shell beads in Middle Preclassic contexts at Colha (Hester 1982; Potter 1982), and drills of different shapes were noted at Cuello but were not necessarily associated with marine shell beads there (McSwain 1991).

The Phase IV spike in drill use was concurrent with an increase in perforated marine shell ornaments and manufacturing debris deposited in the site core (see chapter eight), and these materials were frequently found in association. Increases in the frequencies of these artefacts were probably related, as more drills would have been needed to produce perforated shell ornaments. Other Phase IV materials were perforated by drilling (e.g., slate, sherds), and it is unlikely that chert drills were used only to make marine shell ornaments at Cahal Pech. The frequencies of those ornaments greatly outnumbered all other classes of drilled artefacts, however, and most Phase IV drills were probably used in shell ornament manufacture.

Context Description: Five drills, or just over 1.6% of the total assemblage, were recovered from contexts that predated Phase IV. SF-553 was embedded in a Phase II marl floor near the south end of the Main Trench and was the earliest object in the drill assemblage. It was a complete secondary burin spall with no apparent use-wear and was made from an unidentified opaque white material. Four burin spall drills were recovered from two different Phase III floors: SF-555 and SF-559 were both secondary burin spalls deposited on the floor of Platform H, while a primary and secondary burin spall (both SF-731) were 111

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 7.8: Contextual associations of obsidian flakes. The ‘Early’ column includes Phases I-III; the ‘Late’ column contains only Phase IV flakes

Chert Summary Chert tools at Cahal Pech were made from stone that varied in colour, translucence, and quality. This probably reflects the local availability of chert, chalcedony, and related finegrained rocks. Few bifaces or other large formal tools were recovered, but large numbers of burin spall drills entered the assemblage during Phase IV. The difference in tool frequencies may be related to the types of activities carried out at the site, where there would be little need for heavy agricultural implements but a high demand for drills to manufacture ornaments.

Context

Early

Late

n

%

N

%

Fill

2

40.0

3

12.5

Floor

2

40.0

0

0.0

Cache

1

20.0

13

54.2

Later Refuse

0

0.0

5

20.8

Midden

0

0.0

2

8.3

2a

0

0.0

1

4.2

Total

5

100.0

24

100.0

Obsidian Artefacts Type: Flake (Table 7.8) Frequency: 29 Source: El Chayal: 1 Ixtepeque: 1 Architectural Phase: I (Transitional Cunil – early Kanluk): 1 II (Early Kanluk): 3 III (Early Kanluk): 1 IV (Early Kanluk – late Kanluk): 24

Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass that was prized by ancient Mesoamerican societies for its functional and symbolic properties. The glassy structure of obsidian allowed the production of tools with edges that were much sharper than chert objects, and its tendency toward conchoidal fracture ensured reliability in their manufacture. Razor-sharp obsidian flakes and blade segments were ideal for a variety of routine cutting tasks, but these tools were also used in bloodletting rituals and were likely imbued with religious or supernatural value (e.g., Freidel et al. 1993:205; Saunders 2001).

Artefact Description: Whole flakes and flake fragments accounted for equal portions of the observed assemblage (n = 5 each), and all flakes were somewhere between black and grey in colour. Opacity varied from barely translucent to nearly transparent, and several mostly clear, light greycoloured flakes were marked by opaque black bands. Two Phase IV flakes retained sections of rough, non-glassy cortex on their dorsal surfaces, and an additional two had cortical platforms, which suggests some level of flake production took place in or around Plaza B in the later phase of occupation. Edge-damage was both patterned and random – it was likely produced by a combination of userelated and post-depositional factors that would require additional analysis to resolve. SF-771 was a fragment of a depleted blade core, which may have been removed to rejuvenate the core and reused as an expedient tool. No other evidence for Middle Preclassic obsidian blade production was identified in Plaza B, and the organization of blade production and distribution remains unclear for this period.

Flakes, a core fragment, blade segments, and a single complete blade constituted the Middle Preclassic obsidian assemblage from Cahal Pech. No fine bifacial points or obsidian eccentrics were recovered from Plaza B contexts, and it is unlikely that the few obsidian flakes from Middle Preclassic deposits were simply debris from artefact manufacture. The limited scope of Middle Preclassic obsidian technology was likely dictated by its availability as a raw material, which in turn related to the distance between Cahal Pech and obsidian sources in the volcanic highlands to the south (see Figure 5.4). Conditions of availability and the costs of maintaining exchange relationships may have favoured conserving obsidian and not ‘wasting’ it on intricate ornamental objects that would have required experimentation with a scarce resource. Several obsidian flakes and blades were removed from the Plaza B assemblage for a separate study and could not be examined for this project. I observed significant variability in the shape, size, technological attributes, and material qualities of the extant specimens, and I am doubtful that summaries of these data could accurately characterize the entire assemblage. Contextual information and generic artefact classifications (e.g., flakes, blade fragments) were available, however, and will be presented in the following sections alongside general descriptions and source attributions when available. A brief statement on obsidian sourcing studies concludes this section, and all source determinations presented here derive from a previous study (Kersey 2006).

Context Description: The earliest obsidian artefact (SF599) was a thin flake fragment deposited beneath an unnamed Phase I marl floor in Op. 5a. A whole flake (SF534) was recovered from the surface of the later Platform H (Phase III), a flake fragment (SF-622) was deposited in the cobble fill of Platform P, and a complete flake (SF-598) came from beneath an unnamed marl floor at the south end of the Main Trench; the latter two examples dated to Phase II and were probably recycled refuse. SF-854 (Figure 7.4E) was a broken, blade-like flake that was cached on the Phase II pebble-and-marl floor in Operation 7. It was sandwiched between two slate objects that may have been composite mirrors, and had one straight, sharp margin that could have functioned as a cutting edge. The function of SF-854 is unclear, but its inclusion in a cache suggests it

112

Objects of Stone was symbolically important. If the slate objects cached with this flake were parts of mirrors, which were divinatory and ceremonial instruments in later periods (Blainey 2007; Healy and Blainey 2011), then the flake may have been used in shamanic scrying rituals as a bloodletter.

assemblage comprised blade fragments. The complete blade was removed from the collection as part of the sourcing study (Kersey 2006) and descriptive data was not available. Seven of the eight blade fragments available for analysis were medial sections, while the eighth was a distal fragment with a slightly plunging tip. All blade fragments were made from translucent grey-black obsidian, had between two and four dorsal facets from previous blade removals, and several had patterned edge-damage along their lateral margins. The analysed sample contained no proximal fragments, so techniques of platform preparation could not be observed.

Under half (n = 11, 45.8%) of Phase IV obsidian flakes came from refuse deposits or platform fill. The blade core fragment and two broken flakes were deposited in the cobble-and-clay construction fill of Platform 1, five flakes (including both sourced examples) came from refuse covering the eastern edge of Platform B and Patio Floor 1 in the northern Main Trench, and only two were recovered from the central middens. Thirteen obsidian flakes (54.2%) were cached in an artificial bedrock depression beneath the Phase IV platform corner in Op. 3a and were likely part of a dedication ceremony for that structure. These flakes were not available for analysis, so it is not clear if they resembled the earlier cached flake described above. The high percentage of ritually cached obsidian flakes corresponded to the introduction of prismatic blades in Phase IV and may reflect a shift towards using blades for regular utilitarian tasks. Obsidian flakes would have retained symbolic value associated with the material and their previous functions, and they may have been viewed more as ceremonial objects once blades became widely available.

Context Description: The lone complete blade (SF-191) was attributed to the El Chayal source and was uncovered in Burial 1 near the right wrist or hand of the interred individual.5 None of the bones of the hand or wrist survived and the exact association of the blade with the person can only be guessed. The blade was associated with four carved Oliva shell tinklers (see Figure 8.9) that may have been part of a bracelet or costume, but the blade itself was probably held in the hand of the deceased. It was also positioned near the pelvis, which was almost completely disintegrated. This may have simply resulted from the extended supine position of the body, but it could also have been symbolic of the interred man’s participation in bloodletting ceremonies before his death. Blade fragments occurred primarily in trash deposits and were concentrated in the later Phase IV refuse that covered the platform corners in Operations 3 and 4 (n = 12). The two sourced blade fragments came from refuse along the edge of Platform B. Only one small blade fragment was deposited in the Op. 1r midden where large numbers chert drills and marine shell debris fragments were recovered.

Type: Blade (Figure 7.4) Frequency: 30 Source: El Chayal: 2 San Martin Jilotepeque: 1 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – late Kanluk) Context: Burial: 1 Fill: 1 Floor: 2 Later Refuse: 14 Midden: 3 Off-Platform Refuse: 3 Pit: 2 2a: 4

Obsidian Sourcing Sourcing studies, which match obsidian artefacts to specific lava flows through the identification and comparison of trace elements, have been used by Mesoamerican archaeologists since the mid-1960s to track the movement of this material across the landscape (see Clark 2003:32-33 for a review of provenance studies). Provenance data has been used to reconstruct hypothetical trade routes linking the Maya Highlands and Lowlands (e.g., Dreiss and Brown 1989; Hammond 1972; Healy et al. 1984; McKillop 1989), and has recently been used in a social network analysis to investigate changing connections between communities during the Classic Maya collapse (Golitko et al. 2012). Chemical sourcing has identified three obsidian sources in the Middle Preclassic assemblage at Cahal Pech, the nearest of which was located over 300 kilometres away as the crow flies, or around 600 kilometres as the canoe floats along proposed exchange routes (e.g., Hammond 1972; Healy et al. 1984; McKillop 1989).

Artefact Description: One complete blade was recovered from a Plaza B context and the remainder of the

Figure 7.4: Obsidian blade fragments and obsidian flake from layered slate cache. A) & C) SF-780; B) SF-793; D) SF-783; E) SF-854.

The field report (Garber et al. 2006:12) states that the blade was ‘found immediately adjacent to the right humerus,’ but photographs of the blade in situ show it well below the elbow of the extended right arm. 5

113

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Two trace-element analyses on Middle Preclassic obsidian artefacts from Cahal Pech show temporal trends in resource procurement (Awe 1992; Awe et al. 1996; Kersey 2006), although the sample of sourced artefacts remains limited in both size and represented contexts. 6 The first study consisted of ten obsidian pieces from early construction phases of Str. B-4 and used energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (XRF) to identify trace elements. All of the samples from Cunil and early Kanluk deposits (n = 8) were chemically matched to the obsidian source at El Chayal in southeastern Guatemala, while the two late Kanluk artefacts were attributed to the San Martin Jilotepeque (SMJ) source, also in the Guatemala highlands (Awe et al. 1996:Table 2). The second study used instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) to characterize trace element signatures of 15 Middle Preclassic obsidian artefacts from Cahal Pech, ten of which came from early phases of Str. B-4 and largely replicated the results of the previous study: all obsidian from Cunil and early Kanluk phases came from the El Chayal source, while late Kanluk obsidian came from both SMJ (n = 2) and El Chayal (n = 1). The five sourced artefacts from Plaza B were recovered from early-to-late Middle Preclassic contexts (Kersey 2006), all of which are Phase IV deposits in the framework proposed here. Earlier Plaza B obsidian flakes were only recovered after this study was completed and remain unattributed to a source area. El Chayal had the highest representation in Phase IV contexts (n = 3), and single examples came from both the SMJ and Ixtepeque sources (see Figure 5.4).

Obsidian Summary and Comparison Middle Preclassic obsidian artefacts were limited to flakes and blades, the latter mostly fragments, which were usually discarded in refuse contexts but were occasionally included with special deposits of obvious ritual significance. The few examples of obsidian from Phases I – III were flakes, which continued to be used into Phase IV when blades were introduced but may have served more ceremonial functions. Blades outnumbered flakes in Phase IV refuse deposits and appear to have supplanted them in everyday cutting tasks, but they may also have been used in bloodletting rituals and seen as symbolically important objects. The Plaza B obsidian assemblage reflects a temporal trend in obsidian technology first observed in the stratified construction sequence of Str. B-4, where the earliest levels produced only flakes and blades did not appear until late Middle Preclassic building phases (Awe 1992:313314). Awe and Healy (1994) proposed a flake-to-blade developmental sequence for obsidian technology in the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands through a comparative study with other early obsidian assemblages, and this model has largely stood the test of time. Flakes continued to be produced in late Middle Preclassic and Late Preclassic times, but evidence for prismatic blade use during the early Middle Preclassic has rarely been reported from lowland sites.7 Early Middle Preclassic blades were recovered at Blackman Eddy since the sequence was proposed (Garber et al. 2004; Kersey 2006), however, and more controlled excavations of early occupations are needed elsewhere to test this model.

Data from Plaza B and Str. B-4 show early Middle Preclassic (Phases I – III) procurement networks focused on the El Chayal source and widened to include materials from SMJ and Ixtepeque by Phase IV. Awe and colleagues (1996) suggest the Pacbitun assemblage may show similar patterns of exchange, but only one sample from a Middle Preclassic context was sourced. A different pattern was observed in data from Blackman Eddy, which indicated the SMJ source was dominant throughout the Middle Preclassic, and that small amounts of El Chayal and Ixtepeque obsidian (represented by one piece each in the sourced sample) only began to enter the site by the early-to-late Middle Preclassic transition (Kersey 2006). The Blackman Eddy data more closely reflect patterns of Middle Preclassic obsidian use in northern Belize (Brown et al. 2004; Dreiss and Brown 1989), central Petén, Guatemala (Rice et al. 1985), and elsewhere in southeastern Mesoamerica (Awe et al. 1996:Table 4; Nelson et al. 1978), where El Chayal obsidian did not become important until much later. Differences in obsidian source representation suggest that community members at these sites created different exchange relationships to acquire needed materials.

Some researchers have proposed a correlation between the development of obsidian blade technology and the emergence of chiefdoms in Mesoamerica. These models viewed blades as the products of managed, redistributive economies that were neither operating nor required when flakes were the sole obsidian tools produced (Clark 1987; Pires-Ferreira and Flannery 1976). This argument is problematic for several reasons, not least of which is the lack of convincing evidence for actual redistribution in the societies studied, but evidence for increasing social complexity did accompany the first appearance of blades at Cahal Pech. Awe and Healy (1994:202) describe a ‘major increase in population and considerable construction activity’ at late Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech, as well as increased architectural differentiation and an increase in trade in exotic goods. Patterns of architectural differentiation now appear much more complex than previously thought, but large-scale expansion and increased investment in platform construction and marine shell ornament production did co-occur with the Awe and Healy review evidence for Middle Preclassic blades from sites along the Pacific coast of Guatemala and note a similar flake-toblade sequence in that area beginning in Early Preclassic times, which essentially preceded parallel developments in the Maya Lowlands by several centuries. 7

6 Both studies also included obsidian samples from Late Preclassic contexts, which fall beyond the scope of this project.

114

Objects of Stone appearance of obsidian blades and reflect changes in social organization. Unlike the data from early Middle Formative Oaxaca (Pires-Ferreira and Flannery 1976), however, the number of obsidian sources reaching Cahal Pech increased with the introduction of blades in Phase IV (Kersey 2006), which suggests trade partnerships and exchange networks were more opportunistic than strictly managed.

Artefact Description and Comparison: Hammerstones were ovoid or sub-spherical cobbles that were damaged by repeatedly striking hard objects like other stones, bone, or shell. Battering damage most frequently occurred along the encircling edges of hammerstones but was also observed on the flattened faces of some ovoid tools. Hammerstones were expedient tools made from materials found throughout the upper and central Belize Valley, and they were probably selected from water-worn cobbles in nearby streams and riverbeds. Dense red and reddish-orange quartzite was the preferred material for hard-hammer percussion tasks, such as the production of macroflake blanks or core reduction, while softer limestone hammers may have been used for delicate jobs like biface shaping and thinning.

Ground, Pecked, and Polished Stone Artefacts Artefacts shaped by grinding, pecking, and polishing, which I will refer to as ‘ground stone artefacts’ in general discussions, appear at lowland Maya sites with the first pottery vessels but have occasionally been reported in Late Preceramic contexts (Lohse et al. 2006:220). Grinding implements like manos and metates are traditionally linked to sedentism and an increasing reliance on maize agriculture, while polished green-stone beads and ground slate plaques are considered products of skilled artisans and the possessions of high-status persons and ritual specialists. Exotic ground stone ornaments and ceremonial objects may indicate the emergence of social differentiation and participation in long-distance exchange networks, and these items were present very early in the occupation histories of lowland sites (e.g., Awe 1992:307; Clark and Cheetham 2002; Garber et al. 2004).

Hammerstones were probably used at every Middle Preclassic settlement in the Maya Lowlands, given the reliance on chipped stone tool technology at this time, but they are seldom reported in detail. Awe (1992:311) included hammerstones with informal chert tools recovered from Cahal Pech, and a small number of quartzite and quartz hammerstones were reported from Blackman Eddy (Garber et al. 2004; Yacubic 2006:62). Hammerstones made in several shapes and from a variety of materials occurred throughout much of the sequence at Barton Ramie (Willey et al. 1965:465), but none were recovered from pure Jenney Creek contexts. Specially shaped pounding tools, such as the biconical limestone hammers reported from Cuello and Colha (McSwain 1991:Fig. 8.2; Shafer and Oglesby 1980, cited in McSwain 1991:360), were not recovered at Cahal Pech, but similar cobble hammerstones were reported at both sites in northern Belize. Hammerstones are relatively rare in Middle Preclassic contexts and are

Utilitarian implements, ornamental and ceremonial objects, and items of unknown function were recovered from a range of contexts beneath Plaza B. Ground stone artefacts were made from both locally available and exotic materials, the latter of which came from several geographic zones located at different distances from Cahal Pech. Some formally similar artefacts were made from different raw materials, but only stones with specific visual characteristics were used to make others. I present descriptions of the ground stone artefact assemblage by form in the following sections to demonstrate this variability in material use, while recognizing instances where form and material were closely related. Specific production technologies (e.g., pecking, grinding) are given alongside material, contextual, and metric data for each artefact type, and possible source areas are suggested. Type: Hammerstone (Figure 7.5, Table 7.9) Production Technology: Pecked, Unmodified Frequency: 7

Figure 7.5: Hammerstones, showing intensive battering damage. A) SF-573; B) SF-576.

Table 7.9: Contextual and descriptive data for hammerstones, all phases SF#

Lot

Phase

Context

Material

L (mm)

W (mm)

T (mm)

Mass (g)

67

1a-39

0

Occupation Horizon

Red Quartzite

-

48.2

38.2

123.0

573

5a-8

I

Floor

Red Quartzite

75.8

72.2

60.0

495.6

576

1v-17

II

Floor

Chert

-

-

68.5

341.2

66

1c-56

II/III

Subfloor

Red Quartzite

70.2

46.4

43.2

202.0

70

1c-56

II/III

Subfloor

Red Quartzite

46.4

41.3

30.5

 83.2

68

1a-19

IV

Off-Platform Refuse

Red Quartzite

69.8

43.6

37.3

178.6

71

1a-16

IV

Later Refuse

Limestone

74.5

68.2

66.7

484.1

115

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization implicitly assumed to have been used in chipped stone tool production at the household level. Context Description: Hammerstones occurred in all phases of occupation but were primarily associated with the northern architectural group. Two heavily battered specimens, SF-573 and SF-576 (Figure 7.5), were embedded in Phase I and II soft marl floors and SF-576 was the only hammerstone recovered from southern Plaza B excavations. The context of the Phase II/III hammerstones was slightly less clear: they were deposited beneath the thick marl surface of Patio Floor 1, but the earlier patio floors were not noted in Op. 1c. One or both hammerstones may have been associated with Patio Floors 2 or 3. The only broken hammerstone, SF-68, was associated with the southern edge of Platform A in the northernmost section of the Main Trench. Stone Spheroids Stone spheroids (n = 47)8 were a problematic artefact class similar in shape to sub-spherical hammerstones but differentiated by a lack of battering damage. They were made from at least four different types of stone, three of which were probably locally available and one that derived from the Maya Mountains. Spheroids were shaped by pecking and polishing, and both techniques were used across the range of raw materials. Pecked and polished spheroids were visually distinct and may have been functionally different, but no consensus exists in the literature as to what these functions were. Spheroid diameters were bimodally distributed into large and small size classes with a break around 35 mm (Figure 7.6), which was supported by an independent samples t-test of all spheroid diameters as well as t-tests performed separately on polished and pecked spheroids.9 Pecking and polishing were used to produce both large and small spheroids (Table 7.10), and pecking was used as an initial shaping technique for at least some polished spheroids. The relationship of size, material type, and production technology to artefact function is not known, and decision to classify spheroids first by production method and then by size is therefore tentative.

Figure 7.6: Distribution of stone spheroid diameters, showing two modal peaks. Table 7.10: Frequencies and percentages of stone spheroids by size class, material, and production technology Size Class

Material

Polished

Material Total

n

n

%

n

%

%

Limestone

 4  44.4

 4   40.0

 8

  42.1

Gray Quartzite

 3  33.3

 4   40.0

 7

  36.8

Red Quartzite

 2  22.2

 2   20.0

 4

  21.1

Total

  9 100.0

10 100.0

19

100.0

  9   47.4

10   52.6

 

 

Red Granite

 0   0.0

 1   33.3

 1

  3.6

Large

Limestone

24  96.0

 2   66.7

26

  92.9

Red Quartzite

 1   4.0

 0   0.0

 1

  3.6

 

Total

25 100.0

  3 100.0

28

100.0

Production Tech % by Size

25   89.3

  3   10.7

Total

34   72.3

13   27.7

Small  

Production Tech % by Size

Type: Spheroid (Figure 7.7 left column, Table 7.11) Production Technology: Polished Frequency: 13 Architectural Phase: 0 (Cunil or earlier): 1 II (Early Kanluk): 4 II/III (Early Kanluk): 1 III (Early Kanluk): 1 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 6

Pecked

 

  47

100.0

Context: Fill: 5 Floor: 3 Occupation Horizon: 1 Off-Platform Refuse: 3 Op. 2a: 1

Artefact Description: Polished stone spheroids were made from limestone, quartzite (red and grey), and red granite, and included artefacts in both size classes, although smaller polished spheroids were more common (Table 7.10). The level of polishing each spheroid received was not uniform across all pieces; finely polished examples were very smooth and glossy over their entire surfaces, while coarsely polished spheroids were minimally smoothed after being shaped. Some rougher examples

8 Three spheroids were not available for measurement and are not included in the metric calculations. 9 Combined spheroids: large class (n=27, x =47.76, σ=6.98), small class (n=17, x =21.38, σ=6.68); t(35.3) = -12.5, p= 0.000. Pecked: large class (n=25, x =46.40, σ=5.09), small class (n=9, x =22.92, σ=7.20); t(11.0) = -9.00, p= 0.000. Polished: large class (n=2, x =64.75, σ=4.59), small class (n=8, x =19.64, σ=6.00); t(1.98) = -11.62, p = 0.008.

116

Objects of Stone

Figure 7.7: Polished (left) and pecked (right) spheroids. Left column, top to bottom: SF-764; SF-519; SF-770; SF-222. Right column, top to bottom: SF-764; SF-379; SF-616; SF765.

Figure 7.8: Stone hemispheres. From top to bottom: SF-135; SF-189; SF-323.

Table 7.11: Metric data for polished stone spheroids, excluding three (two small, one large) not available for analysis Size Class

Frequency

Mean Diam SD (mm) Diam

Mean Mass (g)

SD Mass

Small

8

19.64

6.00

10.99

8.48

Large

2

64.75

4.59

265.85

27.65

in Op. 3d. The only early large polished spheroid (SF-764) was recovered from a refuse deposit off the western edge of the Phase II hard pebble-and-marl floor in Operation 7. Phase IV deposits contained more polished spheroids than any earlier phase and included all polished hemispheres in the collection. Most of these were associated with Platform B and came from the same general area as three earlier spheroids mentioned above. Three of these (SF-188, SF189, SF-195) were deposited in construction fill near the eastern edge of Platform B, and the fourth (SF-135) was included with platform fill above Burial 1 at the southeast corner of the same structure. SF-135 was the only spheroid made from red granite, and its position above a Middle Preclassic burial with exotic grave goods suggests it was socially valuable. SF-78 was the only other large polished spheroid of Phase IV date and was recovered from the cobble floor of Platform A.

retained remnants of pecking scars on their surfaces that were not obliterated by polishing or grinding, but none had battering marks typical of use in pounding. Three polished spheroids were broken cleanly in half and may represent a distinct type of artefact, but their relationship to whole spheroids is not clear. These hemispheres were likely cut in half, as no batter marks or other signs of percussion were observed along their edges or fractured surfaces. Two were finely polished, small, and made from dense whitish-grey quartzite (SF188 and 189), while the third (SF-135) was the only red granite spheroid in the collection (Figure 7.8). SF-135 was coarsely polished but almost perfectly hemispherical, and it was one of three large polished spheroids in the Plaza B assemblage. All other spheroids were complete.

Type: Spheroid (Figure 7.7 right column, Table 7.12) Production Technology: Pecked, Battered Frequency: 34 Architectural Phase: 0 (Cunil or earlier): 24 I (Transitional Cunil – early Kanluk): 2 II (Early Kanluk): 3 III (Early Kanluk): 1 IV (Early Kanluk – late Kanluk): 4 Context: Cache: 20 Fill: 4 Floor: 3 Midden: 1 Occupation Horizon: 4 Off-Platform Refuse: 2

Context Description: Polished spheroids appeared throughout the sequence except for Phase I contexts, which was probably due more to sampling bias than lack of use at that time. The earliest spheroid (SF-77) was a small, highly polished piece of white limestone recovered from the Phase 0 occupation horizon in the north end of Plaza B. Two small limestone spheroids (both SF-619) were associated with Patio Floor 4, a Phase II outdoor surface of soft white marl in the north-central area of Plaza B, and a finely polished grey quartzite spheroid (SF-770) was deposited with refuse beneath the Phase II marl floor

Artefact Description: Pecked stone spheroids had lessregular outlines than polished examples and were covered 117

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization stone (SF-323) was recovered from a Phase IV midden in Op. 1i.

Table 7.12: Metric data for pecked stone spheroids Size Class

Frequency

Mean Diam (mm)

SD Diam

Mean Mass (g)

SD Mass

Small

9

19.64

7.20

14.82

10.41

Large

25

46.40

5.09

99.51

72.73

Spheroid Comparison and Summary Spheroids that fit into my large and small size classes have been reported at several sites throughout the Maya Lowlands and interpreted in many ways. The most frequently encountered descriptions refer to large, battered chert and limestone spheroids as hammerstones (e.g., Coe 1959:Fig. 40; Lee 1969:Fig. 88; Willey 1978:Fig. 80d, f; Willey et al. 1965:Fig. 289l, m), and many of these were closer parallels to the hammerstones discussed in the preceding section than the large stone spheroids from Plaza B. Middle and Late Preclassic large, pecked spheroids, also interpreted as hammerstones but more closely resembling the examples from Cahal Pech, were reported from Barton Ramie (Willey et al. 1965:Fig. 289f), Ceibal (Willey 1978:Fig. 80b, c), and Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:Plate 62b). Middle Preclassic limestone spheroids from Dzibilchaltun were interpreted as hammerstones, stucco polishers, grinding stones, architectural elements, and sling missiles (Rovner and Lewenstein 1997:101). Late Preclassic large spheroids from K’axob were also thought to be sling stones (McAnany and Ebersole 2004), similarly dated examples from Cerros were thought to be pot-stands used in termination rituals (Garber 1989:34), and no functional designation was given for the few Late Preclassic spheroids that lacked battering damage at Chiapa de Corzo (Lee 1969:147).

with scars from the production process. Some pecked spheroids were well rounded and partially smoothed, appearing similar enough to coarsely polished pieces that distinguishing between these ‘types’ was somewhat arbitrary; other pecked examples were barely round and had jagged surfaces covered with pecking scars. Absent from all pecked spheroids were areas of concentrated, heavy battering damage like those seen on hammerstones. Pecked stone spheroids were made from limestone and two varieties of quartzite that may have been available near Cahal Pech. Most pecked spheroids fit into the large size class, although this number was biased by the 20 large examples that were cached together. One pecked spheroid was fractured into a roughly hemispherical shape (Figure 7.8, bottom), but it was not broken cleanly and did not appear to be ‘cut’ like the polished hemispheres. Context Description: All Phase 0 pecked spheroids were associated with the north end of Plaza B, and the majority of these (n = 20, 83.3%) were cached (Cache 5) in a bedrock depression covered by the black occupation horizon at the southern end of Op. 1c. The cached spheroids were all of the large variety and roughly shaped, were made of limestone, and were associated with a single highly eroded sherd and several fragments of freshwater mussel shell. Cache 5 was located at the juncture of the earlier white marl patio floors and the stone-lined edge of Platform B, but its burial beneath the earlier occupation horizon indicates that it was not related to either of these constructions, and no architectural association was determined. The remainder of Phase 0 pecked spheroids (n = 4, 16.7%) were small and came from the occupation horizon; three of these (SF-137, SF-160, SF-185) were made from limestone and recovered beneath Platform B, while the fourth (SF-616) was made from grey quartzite and was deposited beneath Patio Floor 5 in Op. 1y.

Smaller spheroids and hemispheres are usually described as polished and closer to true spheres than larger, pecked examples. Six small polished spheroids of dolomitic limestone and chert were recovered from Middle Preclassic contexts at Cahal Pech and Cas Pek, where they were interpreted as rattle-balls or game pieces (Awe 1992:308-309; Cheetham 1996; Cheetham et al. 1993). Small polished ‘almost perfect spheres’ and larger polished hemispheres of flint were reported from Mamom deposits at Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:191, Plate 62b, d), and two unperforated limestone hemispheres came from two late Middle Preclassic burials at Barton Ramie (Willey et al. 1965:487). These artefacts were called ‘problematical’ in both reports, but Kidder (1947:39) suggested the hemispheres from Uaxactun may have been used as bow-drill headpieces. Small pecked and polished spheroids were also recovered from Late Preclassic deposits at Chiapa de Corzo (Lee 1969:147).

A large, relatively smooth pecked limestone spheroid (SF-585) was deposited with refuse beneath the lowest Phase I marl floor in Op. 1v south of the bedrock stair, and a small grey quartzite piece (SF-586) came from the Phase I cobble surface of Platform G. Two Phase II pecked spheroids were associated with early floors; one (SF-620) came from a marl patio surface in Op. 1y, and the second (SF-764) came from a refuse deposit west of the hard pebble-and-marl floor in Op. 7e. The large pecked spheroid SF-764 shared its catalogue number with a similarly sized polished spheroid from the same deposit. Phase IV spheroids (n = 4) came from platform fill in Op. 4a (SF-379) and the floor of Platform B in Op. 1x (SF625), and from a refuse deposit off the western edge of Platform 1 in Op. 1v (SF-520). The hemispherical pecked

The functions of pecked and polished spheroids remain ambiguous despite substantial numbers recovered from Middle Preclassic deposits at Cahal Pech. Variation in production technique and size probably related to function, but the nature of this relationship was not clear. Some of the more irregular pecked spheroids were probably used as hammers for working softer materials, which could account for isolated scars on their surfaces instead of the concentrated battering marks typical of hammerstones. Interpretations of these artefacts as sling missiles cannot 118

Objects of Stone be ruled out. The number of spheroids present in the early bedrock cache may also have related to the 20 different days of the ritual Tzolkin calendar, and possible functions as calendar counting-stones or game pieces have been proposed (Garber et al. 2005:20). Pecked spheroids were almost entirely absent from the large marine shell debris middens near the centre of Plaza B and were much more likely to be recovered in use-related or intentional deposits (n = 30, 88.2%) than platform fill (n = 4, 11.8%).

composed of an intact torso and two legs. Most of its surface was covered by lightly ground pecking scars but was not smoothed or polished. This object lacked much of the detail present on similar ceramic figurine fragments (see chapter nine), as no anatomical features were present on the torso and only its buttocks were defined in low relief. The head and both arms were broken at the point of attachment to the torso and were not recovered, and battering marks around the breakage points suggest it may have been intentionally broken before deposition.

Polished spheroids and hemispheres were not used as hammers and no utilitarian function was apparent. They were almost evenly split between use-related deposits (n = 7, 53.8%) and platform fill (n = 6, 46.2%), which reflects the deposition of all Phase IV polished spheroids in platform construction materials. This number included all recovered polished hemispheres (n = 3), which were incorporated into the eastern edge of Platform B. All but two polished spheroids were associated with structures in the northern architectural group and were likely important to activities carried out by groups in this area.

The function and significance of this artefact were not clear, as it was the only stone anthropomorphic figurine fragment recovered from a Middle Preclassic context. Ceramic figurines were probably used in household or corporategroup rituals and had their heads and limbs detached in what may have been ritual terminations. It was formally analogous to some ceramic figurine torso fragments, but it was much cruder in detail and workmanship than its plainest ceramic counterpart. It would be tempting to see SF-762 as an evolutionary predecessor of later, more finely made ceramic examples, but a ceramic figurine fragment was recovered from the same deposit, and earlier ceramic examples were reported from deposits beneath Str. B-4 (Awe 1992:270; Zweig 2010:Table 4.17). Context provided no clues as to why this particular figurine was made from limestone instead of clay, but its association with domestic refuse near an early floor suggests a household-oriented function.

Type: Figurine (Figure 7.9, Table 7.13) Material: Limestone Production Technology: Pecked Frequency: 1 Architectural Phase: II (Early Kanluk) Context: Off-Platform Refuse

Artefact Description and Comparison: SF-762 was an anthropomorphic pecked-limestone figurine fragment

I have been unable to find any similar examples of Middle Preclassic anthropomorphic stone figurines in published materials from Belize Valley sites, although Awe (1992:309) reported a small zoomorphic slate figurine from a late Middle Preclassic deposit inside Str. B-4. A crudely made late Middle Preclassic anthropomorphic limestone figurine with head, torso, and legs intact was described from Colha (Buttles 2002:278), but an illustration was not provided for comparison. An early-looking limestone figurine was reported in an undated deposit at Chiapa de Corzo (Lee 1969:Figure 65), but this example was starkly different from SF-762 in shape and execution. Context Description: SF-762 was recovered at the bottom of a deep sediment deposit beneath the Phase II marl floor in Op. 3d. Sherds and other artefacts, including the polished spheroid SF-770, were concentrated in a refuse deposit near the bedrock surface that probably related to the earlier plaster floors in nearby Op. 3c. Trash in this deposit was discarded before the area was elevated and the weathered marl floor was laid down over top.

Figure 7.9: Limestone figurine, SF-762.

Type: Smooth Stone (Table 7.14) Production Technology: Ground, Unmodified (water-worn) Frequency: 7

Table 7.13: Metric data for the limestone figurine. Length was measured from the base of the legs to the shoulders; width and thickness were maximum measurements perpendicular to length SF#

Lot

762

3d-11 82.7

Artefact Description and Comparison: Seven small, complete ovoid or sub-triangular smooth stones were recovered from Middle Preclassic contexts. Some were naturally smoothed and appeared to be transported river

Length (mm) Width (mm) Thickness Mass (g) (mm) 51.5

27.3

84.2

119

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 7.14: Provenience, material, and metric data for smooth stones. SF-880 measured from photograph SF#

Lot

Phase

Context

Material

L (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

Mass (g)

880

5a-7

II

Fill

Quartzite (red/orange)

31

16

-

-

58

1a-16

IV

Later Refuse

Slate

47.2

16.6

 8.4

 8.7

59

1a-16

IV

Later Refuse

Green Basalt (?)

44.3

13.9

11.9

11.1

228

1o-10

IV

Burial

Basalt

33.5

23.3

13.6

16.2

327

3a-12

IV

Cache 13

Quartzite (red/orange)

56.7

28.8

17.2

44.5

327

3a-12

IV

Cache 13

Green Basalt (?)

61.9

23.5

14.1

34.3

327

3a-12

IV

Cache 13

Basalt (?)

52.9

24.6

19.7

37.8

pebbles, while others were intentionally shaped by light grinding and use. Two examples from the north end of the Main Trench (SF-58, SF-59) may have been burnishing tools; they were irregularly shaped and had polish on their rounded sides that may have been use-related. Four smooth stones appeared to be volcanic rocks that could not have been brought near Cahal Pech by local rivers or streams, but a definite material identification was possible for only one. The smoothed stones tentatively identified as ‘green basalt’ were distinguishable from metamorphic green-stone artefacts by their dark greenish-grey, finegrained groundmasses and reddish-orange phenocrysts.

Some symbolic value was clearly attached to cached smooth stones and river pebbles, but this probably varied between communities and contexts. The use and significance of SF-228, for example, are unknown, but it was made from an exotic material and was important enough to be included with other socially valuable items in a burial. This demonstrates a connection between the interred individual, or the corporate group to which he belonged, and the distant volcanic highlands where basalt was procured. Two of the three cached stones in Op. 3a were also acquired from beyond the immediate surroundings of Cahal Pech before being deposited in a platform corner. These three stones may have been associated with a ceremonial resurrection program that included Burial 1 and two other architectural caches (Garber and Awe 2008), which suggests a linkage between at least some smooth stones and Middle Preclassic funerary ritual.

Smooth stones were not reported from previous investigations at Cahal Pech, but 15 ‘smooth river cobbles’ were excavated from an early Jenney Creek midden at Blackman Eddy that may be similar (Garber et al. 2004:37). Rounded pebble abraders and a ‘potpolisher’ from Uaxactun appear similar but may date no earlier than the Late Preclassic (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:190-191). A sample of sixteen ‘flint,’ ‘quartzitic,’ and ‘hard limestone’ river pebbles was selected from many such objects recovered from multiple later housemounds at Barton Ramie (Willey et al. 1965:490). Willey and colleagues (ibid) also reported finding nine unworked pebbles, one of which was igneous, cached in a Late Classic burial vessel at Barton Ramie. This deposit was far removed in time from the cached smooth stones at Cahal Pech, but it does indicate some continuity in the use of elongated smooth pebbles in certain Belize Valley mortuary rituals.

Grinding Equipment Grinding implements included manos (n = 6), metates (n = 4), and unidentified ground stone fragments (n = 3), most of which were made from hard igneous rocks. The strength of these rocks and their resistance to wear may partly account for the low frequencies of grinding tools in the assemblage; durable artefacts would take longer to break and would have to be replaced less frequently.10 High quality igneous tool stone must have been reasonably accessible through trade and exchange, because the inhabitants of Cahal Pech chose not to exploit the abundant limestone in the surrounding hills for grinding equipment.

Context Description: Over half of the recovered smooth stones were deposited in two special contexts, both of which were placed in platform corners. SF-228 was a sub-triangular basalt stone that was interred with Burial 1 in the southeast corner of Platform B. Three larger smooth stones were deposited inside the rectangular platform corner in Op. 3a and have been interpreted as part of a layered cache (Cache 13). One of these was the same reddish-orange quartzite identified in spheroids and hammerstones, while the other two were probably exotic igneous stones. The two possible burnishing stones were deposited with refuse that covered Platform A late in Phase IV, and SF-880 was recovered from beneath a Phase II marl floor. All smooth stones were associated with northern group platforms.

Type: Mano (Figure 7.10, Table 7.15) Production Technology: Ground Frequency: 6 Architectural Phase: 0 (Cunil or earlier): 1* II/III (Early Kanluk): 1X IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 4

Brian Hayden (1987:15) reported use-life estimates of between 15 and 30 years from a traditional metate manufacturer in San Mateo, Guatemala, where the length of use-life depended on physical characteristics of the stone used to make the implement. Use-life estimates from metate users in San Mateo and Aguacatenango ranged from 15 to 100 years, again depending on stone type, with 11 metates reported to be 50 years old or older (Horsfall 1987:Table 7.3). These numbers refer to vesicular basalt and andesite tools, and I am unaware of any comparable estimates for similar granite equipment. 10

120

Objects of Stone Context: Later Refuse: 1 Midden: 1 Occupation Horizon: 1* Off-Platform Refuse: 2 Subfloor: 1X

by a small fragment of granite with a reddish exterior and a grey core, which may have been due to heat treatment or later burning. This fragment had a sub-triangular cross section with four ground surfaces and came from a section near the tapered end of the tool.

Artefact Description: Manos were classified by cross section following previous work in the Belize Valley and elsewhere. The two small, relatively complete manos were both made from basalt, had oval outlines and cross sections, and slightly convex grinding surfaces. SF-72 had three large flake scars along its rounded encircling edge and may also have been recycled into a hammerstone. Rectangular manos had flattened grinding surfaces, rounded or sub-rounded ends, and were more elongate and narrower than oval manos. One rectangular mano was made from distinctive pink-and-grey granite that may originate in the Mountain Pine Ridge batholith, and the other was calcareous sandstone that likely came from deeper in the Maya Mountains. The plano-convex mano fragment (SF527) was the largest and was also made from pink-andgrey granite. It had opposing flat and convex grinding surfaces and rounded edges, but both ends were broken off prior to deposition. Triangular manos were represented

Context Description: The earliest mano fragment (SF577) was recovered from the occupation horizon near the southern end of the Main Trench and was the only triangular mano in the collection. SF-72 was an early Kanluk mano from an ambiguous context that may relate to earlier floors beneath Patio Floor 1. Phase IV manos were discarded in refuse deposits near both the northern and southern architectural groups, and one piece (SF-526) was recovered from a midden near the centre of Plaza B. Most mano fragments dated to Phase IV, but the two earlier examples suggest igneous grinding implements were important throughout the sequence.

Figure 7.10: Mano fragments, showing different materials used. A) SF-72, basalt; B) SF-149, calcareous sandstone; C) SF-526, pink/grey granite; D) SF-577, red granite.

Figure 7.11: Metate fragments, showing different materials. A) SF-255, basalt; B) SF-761, granitic gneiss; C) SF-574, vesicular lava.

Type: Metate (Figure 7.11, Table 7.16) Production Technology: Ground Frequency: 4 Architectural Phase: 0 (Cunil or earlier): 2 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 2 Context: Occupation Horizon: 2 Off-Platform Refuse: 1 Pit: 1

Table 7.15: Descriptive and metric data for manos. The first two table entries are the Phase 0 and II/III manos, respectively. ‘Granite (p/g)’ refers to pink-and-grey granite SF#

Lot

Material

Subtype

Section

L (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

M (g)

577

1v-18

Granite (red)

Triangular

Medial

-

-

40.5

  264.8

72

1c-56

Basalt

Oval

Complete

113.5

78.6

49.2

  600

149

1g-5

Sandstone

Rectangular

End

-

65.0

31.25

  216.7

290

3b-5

Basalt

Oval

Complete

148.5

97.6

51.6

1,000

526

1r-7

Granite (p/g)

Rectangular

End

-

90.2

49.9

  600

527

1v-6

Granite (p/g)

Planoconvex

Medial

-

81.2

52.2

1,000

121

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 7.16: Descriptive and metric data for metates. SF-73 was not available for analysis and is not included in this table SF#

Lot

Material

Subtype

L (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

M (g)

574

1v-18

Vesicular Lava

Unknown

-

-

47.6

625

255

3a-12

Vesicular Lava

Basin

256

115.3

27.9

1,150

761

3c-14

Granitic Gneiss

Slab

-

89.0

36.8

700

Artefact Description: Classification of metates was based on shape and employed the terms used by Awe (1992:294) and Garber (1989:19) at Cahal Pech and Cerros, respectively. One metate fragment (SF-574) from a Phase 0 deposit was too small to classify by form, although sections of its base, grinding trough, and upturned edge were preserved. This early metate was made from distinct greenish-grey vesicular lava – possibly basalt or andesite – and had a well-worn trough that angled upwards and away from a flat-ground base. The basin-shaped metate (SF-255) was made from bluish-grey vesicular lava and was heavily used. This was a large fragment whose original form can only be estimated, but it more closely fit the definition of a basin metate because of the curvature of its trough and base. SF-761 had a flat grinding surface characteristic of slab metates, with a slight lip along a section of its exterior. This metate was made from a granitic gneiss that was unique in the Plaza B assemblage, and which may have been transported from a Hummingbird batholith source near the Caribbean coast.

contexts beneath floors. Four red granite fragments from the same artefact, probably a mano, and a possible red granite metate fragment were recovered below the edge of Platform B but above the occupation horizon in the north end of the Main Trench. Two refitting fragments of vesicular lava were also recovered beneath the marl exterior floor of the Phase IV rounded structure in Op. 3a. Grinding Equipment Comparison and Summary Small numbers of Middle Preclassic grinding implements were reported from previous excavations at Cahal Pech, although substantially more came from Late Preclassic contexts. Awe (1992:287-298) reported 29 Middle and Late Preclassic manos and metates from the site epicentre and outlying groups, most of which came from platform fill in Str. B-4. All but two of these were made from granite described as a grey and pinkish material that may be the same as pinkish-grey granites detailed above. Two fragments of legged limestone metates were reported at the Tolok group that had no parallels in the Plaza B assemblage (Powis 1996). Cheetham (1995, 1996) reported four manos and one metate of quartzite, along with single granite specimens of each tool type, in three test units across Plaza B and a larger block in front of Str. B-4. He described two quartzite specimens from a unit near Str. B-4 as pink and grey that may have been granite. Late Preclassic pink-and-grey mano and metate fragments were also recovered at Tolok (Powis 1996:Table 4).

Context Description: Metate fragments were recovered from use-related and refuse contexts and were associated with structures during Phase IV. SF-574 was recovered from the same Phase 0 occupation horizon deposit as SF577 and may have been used in combination with this mano. A slightly later Phase I marl surface was uncovered to the south of this deposit and may have related to its formation, but no direct association can be made between the grinding implements and this structure. A second Phase 0 metate (SF-73) was recovered from the occupation horizon at the north end of the Main Trench, but I could not locate this artefact during analysis. SF-255 was included with domestic refuse on a marl perimeter floor south of the unnamed Phase IV rounded platform in Op. 3a and was probably associated with that structure. The granitic gneiss metate fragment (SF-761) was the only piece of grinding equipment deposited in the Op. 3c refuse pit.

Granite became the preferred raw material for grinding implements in the Belize Valley during Middle Preclassic times, and several communities relied heavily on granite throughout their occupation histories. ‘Gray or pinkish’ granites dominated other materials in the Barton Ramie ground stone assemblage (Willey et al. 1965:453), and several granite tools were recovered from Middle Preclassic levels. Granite and quartzite manos were reported from Blackman Eddy (Garber et al. 2004), and all Middle Preclassic grinding tools were made from granite at Pacbitun (Hohmann and Powis 1996). Similar implements were not identified in Mamom deposits at Uaxactun (Kidder 1947:35), but several later granite manos from that site have been petrographically sourced to the Mountain Pine Ridge batholith (Shipley III and Graham 1987). This reliance on granite set Belize Valley communities apart from those in northern Belize, which mostly made tools from locally or regionally available limestone, quartzite, and related sedimentary rocks

Type: Ground stone fragment Production Technology: Ground Frequency: 3 Material: Red Granite: 2 Vesicular Lava: 1 Architectural Phase: II/III (Early Kanluk): 2 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 1 Context: Fill: 1 Subfloor: 2

Artefact and Context Description: A handful of broken ground stone tools were recovered from ambiguous

122

Objects of Stone (Garber 1989:Table 2; Hammond 1991a:187; McAnany and Ebersole 2004).11

of granite grinding implements took place during the Late Classic (Ward 2013). No evidence has been found to suggest specialized production of granite tools extended back to the Middle Preclassic, but Pacbitun was settled at the time and was situated much closer to granite outcrops than any other contemporaneous settlement in the valley. Other lines of evidence point to intensive interaction between Middle Preclassic Belize Valley sites, and the exchange of granite could have easily been part of those interactions.

The granite grinding tools from Plaza B appear to fit well with the local Belize Valley pattern of resource use, but other elements of the assemblage require further explanation. Basalt and vesicular lava implements must have been acquired through long-distance exchange. The vesicular lava metate fragment deposited in the earliest occupation level in Plaza B demonstrates a connection between communities in the distant volcanic highlands and the inhabitants of Cahal Pech from the earliest days of settlement. Basalt and other extrusive lava implements continued to be transported to Cahal Pech throughout the Middle Preclassic in numbers just slightly below those of granite tools, which indicates a continued demand for these items and maintenance of the exchange networks that brought them in. Other exotic materials appeared later in the sequence that may have come from farther east in the Maya Mountains, which suggests a broadening of exchange networks and an eastward shift that paralleled an increasing emphasis on marine shell bead production during Phase IV.

Slate Objects Artefacts made from fine-grained, greyish-black rock with strong parallel cleavage lines were classified as slate, although these probably included some pieces of shale, mudstone, and related argillaceous rocks. The slate assemblage from Plaza B included small numbers of finished artefacts (n = 9) and fragments that had clearly been worked (n = 11), and a much larger number of fragments (n = 66) that lacked ground edges or faces. Slate was not used to make commonplace tools, with the possible exception of the smooth burnishing stone described above, and it was reserved for ornamental and special-purpose items. This Middle Preclassic pattern presages later slate usage across the Maya Lowlands, when the material was most widely used to manufacture elite prestige items (Healy et al. 1995).

Networks of local exchange may have been important to the widespread distribution of granite tools in the Middle Preclassic Belize Valley. Grinding implements are heavy tools regularly made from locally available materials and are therefore assumed to be local products. These tools were transported over long distances when the earliest Belize Valley villages were established, however, so movement of goods or materials at much shorter distances should not seem far-fetched.

Type: Cut-stone slab (Table 7.17) Production Technology: Pecked Frequency: 1 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk) Context: Burial

Granite cobbles and boulders occasionally wash down the banks of the Macal River from sources in the Maya Mountains, and it is frequently assumed that these materials could be used whenever the need arose to make grinding tools (Awe 1992:287; Graham 1987; Yaeger 2000a:77). This may have happened in some circumstances, but finding undamaged alluvial cobbles of appropriate size, shape, and quality likely required considerable expenditures of time and energy, and this would not be as simple as going down to the riverbank and picking out a rock to work (see Hayden 1987:23 for a discussion of material selection in a Guatemalan river bed). Quarrying granite, or acquiring it from others who lived closer to outcrops, would provide more reliable access to this material, and it is not unreasonable to think that such exchange happened during the Middle Preclassic. A granite tool workshop discovered in the settlement zone around Pacbitun, which is located close to several granite outcrops of the Mountain Pine Ridge batholith, demonstrates that large-scale production

Artefact Description and Comparison: SF-245 was a rectangular cut-stone slab of greyish-black slate that resembled other limestone platform-facing blocks in size and shape. It was relatively thin for its size and was broken into three large, refitting segments and 45 small fragments during excavation. Patches of reddish, possibly ferruginous material were present in some areas that may represent the original surface of the slate boulder. Similar large slate slabs were used as elite grave roofing-stones at Pacbitun beginning in the Late Preclassic (Healy et al. 1995), but I do not know of any other Middle Preclassic graves that incorporated slate blocks. Classic-period tombs were also built with slate at Caracol (Chase 2004) and Xunantunich (Thompson 1940:27). SF-245 represents the only known use of slate as a construction material from Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech. Context Description: This slate slab was used in the construction of Crypt 2, which housed a headless body

11 Norman Hammond (1991d:196) reported two fragments of roseate sandstone grinding implements from Swasey contexts, and one granite (pink or grey) metate from a Late Preclassic Cocos deposit at Cuello. The raw materials for these tools, or the finished tools themselves, originated from the Maya Mountains and suggest limited exchange of heavy grinding stone between communities in the Belize Valley and northern Belize throughout most of the Preclassic.

Table 7.17: Metric data for slate capstone

123

SF#

Lot

Length (mm) Width (mm) Thickness (mm)

245

1o-10 539

189

56.8

Mass (g) 10,730

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization (Burial 1) and was incorporated into the southeastern corner of Platform B. It appears to have been a collapsed support stone from the southeastern edge of Crypt 2. The rest of the crypt was built with limestone slabs, as was all of Crypt 1 to the southeast.

and its function remains unclear. I was unable to find any published examples of slate disks that approached the size of SF-153. It was much larger than the other slate disks that may have been mirror backs or plaques, and it more closely resembled a large lid or container cover.

Type: Disk or Plaque (Figure 7.12A, Table 7.18) Subtype:Rough-edged Production Technology: Pecked Frequency: 1 Architectural Phase: I (Transitional Cunil – Early Kanluk) Context: Cache

Context Description: SF-153 was deposited in Cache 10 in the northwest corner of Op. 1e. The disk was lying flat on top of several pottery vessels and an irregularly shaped marine shell ornament, and the entire cache was placed over a circular bedrock hole. Cache 10 was located near a deposit of domestic debris off the edge of an early living floor and was encased by the construction fill of later platforms. The meaning of Cache 10 is obscure, but it appears to have been deposited before any Phase II platforms were built in the area and its placement directly above a posthole-like bedrock feature is curious. Slate artefacts were included in two other layered caches and this practice appears to have continued throughout most of the Middle Preclassic sequence.

Artefact Description and Comparison: SF-153 was a large, diamond-shaped disk of greyish-black slate, which was shaped by pecking and was lightly ground in some areas. Its edges were left rough and somewhat jagged, and its faces were mostly flat but were not smoothly ground. This object was too large and roughly made to be a wearable ornament, which the smaller slate disks may have been,

Type: Disk or Plaque (Figure 7.12 B – D, Table 7.19) Subtype:Smooth-edged Production Technology: Ground Frequency: 3 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk)

Artefact Description and Comparison: One large and two small disks of greyish-black slate had smoothly ground edges and lightly ground, smooth faces. SF-367 was about twice as large as the other two disks and originally had a flattened ovoid outline, although a large chunk was broken from one edge. SF-529 was similar in shape but was much smaller and had slightly convex faces. One of its long edges was broken, which made it look more rectangular than it was originally. SF-524 was circular and complete, with finely ground edges and smooth, flattened faces. The largest of these disks may have been a mirror back similar to Middle Preclassic examples previously excavated at Cahal Pech (Awe 1992:Figure 91a, d), as well as later examples from Barton Ramie (Willey et al. 1965:Fig. 295i, j, k), Pacbitun (Healy 1990:Figure 8), Piedras Negras (Coe 1959:Fig. 42f), Ceibal (Willey 1978:Figure 103), and Tikal (Moholy-Nagy 1994:Figure 5.2d). It was neither perforated nor circular, and no edge-bevelling or other modifications to hold reflective materials were observed, so it may be better classified as a plaque than a mirror. The smaller two disks may have been adornos, small mirror backs, or pendant preforms that were discarded before perforation. SF-529 was similar in size and shape to a Middle Preclassic slate pendant described below and two Late Preclassic pendants from previous

Figure 7.12: Slate disks, plaques, and pendant. A) SF-153; B) SF-524; C) SF-367; D) SF- 529; E) SF-128. Table 7.18: Metric data for rough-edged slate disk SF#

Lot

Length (mm) Width (mm) Thickness Mass (g) (mm)

153

1e-64

231

223

20.3

1,100

Table 7.19: Contextual and metric data for smooth-edged slate disks SF#

Lot

Context

Length (mm)

Width (mm)

Thickness (mm)

Mass (g)

367

1h-12

Midden

101.7

63.3

13.8

109.6

524

5a-3

Later Refuse

 39.0

29.6

 6.2

 11.8

529

1s-5

Midden

 53.4

26.3

 6.2

 15.3

124

Objects of Stone excavations at Cahal Pech (Awe 1992:Figure 90d, h). An additional slate pendant and small disk were reported from Middle Preclassic deposits beneath Plaza B (Cheetham 1995), but these examples were not illustrated.

Context Description: These three artefacts were elements of a cache placed atop the Phase II pebble-and-marl floor in Operation 7, which was located immediately to the north of a raised tan marl platform. This cache was surrounded by Platform H construction fill but was not intrusive into these materials, and it must have been placed on the older floor before the later platform was built. The two rectangular plaques were vertically stacked with a blade-like obsidian flake placed between them, and the broken slate artefact lay about 20 centimetres northwest of this arrangement.

Context Description: All smooth-edged slate disks were deposited with Phase IV refuse, although the complete circular disk (SF-524) was recovered from a deep (40 cm) and problematic deposit of refuse and limestone rubble that may have been a mix of trash and later construction materials. The large ovoid disk was recovered in an artefact-rich midden near the southeast corner of Platform B, and the small ovoid came from a midden near the centre of Plaza B.

Type: Pendant (Figure 7.12E, Table 7.20) Production Technology: Ground, Drilled Frequency: 1 Architectural Phase: 0 (Cunil or earlier) Context: Occupation Horizon

Type: Disk or Plaque Subtype:Mirror-back (?) Production Technology: Ground Frequency: 3 Architectural Phase: II (Early Kanluk) Context: Cache SF#: 760, 853

Artefact Description and Comparison: SF-128 was a small ovoid pendant of brownish-black slate with lightly ground, rounded edges and smooth, slightly convex faces. It was probably made from a water-worn river pebble, with minimal shaping accomplished through light edge-grinding and partial smoothing of each face. Two biconically drilled perforations were roughly cantered along one edge for vertical suspension, and a small indentation in line with these appeared to be an earlier attempt at drilling that was not completed. This pendant was similar in size and shape to the small ovoid disk SF529, but it was not as extensively ground and smoothed, and its colour was somewhat different from the majority of slate artefacts. Its size and shape were similar to the comparative examples given for the small disk/plaques in the section above.

Artefact Description and Comparison: This category included three grey-black slate artefacts placed together in a cache (see Figure 6.24) that were larger than the Phase IV disks but smaller than the large Phase I disk. One of these was destroyed and consisted of 422 slate fragments concentrated in a square about 20 cm on a side. I did not attempt to refit these fragments, but their combined mass was approximately 800 g, which may indicate a size just slightly smaller than the large rough-edged slate disk (SF153) described above. The two other slate objects had rectangular outlines measuring about 15-x-10-cm, but they were friable and disintegrated into fragments after removal from the ground. One of these pieces was lightly ground on its faces and edges and the overall similarity in form suggests the other was treated likewise. No traces of polished pyrite inlays or other reflective materials were identified near these slate objects, but several fragments were coated with a rust-coloured, probably ferruginous substance. This material may have been the product of decaying iron-rich minerals like pyrite that were attached to the slate plaques (Healy et al. 1995), or it may have been a naturally occurring mineral component of the slate itself. Direct comparison of these artefacts with published examples was difficult due to their fragmented condition. The comparative examples listed in the preceding section for the large ovoid disk/plaque also seem appropriate here based on field descriptions and excavation photographs. Rectangular slate ‘sections’ or ‘slabs’ were reported in Preclassic contexts at Barton Ramie that may be comparable to these artefacts (Willey et al. 1965:489).

Context Description: SF-128 was recovered from the Phase 0 occupation horizon stratum in Op. 1c beneath a thin marl layer that may correspond to Patio Floor 5. The only other artefact from the same lot was a pecked limestone spheroid, although two other pecked spheroids of limestone and quartzite were recovered from the same stratum in nearby units. Type: Fragment (Figure 7.13 A – C) Subtype:Shaped Production Technology: Ground, Drilled, Gouged (?) Frequency: 11 Architectural Phase: 0 (Cunil or earlier): 2 I (Transitional Cunil – Early Kanluk): 1 II (Early Kanluk): 1 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 7 Context: Fill: 4 Later Refuse: 2 Midden: 1 Occupation Horizon: 2 Op. 2a: 2

Table 7.20: Metric data for drilled slate pendant. Drill hole diameter is the average of both holes, which varied by .9 mm SF#

Lot

Length (mm)

Width (mm)

Thickness (mm)

Mass (g)

Drill Diam (mm)

128

1c-58

39.4

22.8

4.6

6.4

0.94

125

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 7.21: Frequencies and percentages of slate fragments by context. ‘Early’ includes Phases 0 – III, ‘Late’ includes only Phase IV Context Cache

Early

Late

n

%

n

%

 0

  -

 3

  6.8

Floor

 7

 31.8

 0

  -

Later Refuse

 0

  -

 5

 11.4

Midden

 0

  -

 1

  2.3

Occupation Horizon

 1

  4.5

 0

  -

Off-Platform Refuse

 0

  -

 8

 18.2

Pit

 0

  -

 2

  4.5

Fill

14

 63.6

19

 43.2

2a

 0

  -

 6

  13.6

Total

22

100.0

44

100.0

Architectural Phase: 0 (Cunil or earlier): 1 I (Transitional Cunil – Early Kanluk): 5 II (Early Kanluk): 8 III (Early Kanluk): 8 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 44

Figure 7.13: Worked slate fragments and unworked red slate/shale. A) SF-198; B) SF-205; C) SF-266; D) SF-870.

Artefact Description: Eleven grey-black slate pieces had ground edges, cut or gouged indentations, and/or drilled perforations, but each was too fragmented for their original sizes and shapes to be determined. These fragments varied in mass from 1 to 65 grams, included pieces with both curving and straight ground edges, and likely represented several distinct artefact types. Two had v-shaped sections cut or gouged from along their edges, and one of these (SF-198) was broken across a large (2 cm diameter) circular drill hole. One small piece (SF-205) had an outline that looked like a tiny side-notched projectile point, but it was more likely a segment from a slate disk with two sets of closely spaced drill holes such as that shown by Healy (1990:Figure 8) from Pacbitun. Most artefacts in this category, however, were simply fragments with a single ground edge, and their original shapes were indeterminable.

Artefact Description and Comparison: Unworked slate fragments were amorphous pieces of various shapes and sizes that retained no traces of edge-grinding, drilling, or other extensive modification. Some may have been pieces of larger, shattered objects, while others were probably by-products from slate artefact manufacture. A few large, thick pieces (SF-197, SF-531) looked like blanks or chunks of unused raw material. All fragments were of the same grey-black slate used to make the artefacts described above except for SF-870, which was reddishbrown and had a smoother, shale-like texture and glossy lustre (Figure 7.13D). I have observed similar ‘red slate’ rocks on the hillsides south of Pacbitun but the extent of their distribution is not known. Slate fragments lacking traces of modification have been classified as production debitage or raw materials at several sites. Previous excavations in Plaza B returned four such pieces from Middle Preclassic contexts (Cheetham 1995, 1996), and many more examples were recovered from late Middle Preclassic (n = 4) and Late Preclassic (n = 48) sub-plaza deposits in the Tolok group (Powis 1996:Table 4). Slate debitage has been reported from Middle and Late Preclassic contexts at Pacbitun (Healy et al. 1995), and from Chuen (initial Late Preclassic) deposits at Tikal (Moholy-Nagy 1994:91). These fragments are more often interpreted as manufacturing debris than broken artefacts, and they have been cited as indirect evidence for on-site production of slate artefacts.

Context Description: All worked fragments came from refuse or construction fill deposits except for the earliest examples (SF-90 and SF-205) from the occupation horizon. The Phase I (SF-530) and Phase II (SF-522) fragments were deposited beneath marl floors in the south end of the Main Trench and Op. 5a, respectively, in what was probably midden recycled into construction material. The gouged and drilled fragment SF-198 came from the same platform fill deposit as the polished granite hemisphere described above, and its position above Burial 1 may have been significant. Worked slate fragments were also recovered from later refuse above the eastern edge of Platform B and the corner in Op. 3a and in the midden near the southeast corner of Platform B.

Context Description: Nearly two thirds of slate fragments from Phases 0 – III came from construction fill, including all eight examples from Phase II, which were recovered beneath the same marl floor in Op. 5a. Three pieces, including a possible raw material chunk (SF-531), were

Type: Fragment (Table 7.21) Subtype:Unworked, Debitage (?) Production Technology: Pecked Frequency: 66

126

Objects of Stone deposited on the final Phase I marl floor at the south end of the Main Trench and may indicate early slate working in that area. Four fragments were also recovered from Patio Floor 1 in the northern architectural group and date to Phase III.

Proximity to slate sources partly explains its precocious and persistent use by people in the Belize Valley, which began with the Middle Preclassic examples described above and continued throughout the Classic (Braswell 2010). The sedimentary precursors of slate are found throughout the Santa Rosa Group that forms much of the Maya Mountains in Belize and extends westward into central Guatemala, and true slate occurs in metamorphic zones where this formation was contacted by intrusive granitic batholiths. Several such zones exist throughout the southern Maya Lowlands (Healy et al. 1995), but the slate outcrops and alluvial deposits along the Macal River and its tributaries (e.g., Slate Creek) were the most likely candidates for exploitation by the Belize Valley Maya (Healy 1990; Healy et al. 1995). Some slate may have been retrieved directly from riverbeds, as suggested by the water worn pendant SF-128, but restrictions on size, shape, and quality like those described for granite may also have affected how slate was acquired. Quality and ‘package size’ would be more important concerns in the production of larger objects like the slate crypt-lining slab from Burial 1 (Hohmann and Powis 1996), and these requirements could have driven exchange in raw materials or finished products with communities closer to outcrops and quarries. A Late-Terminal Classic slate workshop and storage area stocked with cut slate slabs from Pacbitun demonstrates specialized production of slate artefacts in the region at a later date, and Middle Preclassic slate debitage suggests slate working at Pacbitun had a long history (Healy et al. 1995). Some exchange of slate objects between Belize Valley communities therefore seems reasonable for early periods. Slate exchange to nearby northern Belize does not appear to have occurred until after the Preclassic, however, as no examples were reported from Cerros, Cuello, or K’axob, and the few implements from Colha came from Postclassic deposits (Buttles 2002:261, 282).

Twice as many fragments were associated with Phase IV contexts than in all preceding phases combined, although nearly half of these came from construction fill. Almost all slate fragments included in fill deposits (n = 18) came from within Platform B, with only two examples from the larger excavation sample in Platform 1. Three slate fragments from the probable northeast corner of Platform B formed part of a layered cache (Cache 2), which suggests that even broken pieces of slate had some inherent value. Almost all Phase IV slate fragments from non-fill contexts were deposited on or near the edges of Platform B (n = 7), off the edge of the rounded platform in Op. 3a (n = 4), and in the refuse pit in Op. 3c (n = 2). Only two fragments were recovered off the northern edge of Platform 1, which suggests a lower level of slate consumption for the southern architectural group. Slate Summary Slate artefacts were frequently associated with Classicperiod elites in the Southern Lowlands (Healy et al. 1995), and they appear to have been socially valuable during the Middle Preclassic at Cahal Pech but not restricted in their distribution. Slate artefacts were consumed, and possibly produced, during every phase of the Middle Preclassic architectural sequence in Plaza B.12 The increase in unworked fragments in Phase IV deposits probably reflects the aggregated products from steady, long-term slate working rather than a dramatic spike in production and consumption, as nearly half of this material was incorporated as construction fill.

Green-coloured stone and Jadeite

The value of slate objects is indicated by their inclusion in caches from nearly every architectural phase and their association with other exotic materials in every cache. Slate plaques from Plaza B may have been composite mirror-backing elements, which later became valuable elite versions of shamanic scrying instruments and symbols of rulership (Blainey 2007:203; Garber 1989:92; Healy and Blainey 2011). The large slate slab incorporated into Burial 1 also appears to presage later elite-associated practices, as seen in the graves of rulers and elites at Pacbitun during the Late Preclassic and Classic periods (Healy et al. 1995). I do not suggest that the individual interred in Burial 1 was a ruler, but the incorporation of a large slate slab into Crypt 2 suggests he was someone important within the community.

Beads (n = 7), mosaic pieces or adornos (n = 3), problematic ‘triangulates’ (n = 22), and amorphous chunks (n = 4) of different green-coloured stone were recovered from Middle Preclassic contexts beneath Plaza B. Similar artefacts were made with several types of stone that probably derived from different geographic locations, including a handful of probable jadeite examples, which demonstrates a certain flexibility in raw material usage as long as the selected stones were green. A recent study of green-stone artefacts from Pacbitun has identified probable source areas as far afield as the Acatlán Complex in central Mexico (Powis et al. 2016), and macroscopic variability in the Cahal Pech materials suggests the potential for such wide-ranging contacts. All green-stone objects were polished to different degrees save the chunks, and all appear to have been ornamental, ceremonial, and/or personal wealth items. Green-stone artefacts were socially valuable and conceptually linked to maize, centrality, and rulership in Classic Maya religion; these same associations were proposed for the Early and Middle Preclassic Gulf Coast Olmec (Taube 2005), but the symbolic meaning and

12 The assumption that my ‘unworked fragments’ and the ‘debitage’ reported from other sites were production debris from artefact manufacture seems reasonable but requires further study. We currently know very little about Middle Preclassic slate artefact production processes and manufacturing sequences, and many angular pieces are as likely to be artefact fragments as actual debitage.

127

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization material that was a lighter green and mottled with white and brown inclusions. A darker green, glassy and reflective material was used to make the discoid bead, which appears similar to materials identified as fuchsite at K’axob (Bartlett 2004b). The tubular bead was made from a light green and white material that differed from the other light green varieties by the presence of visible phenocrysts on its polished surfaces resembling features seen in Maya Mountains granites.

uses of ‘jade’ in the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands remain poorly understood. Type: Bead (Figure 7.14, Table 7.22) Subtype:Barrel, Discoid, Subspherical, Tubular Production Technology: Polished Frequency: 7 Material: Jadeite: 3 (?) Green-coloured stone: 4 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk)

Small numbers of subspherical and discoid green-stone beads were previously recovered from Middle Preclassic contexts at Cahal Pech (Awe 1992:304-307; Cheetham 1996), and similar examples as well as tubular beads were reported from Cas Pek (Lee and Awe 1995), Tolok (Powis and Hohmann 1995), and Zubin (Iannone 1996). Light green tubular beads have been reported from cotemporaneous deposits at Pacbitun (Hohmann and Powis 1996), and Middle Preclassic green-stone beads were consumed in relatively low numbers at several sites across Petén, Guatemala (Willey 1972). Small numbers of similarly shaped green-stone beads were also deposited in Middle Preclassic burials and caches at Colha (Buttles 2002:245-257), Cuello (Hammond 1991b), and K’axob (Bartlett 2004b) in northern Belize.

Artefact Description and Comparison: The most common beads were small, subspherical, biconically drilled forms that were differentially polished along their edges and faces. The two smallest examples were the most unevenly polished, although one was definitely damaged during or after deposition. Smoothly polished and glossy surfaces characterized the larger two subspherical beads. The single discoid bead also had smoothed edges and was biconically drilled but was much thinner in relation to its diameter and had flatter faces than the subspherical beads. The tubular bead and barrel bead were each longer than they were wide and were drilled from both ends. Each was finely smoothed and polished on all surfaces, and the two were similar in form except near their drilled edges, which were straight in the tubular bead and incurving in the barrel form. All beads appear to have been intact at the time of deposition.

Context Description: The six cached green-stone beads (all SF-192) were deposited with a human skull in a shallow bowl (Cache 7), which was placed in a small crypt (Crypt 1) and incorporated into the southeastern corner of Platform B. This crypt was adjacent to the larger Crypt 2 that housed the headless body to which the skull in Cache 7 presumably belonged. The position of the beads and their relationship to the skull were not described, and it is unclear if they were originally strung together or placed in the bowl as loose items. They were the only objects included in Cache 7 aside from the vessel that held the skull, which was identified as a Sampopero Red:Variety Unspecified bowl with a waxy red slip and a buff-coloured, volcanic glass-tempered fabric (Garber et al. 2006:9; Sullivan 2006). The unusual combination of a later slip style and a presumably early fabric type made dating this vessel problematic, but the two crypts were dedicatory elements of Platform B, which was built around the transition from Early to Late Kanluk times (700 – 550 B.C.).

The two smallest subspherical beads and the barrel bead were made from an apple-green material presumed to be jadeite, although no green-stone materials were microscopically or chemically analysed for source determinations in this study. The two larger, highly polished subspherical beads were made from a different

SF-528 was deposited with refuse off the southwestern face of Platform 1. This was somewhat unusual, given

Figure 7.14: Jadeite and green-stone beads. A) SF-192; B) SF-528.

Table 7.22: Contextual and metric data for green-stone beads. Diameters of round and discoid beads given as widths SF#

Lot

Context

Subtype

L (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

Mass (g)

192

1g-8

Cache

Subspherical

-

10.1

5.8

0.8

192

1g-8

Cache

Subspherical

-

 8.8

6.6

0.7

192

1g-8

Cache

Discoid

-

 8.9

3.9

0.5

192

1g-8

Cache

Subspherical

-

 5.6

3.6

0.2

192

1g-8

Cache

Subspherical

-

 5.7

4.2

0.2

192

1g-8

Cache

Barrel

18.1

 8.9

7.1

2.1

528

1v-6

Off-Platform

Tubular

12.7

 7.7

-

1.7

128

Objects of Stone Table 7.23: Contextual and metric data for green-stone mosaic pieces/adornos. Thickness measurement for SF-618 was lost SF#

Lot

Context

Subtype

L (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

Mass (g)

74

1a-16

Later Refuse

Disk

-

23.9

9.7

8.2

166

1e-60

Cache

Irregular

17.8

13.3

5.2

2.1

618

1x-9

Floor

‘Tooth’

15.8

11.3

-

2.0

one example that may represent the pan-Mesoamerican ‘flame eyebrow’ motif best known from Early Preclassic pottery (Awe 1992:307). Polished green-stone artefacts resembling these pieces were reported from Middle Preclassic deposits at Blackman Eddy (Garber et al. 2004), Pacbitun (Hohmann and Powis 1996), and Ceibal (Willey 1978:99). Context Description: All three green-stone mosaic pieces or adornos were associated with Phase IV platforms in the northern architectural group. The disk-shaped piece (SF-74) was deposited with refuse above Platforms A and B in the north end of the Main Trench that may have accumulated during the use of Platform A during Late Kanluk times. The irregularly shaped inlay (SF-166) was included in Cache 9 along the edge of Platform B, which included the tranchet adze described above and several other exotic objects. Cache 9 was deposited early in Phase IV when the construction of Platform B was completed sometime around the Early to Late Kanluk transition. Most partially reconstructible vessels consisted of types present in both Early and Late Kanluk assemblages (Savana Orange, Reforma Incised, Sampopero Red, Jocote Orange-brown), and these were consonant with sherds from related construction fill.13 SF-618, the tooth-shaped piece, was embedded in the marl floor of Platform B near the area of Cache 9, but it was located farther in from the platform edge and slightly above the level of the cache. It was deposited in Late Kanluk times after the dedication of Platform B and may be associated with the occupation of Platform N.

Figure 7.15: Jadeite and green-stone mosaic inlays or adornos. A) SF-166; B) SF-74; C) SF-618.

that complete green-stone beads are typically reported from Middle Preclassic caches and burials in the Maya Lowlands. Platform 1 was built around the same time as Platform B and was used throughout the late Middle Preclassic occupation (Late Kanluk). Type: Mosaic, Adorno (Figure 7.15, Table 7.23) Production Technology: Polished Frequency: 3 Material: Jadeite: 2 (?) Green-coloured stone: 1 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk)

Artefact Description and Comparison: Green-stone mosaic fragments, or possibly adornos, came in various shapes and were made from different materials, but were rather small and shared attributes of manufacture that suggested similar functions. Each piece had a planoconvex cross section, with a smooth and highly polished convex obverse face and a flattened but rough reverse that may have allowed it to be attached to perishable surfaces (Awe 1992:307). These pieces differed from green-stone triangulates primarily in the level of polish their obverse faces received and in the quality of materials.

Type: Triangulate (Figure 7.16, Table 7.24) Production Technology: Ground Frequency: 22 Material: Green-coloured stone Architectural Phase: III (Early Kanluk): 1 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 21 Context: Cache: 13 Floor: 6 Later Refuse: 1 Off-Platform Refuse: 1 Op. 2a: 1

SF-166 and SF-618 were made from an apple greencoloured stone that may be jadeite, although SF-166 showed some banding with a whitish material. SF-74 was made from a light green material with white streaks and bands, small white flecks, and brownish streaks. It was similar in appearance to the larger two subspherical beads and may consist of the same material.

Artefact Description and Comparison: ‘Triangulate’ was a problematic catchall category of green-stone artefacts that sometimes did not have triangular outlines; the term has been used to describe similar Middle Preclassic artefacts from the Belize Valley since the

Few green-stone mosaic inlays have been reported from Middle Preclassic contexts, although these objects seem to have become more widespread later in time (e.g., Coe 1959:48; Garber 1989:46; Kidder 1947:49). Three mosaic pieces were discovered in a Cunil-phase cache beneath Str. B-4 at Cahal Pech, which included

I was not able to examine the vessels from Cache 9 and base this assessment on the types reported by Sullivan (Garber et al. 2006:10) and sherds I analysed from Platform B construction fill. 13

129

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization mid-1990s, however, so I have retained it here for the sake of comparison. Several pieces had elongated, scalene-triangular outlines that were true to the name of the artefact class, but others were quadrilateral, ovoid, or irregularly shaped. Regardless of their shape, all triangulates were made from green-coloured stone, had convex obverse faces and flattened reverses, and were smooth across one face. They may have been shaped by grinding and smoothing, and some appeared to be lightly polished, but none received the heavy polish characteristic of mosaic inlays. Usually the convex face was smooth, and the flattened face was rough, but the reverse was true in one example (SF-258). Variability in the size (Table 7.24) and shape of triangulates suggests their production was not standardized, but it may also indicate that more than one functional type of artefact was present in this class. Interestingly, the petrographic analysis of Pacbitun triangulates documented that the convex faces of several triangulates – thought to have been shaped by smoothing – retained identifiable corrosion crusts that resulted from chemical weathering (Powis et al. 2016). This finding indicates the smooth faces of triangulates were remnant surfaces of rounded cobbles used as raw materials.

comparable materials. Six cached triangulates and SF-259 were made from a dark green metamorphic rock with no visible phenocrysts, and other examples had pronounced blue-green streaks. A predominantly white triangulate with small green phenocrysts apparently represented yet another material. Green-stone triangulates, as an artefact type, appear to be limited to Middle and Late Preclassic contexts at sites in the Belize Valley. This may reflect the use of different terms for similar artefacts in other areas (cf. EstradaBelli’s [2003:Figure 5] ‘jade pebbles’), the variability in form that exists within the type, or both factors. Green-stone triangulates have been previously reported from Plaza B (Cheetham 1995, 1996) and Plaza C (Ferguson et al. 1996) contexts at Cahal Pech, as well as at Tolok (Powis 1996:Figure 36f, g) and Zubin (Iannone 1995, 1996:382) in the periphery. They have also been recovered from contemporaneous contexts at Blackman Eddy (Garber et al. 2004) and Pacbitun (Hohmann and Powis 1996:Figure 8d, f). Context Description: Most triangulates were deposited in caches or on platform floors; only three (13.6%) were recovered from refuse or problematic deposits, and they were not discarded in the middens near the centre of Plaza B. The earliest green-stone triangulate (SF-860, Phase III) was deposited atop a perimeter floor off the eastern face of Platform H and was the only triangulate deposited near a structure in the southern architectural group. Four triangulates (all SF-525) were placed on top of the Phase IV marl-and-flagstone platform surface in Op. 5a that may be the centre of Platform B. One piece (SF-258) came from refuse associated with the Phase IV rounded platform in Op. 3a, and another (SF-259) came from the same unit but was recovered from the floor of the later rectangular platform corner. An additional triangulate (SF-262) came from a problematic deposit possibly associated with the destroyed southwestern corner of Platform B in Op. 4a.

Triangulate materials varied as widely as their shapes. None of the recovered examples had the same apple green colour as the mosaic pieces and beads thought to be jadeite, although four of the cached triangulates and a few from other contexts (e.g., SF-258, SF-860) appeared to be made from the same light green and whitish material as the mosaic disk (SF-74) and larger subspherical beads. One of the rough sections of SF-258 also revealed large phenocrysts like those from the surface of tubular bead SF-528, which suggests the two were made from

Over half (n = 13, 59.1%) of all green-stone triangulates were deposited in Cache 2 and formed the basal level of a layered cache that included three slate fragments and a ceramic figurine. The triangulates in this cache comprised a range of raw materials that likely came from different source areas and suggest wide-ranging trade connections for the people who deposited them. The deposition of such a large number of exotic items in a single cache provides more evidence that the builders of Platform B were prominent members of the Cahal Pech community. Figure 7.16: Green-stone triangulates from Cache 2. All are SF-75. Note differences in colour and texture of material. Table 7.24: Metric data for green-stone triangulates. The 13 cached triangulates were not available for analysis Frequency

Mean L (mm) SD L (mm)

Mean W (mm) SD W (mm)

Mean Th (mm)

SD Th (mm)

Mean M (g)

SD M (g)

9

35.7

19.9

12.4

4.27

14.8

12.2

8.57

9.23

130

Objects of Stone who could procure ceremonially important objects and materials.

Type: Chunk Frequency: 4 Material: Green-Coloured Stone Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk) Context: Fill: 1 Later Refuse: 2 Midden: 1

The large amount of material variability observed in the Plaza B green-stone assemblage indicates that several types of stone, from potentially different geographic sources, were obtained and used to make similar artefacts. Green-stone pieces may have been acquired from exchange partners in finished form or as raw materials; unworked chunks of green-coloured metamorphic stone raise the possibility that some triangulates were made at Cahal Pech, but similar pieces of fine jadeite debris were not recovered. Some amount of variability should be expected, given the five types of green-coloured stone described at K’axob (Bartlett 2004b), the numerous objects of ‘social jade’ reported from Cuello (Hammond 1991b), and several reports that mention non-jade ‘greenstone’ objects from Middle Preclassic contexts. Most recent work has focused on the chemical characterization of jadeite sources (e.g., Bishop and Lange 1993; Bishop et al. 1993), although Hammond and colleagues’ (1977) pioneering study of Motagua Valley jade sources also identified several nonjadeite green-coloured rocks that were found near jadeite sources. The potential to reveal latent information on interaction networks and the exchange of valuable nonjade materials during the Middle Preclassic has not yet been fully realized.

Artefact Description: Green-stone chunks were amorphous fragments of material that may have been pieces of broken artefacts, manufacturing debris, or raw materials. They varied widely in size, shape, and material, but were not ground or polished. One large piece (SF-89) was partially shaped, or had workable material removed through percussion flaking, and appeared to be made of a green quartzite or granite. Two smaller fragments (SF-92, SF403) were the same dark green metamorphic stone used to make several triangulates, although they showed no signs of being worked. A small, light green tabular fragment (SF329) had a glossy schistose texture and brown banding that was not seen on any other chunks or formal pieces. Context Description: All chunks were recovered from refuse or construction fill deposits associated with the northern architectural group. Two chunks (SF-89, SF-92) were deposited with refuse overlying the eastern edge of Platform B, and one (SF-403) may have come from inside the destroyed southwestern corner of the same platform. SF-329 was recovered from a midden off the southeastern edge of Platform B and was the only piece of greencoloured stone discarded in one of the large middens.

The petrographic analyses required to identify the mineral compositions of these artefacts could not be performed on the Cahal Pech assemblage. The wide range of material variability in the Cahal Pech materials resembles that documented in greater detail in the microscopic analysis of Pacbitun triangulates, however, which identified source areas in central Mexico, the Motagua Valley in Guatemala, and the Maya Mountains of Belize (Powis et al. 2016). The granitic texture of some green-stone triangulates from Cahal Pech suggests a Maya Mountains source, where hydrothermal and chemical alteration can metamorphose granitic biotite into chlorite and impart a greenish colour to the stone. Other dark green and bluish pieces may be serpentinite, and thus possibly derive from the same Motagua Valley source areas as the pieces that appear to be jadeite (Hammond et al. 1977). More conclusive material identifications await further study, but the variability present in the assemblage indicates that green-coloured stone was acquired from multiple sources and probably flowed into Cahal Pech through different exchange connections.

Green–Coloured Stone Summary Green-stone artefacts were rare, symbolically charged, and socially valued objects at Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech. Over half (n = 20, 55.5%) of all the green-stone artefacts from Plaza B were deposited in caches, including one cache that was directly associated with the burial of an important individual (Cache 7) and another likely related by incorporation into the same platform (Cache 2). These caches may have been part of a ritual circuit that invoked mythological symbols of creation and the Maize God’s resurrection (Garber et al. 2007; Garber and Awe 2008), which suggests substantial time depth for some later Maya conceptions of green-coloured stone (Taube 2005). Symbols and perceptions of symbols can easily change over more than a thousand years, however, and a large corpus of Middle Preclassic iconographic data comparable to other areas of Mesoamerica has yet to be defined in the Maya Lowlands. The symbolic ‘meaning’ of greencoloured stone in the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands should therefore be approached cautiously, and its later association with rulership should not bias our views of its social importance before rulers emerged. Rulers were often adept at manipulating existing symbols for their own use, and the original social importance of green-coloured stone in lowland Maya communities may have had less to do with being an ‘elite’ than a well-connected individual

Unworked Rocks and Minerals Crystals (n = 7), cave concretions (n = 3), and mineral fragments (n = 1) were recovered from Middle Preclassic contexts that must have been transported into Cahal Pech. These objects were unworked manuports that were brought into the site centre for different purposes and derived from different areas on the landscape. Their function and significance were unclear in most instances, although

131

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization study of both artefact types to a reference collection of cave pearls could help resolve this question, as well as a microscopic study of each class. It is possible that some of the small polished spheroids from other sites were also cave pearls (see above comparison), but I am aware of no direct reference to these materials in the literature. Context Description: An early cave pearl came from the Phase 0 occupation horizon beneath a section of Platform B near its southeastern corner. The two remaining cave pearls were recovered from Phase IV refuse deposits: one in a midden near the southeastern corner of Platform B, and one above and outside the northwestern platform corner in Op. 3b. Type: Crystal (Figure 7.17A, B) Material: Quartz Frequency: 7 Architectural Phase: III (Early Kanluk): 2 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 5 Context: Cache: 1 Floor: 1 Midden: 1 Fill: 4

Figure 7.17: Natural minerals and pigments. A) SF-855, quartz; B) SF-167, quartz?; C) SF-286, cave pearl; D) SF283, red ochre. Table 7.25: Descriptive information for one cave pearl. SF-196 and SF-326 could not be located during analysis SF#

Lot

Colour

Diameter (mm)

Mass (g)

286

3b-4

Pink

10.6

1.7

Artefact Description and Comparison: These artefacts were whole crystals (n = 2), small crystal clusters (n = 1), and fragments of quartz crystals (n = 4) that were not intentionally shaped. The two ‘whole’ specimens (SF-772 and SF-855) were in fact broken at their bases but retained the natural prismatic shape and pointed tip characteristic of quartz crystals. All quartz pieces were clear and translucent except SF-167, which was a small cluster of reddish-brown crystals that were probably coloured by iron impurities.

several appear tied to caves and the possible proceedings conducted within. Type: Cave Pearl (Figure 7.17C, Table 7.25) Material: Carbonate (?) Frequency: 3 Architectural Phase: 0 (Cunil or earlier): 1 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 2 Context: Later Refuse: 1 Midden: 1 Occupation Horizon: 1

Artefact Description and Comparison: SF-286 was a small, smooth spheroid of a greyish-pink material that was not pecked or polished. It resembled other small polished spheroids in size and shape but differed from them in colour and mass, which reflected its different material. Cave pearls are created in shallow cavern pools when dissolved carbonate precipitates around fragments of other materials in the water, and they can form nearly perfect spheres with lustrous surfaces (Hill and Forti 1997).

Quartz crystals have not been reported from Middle Preclassic contexts in the Belize Valley, and I am unaware of their occurrence elsewhere in the Maya Lowlands at this time. This may reflect a genuine rarity of quartz crystals at Preclassic settlements, but it may also be due to recovery bias. Quartz crystals were deposited in later contexts at Cahal Pech, which included a mixed surface deposit on Str. C-5 (Ferguson et al. 1996) and an undoubtedly modern example from Plaza B. Crystals have been reported from caches in caves and rockshelters in Guatemala and Belize, as grave furniture in Classic-period tombs, and in Postclassic ritual deposits across the Maya Lowlands (see review in Brady and Prufer 1999).

Close similarities in size, shape, and surface finish between the examined cave pearl and several of the smaller spheroids suggest the two artefact classes might be related or that some may have been misidentified. SF-286 did not appear as highly polished as most small spheroids, but smoothing and surface lustre can vary among cave pearls, and it is possible that some spheroids received their polished finishes naturally in subterranean pools. The reverse is also possible, where cave pearls were smoothed and polished after transport to Cahal Pech. A comparative

Context Description: The two Phase III crystals were associated with Platform H in the southern architectural group. One (SF-560) was deposited on its floor while the other (SF-855) came fill beneath that surface. Two of the five Phase IV crystals were associated with Platform B and included the reddish-brown crystal cluster included with Cache 9. This was the same cache that included the tranchet adze and several other materials described above, which was located along the eastern edge of Platform B. Another crystal (SF-336) was discarded in the midden 132

Objects of Stone Spheroids and hammerstones were present in relatively stable numbers through most of the Plaza B occupation, while the numbers of chert drills dramatically increased in Phase IV alongside a spike in marine shell bead production. Burin spall drills were important elements in shell ornament production that facilitated the transformation of raw marine shell into commodities for local consumption and extra-local exchange. I have proposed for the enigmatic stone spheroids and hemispheres, but their purpose and significance remain obscure at this time. Most artefacts made from local stone appear to have been used in quotidian tasks and were discarded when they wore out or broke, but a few were included in caches and appeared to have some significance beyond general utility.

Table 7.26: Metric data for the red ochre fragment SF#

Lot

Length (mm)

Width (mm)

Thickness (mm)

Mass (g)

283

3b-4

58.9

42.0

25.8

90.8

off the southeastern edge of the same platform. The three remaining Phase IV crystals (SF-772, SF-772, SF774) all came from construction fill associated with the refurbishment of Platform 1 in the southern architectural group. Type: Pigment (?) (Figure 7.17D, Table 7.26) Material: Red Ochre (Hematite?) Frequency: 1 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk) Context: Later Refuse

Exotic stone tools were also used until they broke apart and were discarded. Fragments of grinding implements, whether made from closer granite sources or more distant volcanic basalt and lava flows, were never included with special deposits and were always partially broken. Igneous rock grinding implements occurred throughout the occupation sequence and may have been too valuable to everyday tasks to remove from circulation, although these tools may have also served as potent symbols of extralocal connections and positions in exchange networks. Obsidian flakes and blade fragments were sometimes discarded with refuse and were probably used for regular cutting tasks, but they also were cached and interred with burials in clearly ritual contexts. Obsidian had to be imported from the volcanic highlands of Guatemala and appeared to play both utilitarian and ceremonial roles in the earliest occupations at Cahal Pech. Frequencies of obsidian, and presumably its importance, increased with the introduction of prismatic blades in Phase IV, and the exchange networks that transported these materials widened to include additional sources.

Artefact Description and Comparison: SF-283 was a thick, rectangular piece of rock with a reddish-brown cortical layer and bright-red grainy interior, which was broken into four refitting pieces during excavation. Its colour almost certainly derived from hematite, but this was not confirmed by microscopic or chemical testing. This appears to have been an unworked chunk of raw material that could have been ground and used as a pigment. No red ochre or ‘earthy’ hematite has been previously reported from Cahal Pech or its surrounding groups. Three pieces of a metallic-looking red stone from Op. 2a may also be hematite, but these were from a later deposit and were not analysed for this project. Red and yellow ochre pieces, which were chemically identified as hematite and goethite, have been reported from Middle and Late Preclassic contexts at Cuello (Hammond 1991a:191). These materials were identified as raw chunks and processed sticks that were probably used as pigments. An early Middle Preclassic celt at Colha was covered in a red substance that may have been ground ochre (Buttles 2002:262), and ‘lumps of red pigment and red dust’ were recovered from several later caches at Uaxactun that may be similar to this material (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:197). Red ochre differs from the volcanic specular hematite that was frequently used as a reflective surface in composite mirrors (Blainey 2007; Garber 1989:92) and occurs naturally in several lowland areas.

Stone Artefacts Summary

Slate and green-stone artefacts showed variability in source materials that requires further study to understand. Worked slate objects and possible production debris occurred in all occupation phases and may represent a long-lived tradition of ornament and ritual paraphernalia manufacture. Slate pebbles and cobbles were obtained from local riverbeds and used to make small pendants and personal ornaments, but materials for larger and more complex items may have been quarried from distant outcrops or acquired through exchange. Finished slate artefacts were regularly deposited in caches and may have been used in divinatory rituals, but broken artefacts and fragments frequently ended up in refuse deposits and platform fill. Access to slate was not restricted, although different corporate groups appear to have engaged in slate working at different levels of intensity through time.

Local and exotic stones were used to make numerous utilitarian, ornamental, and ritual or ceremonial objects at Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech that were important to several aspects of daily life. Drills, adzes, bifaces, hammerstones, and most stone spheroids were made from locally available materials and were probably manufactured as needed.

Green-stone artefacts may have been important markers of status, wealth, or the social personae of their owners within the Cahal Pech community. Most of the Plaza B green-stone artefacts were recovered from caches or floors, and few pieces that were not chunks were discarded with refuse. Evidence for on-site manufacture is scant for

Context Description: The red ochre was recovered from the same lot as the cave pearl described above, which was a refuse deposit above and just outside the platform corner in Op. 3a.

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization green-stone artefacts, and many may have derived from different geographic sources and were acquired through different external contacts. Green-stone ornaments and ritual objects may have expressed the wealth and station of the person who possessed them by referencing the person’s connectedness to distant communities and resources.

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8 Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts Introduction

The entire worked bone assemblage consisted of two carved objects: a complete bone bead and an incised fragment. Both appeared to be ornamental or symbolic objects, although the incised fragment could have originally been part of a decorated utilitarian implement or composite tool. The low frequency of bone artefacts likely reflects conditions of deposition and preservation more than it does the use of bone as a raw material, but little can be said of its importance in artefact production as a result. Descriptions of these artefacts are given below.

Artefacts of marine shell, freshwater shell, and worked bone were recovered from Middle Preclassic contexts beneath Plaza B and represent the durable remains of organic resource use. The activities that produced workable remains were likely subsistence-oriented in the case of freshwater shell and animal bone, and the production of artefacts may represent an efficient but secondary use of locally available materials. The distance from Cahal Pech to the Caribbean coast, where all the recovered marine shell likely originated, implies a different function for this material that is borne out by its fragmentary condition.1 Marine shell was brought to Cahal Pech for the manufacture of beads and other ornaments, and its presence documents one component of the multifaceted networks that connected different social groups to others outside the local community.

Artefact Type: Bead (Figure 8.1A, Table 8.1) Subtype:Tubular Frequency: 1 Material: Unidentified bone Architectural Phase: Ib-Lower (Transitional Cunil – Early Kanluk) Context: Floor

The following sections present descriptive, quantitative, and contextual data for the worked bone, freshwater shell, and marine shell artefact assemblages from excavations in Plaza B. Unworked faunal remains and freshwater shell were not analysed as a part of this study and are treated cursorily at the beginning of their respective sections. All marine shell objects were examined and are presented in more detail in the third section of this chapter.

Artefact and Context Description: SF-490 was a well-preserved, complete tubular bead made from a cylindrical section of unidentified bone. The marrow cavity of the bone was hollowed out and enlarged, and an additional hole was drilled perpendicular to the cavity near the bead’s midpoint. The cut edges of the bone segment were ground smooth, and two encircling incisions placed equidistant between the drilled hole and edges segmented the bead into three sections. It was recovered near the level of the second bedrock step at the southern end of the Main Trench and was mixed in with limestone cobbles near the base of the first stone-paved floor in that area. There was little evidence to suggest this artefact was intentionally deposited or cached, aside from its good preservation and location at the base of the floor cobbles. It seems equally plausible that the bead was lost or discarded and fell between the cobbles of the unsurfaced pavement.

Objects of Worked Bone Numerous fragments of non-human bone were encountered in Middle Preclassic contexts beneath Plaza B, but modified bone artefacts were extremely rare. Splinters and scraps of animal bone were recovered from refuse deposits and platform fill from all occupational phases and were most abundant in Phase IV refuse deposits and pit fill. Bone fragments were frequently located near clumps of carbon and ashy-textured sediments in Phase IV refuse, and they more likely represent waste from food production and consumption than the by-products of tool reduction. Taxonomic identification was not attempted as part of this study, but previous analyses of Middle Preclassic faunal remains from Cahal Pech suggest that a variety of edible mammals, reptiles, birds and fish may be present in the assemblage (Powis et al. 1999:Table 2; Stanchly 1992, 1995:Table 4).

Figure 8.1: Middle Preclassic worked bone artefacts: A) SF490; B) SF-407.

1 Over 80 km ‘as the crow flies’ over rugged and swampy terrain, or over 160 km along the Belize River.

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 8.1: Measurements of tubular bone bead. Thickness of bone measured from marrow cavity to exterior surface SF#

Lot

Length (mm)

Width (mm)

Thickness (mm)

Mass (g)

Drill Hole Diam (mm)

490

1v-13

23.8

15.1

3.5

3.6

3.7

were equivalent in form to those described above. Awe (1992:327) reported three bone pendants, a drilled dog tooth, and a crocodile mandible in different caches from Cunil-phase platforms inside Str. B-4. The bone pendants were made from drilled scapulae and were unlike the bead (SF-490) from Plaza B (Awe 1992:Fig. 97). The only possible utilitarian bone artefacts, consisting of two pins and two needles, were recovered from Late Preclassic contexts in peripheral settlements (Awe 1992:329). Cheetham (1995, 1996) did not report any worked bone artefacts from his plaza test units, one of which (Unit 10) was located about four meters from where SF-490 was recovered. The presence of bone ornaments in Cunil-phase caches suggests their importance in the early Cahal Pech community, perhaps as markers of status and identity or simply as objects of adornment, but their low frequency precludes drawing more specific conclusions about their function.

Table 8.2: Measurements of incised bone fragment SF#

Lot

Length (mm) Width (mm) Thickness Mass (g) (mm)

407

3a-13 35.1

9.6

2.5

1.2

Artefact Type: Incised Bone (Figure 8.1B, Table 8.2) Frequency: 1 Material: Unidentified bone Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk) Context: Subfloor

Artefact and Context Description: This fragment of incised bone was broken along three edges, but a single ground, rounded edge was preserved at its proximal end. The interior surface was a smooth, incurving marrow cavity, with an intact edge that was slightly bevelled toward the incised exterior. Three parallel lines of partially overlapping circles may have been incised on this surface with a tubular drill, and this motif extended longitudinally from the intact edge to the fractured area. Two of these rows were closely spaced together, and the three combined to give the impression of fish or reptile scales, or possibly feathers. This motif was not encountered on any other artefacts from Plaza B, but two Middle Preclassic ceramic earspools from Str. B-4 (Awe 1992:Figure 70c) and Str. 1 at Cas Pek (Lee and Awe 1995:Figure 8c) were incised with similar overlapping circles. The original size and shape of this artefact could not be determined, but the curvature of its surfaces suggests a tubular or cylindrical form and the outward bevelling of the intact edge is similar to that described on bone tubes from Cerros (Garber 1989:59). SF-407 was deposited in a clay, marl, and cobble deposit beneath a marl surface in Op. 3a.

Examples of Middle Preclassic bone beads have been reported from Blackman Eddy (Garber et al. 2004:39), Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:206), Tikal (Moholy-Nagy 1994:Table 2.1e), Colha (Buttles 2002:203-210), Cuello (Hammond 1991a:181), and K’axob (Bartlett 2004b:362). Complete examples are often tubular like SF-490 but usually consist of snapped bone segments lacking the transverse drill hole seen on this specimen. A segmented bone bead with two encircling incisions was reported from a Late Preclassic context at El Mirador (Hansen 1990:Fig. 131d), but this was narrower than SF-490 and also lacked a transverse perforation. Bone beads were obviously objects of personal adornment and possibly status markers, and they were occasionally interred as bracelets and other stringed ornaments with Middle Preclassic burials (e.g., Buttles 2002:206-210 at Colha).

Comparative and Summary Comments Middle Preclassic worked bone artefacts are comparatively rare at most sites in the Maya Lowlands. This is almost certainly due to destruction from exposure to acidic sediments and leaching by water after deposition. Conditions beneath Plaza B contrasted sharply with those from Feature 1A at Cerros, for example, where a large sample of bone tools and ornaments were recovered from a tightly compressed sequence of Late Preclassic floors and refuse deposits with limited permeability to water (Cliff 1988:202; Garber 1989:51). Refuse from the Plaza B occupation was covered by later platforms or redeposited as platform fill along with other materials, but nothing like the laminated series of deposits described from Cerros was identified. These conditions helped reduce most bone from Plaza B to comminuted fragments that may have included both tools and food waste.

The fragmentary condition of SF-407 makes finding appropriate comparisons difficult. Its form and decoration resembled a ceramic earspool from Cahal Pech (Awe 1992:Figure 70c), and it may be an equivalent ornament created from a different material. If SF-407 was part of a carved bone tube, materials of comparable age have been reported at Colha (Buttles 2002:Table 7.7), Tikal (MoholyNagy 1994:Table 2.1e), and possibly Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:206). Many more examples are known from Late Preclassic contexts, which include the finely carved bone tubes from the mass burials at Cuello (Hammond 1991a:181-182), the bone ‘fan handles’ from a multiple interment at K’axob (Bartlett 2004b:359), and the problematic tubes from domestic debris at Cerros (Garber 1989:59). The function of bone tubes in the Middle Preclassic is not clear; they are rare, but they are most often recovered from refuse deposits and platform fill as opposed to offerings in caches. The increased number

Previous excavations at Cahal Pech recovered similarly low numbers of worked bone artefacts, and none that 136

Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts of bone tubes interred as Late Preclassic grave goods, especially in northern Belize, may signal an intensification of their use as status markers or symbolically charged objects. Objects of Worked Freshwater Mollusc Shell Large numbers of freshwater mollusc shells were recovered from Middle Preclassic levels in Plaza B, but these included only eleven extensively modified freshwater shell artefacts.2 The unworked freshwater shell assemblage contained the remains of bivalves (river mussels) and gastropods (jute snails). A single species of river mussel (Nephronaias ortmanni) and at least two species of jute snail (Pachychilus glaphyrus and Pachychilus indiorum) were present in the assemblage; these species dominate the freshwater shell assemblages from other Middle Preclassic contexts at Cahal Pech (Stanchly 1992:392, 1995:Table 3) and inhabit the streams and rivers of the surrounding area.

Figure 8.2: Freshwater shell artefacts and unworked material. A) Pendant (SF-514); B) Unmodified valve fragment broken during excavation; C) Perforated valve (SF-416); D) Disk beads (SF-623, SF-19); E) Irregular bead (SF-240). Architectural Phase: II (Early Kanluk): 1* II/III (Early Kanluk): 1 Contexts: Fill: 1* Subfloor: 1

Unworked mussel and jute shells were deposited during all phases of occupation in Plaza B, and they were most frequently recovered from middens and construction fill. Both genera are edible, and three spatially discrete clusters of mussel and jute shells found on Phase I outdoor floors in the north, central, and south sections of the Main Trench probably represent refuse from food preparation (see Figure 6.5). Paul Healy and colleagues (1990) documented the use of jute as a food source and protein supplement by the modern inhabitants of the upper Belize Valley, and similar use likely occurred in the past. Most jute shells were missing the tips of their spires, which may have been intentionally removed to allow the extraction of the snails from their shells (Stanchly 1995:131).

Artefact and Context Description: Two examples of rounded, roughly disk-shaped beads were recovered from early Kanluk platform core and subfloor deposits in the northern section of the Main Trench. The complete specimen (SF-19) was perforated by a relatively large (4.3 mm), circular, biconically drilled hole set just off-centre. Its edge was smoothly ground and roughly circular, with a second possible drill hole creating a small v-shaped gouge in one area. The drilled area was also smoothed, which suggests that it may have been intentionally made to aid suspension from something other than a simple string. Alternatively, the smoothing may represent an attempt to correct or minimize a production failure. The fragmentary condition of SF-623 made judging its original size and shape difficult, but the curvature of its intact edges and large drill hole suggest it may have looked much like SF-19. The ground edges and apparently finished perforation indicate SF-623 was not broken during manufacture.

Artefacts made from freshwater shells probably resulted from opportunistic recycling of food waste rather than resource procurement for ornament production. Large numbers of freshwater shells were discarded after receiving no more modification than what was required to extract their meat, and freshwater shell artefacts were rare. The assemblage consisted entirely of ornamental objects that were drilled for suspension and primarily made from Nephronaias shell. The interior surfaces of Nephronaias shells are nacreous (Figure 8.2B), and the rough exteriors were often stripped back during bead manufacture to reveal the pearlescent layers. The four bead subforms that were identified in the freshwater shell assemblage include disk beads, perforated valves, irregular beads, and pendants (Table 8.3).

SF-623 was recovered from the limestone cobble fill of Platform P – a Phase II construction that preceded the laying down of Patio Floor 1. SF-19 was deposited alongside several stone artefacts in a subfloor deposit beneath Patio Floor 1, which may have contained remains of several unrecognized earlier patio floors. These two beads may therefore be roughly coeval, which could explain their similarity in form and choice of material. The inclusion of these beads with building materials tells us little of their possible value or social significance, and the small sample size precludes saying much about them with certainty. Their limited temporal and spatial distribution are interesting, however, and they hint that this particular type of bead was specifically associated with the early Kanluk occupants of the northern architectural group.

Artefact Form: Bead (Figure 8.2D) Subform: Disk Frequency: 2 Material: Nephronaias sp. 2 Detailed analysis of these remains has not yet been undertaken, and the precise number of unmodified shells was not available at the time of this writing. This assemblage must number in the tens of thousands at least, based on personal observations and notes from other fieldworkers.

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 8.3: Freshwater bead measurements and contexts SF#

Lot

Subform

Phase

Context

Complete?

L (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

M (g)

19

1c-56

Disk

II/III

Subfloor

Y

16.1

15.6

 3.5

1.6

623

1y-12

Disk

II

Core

N

13.6

 -

 -

0.3

405

3a-12

Valve

IV

N

30.2

26.8

 2.9

3.4

405

3a-12

Valve

IV

Y

45.3

27.2

 2.6

5.0

416

3a-11

Valve

IV

Y

54.1

29.1

 2.9

6.3

N

18.5

18.0

 2.8

1.4

Off-Platform Refuse Off-Platform Refuse Floor Off-Platform

492

1t-11

Irregular

III

502

5a-5

Irregular

IV

Core

N

32.7

27.1

 3.3

2.6

502

5a-5

Irregular

IV

Core

N

22.5

14.1

 1.7

0.8

424

1h-12

Irregular

IV

Midden

Y

12.2

10.0

 1.7

0.1

240

2a-6

Irregular

-

Unknown

Y

12.2

 8.7

 3.2

0.4

514

1r-7

Pendant

IV

Midden

N

28.0

 -

14.0

2.6

Refuse

Artefact Form: Perforated Valve (Figure 8.2C) Frequency: 3 Material: Nephronaias ortmanni Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 3 Contexts: Floor: 2 Off-Platform Refuse: 1

Artefact Type: Bead (Figure 8.2E) Subtype:Irregular Frequency: 5 Material: Nephronaias sp. Architectural Phase: III (Early Kanluk): 1* IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 3 (4) Contexts: Midden: 1 Off-Platform Refuse: 1* Platform Core: 2 Op. 2a: 1

Artefact and Context Description: Three examples of perforated valves were recovered from Phase IV deposits, two of which were complete (SF-405, SF416) and one that was broken roughly in half along its perforation (SF-405). Each of these ornaments was made from a single Nephronaias valve that had been stripped of its rough exterior to reveal the nacreous layer beneath. They were perforated by unidirectional drilling from the exterior surface at points near each valve’s umbo or beak, but the encircling margins were left largely untouched. The two complete examples had narrow ovoid or oblong perforations, which were distinctly different from the circular drill holes seen on most other freshwater and marine shell beads. The broken valve ornament appears to have been drilled like the disk beads described above, and part of a large circular drill hole was preserved in its outline. It is not clear if this ornament was broken during or after manufacture. The significance of the different types of drilling is not clear either; it could be related to different methods of stringing and displaying these ornaments, or the valves with ovoid perforations could represent earlier stages in the reduction of shell into other bead forms.

Artefact and Context Description: The irregular bead subform was a catchall category for drilled pieces of freshwater shell that were not shaped into a regular form but were more extensively modified than the perforated valves. This category may contain both finished beads with irregular shapes and unfinished beads. None of the irregular beads had smoothly ground edges like the disk beads described above, but three were too badly broken to judge the original state of their edges (SF-490, SF-502, SF-502). Further distinguishing the irregular beads from other freshwater bead subforms were the sizes of their drill holes, which ranged from one to two millimetres in diameter in all but one of the specimens. This range more closely matched the perforation diameters of marine shell beads than the large holes drilled through earlier freshwater disk beads. Irregular beads were recovered from platform fill, offplatform refuse deposits and middens. Three of the beads from secure contexts (75%) came from Phase IV deposits in the northern architectural sequence, while the fourth was recovered with refuse outside the earlier Platform H.

One whole and one broken valve (both SF-405) were recovered from a refuse deposit atop a marl platform perimeter floor in Op. 3a. A second complete valve ornament (SF-416) was found on top of the later rectangular platform corner (Platform B) in the same area. Perforated valve ornaments were only found in Operation 3 and may have been worn by the people who used the Phase IV platforms found there.

Artefact Type: Pendant (Figure 8.2A) Frequency: 1 Material: Pachychilus indiorum Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk) Context: Midden

138

Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts Artefact and Context Description: The only freshwater shell pendant (SF-514) in the assemblage was also the only artefact made from the shell of a smooth jute snail. The tip of the shell’s spire was broken, and two small holes were drilled near its aperture to facilitate suspension from a string. This pendant was recovered from a large Phase IV midden near the centre of Plaza B.

nearby each settlement.4 Similarities between Middle Preclassic freshwater shell assemblages from Belize Valley sites and remains identified at Cahal Pech and its outlying groups support this assertion. 5 High frequencies of minimally modified Pachychilus, Nephronaias, and Pomacea shells were reported from Middle Preclassic deposits at Barton Ramie (Willey et al. 1965:527), Blackman Eddy (Garber et al. 2004), Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:Table 5.1), and Chan (Keller 2012), but few contemporaneous examples of worked freshwater shell objects were recovered.

Comparative and Summary Comments Freshwater mollusc shells were occasionally recycled into ornamental objects or jewellery after their meat was extracted. Poor preservation does not seem to have significantly influenced recovery in this case, because large numbers of minimally modified freshwater shells were found in several contexts throughout Plaza B. Sampling bias could account for the scarcity of these objects, but their low frequencies in middens and absence from special deposits suggest their use was relatively limited. Nine artefacts, or about 82% of the assemblage, were recovered from the north and northwest areas of Plaza B, and four were discarded with Phase IV refuse in the area. These included the only perforated valve ornaments in the assemblage, which were only located in Op. 3a. Freshwater shell beads were also associated with earlier levels in the northern sequence.

Patterns of freshwater shell deposition varied among sites in the Belize Valley in ways assemblage compositions did not. A special deposit comprising between ten and fifteen thousand unworked freshwater shells was discovered at early Middle Preclassic Blackman Eddy and has been interpreted as the residue from a communal feast (Brown 2003:116; Garber et al. 2004). A cluster of 520 unworked freshwater snail shells, located near the wall of a late Middle Preclassic construction pen, was interpreted as the remains of a structure termination ritual at the Cas Pek group (Lee and Awe 1995:106-107). Nothing encountered in Plaza B resembled either of these deposits, except perhaps for the three Phase I shell clusters mentioned at the beginning of this section, which were clearly cooking refuse. Variability in how locally available resources were used, or were recycled after their primary use in food preparation, should be expected at this time, as members of each community pursued their own idiosyncratic interests in the absence of strongly integrated political institutions.

Previous excavations at Cahal Pech provide few examples to expand the Middle Preclassic freshwater shell artefact inventory. Awe (1992:326) reported a single irregularly shaped Pomacea (apple snail) shell bead from Str. B-4 construction fill, and Cheetham (1995:36) recovered two perforated Nephronaias ortmanni valves in a plaza unit in front of this structure (see Figure 2.7).3 Small numbers of Middle Preclassic freshwater shell beads were reported from Cas Pek group (Lee and Awe 1995), and slightly later examples recovered at Tolok (Powis 1996) and Zubin (Ferguson 1995). High numbers of minimally modified Pachychilus and Nephronaias shells were encountered in the excavations referenced above, in Cheetham’s (1996) Plaza B test units, and in a midden below the ballcourt in Plaza C (Ferguson et al. 1996), although the latter two operations produced no worked freshwater shell artefacts. The results of these excavations mirrored the relationship between worked and unworked materials in the BVAP freshwater shell assemblage, and they support the hypothesis that freshwater molluscs were primarily gathered for food rather than ornament manufacture.

Freshwater shell use at Middle Preclassic settlements in central Petén resembles that observed in the Belize Valley. Snail and mussel shells were reported from Middle Preclassic levels at Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:199) and Tikal (Moholy-Nagy 1994:94), and the number of minimally modified shells was greater than that of worked shell artefacts at each site. Middle Preclassic settlements in northern Belize may have diverged slightly from this pattern, as higher numbers of freshwater shell beads were reported from Cuello (Hammond 1991a:185), and unworked snail and mussel shells were frequently included in caches and burials at K’axob (Harrigan 2004:Table 18.2). Such regional variation was also present in pottery and architectural styles during this time, as communities that engaged in more frequent and intense interactions at the local scale began to more closely resemble each other.

Freshwater mollusc shells have been reported from a variety of contexts that span the sequence from Preclassic to Postclassic at sites across the Maya Lowlands (Andrews IV 1969:32-33). Intersite variability in the range of species present likely reflects the natural distributions of edible molluscs, as these were probably collected from areas

The most striking pattern of freshwater shell use emerges in comparison to marine shell. All the settlements discussed above possessed varying quantities of marine Intrasite distributions of unmodified freshwater shell remains, on the other hand, have the potential to reveal differences in access to preferred foodstuffs (Stanchly 1995). This remains to be explored in the BVAP faunal assemblage. 5 Norbert Stanchly (e.g., 1994, 1995) has identified Pomacea from previous excavations in the site core and periphery of Cahal Pech, albeit in lower frequencies relative to Pachychilus and Nephronaias remains. 4

3 The contexts of these finds were not specified, but they were recovered from Cunil- and Xakal-phase deposits in the plaza unit.

139

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization acquisition and ornament production by the later part of the period. Shell ornaments may have been both local identity markers (cf. Isaza Aizpurúa and McAnany 1999) and symbols of participation in exchange networks and connections beyond the community.

shell materials, which included both finished artefacts and shell scrap usually interpreted as manufacturing debris. Marine shell was not a local resource in the Belize Valley or central Petén, but it dominated the combined worked shell assemblages at all sites with published data. Freshwater shell ornaments made up about 11% of the Middle Preclassic worked shell assemblage from BVAP excavations, but this figure drops to around 6% when artefacts from previous Cahal Pech excavations are considered. A similar ratio was observed in the much larger worked shell assemblage from Pacbitun, where freshwater shell ornaments made up just over 5% of the collection (Hohmann 2002:116). The percentage of freshwater shell from the K’axob collection was slightly higher at 13% (Isaza Aizpurúa 2004:337), but this figure included materials from all occupation phases and may not accurately characterize the Middle Preclassic assemblage.

The section below presents an analysis of 1,454 marine shell pieces that includes both artefacts and production debris. The presentation format differs somewhat from the preceding sections due to the larger quantities of marine shell artefacts, their status as exotic materials, and the recovery of data related to production processes. I first present the taxonomic identifications and natural distributions of the marine molluscs present in the Middle Preclassic shell assemblage before describing the artefacts and their contextual associations along with comparative data from other sites. I then present an analysis of marine shell debris and argue for on-site production of shell ornaments, and the section concludes with a discussion of marine shell production and consumption at Cahal Pech and the importance of this material to the greater community.

These numbers indicate that freshwater shell was largely eschewed as a raw material for Middle Preclassic ornament manufacture. The preference for marine shell may have been based on its aesthetic attributes (e.g., colour, texture), comparative durability (e.g., relative thickness of conch vs. mussel shell), or its perception as a foreign commodity and the status this might confer. Freshwater shell was rarely used as a substitute despite its local abundance, however, which suggests that access to exotic marine shell was not restricted to certain groups or communities. Middle Preclassic groups were able to obtain significant quantities of marine shell regardless of the reasons they chose to do so, which raises significant questions about commodity exchange and interaction during early time periods in the Maya Lowlands.

Taxonomic Identifications and the Distributions of Marine Molluscs I attempted to identify both finished artefacts and production debris to the lowest biological taxon, although the most information was obtained from the latter artefact category. Many shell ornaments were extensively modified in ways that obliterated identifying features and could not be identified below higher order taxa (e.g., family or genus). Marine shell production fragments regularly preserved anatomical features that were useful in identification (see Claassen 1998:Figure 4), but post-depositional bleaching limited the usefulness of shell colour in making determinations. Most positive identifications were made at the genus level.

Objects of Marine Shell The abundance of marine shell artefacts and production debris recovered from Plaza B demonstrates the importance of this material to the Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech community. Whole shells were brought into the epicentre and outlying groups for bead and ornament manufacture, and the meat they contained may also have been eaten. Isotopic evidence indicates the late Middle Preclassic occupants of Tolok consumed reef fish (Powis et al. 1999), but transport requirements and the low ratio of edible meatto-shell suggest marine molluscs were not staples of the Middle Preclassic diet. This contrasts with the exploitation of freshwater molluscs, which were probably sources of food but were rarely made into personal adornments.

The Plaza B assemblage comprised two classes of molluscs: Gastropoda (univalves) and Pelecypoda (bivalves). Gastropods included two species of conch and several smaller marine snails (e.g., Oliva sp.), while marine bivalves included only one species of clam (Table 8.4). A third class, Scaphopoda, was not recognized in the assemblage but was present in small numbers at Blackman Eddy (Cochran 2009:Table 5.10), Chan (Keller 2012:Table 2), and Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:Table 6.2), as well as the Cahal Pech outlying groups Tolok and Cas Pek (Stanchly 1995:Table 5). This class is represented by the genus Dentalium (tusk shell) in Belize Valley shell assemblages, and a few examples may be present in the debris that was not identified by this study.

Marine shell ornaments were present from the earliest occupation at Cahal Pech and their importance grew through time. Clear evidence for on-site production was not found until later in the sequence, when significant quantities of shell were acquired from the Caribbean and Cahal Pech began participating in a regional marine shell exchange network. The role marine shell artefacts played in the Middle Preclassic communities of the Belize Valley is not well understood, but it was important enough at several communities to merit intensive materials

The assemblage was dominated by the genus Strombus (73%), which includes several species commonly called conchs. A limited number of specimens were classifiable to two species, S. pugilis and S. gigas, but differentiating the two was often problematic and they are discussed together here. Shells of both species possess high spires, prominent spikes, and flaring lips (Abbot 1954:174), and these 140

Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts The family Marginellidae (margin snail), which includes several genera and species of small marine snails, is represented by the species Prunum apicinum. Prunum apicinum shells are roughly ovoid with smooth exteriors and low spires, and they rarely exceed 1.3 cm in length (Abbott 1954:257). Both P. apicinum and T. angulata prefer shallow water environments and inhabit the waters surrounding the Yucatán Peninsula (Andrews IV 1969:16).

Table 8.4: Taxonomic identifications of Middle Preclassic marine shell objects Taxon

n

%

Gastropoda

 

 

1062

  73.0

Melongena melongena

   1

  0.1

Turbinella angulata

   1

  0.1

Prunum apicinum

   1

  0.1

Oliva sp. (reticularis ?)

   6

  0.4

Unidentified gastropod

 300

  20.6

Pelecypoda

 

 

Anadara notabilis

   1

  0.1

Unidentified

 

 

Unidentified marine

  82

  5.6

Total

1454

100.0

Strombus sp. -S. pugilis, S. gigas

The second most frequently identified genus in the assemblage was Oliva (olive shell), which included only six shells and made up 0.4% of the total collection. Species-specific external shell patterning was destroyed by bleaching and these shells were only classifiable to the genus level. Oliva shells are roughly ovoid with an elongated aperture and short spire, and they vary in height from three to six centimetres by species (Abbott 1954:245). At least three Oliva species are native to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, and another two inhabit tropical zones in the Pacific (Andrews IV 1969:38).

characteristics were most useful in identifying Strombus remains. Strombus gigas (queen conch) is the larger of the two species and can grow up to 30 cm long, which is more than twice the maximum length (about 13 cm) for S. pugilis (Leal 2002:139-140). This size difference allowed a few fragments of very large spires, columellae, and spiny shoulders to be reasonably assigned to S. gigas, although smaller specimens may have been either S. pugilis or immature S. gigas. The interiors of S. gigas shells have a soft pink colour while those of S. pugilis are a darker orange, but bleaching of the Plaza B assemblage made distinguishing these two colours difficult (see Figure 8.11). Both species are found in the shallow waters and reef environments of the Caribbean coast and atolls off the Campeche Bank, and S. pugilis is also known from the north and west coasts of the Yucatán Peninsula (Andrews IV 1969:9).

A single species of marine bivalve, Anadara notabilis, was identified from a minimally modified shell that may have been a bead. Anadara notabilis (eared ark clam) is a member of the family Arcidae, which includes many bivalve species distributed throughout tropical waters worldwide. The valves of A. notabilis are roughly rectangular or oval-shaped and appear flattened in comparison to round-valve clams and scallops. The dorsal corners of these two margins curve sharply back toward the umbo at near-right angles, which give these valves the pronounced ‘ears’ referenced in their common name. Anadara notabilis shells can grow to nearly 10 cm long and have pronounced ribs on their exterior surfaces (Abbott 1954:344). The species inhabits shallow waters along all three coasts of the Yucatán Peninsula and around offshore islands in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico (Andrews IV 1969:22).

Melongena melongena (West Indian crown conch) was identified by a single apical spire fragment. This species inhabits the shallow coastal lagoons, mud flats, and mangroves found throughout much of the Caribbean and around the Yucatán Peninsula (Andrews IV 1969:14). Melongena melongena shells have a maximum length of about 15 cm and are frequently marked by blue, brown, and grey bands on their exterior surfaces (Leal 2002:124). They are readily distinguished from Strombus shells by their short spires, colour, and the arrangement of spikes near their apices (Abbott 1954:234). Some unidentified shell fragments could have come from Melongena melongena or a related species, but this amount would probably be low given the relative lack of diagnostic spire fragments.

A considerable number of objects (n=300) were not identifiable beyond the family Gastropoda, and a smaller group (n=82) was only identifiable as marine shell because it did not match any known freshwater or terrestrial shell types. Almost one-third (n=96) of the ‘unidentified gastropod’ pieces were shell ornaments that had lost most identifiable features during production but appeared similar in colour and texture to identified gastropod remains. Most of these were probably made from Strombus shells, and many of the remaining ‘unidentified gastropod’ pieces probably belonged to this genus. Conspicuous by their absence were members of the genus Spondylus, the red-topink spiny oysters that inhabit both the Atlantic and Pacific coastal waters of Mesoamerica (Andrews IV 1969:25). None of the analysed remains possessed the distinctive red colour or anatomical features of Spondylus species.

Turbinella angulata and Prunum apicinum were each identified from nearly complete shells and represented the largest and smallest marine species recovered, respectively. Turbinella angulata (West Indian chank) has a maximum length of 35 cm that exceeds the size of the largest queen conchs (Leal 2002:144). The shells of T. angulata are thick and heavy, with elongated spires and prominent knobs or blunted spikes; they resemble Strombus shells in these respects but lack their characteristic flaring lips.

The Middle Preclassic marine shell assemblage from Plaza B closely parallels those reported from other Belize Valley sites in terms of species composition. Middle Preclassic assemblages from Blackman Eddy (Cochran 141

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 8.3: Percentages of different ornament types in the combined marine shell assemblage.

2009:Table 5.10), Chan (Keller 2012),6 and Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:Table 6.1; Hohmann et al. 2018) show similar trends in the dominance of Strombus remains. This pattern holds true at the Cahal Pech satellite groups Cas Pek and Tolok, although total quantities of marine shell from Tolok were comparatively small (Stanchly 1995:Table 5). Small numbers of ‘accessory species’ are reported from these sites that do not exactly overlap in terms of quantity or species present, but these are insignificant at the level of total assemblages. The most frequently sought after and acquired marine shells came from Strombus species throughout the Middle Preclassic, and it appears that several communities in the Belize Valley had access to them at this time. This contrasts with the assemblage composition reported from Ceibal (Sharpe 2020:Table), where the most abundant shell remains came from marginella (Prunum sp.) and olive snails (Olivinae).

(n = 12), blanks (n=4), and whole shells (n = 2). Tinklers were treated as a special subtype of pendant, as they would have been suspended from perforations near their margins. Beads were again subdivided by shape into four subtypes that comprised discoid (n=56), irregular (n=38), unidentified (n=9), and square/rectangular (n= 4). The irregular bead class included several artefacts that would have been difficult to string together in series and do not conform to standard conceptions of beads, but I chose to retain this category name due to formal similarities between some irregular beads from Cahal Pech and examples reported as ‘irregular beads’ from Blackman Eddy and Pacbitun (see below). Discoid beads made up nearly half of the entire ornament assemblage (Figure 8.3) and were divisible into two size classes based on diameter measurements. The prevalence of disk-shaped beads in the Plaza B inventory mirrors a pattern seen at several Middle Preclassic communities and was a stable feature of the assemblage through time. Consumption of marine shell ornaments was not static, however, and changes in both the quantity and variety of objects were associated with different architectural phases. Early Middle Preclassic (Phases I – III) ornaments were almost entirely limited to discoid and irregular beads, which were recovered in low frequencies from a range of contexts. These frequencies sharply increased during the transition from early to late Kanluk times; more discoid and irregular beads were recovered from Phase IV deposits than in the preceding three phases combined, and new bead forms were introduced into the repertoire (Figure 8.4).This proliferation of marine shell ornaments coincided with the first clear evidence of widespread production in Plaza B and likely reflects an uptick in their importance at the community and regional levels. The increase in production followed significant architectural expansion and differentiation in Plaza B, which suggests a link between shell ornament manufacture and the emergence of more complex social organization.

Marine Shell Artefacts Marine shell artefacts consisted of perforated ornaments, manufacturing debris, and two small whole shells with holes that may not have been intentionally produced. The function of the whole shells is ambiguous, as they were not extensively modified but were clearly acquired from the Caribbean coast. Small whole shells may have had value as trade goods or may have been used as adornos or costume elements, and they are included in the general discussion of marine shell ornaments below. Marine Shell Ornaments The marine shell ornament assemblage included 125 objects that were divided into four artefact types: beads, pendants, blanks, and whole shells. Beads were the most common ornament type (n = 107), followed by pendants 6 Keller (2012:Table 1) reports marine shell totals from Chan but does not break the assemblage down by time period. Her discussion of Preclassic shell ornament production focuses entirely on Strombus species, however, so I infer that this was the dominant genus encountered.

Descriptions of the forms, quantities, and depositional contexts of marine shell ornaments are presented below. 142

Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts

Figure 8.4: Frequencies of marine shell ornament types by architectural phase.

The typological analysis follows the system developed by Hohmann (2002) for the marine shell assemblage at Pacbitun, and incorporates elements from subsequent analyses from the Belize Valley (e.g., Cochran 2009; Keller 2012) and studies from other areas of the Maya Lowlands (e.g., Buttles 2002; Taschek 1994). I note variation within some form classes, as well as problems this creates for comparisons with other assemblages, and trace changes in consumption patterns through time. Discoid Beads Discoid beads (n=56) were the most common form of marine shell ornaments in every Middle Preclassic phase. They ranged from almost perfectly round to sub-circular and were centrally perforated by drilled holes. Perforations usually originated from both bead faces (biconical), although ten examples (17.8%) were drilled from only one side (uniconical). All discoid beads showed some evidence of grinding along their encircling margins, and all but four (7.1%) had edges that were finely smoothed and polished. Large and small discoid beads were identified in the field laboratory, and a division at 20 mm was indicated by the Phase IV bead diameter histogram (Figure 8.5). The comparatively small sample sizes from earlier phases made recognizing this division more difficult; only one

Figure 8.5: Phase IV discoid bead diameter distribution.

143

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 8.6: Descriptive statistics for small discoid beads by phase

Figure 8.6: Sample of large and small marine shell discoid beads. Note natural shell striations on rightmost example. Catalogue numbers from left to right: SF-172, SF-237, SF18, SF-495, SF-15, SF-17.

1

40.4

-

6.0

-

13

24.8

3.0

4.0

1.6

Total

14

25.9

5.1

4.1

1.6

I

5

11.0

2.8

2.6

0.5

II

3

13.4

5.5

3.4

0.8

III

3

16.8

3.6

3.1

0.6

IV

30

11.8

3.7

2.6

1.3

Total

41

12.2

3.9

2.7

1.2

Artefact Form: Bead (Figure 8.6 left four beads, Table 8.6) Subform: Discoid, Small Frequency: 41 Material: Marine gastropod, probably Strombus sp. Architectural Phase: I (Cunil – Early Kanluk): 5 II (Early Kanluk): 3 III (Early Kanluk): 3 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 30 Context: Cache: 1 Fill: 10 Floor: 11 Later Refuse: 5 Midden: 5 Off-Platform Refuse: 5 Op. 2a: 4

Phase Frequency Mean Standard Mean Standard Diameter Deviation Thickness Deviation (mm) (mm) I

Mean Standard Thickness Deviation (mm)

(30.8%) were fractured along their perforations and may have been broken during manufacture.

Table 8.5: Descriptive statistics for large discoid beads by phase

IV

Phase Frequency Mean Standard Diameter Deviation (mm)

bead from Phases I – III exceeded the 20 mm threshold, but the remaining beads fit well within the small diameter class found in Phase IV. An independent-samples t-test of discoid bead diameters from all phases (n=55) supported dividing the size classes at 20 mm by demonstrating a significant difference in the central tendencies of the large ( x = 25.9, σ = 5.1) and small ( x = 12.2, σ = 3.9) groups; t (53) = 10.58, p = .000.7

Artefact Description: Small discoid beads occurred in all phases and were always more numerous than their larger counterparts. They varied in diameter from 4.3 to 19.6 mm and included several specimens that were almost perfectly round. Their colour range was similar to the large discoid beads and it seems likely they were also made from Strombus shell. The margins of these beads were polished and smooth, and biconical drilling was the preferred perforation technique. Only two Phase IV beads (6.6%) were broken along their perforations, and the remaining examples were apparently discarded or lost after being fully formed.

Artefact Form: Bead (Figure 8.6 right two beads, Table 8.5) Subform: Discoid, Large Frequency: 14 Material: Marine gastropod, probably Strombus sp. Architectural Phase: I (Cunil – Early Kanluk): 1* IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 13 Context: Cache: 1 Fill: 2 Floor: 2 Later Refuse: 8 Subfloor: 1*

Context Description and Comparisons (Table 8.7): Large discoid beads were primarily recovered from Phase IV contexts, and a majority of these (61.5%) were deposited with refuse that covered the later platforms in the northern end of the Main Trench. Two beads were deposited on the cobble floor of Platform A, and two more were found in Platform B construction fill. The Phase I bead (SF-602) was recovered from beneath the earliest marl floor at the southern end of Plaza B. It was both the oldest and largest discoid bead in the assemblage, but it could not be associated with any architectural features save the marl floor that covered it.

Artefact Description: Large discoid beads had diameters ranging from 20.11 to 40.4 mm and outlines that were more sub-circular than round. They were bleached white or light tan, and some retained traces of their original shell morphology in the form of striated and rough exterior surfaces. Modification was usually too extensive to make specific taxonomic identifications, but these beads seem to have been made from relatively large and flat sections of gastropod shells such as the body whorls or lips of Strombus species. Biconical drilling was predominant among large discoid beads. Four of the Phase IV beads

Small discoid beads from the first three architectural phases were recovered from floor, refuse, and construction fill contexts. They were associated with all four Phase I floors at the southern end of the Main Trench (n = 5)

7 A diameter estimate could not be obtained for one bead fragment, and it is omitted from the descriptions below.

144

Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts Table 8.7: Contextual distribution of large and small discoid beads. Phases I-III are collapsed into the ‘Early’ category, and Phase IV corresponds to the ‘Late’ column Contexts    Cache

Large

Small

Early

Late

Early

Late

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

0

  0.0

 1

  7.7

 0

  0.0

 1

  3.3

Fill

0

  0.0

 2

 15.4

 2

 18.2

 8

 26.7

Floor

0

  0.0

 2

 15.4

 9

 81.8

 2

  6.7

Later Refuse

0

  0.0

 8

 61.5

 0

  0.0

 5

 16.7

Midden

0

  0.0

 0

  0.0

 0

  0.0

 5

 16.7

Off-Platform Refuse

0

  0.0

 0

  0.0

 0

  0.0

 5

 16.7

Subfloor

1

100.0

 0

  0.0

 0

  0.0

 0

  0.0

Op. 2a

0

  0.0

 0

  0.0

 0

  0.0

 4

 13.3

Total

1

100.0

13

100.0

11

100.0

30

100.0

and the marl surface of Platform H in Phase III of the southern sequence (n = 2). Small beads may also have been associated with one of the earlier patio floors in the northern sections of the Main Trench. The association of small beads with floors would be expected if beads were being made and/or used near those surfaces.

Burial 1-43 at K’axob, where an individual was interred with over 2,000 marine shell beads that were mostly diskshaped (Isaza Aizpurúa 2004:Table 14.4). Most published measurements of Belize Valley disk beads fall well below the proposed 20 mm threshold, which makes them comparable to the small discoid size class from Plaza B. In the large assemblage from Pacbitun, for example, Hohmann (2002:Table 8.3) reports mean diameters of around 8 mm and maximums less than 20 mm for early and late Middle Preclassic disk beads.8 Cochran (2009:59) reported a range of 6 – 43 mm for disk bead diameters at Blackman Eddy but did not include the frequency distribution of these diameters, and it is not clear if two comparable size classes exist there. Keller (2012:Table 2) created a similar size class division at 10 mm for the Chan disk bead assemblage but did not report a maximum size for her larger bead class, which could still fall within the range of small discoid beads from Plaza B. Disk beads reported from Str. B-4 did not exceed 20 mm in diameter (Awe 1992:324).

Two discoid beads, one large and one small, were deposited in a cache (Cache 6) that included an irregular marine shell bead and two partial vessels off the southeast corner of Platform B. Cache 6 was surrounded by limestone rubble that may have been part of Platform B, and its relationship to the platform is not clear. If this deposit was a cache, and not off-platform or provisionally discarded refuse, then it represents the only instance where discoid beads were included with a special deposit. No in situ arrangements of discoid beads were found that would suggest deposition as a strung piece of jewellery. Middle Preclassic Strombus discoid beads have been reported at Barton Ramie (Willey et al. 1965:508), Blackman Eddy (Cochran 2009:59), Chan (Keller 2012), and Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:124) in the Belize Valley. Similar beads were recovered from previous Plaza B test excavations (Cheetham 1995, 1996), caches and construction fill within Str. B-4 (Awe 1992:324), and a midden beneath the Plaza C ballcourt at Cahal Pech (Ferguson et al. 1996). The peripheral sites Cas Pek (Lee 1996; Lee and Awe 1995), Tolok (Powis 1996), and Zubin (Ferguson 1995:155) have also produced disk-shaped beads from Middle Preclassic contexts.

Artefact Form: Bead Subform: Irregular Frequency: 38 Material: Strombus sp., unidentified marine gastropod Architectural Phase: I (Cunil – Early Kanluk): 1 II (Early Kanluk): 2 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 35 Context: Cache: 2 Fill: 2 Floor: 2 Later Refuse: 5 Midden: 15 Off-Platform Refuse: 8 Pit: 2 Op. 2a: 2

Disk beads were recovered from Middle Preclassic contexts at Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:200) and Tikal (Moholy-Nagy 1994:Table 2.1d) in central Petén, and they were even more common at Middle Preclassic settlements in northern Belize. Necklaces and bracelets of marine shell disk beads accompanied Middle Preclassic burials at Altun Ha (Pendergast 1982:173174) and Cuello (Robin and Hammond 1991), and 1,122 disk beads were deposited in burials and caches at Colha (Buttles 2002:Table 6.4). The most striking example of disk bead consumption in the northern Belize comes from

Terry Powis (personal communication, 2014) has recently found larger, pendant-like disk beads in Plaza A at Pacbitun, but it is not clear whether or not these are comparable to the large discoid beads from Cahal Pech. 8

145

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 8.8: Measurements of square/rectangular beads SF#

Lot

Length (mm)

Width (mm) Thickness (mm)

Mass (g)

181

1o-5

28.9

21.8

2.5

2.7

239

2a-6

 8.7

 6.7

2.5

0.2

375

3a-15

19.7

13.4

2.2

0.7

499

1r-7

19.0

12.6

2.1

0.6

Variability in the forms of irregular beads and the methods used to analyse them makes inter-assemblage comparisons difficult. Awe (1992:326) reported four irregular beads from Middle Preclassic levels in Str. B-4, but it is not clear if these were similar to examples from Plaza B. Irregular beads were reported from Blackman Eddy and Pacbitun, where analysts identified levels of intra-group variability like that seen at Cahal Pech. Cochran (2009:60-61) identified smoothed and rounded margins on most irregular beads from Blackman Eddy, while Hohmann (2002:106) saw very little edge modification in the Pacbitun sample. Each reported a wide array of bead shapes and sizes that resembled examples from Cahal Pech, especially when Strombus shoulder spikes were preserved. Hohmann (2002:124) further demonstrated a decline in the numbers of irregular beads from early to late Middle Preclassic, which was the reverse of the pattern seen in the Plaza B assemblage.

Figure 8.7: Non-discoid marine shell ornaments. Note characteristic Strombus spines on central piece. A) Phase IV irregular beads (SF-13, SF-241); B) Phase I irregular bead (SF-204); C) Square bead (SF-239); D) Whole shell beads (SF-168, SF-239).

Artefact Description: The irregular bead subform was a catchall category for perforated ornaments with irregular outlines. These included sub-triangular, pentagonal, elongated oval, and other shapes neither easily described nor frequently repeated within the assemblage. Some irregular beads had smooth margins, but others were not ground or modified after initial shaping. Both uniconical and biconical drilling techniques were used to perforate irregular beads, but uniconical drilling was comparatively more common among irregular beads than other forms. A substantial amount of variability is subsumed in this category, which may have included finished and unfinished artefacts, broken beads from rare and unrecognized shape classes, and beads purposely made from specific parts of gastropod shells. This last category describes several beads made from the shoulders and lower spires of Strombus shells (Figure 8.7A).

Excavations at Uaxactun unearthed several examples of perforated Strombus shell fragments from a Middle Preclassic midden that are nearly identical to irregular beads from Belize Valley sites (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:199, Plate 68a).9 These included perforated shoulder fragments and drilled columellae with intact spires and body whorls removed. Richard Hansen (2005:62) described similar perforated Strombus shoulder fragments at Nakbe and suggested these ornaments were diagnostic of the Middle Preclassic occupation. A single unperforated piece of Turbinella angulata was recovered from Burial C-13/33 at Altun Ha (Pendergast 1982:173), but this was the only similar artefact reported from any site in northern Belize.

Context Description and Comparison: Few examples of early (Phases I-III) irregular beads were recovered. The earliest irregular bead (SF-204) was a complete, elongated triangular ornament with smooth and partially rounded margins, which formed part of an offering (Cache 10) near the Phase I dwelling floor in Op. 1x (Figure 8.7B). The position of this bead in the cache is not clear, but it was deposited with two partial vessels below a circular slate disk. Its shape was unique in the Plaza B assemblage, and it was the only early bead of any subform included in a cache.

Artefact Form: Bead (Table 8.8) Subform: Square/Rectangular Frequency: 4 Material: Marine gastropod, Strombus sp. Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 4 Context: Fill: 1 Midden: 1 Off-Platform Refuse: 1 Op. 2a: 1

Phase IV irregular beads were primarily recovered from refuse deposits (n = 32, 91.4%). Irregular beads with intact Strombus spikes were concentrated in off-platform refuse near Platform 1 and the midden in Op. 1r, but they were also recovered from midden deposits near the southeast corner of Platform B. Two irregular beads, one with preserved Strombus spikes, came from the late Phase IV pit near the platform corner in Op. 3c. Threequarters of the beads from Phase IV refuse deposits were not obviously broken, and it is not clear why they would have been discarded.

Artefact Description: Examples of this subform had square or rectangular outlines, corners that approximated right angles, and margins that were smooth and somewhat The number of ‘perforated shells, not beads or pendants’ given is 620, but it is not clear that these were all marine shells or from Middle Preclassic deposits. 9

146

Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts rounded. Most were closer to rectangles than squares aside from SF-239 (Figure 8.7C), which may have been square before it was broken. These beads were not as thick as discoids and were relatively flat, although the largest example (SF-181) was slightly convex. The small assemblage was evenly split between uniconically and biconically drilled examples, and perforations were located roughly in the centre of each bead. All square/rectangular beads were made from marine gastropod shells, and two beads retained striations and scalloping characteristic of Strombus shell exteriors.

communication 2014), although indirect percussion could have produced a similar result.

Context Description and Comparison: Square and rectangular beads were rare in the Plaza B assemblage, appeared only during Phase IV, and were only recovered from platform fill and refuse contexts. The largest rectangular bead (SF-181) came from a fill deposit above Burial 1 and probably predates the other beads in this class.

Perforated Marginellidae shells have been reported from several sites in the Maya Lowlands that are almost identical to SF-169, but many of these examples come from later time periods. None were reported from previous excavations in the Cahal Pech epicentre, although one perforated Prunum shell was recovered from beneath a late Middle Preclassic plaza floor in the Tolok group (Powis 1996:126). An additional Middle Preclassic Prunum shell was identified at the Cas Pek group (Stanchly 1995:Table 8), but it is not clear if this shell was perforated. Thirtyfour Middle Preclassic Prunum beads were identified at Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:Table 6.1), which is the highest number reported from the any Belize Valley site. Prunum (also called Marginella) shells have been identified in possible Middle Preclassic deposits at Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:Plate 68a) and Tikal (Moholy-Nagy 1994:Table 2.1d), and similar perforated shells from Middle Preclassic contexts were recovered from Nakbe (Hansen 2005:62). Contemporaneous examples are also known from Cuello (Hammond 1991a:187), K’axob (Harrigan 2004:402), and Altun Ha (Pendergast 1982:172) in northern Belize, and Dzibilchaltun (Taschek 1994:25) in Yucatán.

Context Description and Comparison: SF-169 was deposited in Cache 9, which included several other artefacts and was placed in construction fill along the eastern face of Platform B. This cache probably related to the initial dedication or final enlargement of Platform B. SF-239 was excavated in lot Op. 2a-6, which was described as a ‘dark midden-like fill’ deposit adjacent to a cobble surface (Garber et al. 2006:13).

Middle Preclassic square and rectangular marine shell beads are almost entirely unknown in the Belize Valley outside of Pacbitun. Previous excavations at Cahal Pech did not describe comparably shaped beads, with the closest parallels found in Late Preclassic unperforated rectangular ‘sections’ from Zubin (Ferguson 1995:156, Fig. 6b). Hohmann (2002:Table 6.2; Hohmann et al. 2018) reported 275 square/rectangular beads from Pacbitun that mostly derived from late Middle Preclassic contexts. Five ‘squared disk’ and ‘subrectangular’ beads were reported from the Chan shell assemblage and may be comparable, but neither dates nor material are provided (Keller 2012:Table 2). This bead type was equally rare in surrounding areas during the Middle Preclassic and did not become common until later time periods (Garber 1989:64; Taschek 1994:23; Willey 1978:163; Willey et al. 1965:510).

No Middle Preclassic examples of Anadara sp. beads have been described from Belize Valley sites, but small numbers of unidentified marine pelecypods were reported from Blackman Eddy (Cochran 2009:Table 5.11) and Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:Table 6.1). Half of an unmodified Arca noae shell was recovered from a Middle Preclassic midden at Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:199), and perforated marine valves were deposited in caches and burials at Colha (Buttles 2002:Table 6.18), Cuello (Hammond 1991a:187), K’axob (Aizupurúa 2004:Table 14.2), and Altun Ha (Pendergast 1982:174). Three Anadara notabilis beads from Dzibilchaltun were the closest parallels to SF-239 and were assigned a Formative date (Taschek 1994:26, Fig. 3).

Artefact Type: Whole Shell (Figure 8.7D) Frequency: 2 Material: Prunum apicinum, Anadara notabilis Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 2 Context: Cache: 1 Op. 2a: 1

Artefact Description: These were two small, complete marine shells that may have been perforated through natural processes, as neither was pierced by the conical drill holes common to most other shell ornaments. SF-168 (Figure 8.7D, left) was a whole Prunum apicinum shell with a small, irregularly shaped hole near its midpoint. The perforation had jagged edges and may have been caused by post-depositional factors, although a similar result could have been obtained by indirect percussion with a pointed punch. SF-239 (Figure 8.7D, right) included both valves of an Anadara notabilis shell with a circular hole in a similar location to perforations made through freshwater bivalve shells. Its perforation lacked the regular conical shape observed on other drilled beads and may have been made by a marine predator (E. Wyllys Andrews V, personal

Artefact Form: Bead Subform: Unidentified Frequency: 9 Material: Marine gastropod, Strombus sp. Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 9 Context: Fill: 2 Later Refuse: 1 Midden: 4 Off-Platform Refuse: 1 Op. 2a: 1

147

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization have been simply cut into shape. One pendant, SF-332, was modified by shallow, radial carving or gouging along its convex obverse face that gave it the appearance of a sand dollar (Figure 8.8B).

Artefact and Context Description: Unidentified marine shell beads were fragments whose original size and shape could not be determined. All fragments were uniconically drilled, which was unusual in the overall assemblage, and all were fractured along these perforations. Strombus spines were preserved on only one fragment but the rest were probably made from the same material. All unidentified fragments were recovered from refuse deposits or platform fill, which suggests they may have broken during use or manufacture and were subsequently discarded.

Context Description and Comparison: The only pendant from a Phase III context (SF-500) was embedded in the marl perimeter floor abutting the south face of Platform H; Phase IV pendants were recovered from refuse deposits and construction fill. Three pendants were discarded in middens near the centre of Plaza B, and a fourth came from a midden near the southeast corner of Platform B.

Artefact Type: Pendant (Figure 8.8, Table 8.9) Frequency: 6 Material: Marine gastropod, probably Strombus sp. Architectural Phase: III (Early Kanluk): 1* IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 4 Context: Fill: 1 Floor: 1* Midden: 4

Small numbers of Middle Preclassic marine shell pendants have been reported from several sites in the Maya Lowlands, but variability in classification schemes and pendant morphologies complicates formal comparisons. A carved marine shell pendant was recovered from a late Middle Preclassic level in front of Str. B-4 (Cheetham 1995:Fig. 10f), and three Middle Preclassic Strombus pendants were reported from Cas Pek (Lee and Awe 1995:112). Middle Preclassic marine shell pendants are also known from Blackman Eddy (Cochran 2009:6366), Colha (Buttles 2002:Table 6.12), Cuello (Hammond 1991a:186), Dzibilchaltun (Taschek 1994:34-36), K’axob (Isaza Aizpurúa 2004:Table 14.2), Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:Table 6.2), and Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:201). The only pendant from Plaza B with two perforations, SF-512, resembled some of the doubleperforated shell plates thought to be clothing ornaments from Piedras Negras Burial 5 (Coe 1959:Fig. 54), but these objects came from a Late Classic tomb and were made from Spondylus shell.

Artefact Description: Pendants included all marine shell ornaments with off-centre or multiple perforations that lacked the distinctive conical shape of tinklers. Shells were pierced by both biconical and uniconical drilling, and the placement of perforations allowed pendants to hang vertically as pieces of strung jewellery or costume elements. Most pendants were probably made from Strombus shells and were larger, thicker, and heavier than beads but were shaped into similar rounded (Figure 8.8A) or elongated (Figure 8.8C) forms. Margins were usually lightly ground and smooth, although some appeared to

Figure 8.8: Marine shell pendants. A) SF-500; B) SF-332; C) SF-310.

Figure 8.9: Oliva shell tinklers from Burial 1.

Table 8.9: Measurements of marine shell pendants. SF-332 was circular and its diameter measurement is given in the Length column SF#

Lot

Shape

Length (mm)

Width (mm)

Thickness (mm)

Mass (g)

310

1p-9

Elongate

45.4

13.2

4.3

4.3

332

1h-12

Discoid

21.1

-

5.0

3.9

465

1s-5

Elongate

40.9

30.1

2.6

2.3

500*

1v-7

Discoid

30.7

24.5

4.7

6.1

512

1r-7

Incomplete

32.5

21.7

2.4

1.8

570

5a-5

Elongate

27.1

18.0

2.9

2.5

148

Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts Artefact Form: Pendant (Figure 8.9, Table 8.10) Subform: Tinkler Frequency: 6 Material: Oliva sp. (reticularis ?) Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 6 Context: Burial: 4 Op. 2a: 2

Table 8.10: Measurements of Oliva shell tinklers

248

1o-10

20.9

14.2

1.7

2.9

Artefact Description: Tinklers were made by removing the spires from small marine gastropod shells and perforating the posterior end for suspension. This produced hollow, truncated, cone-shaped ornaments that may have been sewn onto garments. Suspension holes were created by both cutting and drilling, and edges were ground smooth after the spire was removed from each piece. All Plaza B tinklers were made from Oliva shells that could not be identified to species. The two tinklers from Op. 2a may have been unfinished pieces, as neither was perforated and only one (SF-247) had its spire completely removed. These were considerably smaller than the tinklers interred with Burial 1 (Table 8.10).

248

1o-10

28.8

17.2

3.5

5.5

248

1o-10

17.7

10.2

1.0

1.4

SF#

Context Description and Comparison: Tinklers were only recovered from two Middle Preclassic contexts in Plaza B: the possible midden in Op. 2a, and Burial 1 from the southeastern corner of Platform B. This restricted distribution contrasts with the variety of contexts that contained other marine shell ornaments, and it suggests that tinklers had a different function and/or social value than beads and pendants. Tinklers were also the only type of marine shell ornament used as grave furniture at Cahal Pech, although the sample of one burial is admittedly small. Unfinished tinklers might be expected from Op. 2a-6 given the abundance of shell ornaments and production debris this lot contained, but it is intriguing that tinkler fragments were not also discarded with the denser concentrations of marine shell remains located near the centre of Plaza B.

Lot

Length (mm)

Diameter (mm)

Thickness (mm)

Mass (g)

211

2a-6

11.4

 7.7

-

0.3

246

2a-6

11.7

 7.1

1.1

0.2

248

1o-10

25.0

12.8

1.5

1.4

Figure 8.10: Marine shell bead blanks. Note shallow circular incision on bottom right of C. A) SF-208; B) SF-221; C) SF373; D) SF-508.

central Petén (Moholy-Nagy 1994:Table 2.1d; Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:201), and in northern Belize (Isaza Aizpurúa 2004:Table 14.2; Buttles 2002:Fig. 6.7; Hammond 1991a:Fig. 8.46a). Artefact Form: Blank (Figure 8.10, Table 8.11) Frequency: 4 Material: Strombus sp., marine gastropod Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 4 Context: Fill: 1 Midden: 2 Op. 2a: 1

Oliva (and the smaller Olivella) shell tinklers occur at sites throughout the Maya area from Preclassic to Postclassic times,10 and several different species have been identified in assemblages where shell colour patterns were preserved (Andrews IV 1969:17-19). The basic techniques of removing the spire and drilling or cutting the posterior end were a remarkably stable manufacturing template through time; variability in form is so low that a Middle Preclassic tinkler from Cuello (Hammond 1991a:Fig. 8.46a) is virtually indistinguishable from a Late Classic example from Piedras Negras (Coe 1959:Fig. 52s). Occasional decorative embellishments were made to selected tinklers by cutting and carving, but the majority of these ornaments were plain. They tend to be occur in relatively low numbers in Middle Preclassic contexts, and examples from this period have been reported at Cahal Pech (Awe 1992:326) and elsewhere in the Belize Valley (see Hohmann 2002:Table 6.5; Hohmann et al. 2018), in

Artefact Description: Ornaments that were discarded before production was complete were classified as blanks. These objects represent an intermediate stage of manufacture that links raw material and production debris to finished artefacts and are distinguished from unfinished beads by incomplete perforations or the presence of cut marks. Four different blank shapes were identified, which included a cylindrical bead blank (SF221) that had no parallel in the finished bead assemblage (Figure 8.10B). This blank was ground smooth along portions of its thick encircling margin but was left rough along the face, where a single drill hole was started. The square-shaped blank (SF-508) had jagged margins that were ground after being shaped, and drilling was begun on both faces before the piece was discarded (Figure 8.10D). SF-208 had a regular disk-shaped outline with partially smoothed margins and was the only blank that lacked any signs of drilling (Figure 8.10A). The obverse face was left unmodified and retained the roughened exterior surface of the natural shell. The irregular/disk blank SF-373 preserved signs of the initial shaping of

10 See Kidder, Jennings and Shook (1946:148-149) and Taschek (1994:43) for a comprehensive early survey of tinkler distributions in the New World and a later update, respectively.

149

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 8.11: Contextual and metric data for marine shell bead blanks SF#

Lot

Shape

Drilled?

Length (mm)

Width (mm)

Thickness (mm) Mass (g)

208

1o-8

Discoid

No

11.0

 -

 1.6

0.4

221

2a-6

Cylinder

Yes

13.1

 -

12.9

3.4

373

1i-5

Irregular/Disk

Yes

28.7

23.5

 2.7

3.5

508

1r-7

Square

Yes

 8.3

 8.0

 1.8

0.2

Figure 8.11: Representative sample of marine shell debris.

discoid beads or possibly the recycling of an irregular bead into a disk. It was the only marine shell artefact that preserved the partial outline of a bead cut into an area surrounding a perforation (Figure 8.10C). SF-373 was clearly made from a Strombus shell and the other blanks were probably also made from this material.

Table 8.12: Shell element frequencies and percentages in the marine shell debris assemblage

Columella

 234

 17.6

Spire-and-Columella

  32

  2.4

Context Description and Comparison: Three of the four blanks were recovered from refuse deposits that contained large quantities of marine shell detritus and significant numbers of finished and broken ornaments, which would be expected if the deposits resulted from marine shell ornament manufacture. The discoid blank came from construction fill directly above the Burial 1 crypt; it may have been associated with the incorporation of the crypt into Platform B, but it was not included as a grave good.

Shoulder

 195

 14.7

Element

n

%

Spire

 284

 21.4

Body Whorl/Outer Lip

 386

 29.1

Unidentified

 197

  14.8

Total

1328

100.0

manufacturing reject. If this artefact was indeed a finished shell disk it would be the only such object found in a Middle Preclassic context at Cahal Pech. Marine Shell Debris

Blanks are rare in comparison to finished artefacts in Middle Preclassic marine shell assemblages. Similar examples of incompletely drilled and partially smoothed blanks were recovered at Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:108109), and roughly shaped blanks were reported from Colha (Buttles 2002:167). SF-208 resembles later artefacts described as adornos or shell disks from several lowland sites (see Taschek 1994:52-53 for extensive comparisons). The rough exterior and incompletely smoothed margins of SF-208 indicate that it was not a finished artefact, but its placement above a burial suggests that it was not a

Marine shell debris included all pieces that were not extensively modified and represented the by-products of shell ornament production (Figure 8.11). The debris assemblage numbered 1,328 specimens, which dwarfed the finished artefact collection (n = 126) by an order of magnitude and made up the largest category of Middle Preclassic exotic materials at Cahal Pech. Slightly over 85% of debris fragments were recognizable portions of marine gastropod shells, which were identified as spires, columellae, spires-and-columellae, shoulders, and body 150

Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts whorls/outer lips (Table 8.12). The remaining specimens (n = 197) were not identifiable to specific shell elements and may include some examples of unrecognized taxa (e.g., scaphopods) or extremely fragmented gastropod remains. The latter category likely accounts for most unidentified debris fragments, given the high numbers of identifiable gastropod remains in the Cahal Pech assemblage and the low numbers of non-gastropod remains from contemporaneous assemblages in the Belize Valley (e.g., Cochran 2009:Table 5.11; Hohmann 2002:Table 6.1).

between the masses of floor debris and pieces found in platform fill. The amount of marine shell debris deposited in refuse deposits is impressive, especially given the distance this material had to be transported to arrive at Cahal Pech. Much of this material was fragmented, and it may have been deemed inappropriate for ornament manufacture for other reasons we cannot know. A significant number of discarded pieces, including several examples pictured in Figure 8.11, were sizable enough to produce one or more small discoid beads or to perforate and use as irregular beads. Irregular beads from Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:Fig. 6.4; Hohmann et al. 2018) and Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:Plate 68a, bottom row) are almost identical to the spire-and-columella fragments in the top row of Figure 8.11, except that the Cahal Pech examples lack perforations. The fact that these pieces were simply discarded does not fit economizing models of scarce resource use, which suggests that at least some inhabitants of Cahal Pech could afford to throw away this exotic raw material.

Spire and columella fragments represent opposite axial ends of marine gastropod shells, while shoulder, body whorl, and outer lip fragments comprise the sections of shell in between the two. A small percentage of the assemblage includes specimens where the spire and columella remained attached, which were typically smaller than other fragments of either element. The range of anatomical elements in the debris assemblage and the high frequencies of spire, columella, and body whorl/outer lip remains strongly suggest that gastropod shells were brought into the site whole for reduction into beads and other ornaments. Similar patterns were observed in Middle Preclassic marine shell debris collections from Blackman Eddy (Cochran 2009:72), Colha (Dreiss 1994, cited in Buttles 2002:160), and Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:118), where they have been interpreted as evidence for on-site ornament production.

Evidence for the Production of Marine Shell Ornaments Several lines of evidence suggest marine shell ornaments were produced at Cahal Pech by late Kanluk times at the latest, although nothing resembling a workshop was completely excavated and the recovery of micro-artefacts was not a part of the excavation strategy. Limited evidence suggests that shell working may have begun during preceding phases, but a quantitative shift in the scale of production clearly occurred during Phase IV that left unmistakable traces of manufacturing activities. The cooccurrence of shell beads in different stages of production, quantities of marine shell debris, and numerous worn drills provide evidence of ornament manufacture that would only be expected near production sites. The same logic has been used to argue for Middle Preclassic ornament manufacture at sites in the Belize Valley (Cochran 2009; Hohmann 2002; Hohmann et al. 2018; Keller 2012; Lee 1996; Lee and Awe 1995), central Petén (Hendon 1999), and northern Belize (Isaza Aizpurúa 2004; Buttles 2002) in the Maya Lowlands, and at Early Formative locales in the Oaxaca Valley, Mexico (Flannery and Winter 1976). Analysis of the Strombus shell assemblage at Cahal Pech revealed a series of production stages (Figure 8.12) that closely paralleled manufacturing techniques identified at Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:142-146).

Approximately 97.8% (n = 1,298) of marine shell debris fragments came from Phase IV contexts, which paralleled the dramatic increase in the number of ornaments dating to this phase. Much lower frequencies were recovered from refuse deposits associated with earlier structures (n = 12) and Phase V floor ballast (n = 18). Phase IV debris was primarily recovered from refuse contexts and was concentrated in middens between platforms near the centre of Plaza B (Table 8.13). The removal of debris from areas of active use would be expected given the jagged edges observed on most pieces. Fragments recovered from floors tended to be smaller and could have more easily become embedded in cobbleand-marl surfaces, which is suggested by a comparison

Table 8.13: Contextual distribution of Phase IV marine shell debris by frequency and mass Context

n

%

Mass (g)

%

Fill

29

2.2

162.7

4.4

Floor

42

3.2

92.9

2.5

Later Refuse

240

18.5

675.5

18.2

Midden

636

49.0

2075.2

56.0

Off-Platform

77

5.9

221.4

6.0

Pit

76

5.9

212.6

5.7

Op. 2a

198

15.3

265.5

7.2

Total

1298

100.0

3705.8

100.0

The process probably began by striking whole Strombus shells with a hammerstone to break them into several irregularly shaped fragments. Fragments could then be shaped through flaking and cutting, perforated for suspension as irregular beads, or discarded as unusable. All Strombus shell beads were pierced by uniconical or biconical drilling; lateral cutting and indirect percussion (punching) were used to perforate tinklers and whole shell beads, respectively, but these techniques were not applied 151

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 8.12: Hypothetical production sequence for Strombus shell ornaments. The large spire-and-columella fragment at left represents a whole, unmodified Strombus shell, none of which were found in Plaza B. All artefacts at same scale.

to other bead forms. Most regular beads and pendants appear to have been perforated after being roughly shaped, but some may have had their edges and faces ground before drilling was attempted. Beads that fractured along perforations, presumably during manufacture, had both smooth (n = 5) and rough (n = 4) edges, and the possibility that both methods were used cannot be ruled out. At some point in the sequence, however, most regular beads were abraded along their margins and across their faces, which produced smooth, rounded edges and polished surfaces. The margins of irregular beads were occasionally ground as well, and Strombus spines were occasionally cut and smoothed. Irregular beads may also have been recycled into disk beads, as the bead blank SF-373 (Figure 8.10C) seems to show.

Hohmann et al. 2018).11 The NISP from Plaza B was 1,328 marine shell fragments, which was well below the recently expanded sample from Pacbitun (NISP = 3,065; Powis 2010:Table 3), comparable to that from Cas Pek (NISP = 1,812; Hohmann 2002:Table 8.1), and well above the totals from Blackman Eddy (NISP = 609; Cochran 2009:Table 8.1) and Chan (NISP = 106; Keller 2012:Table 2). This suggests that Cahal Pech residents were engaging in a level of shell ornament production like that of other Belize Valley sites and may have been organized at a similar scale. An estimate of the minimum number of individual (MNI) marine shells necessary to generate the debris assemblages might more accurately characterize the scale of production at each site, but these numbers are rarely provided. This quantitative measure is more conservative, as it counts only those elements that occur once per shell or are found in recognizable pairs. Gastropod shells possess only one spire and columella, but have rounded shoulders, body whorls, and lips that can be broken in many places to produce multiple fragments. Following the method employed by Stanchly (1995:126), I calculated an MNI for marine gastropod shells at 325 by adding the number of spire fragments, spire-and-columella remains, and wholeshell artefacts.12 This is an absolute lowest limit and the true number probably included dozens or even hundreds of additional shells, but it unlikely to be quite as high as the NISP would suggest. Similar results were obtained by Stanchly (1995:Table 8) at Cas Pek, where a sample of 983 Strombus remains was reduced to an MNI of 83. The

The sequence above illustrates two possible trajectories for producing different Strombus bead forms, based on the available evidence from Cahal Pech and Hohmann’s (2002) detailed study at Pacbitun. It likely does not capture all the variability present in Middle Preclassic shell ornament production processes, and it is important to note that pieces could be removed from the process at any point and used or otherwise discarded. This sequence provides both a plausible explanation for the variety of marine shell remains recovered from Plaza B and support for the argument that ornament production took place there. Recovery of unworked marine shell debris supports arguments for on-site production of ornaments, and the quantities of debris provide the means to roughly estimate its scale. Numbers of identified specimens (NISP) from marine taxa range from the low hundreds to thousands in Middle Preclassic shell debris assemblages from other Belize Valley sites, which have been cited as evidence for part-time, household level specialization in shell ornament production at Blackman Eddy (Cochran 2009:83), Cas Pek (Lee 1996; Lee and Awe 1995), Chan (Keller 2012), and Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002:202;

Bobbi Hohmann was the first to argue for the specific scale and intensity of specialization in shell ornament production mentioned above, and later studies have drawn heavily on her work at Pacbitun. David Lee and Jaime Awe proposed that specialized production of shell ornaments occurred at the Cahal Pech satellite group Cas Pek in earlier papers, but they did not specify the scale of production they thought had occurred there. 12 The MNI for all marine shell remains is 326, which includes SF-239, a bead made from the marine pelecypod Anadara notabilis. 11

152

Bone, Freshwater and Marine Shell Artefacts Summary and Conclusion

use of NISPs in discussions of material acquisition and production may skew our perception of the scale of these activities; if the MNI is averaged over the course of Phase IV (about 650 – 350 B.C.) when most of these shells were found, the total amounts to 1.25 shells acquired per year. This should be taken only as a cautionary note until more detailed studies of shell remains can be completed, and it does not contradict the prevailing interpretations of parttime, household-level specialization and production.

The worked bone, freshwater shell, and marine shell assemblages are the only organic remains included in this study, which represent a subset of the total biotic resources consumed by the Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech community. I have argued that these materials were processed and used in different ways for different purposes, and that they likely had different values attached to them by people within and beyond the local community. Access to these resources does not appear to have been controlled, and corporate groups or households probably determined their own levels of participation in the production, consumption, and exchange of raw materials and finished artefacts.

The association of shell objects with probable manufacturing tools provides a final line of evidence for shell ornament production at Cahal Pech. Four manufacturing techniques were used to produce marine shell ornaments, and different sets of tools would have been involved in each, although many of these tools were probably multifunctional. Initial breaking of whole shells was most likely accomplished by percussion with a hard or soft hammer, as was the chipping used to roughly shape beads from fragments or blanks. Hammerstones were uncommon in Phase IV deposits, but two examples were recovered near Platform A in the refuse deposit that included several large discoid beads. Three pecked spheroids, which may have functioned as soft hammer percussors, were also recovered from refuse and floor contexts that contained shell debris and other production tools.

Worked bone and freshwater shell artefacts were comparatively rare despite the abundance of vertebrates and molluscs in the Middle Preclassic landscape. Freshwater mussel shells are relatively thin, especially after being stripped of their outer layers, and bone does not survive well in acidic and water-leached sediments; preservation bias may therefore explain some of the scarcity of bone and freshwater shell artefacts. Similar patterns of materials consumption at Middle Preclassic sites in the Belize Valley and elsewhere suggest that poor preservation cannot be entirely responsible for the small numbers of recovered specimens, however, and worked bone and freshwater shell artefacts may reflect the opportunistic recycling of food waste into ornaments of lesser social value than those made from different materials. If this were indeed the case in the Belize Valley, then the value of worked bone and freshwater shell ornaments may have increased during later periods, when both materials were more regularly interred with burials (Ferguson 1995; Healy et al. 2014; Willey et al. 1965:496, 504).

Cutting tools were used to shape beads, carve pendants, and saw the spires from Oliva shells during the production of tinklers. Informal or expedient tools were not examined as part of this study but may have been used for these cutting tasks. Formal tools included chert and obsidian blades, which were encountered in numerous Phase IV contexts with shell ornaments and debris. Several obsidian blade fragments were associated with Phase IV platform remains in Operations 2, 3, and 4 alongside large quantities of shell debris. Blades were probably used to cut many different materials and one of them may have been shell. Abrading implements, by contrast, were not identified in the stone tool assemblage, and it is not clear what materials would have been used to smooth the margins and faces of marine shell beads.

Marine shell was an exotic resource that had to be transported over 100 km from the Caribbean coast. At this distance shellfish had limited value as a dietary staple. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that marine shells, primarily from Strombus species, were brought unmodified into Cahal Pech and were transformed into various types of ornaments during Phase IV of the Plaza B architectural sequence. Marine shell ornaments were present during earlier phases, and the small amount of associated shell debris suggests some level of production, but an increase in manufacturing intensity occurred at the transition from early to late Middle Preclassic. This likely reflected an increase in the social value of marine shell goods and participation in interregional exchange networks.

Most marine shell beads were pierced by drilling, and chert drills like those involved in shell production elsewhere were the most common (n = 297) formal chipped stone tools recovered from Middle Preclassic deposits. Drilled slate (n = 2), bone (n = 1), and sherd (n = 21) artefacts were also found in Middle Preclassic contexts, but none of these were as numerous as drilled marine shell ornaments (n = 125), and it is hard to believe that so many drills were necessary if not for the production of marine shell ornaments. Large quantities of chert drills were recovered from deposits with high shell debris concentrations that also included complete and broken marine shell beads (see chapter ten). The frequent and consistent association of chert drills with marine shell artefacts and debris indicates a functional relationship between these artefact classes, although experimental studies are needed to determine the exact methods of drilling that were used.

Exactly how marine shell ornaments were valued, and what functions they fulfilled in Belize Valley communities, remain unanswered questions. These were presumably important materials because they derived from a distant source and required a certain amount of skill to produce (Helms 1979:75, 1988:4), and yet they were rarely found in dedicatory contexts at Cahal Pech. Some of the rarer and more distinct items, especially the carved tinklers interred with Burial 1, may have served as material symbols of 153

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization recognized social personae (Isaza Aizpurúa and McAnany 1999:124; Gillespie 2001), but this did not appear to be the case for the majority of beads that were recovered from floors or refuse heaps alongside more quotidian objects. The small Middle Preclassic burial sample from Belize Valley sites complicates comparisons of shell bead use with sites in northern Belize, where more shell beads were included in graves than in all other contexts. Conceptualizing marine shell beads as a form of generalized wealth or wearable ‘primitive currency’ may account for these different depositional patterns and may provide a useful framework for understanding the Cahal Pech assemblage. This interpretation has been articulated in various ways by several Maya scholars (Isaza Aizpurúa and McAnany 1999; Freidel et al. 2002; Hansen 2005; Hendon 1999; Hohmann 2002; Ricketson and Ricketson 1937), who implicitly or explicitly draw on ethnographic and ethnohistoric data to argue that marine shell beads were sources of convertible wealth. Shell beads could be strung and worn as jewellery and may have visually conveyed an individual’s wealth, which served as material expressions of social statuses separate from those marked by tinklers and other ornaments (Isaza Aizpurúa and McAnany 1999). If beads were generalized wealth items that were not tied to specific social roles or positions, then we might expect variability in the levels at which different corporate groups participated in the networks that moved these materials across the landscape, as group members weighed the costs of materials acquisition and production against the benefits of consumption and exchange. A model of opportunistic economic participation, designed to meet the immediate needs of households or corporate groups, might explain the variability in bead manufacture that has been observed among sites in the Belize Valley and in the greater Cahal Pech community.

154

9 Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery Introduction

Modelled-Clay Artefacts

Ceramic artefacts formed the largest raw material class in this study and comprised both pottery and firedclay objects. I examined over 50,000 potsherds, which included fragments of serving vessels and containers used for cooking and food storage.1 Sherds made up the bulk of the Middle Preclassic ceramic artefact assemblage, but an additional 182 clay artefacts were made by handmodelling and firing or by recycling the sherds of broken vessels. Most of these pieces were ceremonial items or objects of personal adornment, but a few were utilitarian implements or had unclear functions.

Modelled-clay artefacts were shaped by hand and could be decorated by slipping, burnishing, incising, the addition of appliqués, or a combination of these techniques. This category included ornaments like beads (n = 4) and earspools (n = 6), and possible ritual objects like anthropomorphic figurine fragments (n = 135) and ocarinas or whistles (n = 6). Small clay pellets and cylinders (n = 3) were also recovered that served less-clear functions. Type: Bead (Figure 9.1A, Table 9.1) Subtype:Cylinder, Discoid Frequency: 4 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk)

The ready availability of clay in the Maya Lowlands and current conceptions of Middle Preclassic exchange systems has produced an implicit consensus that ceramic artefacts were locally made, with the possible exception of some serving vessels. Many such artefacts undoubtedly were; reworked sherds, for example, were almost certainly made on-site from broken pottery vessels, regardless of where those vessels originated. Modelled clay figurines may also have been locally made for ritual use by households, but this assumption has not been tested by provenance studies for Middle Preclassic examples. Certain types of finely decorated bowls and dishes are thought to have circulated through limited exchange networks, but utilitarian cooking pots and storage jars are almost universally assumed to be local products. Ceramic analysis documented a surprising amount of variability in the fabrics of both fine serving vessels and coarse storage jars that suggests pottery production, exchange, and consumption were much more complex in the Middle Preclassic than previously thought.

Artefact Description and Comparison: Tubular beads were long, narrow, and had large central perforations to allow horizontal suspension with other ornaments. SF-826 was the only complete specimen and was nearly 3 cm long, but enough of SF-835 was intact that its measurements reflect its original size. All tubular beads were made from a dark orange-red or red clay fabric with well-sorted white particles, and the two reasonably complete examples had blackened surfaces with traces of red slip. SF-891 was a small discoid bead made from a similar fabric that also had traces of a dark red slip but was not blackened like the tubular beads. This bead was uniconically drilled and was not completely perforated before discard. Preclassic tubular beads from Cahal Pech include two examples of nearly identical descriptions from Late Kanluk and Early Xakal construction fill in Str. B-4 (Awe 1992:255), and three ‘small, ceramic tube-beads’ that may be similar from a late Middle Preclassic midden along the southern edge of Plaza B (Cheetham 1996:16). A single

This chapter is divided into two main sections, which describe Middle Preclassic fired-clay artefacts and the sample of pottery that was available for study. I begin with descriptions and contextual information for the fired-clay objects in a presentation format identical to the preceding two chapters. This assemblage is then divided into modelled-clay artefacts and reworked sherds to reflect different production technologies. Pottery is presented by functional and stylistic categories, and by macroscopically defined fabric types for different use-related contexts.

1 This total does not represent all Middle Preclassic sherds recovered, as several lots and cache vessels were removed from the collection and not available for analysis. It does include a substantial percentage of the sherd assemblage and a representative sample of contexts from each architectural phase.

Figure 9.1: Ceramic beads and miscellaneous modelled ceramic objects. A) Ceramic beads (left to right): SF-826, SF-835, SF-432, SF-891; B) Ceramic cylinders: SF-61, SF836; C) Ceramic ball or pellet: SF-216.

155

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization from refuse above the northeast corner of Platform B that may have originated from the later Phase IV Platform A. Tubular beads were also used earlier in Phase IV, as a fragmented example (SF-432) was recovered from fill beneath the marl-and-flagstone platform floor in Op. 5a (possibly Platform B).

discoid bead was reported from an early Middle Preclassic cache at Colha (Buttles 2002:Table 5.1), and small numbers of Late Preclassic tubular beads were described from K’axob (Bartlett 2004a:266), Uaxactun (Kidder 1947:69), and Chiapa de Corzo (Lee 1969:Figure 48g, h). Context Description: All ceramic beads came from Phase IV contexts, three of which were refuse deposits from the later part of the phase. The two most complete tubular beads (SF-826, SF-835) were deposited in the Op. 3c refuse pit that chopped through the northern face of a Phase IV rectangular platform (possibly Platform B). No nearby architecture was associated with this pit, which was intrusive into the earlier platform and capped by a Phase V cobble surface. The discoid bead (SF-891) was recovered

Type: Ear Ornament (Figure 9.2, Table 9.2) Subtype:Napkin ring, Solid spool Frequency: 6 Architectural Phase: II (Early Kanluk): 1 III (Early Kanluk): 1 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 4

Table 9.1: Contextual and metric data for modelled ceramic beads. SF-891 was measured from a scaled photograph SF#

Lot

Context

Subtype

L (mm)

Diam (mm)

Th (mm)

Mass (g)

432

5a-5

Fill

Tubular

20.8

 9.2

1.4

1.9

826

3c-14

Pit

Tubular

28.6

 6.2

1.4

1.2

835

3c-15

Pit

Tubular

24.5

 6.5

1.5

1.3

891

1d-28

Later Refuse

Discoid

-

10

-

-

Figure 9.2: Ceramic ear ornaments, napkin ring earspool fragments above scale, solid spool below. A) SF-878; B) SF-867; C and D) SF-244; E) SF-82. Table 9.2: Contextual and metric data for ceramic ear ornaments. SF-878 and 867 measured from photographs SF#

Lot

Subtype

Phase

Context

Diam (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

Mass (g)

878

5a-7

Napkin ring

II

Fill

-

19

 4

-

124

1a-37

Solid spool

III

Floor

-

 8.1

10.5

2.1

82

1a-11

Solid Spool

IV

Later Refuse

27.7

 8.4

14.9

5.6

244

1e-60

Napkin ring

IV

Cache

-

16.1

  3.8

1.5

244

1e-60

Napkin ring

IV

Cache

-

14.4

 2.8

0.7

867

2a-6

Napkin ring

IV

Op. 2a

-

16

-

-

156

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery Artefact Description and Comparison: Fragments of two distinct ear ornament forms were recovered beneath Plaza B. ‘Napkin ring’ earspools were squat, hollow, flaring cylinders that were both the most common and earliest type of ear ornaments. They were thin compared to solid spool ornaments, varied slightly in width, and were decorated across the convex interior surfaces that encircled the central hollow space. The earliest napkin ring earspool (SF-878) was slipped black or deep maroon on both surfaces and had pre-slip, zoned-incised decorations on its interior surface. Two parallel lines were deeply incised near the centre of the piece that likely encircled the artefact and separated the convex surface into two zones. Those sections were subdivided by two offset diagonal incisions that created additional zones between the edges of the ornament and the central incised lines; one of these zones on either side was covered by shallow circular punctations, while the other was left unmodified. The impressed zones appeared to align across the two central dividing lines, and an alternating pattern of impressed and plain zones may have been repeated across the entire surface. Two later earspools (both SF-244) were black-slipped on both faces, and the interior surface of at least one of these was burnished. A small napkin ring earspool fragment (SF867) was red-slipped on both surfaces and incised with what may be a sunburst motif on its interior.

incised earspools described above. All previously reported ceramic earspools came from Late Kanluk contexts. Few ceramic ear ornaments have been reported from Middle Preclassic contexts in the Maya Lowlands. A complete napkin ring spool was deposited with a Mamomphase burial at Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:Plate 69b), and similar ornaments were reported from Dili-phase and later deposits at Chiapa de Corzo (Lee 1969:90). Polished black napkin rings from Altar de Sacrificios appear similar to the burnished black fragments from Plaza B but come from mixed Late Preclassic/Late Classic contexts (Willey 1972:Fig. 74a, b, d). Large ceramic earspools have been reported from elite middens at Middle Preclassic sites in the Soconusco region of coastal Guatemala and interpreted as status markers (Rosenswig 2007), but I have been unable to find illustrations for comparison. Context Description: Few ceramic ear ornaments were deposited in any architectural phase, but the two Early Kanluk pieces described above may be the earliest examples from Cahal Pech. SF-878 was deposited on, or just underneath, a Phase II marl floor in Op. 5a and was the oldest ceramic earspool from the Plaza B excavations. It was not noted by the excavators, and its context is ambiguous; it may have been deposited on or embedded in the marl floor or in the 20 cm of platform fill beneath that surface. The solid spool fragment (SF-124) was deposited above a white marl surface in the north end of the Main Trench that corresponds to one of the earlier Phase III patio floors (PF 2 or 3) in that area.

Solid spool ornaments were thick, squat cylinders that were formed by joining two roughly flat ceramic disks together around a central hole or perforation. These ornaments were decorated on the flattened fronts and backs of the disks by fine incision and possibly stamping in the later example (SF-82). SF-124 was a fragment of one disk that was decorated by three incised circles on a flattened exterior face. Traces of red slip were present but badly eroded, and no decoration was present on the face opposite the incised circles, where the disk was presumably joined to another to create the spool. Approximately half of both joined disks were present in SF-82, which was incised on both intact faces but was not slipped. The incised motifs depict clusters of three joined circles set in the corners of what may be a trefoil-like device that encircled the central perforation.

The two plain, black-slipped ear spool fragments came from Cache 9, which was deposited along the eastern edge of Platform B at the time of its completion near the transition from Early to Late Kanluk times early in Phase IV. The better-preserved solid spool fragment came from refuse deposited above and around Platform A and dates to the later part of Phase IV (Late Kanluk). All ceramic ear ornaments were associated with northern group platforms. Type: Miscellaneous Modelled-Clay Object (Figure 9.1B-C, Table 9.3) Subtype:Ball/pellet, Cylinder Frequency: 3 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk)

Ceramic earspools have been previously reported from Cahal Pech, including a complete solid spool ornament from Str. B-4 construction fill with an incised design nearly identical to SF-82 (Awe 1992:Figure 70f). The complete example had a trefoil and three clusters of circles incised into only one of its flattened surfaces, whereas SF-82 bore these motifs on both faces. Napkin ring earspool fragments were recovered from Str. B-4 platform fill (Awe 1992:253) and from the Cas Pek group (Lee and Awe 1995:Figure 8c), and a complete earspool was recovered from Plaza B directly north of Str. B-4 (Cheetham 1995:Figure 10k). The napkin ring examples from Str. B-4 and Cas Pek were decorated with shallow, overlapping circular impressions that more closely resembled an incised bone fragment from Plaza B (SF-407, Figure 8.1B) than any of the

Artefact Description and Comparison: Three small, complete fired-clay objects of unclear function were recovered from Phase IV contexts. SF-61 was a thick, rounded cylinder with a rough surface that showed numerous multi-coloured, angular sand particles in an orange-brown fabric. This fabric was macroscopically similar to some coarse fabrics identified in Jocote Orangebrown vessels, although a fresh fracture was not made for comparison. The second cylinder (SF-836) had a squared outline and more regular form than SF-61, and its shape more closely resembled the tubular ceramic beads described above. Its surface was also weathered or 157

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 9.3: Contextual and metric data for miscellaneous modelled clay objects SF#

Lot

Subtype

Context

Length (mm)

Diameter (mm)

Mass (g)

61

1a-11

Cylinder

Later Refuse

22.2

10.3

2.4

216

1o-10

Ball/pellet

Burial

 6.0

 4.6

0.1

836

3c-15

Cylinder

Pit

19.0

7.1

1.0

unfinished, but it was made from a bright orange clay fabric with fewer inclusions than SF-61 and was reminiscent of a Savana Orange paste. SF-216 was made from a similar bright orange clay fabric and was a tiny, egg-shaped ball or pellet.

musicological perspective that would allow a more precise characterization of different instruments (e.g., Benton 2010), and not all ocarinas were available for analysis. The Preclassic ceramic figurines and ocarinas from Cahal Pech were extensively studied and first described by Awe (1992) as part of his dissertation research, and many additional pieces were recovered by subsequent excavations in the site epicentre and outlying groups (see chapters in Healy and Awe 1995, 1996; Iannone 1996; Powis 1996). Zweig (2010) analysed Middle and Late Preclassic figurine fragments from Cahal Pech and Pacbitun and developed a detailed stylistic typology of heads, torsos, appendages, and zoomorphic forms. Later studies have expanded stylistic and contextual analyses of figurines and have argued for their importance in household ancestor veneration rituals (DeLance 2016; Peniche May et al. 2018). I therefore provide only summary descriptions of figurine fragments and ocarinas below and refer the reader to the more comprehensive studies for detailed stylistic treatments. I focus instead on the contextual distributions of figurine fragments within Plaza B and address their possible functions and significance to conclude this section.

A ‘rod-shaped ceramic piece’ from an early Middle Preclassic midden at K’axob, interpreted as an unperforated bead or blank, may provide the best parallel for the two ceramic cylinders from Plaza B (Bartlett 2004a). Pottery pellets from later or mixed contexts have been called rattle balls at Barton Ramie (Willey et al. 1965:408) and Ceibal (Willey 1978:51), and slightly larger and more spherical examples from Chiapa de Corzo were interpreted as blowgun pellets (Lee 1969:93). Context Description: The two cylinders were deposited in separate late Phase IV refuse contexts. SF-61 came from the same refuse context above Platform A as the larger solid spool fragment (SF-82), but this deposit did not contain any tubular ceramic beads. Its rounded shape argues against its use as a bead blank and its function is unclear. SF-836 was recovered from the refuse pit in Op. 3c that contained two tubular ceramic beads and seems a more likely candidate for a discarded bead blank. The ceramic pellet (SF-216) was recovered in the early Phase IV crypt that housed Burial 1 at the southeastern corner of Platform B. It was the only small modelled-clay object deposited in a special context and was the only ceramic artefact associated with the burial. The position of SF216 within the crypt was not reported, so the relationship of this item to the skeleton and other burial furniture is not known. No rattles or hollow vessel legs were interred with Burial 1, but the pellet was small enough to fit inside any one of the four Oliva tinklers that accompanied the individual. It could have been suspended inside one of the larger shells to act as a tiny clapper whenever its wearer moved.

Type: Ocarina (Figure 9.3, Table 9.4) Frequency: 6

Artefact Description: SF-8, SF-64, and SF-521 were removed from the collection and could not be examined. The remaining ocarinas included bird and ovoid/gourd forms, and an unidentified fragment that appeared to be part of a hollow sound chamber. SF-11 (Figure 9.3A) was a partially complete ocarina shaped like a small bird with folded wings. The bird’s body was a hollow sound chamber with a tonal hole at the centre of its chest, appliquéd wings and nubbin feet, and slightly bulbous eyes with central indentations. It measured 57.4 mm from feet to head and 53.1 mm from wing to wing, but its back and tail were broken and not recovered. A buff or pale brown (Munsell 10YR 7/3) clay was used to make this piece and the left half of its body was blackened.

Modelled-Clay Ocarinas and Figurines All figurine fragments in the studied assemblage were anthropomorphic and incomplete, although examples of Middle Preclassic zoomorphic and supernatural figurines have been previously recovered at Cahal Pech and its surrounding groups (Lee 1996:Figure 6a; Lee and Awe 1995; Zweig 2010:Figure 4.2). The terms ‘ocarina’ and ‘whistle’ are used interchangeably to refer to any fired-clay wind instruments that had one or more sound chambers and tonal holes, regardless of how many notes they could generate or the arrangement of soundproducing structures. These pieces were not studied from a

A broken ovoid or gourd-shaped ocarina, SF-844, was the earliest in the Plaza B assemblage. This was a fairly simple instrument composed of a globular sound chamber and a small attached mouthpiece (Figure 9.3B). About half of the sound chamber was broken and its exact dimensions are not known, but the entire piece was about 60 mm from end to end. The intact section of the sound chamber was pierced by two tonal holes, and a third passage connected the chamber to the exterior of the mouthpiece. The 158

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery

Figure 9.3: Ceramic ocarinas or whistles. A) Bird effigy, SF-11; B) Ovoid or gourd effigy, SF-844. Note differential blackening on bird effigy and differences in ceramic fabrics.

exterior surface of the sound chamber was fire-clouded and decorated with a curving line of punctations, and a deep groove separated the chamber segment from the mouthpiece. SF-844 was made with a yellowish-red clay (Munsell 5YR 5/6) and included large, sub-rounded chunks of crushed limestone in its fabric.

Table 9.4: Contextual data for ceramic ocarinas

SF-302 was a tiny, thin, rounded fragment that appeared to be part of the hollow sound chamber of an ocarina. It was too small to provide any information about the original size or shape of the instrument, and a nubbin appliqué attached to its exterior was the only preserved decoration. The colour of its fabric was similar to SF-844, but it was fine-textured and lacked the prominent white inclusions of the larger piece.

SF#

Lot

Phase

Context

Subtype

844

3d-10

II

Floor

Ovoid/Gourd

8

1a-11

IV

Later Refuse

Ovoid/Gourd

11

1a-16

IV

Later Refuse

Bird

64

1a-11

IV

Later Refuse

Bird

302

1p-9

IV

Midden

Fragment

521

5a-4

IV

Floor

‘Animal Effigy’

(thought to be domiciles), then the refuse on its surface likely related to activities in the plaster-floored structure. A Phase IV ocarina (SF-521, not analysed), described by excavators as an ‘animal effigy,’ was also recovered from a floor surface. The ocarina was placed atop a flagstone surface near the centre of Op. 5a and was associated with green-stone triangulates (n = 4), marine shell beads (n = 2), and figurine fragments (n = 4). The flagstone surface and associated artefacts were covered by a 4 cm marl floor

Context Description: SF-844 was the only ocarina that pre-dated Phase IV; it was located deep in Op. 3d atop a Phase II marl floor along with figurine fragments and several large flat-lying sherds. If this floor was an outdoor perimeter addition to the earlier plaster floors in Op. 3c 159

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization which was recovered from a midden beneath the burned cobble feature in Op. 1p near the centre of Plaza B.

with an associated stone alignment, which may represent a platform or superstructure built near the centre of Platform B. Artefacts in Op. 5a-4 were not described as coming from a cache, but their location between two surfaces near the calculated centre of Platform B suggests some intent in their deposition.

Type: Anthropomorphic Figurine (Table 9.5) Frequency: 136 Early Context (Phases II and III): Floor: 6 Off-Platform Refuse: 1 Late Context (Phase IV): see Table 9.7 below

Half of all ocarinas from Plaza B were recovered from the late Phase IV refuse that covered Platforms A and B and were concentrated in Op. 1a. This deposit remains poorly understood, but the concentration of a rare artefact type in such a relatively small space seems significant. We do not fully understand the role(s) wind instruments played in Middle Preclassic communities, but they appear to have had some significance for people who used the northern group platforms in Plaza B. The only ocarina fragment not associated with a northern group platform was SF-302,

Artefact Description: Anthropomorphic figurine fragments were classified into four broad categories by anatomical element: head, torso, appendage, and other. Artefacts in these categories varied by form, ceramic fabric, and decorative style, but all figurine fragments were modelled by hand and nearly all were solid. Figurine heads received the most detailed decorations and embellishments, which contrasted sharply with the generic character of torsos and limbs. Ceramic fabrics ranged from pale brown or buff to dark reddish orange and were mostly fine grained. Some buff-coloured fabrics had a powdery feel often associated with volcanic ash temper, and a broken buff-coloured head fragment had a dark core common to some Cunil pottery types. The orange examples appeared superficially like Savana group pottery, but a detailed study of figurine fabrics could not be conducted for this project. Cream and red slips were present on some figurine fragments with

Table 9.5: Temporal distribution of figurine fragments by element Phase

Head

Torso

Appendage

Other

Total

II

 0

 0

 4

 0

  4

III

 0

 1

 1

 1

  3

IV

19

24

49

35

127

Total

19

25

54

36

134

Figure 9.4: Anthropomorphic figurine heads, showing variation in facial features and distinctive orange and buff ceramic fabrics. A) SF-251; B) SF-831; C) SF-798; D) SF-10; E) SF-630.

160

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery buff and orange fabrics, respectively. The measurements provided below conform to the orientation employed by Zweig (2010:Figure 4.1), in which length corresponds the vertical dimension of a forward-facing figurine (e.g., chin to crown or waist to shoulder), width is measured perpendicular to length in the second dimension (e.g., ear to ear or shoulder to shoulder), and thickness is measured from the back to the front of the same fragment.

were modelled or appliquéd, while gouging, incising, punctating, or a combination of these techniques were used to create different styles of eyes, mouths, and ear ornaments, or to add detail to other facial elements. Most heads also had modelled headgear or hair that extended above the forehead and projected forward. Traces of red and black slip (Figure 9.5A and B red, Figure 9.5D black) were identified on some heads, but most appeared to be either unslipped or eroded. One figurine head (SF-251, Figure 9.4A) had traces of red pigment in its open mouth and on its ears; a localized blackened area on its headdress may also represent weathered black paint.

Head Fragments Most of the nineteen head fragments were complete or nearly so (Figures 9.4 and 9.5), and the few incomplete examples were probably broken after deposition. Heads were made from solid clay and varied in size and shape from small, round pieces to large, elongated ovoids with naturalistic outlines (Table 9.6). The backs of most head fragments were flattened, although some were slightly convex, and three-dimensional sculpting and decoration were applied only to the faces and other elements on the forward-facing side. Noses, lips, chins, and ears

Figurine heads varied in style from abstract and stylized to naturalistic, and no two were exactly the same. SF-251 and SF-831 (Figure 9.4A, B) resembled each other, for example, but the size, headdress, fabric, and exquisite detail of SF-251 clearly set it apart. Heads with similar designs may have represented the same individual, but others were clearly different and may have been more symbolic representations than individual portraits. SF-410 (Figure

Figure 9.5: Smaller figurine heads, black-slipped head fragment, and ‘death head.’ A) SF-441; B) SF-842; C) SF-455; D) SF435 (black-slipped); E) SF-410 (death head); F) SF-824; G) SF-795 (triple-punctate). Table 9.6: Measurement ranges for complete figurine heads (n = 15) Min L (mm)

Max L (mm)

Min W (mm)

Max W (mm)

Min Th (mm)

Max Th (mm)

Min M (g)

Max M (g)

45.3

100.2

37.2

91.7

17.4

53.5

24.7

213.3

161

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization intentionally and carefully removed from figurines prior to deposition. Heads differed from appendages in this respect, which were sometimes left intact with torsos or else roughly broken away.

9.5E) has been described as a ‘death head’ figurine due to its swollen eyes, central crest, and sunken cheeks, which are similar to later examples carved in green-coloured stone from Cerros and Nohmul in northern Belize (Garber and Awe 2008). This head had a blackened exterior and may have been burned prior to deposition, and no other head in the assemblage was decorated with the distinctive ‘death head’ facial characteristics. SF-630 (Figure 9.4E) was also unlike other heads in the assemblage and had a somewhat simian appearance, although half of its face was badly weathered. The single intact eye was a bulbous appliqué that lacked a punctated pupil, and a large coneshaped headdress projected farther forward from its back than the nose or chin.

Torso Fragments Torsos ranged from small fragments with distinctive punctations to larger, nearly complete figurines with all appendages intact (Figure 9.6). Any fragment that represented part of the chest, abdomen, or pelvic area of a figurine was placed in this category, even if most of the fragment was composed of intact appendages. Too few complete torso fragments were recovered to effectively define a size range, but Awe’s (1992:263) measurements of 8 – 11 cm for torso lengths seem appropriate. Torso fragments were solid and resembled head fragments in being flattened and undecorated along most of their back sides, although several examples had slightly bulbous, sculpted buttocks. Three punctations were made on the

Head fragments were usually broken from torsos at a point below and slightly behind the chin, and most figurines did not have distinct necks that connected these elements. Well-preserved heads showed clean breakage lines where they once contacted torsos, which suggests heads were

Figure 9.6: Seated and standing figurine torsos, appendages, and possible headdress fragment. A) SF-583; B) SF-2; C) SF452; D) SF-297; E) SF-626; F) Left to right, SF-459, SF-830, SF-194, SF-294, SF-7, SF-799; G) SF-438, possible headdress fragment.

162

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery front of several torsos that represented nipples and a navel, and small breasts were sometimes modelled in low relief. Sex attributes were not represented in detail on any of the Plaza B torso fragments, however, which fits a pattern seen in other Cahal Pech figurines (Zweig 2010:71). The more intact torso fragments showed that figurines depicted both sitting and standing figures, and that sitting figures regularly had their legs extended and their feet crossed. Some torsos retained traces of red slip, but many were weathered and may have lost their original surface treatment.

fragments were simply too broken to be identified, although these might be reasonably guessed based on size. Most fragments in this category were probably broken pieces of appendages and torsos, but some appeared to be appliquéd decorations that were detached from heads, such as incised ears and headdress elements (SF-438, Figure 9.6G). Appliquéd elements did not show signs of intentional removal and may have broken off during use or after deposition. This decorative technique was reserved for figurine heads, which were kept largely intact after removal from the body, and it is unlikely that these decorations were deliberately broken off. The rest of the ‘other’ fragments were unidentifiable due to rough and extensive breakage, which probably resulted from particularly thorough destructions of figurine bodies following decapitation.

Torsos were treated differently from heads when figurines were broken, and few complete examples were recovered. Some torsos were simply shattered into several fragments, while others had their appendages broken off in a way that left rough, jagged edges. The more intact examples showed clean break lines above the shoulders where their heads were once attached, however, which suggests the figurine bodies were destroyed following the careful removal of the head. Destruction was carried out rather haphazardly and occasionally was not completed, which further suggests that the removal of the head was the most important element in ritual figurine termination.

Context Description: The earliest figurine fragments were appendages from the Phase II off-platform and floor deposits encountered in Op. 3d. One was an arm fragment (SF-830, Figure 9.6F) recovered from refuse beneath Floor 5 in Op. 3d-11, in the same deposit as the limestone figurine fragment described in chapter seven. Two leg fragments (both SF-840) were deposited on top of Floor 5 with the ovoid ocarina described above. The final Phase II leg fragment (SF-581) was the only artefact embedded in a thin marl floor in Operation 5 (lot Op. 5a-6). Figurine fragments from Phase III contexts were deposited on the floor of Platform H and consisted of a fragmentary lower torso (SF-460), an appendage that may have been an arm (SF-461), and a tiny unidentified fragment that may have been a stub-like limb (SF-447). All early figurine contexts represent refuse that accumulated on or near floor surfaces where the figurines were probably used.

Appendage Fragments Appendages included recognizable arms, legs, feet, and hands. These were all solid clay except for SF-799 (Figure 9.6F), which was the only example of a hollow figurine in the Plaza B collection and was represented by a partial leg and foot. Appendage fragments included sub-conical, curving projections with pointed or rounded tips that could be either arms or legs; squat, top-heavy hourglass shapes that represented legs and feet; and relatively straight cylindrical legs with constricted ankles and expanded feet. Zweig (2010:63-66) classified these into four types, all of which were present in the Plaza B assemblage. The legs with expanded feet were clearly parts of standing figurines, while the curving appendages may have come from either standing or seated examples. Stylized fingers and toes were occasionally depicted by incisions or punctations set perpendicular to the distal ends of appendages but were never rendered in naturalistic sets of five. Some curving appendages had circumferentially incised lines that may have been armbands. One pair of feet from a standing figurine (SF-452, Figure 9.6C) had square indentations on the soles that may have helped to stabilize it on a stand or support. Several appendages bore traces of red slip, although most appeared to be unslipped or eroded.

The preponderance of figurine fragments was recovered from Phase IV deposits and most were associated with platforms in the northern group. Many of these came from refuse deposits (n = 82, 64.6%) and were almost equally distributed between the later refuse that covered the northern platforms, the central middens, and refuse that was swept off the edges of platforms; fewer fragments were recovered from the Op. 3c refuse pit (Table 9.7). Floor deposits contributed twelve more fragments to the total recovered from use-related contexts, which accounted for over two-thirds of the assemblage (n = 94, 74%). Substantial numbers of figurine fragments were included in platform fill and architectural caches (n = 30, 23.6%) that reflect construction activity early in Phase IV.

Figurine appendages had rough, uneven breaks at their proximal ends where they would have been joined to torsos but were often intact otherwise. Some had their distal ends broken away, but this was probably a secondary result of their removal from the figurine torso.

Figurine heads were more likely to be deposited inside platforms, either with construction fill or in caches (n = 8, 42.1%), than in any other type of context. The two cached examples were the blackened ‘death head’ figurine (SF-410), which was part of a layered cache (Cache 13) that included three smooth stones and thirteen obsidian chips inside the platform corner in Op. 3a, and the largest figurine head from Plaza B (SF-251), which came from a platform fill deposit (Cache 14) near the

Other Fragments This was a catchall category that included fragments that did not fit into one of the above classes. Some ‘other’ 163

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 9.7: Contextual distribution of figurine fragments from Phase IV contexts Context Cache

Head

Torso

Appendage

Other

Total

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

 2

 10.5

 1

  4.2

 1

  2.0

 0

  0.0

  4

  3.1

Fill

 5

  26.3

 4

 16.7

 7

  14.3

10

  28.6

  26

  20.5

Floor

 3

 15.8

 3

 12.5

 4

  8.2

 2

  5.7

  12

  9.4

Later Refuse

 2

 10.5

 3

 12.5

15

  30.6

 2

  5.7

  22

  17.3

Midden

 1

   5.3

 6

 25.0

11

 22.5

 4

  11.4

  22

  17.3

Off platform

 4

 21.1

 5

 20.8

 7

  14.3

12

  34.3

  28

  22.1

Pit

 2

 10.5

 2

   8.3

 3

  6.1

 3

  8.6

  10

  7.9

2a

 0

  0.0

 0

  0.0

 1

  2.0

 2

  5.7

  3

  2.4

Total

19

100.0

24

100.0

49

100.0

35

100.0

127

100.0

hypothesized southwest corner of Platform B. Both heads were exceptional examples that may have been made specifically to be cached during ceremonies that consecrated Platform B, or they may have been rare and powerful objects from earlier in the community’s history. The six other figurine heads recovered from platform fill did not appear to have been cached, but their deposition in northern group platforms may still have been intentional. All figurine heads were associated with northern group platforms except for SF-444, which was deposited in the central midden in Op. 1r.

Ocarina and Figurine Summary and Discussion Excavations in Plaza B significantly expanded the large corpus of Middle Preclassic figurine fragments from Cahal Pech and added a modest number of ocarinas to the smaller instrument assemblage (n = 30 [Zweig 2010:Table 4.1]). Ocarinas were made in zoomorphic and geometric/vegetal forms around a central, hollow sound chamber, and contained varying numbers of tonal holes to produce different notes. A relatively limited range of ocarina forms were recovered from Plaza B contexts, but several additional examples of zoomorphic whistles were encountered beneath Str. B-4 and elsewhere at Cahal Pech. Awe (1992:Figures 81 and 82) reported bird, feline, dog, deer, monkey, frog, and turtle whistles from Cahal Pech and drew stylistic comparisons to Middle Preclassic effigy whistles from Kaminaljuyu and Chalchuapa in the Maya Highlands. The bird ocarinas from Plaza B compared favourably to Awe’s examples and to a Bladen-phase (early Middle Preclassic) whistle from Cuello (Robin and Hammond 1991:Fig. 10.1), and they appear to be part of a wide-spread tradition of naturalistically modelled animal effigy instruments.

Torsos were deposited in ways akin to heads, although considerably more torso fragments were recovered from the central middens. A reasonably complete torso of a seated figurine with intact crossed legs (SF-2, Figure 9.6B) was included in a layered cache (Cache 2) inside the northeast corner of Platform B that also included three slate bars and thirteen green-stone triangulates. Cache 2 is thought to be related to the Burial 1/Cache 7 crypts at the opposite corner of the same eastern platform face, and to Caches 13 and 14, which may mark the other two corners of Platform B. The most complete torso fragment of a seated figurine, which had two legs and one arm fully intact and another arm partially broken (SF-583, Figure 9.6A), was recovered beneath the flagstone floor in Op. 5a that may have been the surface of Platform B.

We know little about how these instruments functioned in Middle Preclassic communities aside from providing a limited range of musical tones. Healy (1988) suggested that whistles and other musical instruments (e.g., drums, maracas) were important elements in funerary rituals, based on several such objects he recovered from Classicperiod interments at Pacbitun and ocarinas deposited in burials at Jaina, Campeche. Awe (1992:286) suggested a similar role for ocarinas in funerals and other ceremonies, and a ceremonial function was tentatively assigned to a Late Preclassic anthropomorphic ocarina from a K’axob living surface (Bartlett 2004a). Hammond (1991a) noted that only one ocarina was interred with a burial at Cuello; all the rest were recovered from trash deposits or platform fill. He suggested a less ceremonial function for whistles as children’s toys, and this sentiment has been echoed in a more recent study by Halperin (2009), which interprets Classic-period whistles as souvenirs from festivals that could be discarded at will.

Appendages and ‘other’ fragments had somewhat different contextual distributions, but most were recovered from refuse contexts. Appendages were most frequently deposited in the middens to the north and south of the unnamed Phase IV plaster floor in Op. 1p, while ‘other’ fragments were most frequently recovered off platform edges in the north and south architectural groups and within Phase IV platform fill. Most ‘other’ fragments were associated with northern group platforms, but their occurrence in southern group refuse and platform fill indicates some level of use in the area. A cylindrical appendage with a bent knee or elbow (SF-194, Figure 9.6F) was deposited in Cache 9 along the eastern face of Platform B, which included two ceramic earspools, a chert tranchet adze and jadeite mosaic piece, and numerous partial vessels. This was the only appendage deposited in a cache.

The ocarinas from Plaza B were recovered from trash deposits, and two were discarded with domestic debris on 164

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery the floors where they may have been used. This suggests the instruments were used in household-focused activities, which could be ritual in nature or not. The concentration of ocarinas in the northernmost Main Trench unit suggests they may also have been used for special purposes, but the deposit that contained them and its relationship to the underlying architecture are not clear. It seems likely, however, that simple wind instruments played multiple roles in these communities and were included in rites both sacred and profane.

material record of Middle Preclassic Maya communities makes discerning these roles more difficult than in later periods. Anthropomorphic figurines have been linked to household rituals that expressed and negotiated gender roles, and they are now commonly thought to have been used in ancestor veneration ceremonies (DeLance 2016; Halperin et al. 2009; Lucero 2003; Marcus 1999; McAnany 1995; Peniche May et al. 2018). Marcus (1998) articulated these views in her discussion of figurines as important elements of women’s household rituals in Formative Oaxaca communities, where they were used as vehicles animated by ancestral spirits for purposes of communion and divination. Awe’s (1992:281-286) earlier analysis of Middle Preclassic figurines from Cahal Pech presaged some of these more recent interpretations by concluding that anthropomorphic figurines probably served two distinct functions: those he defined as ‘pregnant’ female figurines were likely fetishes in fertility cults, while other elaborate figurines were portraits of leaders or lineage heads used in ancestor veneration.

Anthropomorphic figurine fragments from Plaza B shared at least some formal, compositional, and stylistic similarities with the larger collection of previously excavated examples (Zweig 2010). Figurine heads were extensively decorated and were regularly (but not always) executed in a naturalistic style that created realistic faces suggestive of individual portraits. Figurine torsos and appendages received minimal decorative embellishment and were rather generic compared to heads. Torsos were always shown naked, but little emphasis was placed on depicting breasts or other sex features. Arms and legs were simple conical or cylindrical extensions that were occasionally decorated with stylized hands and feet at their distal ends.

Contextual data from Plaza B supports the interpretation that Middle Preclassic figurines were used in households, and some evidence suggests that they were used in ancestor-focused ceremonies as well. Figurine fragments were deposited with domestic debris on several floors and in trash swept off the corners and edges of platforms, which indicates they were used by the members of different households in the contexts of separate dwellings. The two cached figurine heads have been interpreted as part of a ritual program enacted at the construction of Platform B that would have symbolically resurrected the individual interred in Burial 1 (Garber and Awe 2008). That person appeared to have some special status within the community and was important to the group that built Platform B above his grave, and he may have been considered an important ancestor of the people who later lived atop the platform. The construction of Platform B likely required the efforts of a group larger than a single household, which suggests figurines may have functioned in wider social arenas as well.

Awe (1992:275-281) noted several modal similarities between anthropomorphic figurine heads from Cahal Pech and Middle Preclassic examples from Kaminaljuyu and Chalchuapa in the Maya Highlands, Altar de Sacrificios and Ceibal in the Pasión drainage, Uaxactun in eastern Petén, Barton Ramie in the Belize Valley, and San Jose and Cuello in northern Belize. He also noted comparatively few similarities between the Cahal Pech assemblage and Middle Formative Olmec figurines from Gulf Coast sites, which also appears to be true of contemporaneous figurines from Honduras (Joyce and Henderson 2010:Figure 4) and the Soconusco region of Guatemala (Cheetham 2010a:Fig. 9.11). Awe’s comparative observations can be extended to the Plaza B assemblage and expanded to include similar Middle Preclassic figurines from Blackman Eddy in the Belize Valley and Nakbe in Guatemala (Garber et al. 2004:Fig. 3.3; Hansen 2005:Figure 5.7). Observable differences in facial characteristics appear to have increased with distance from any given site; at the assemblage level, the figurines from Cahal Pech, Blackman Eddy, and Pacbitun more closely resembled each other than figurines from more distant sites like Nakbe. Individual heads occasionally violated this rule, however, as was the case with one head from Uaxactun (Ricketson and Ricketson 1937:Plate 73c2) that was very similar to SF-842 from Plaza B (Figure 9.5B). This indicates that interactions were more intense between communities that were geographically closer together, but that these local interaction groups were still connected to distant communities that shared similar cultural practices and material culture traditions.

Platform B also had a high percentage of figurine heads and relatively complete torsos included in its construction fill, which resembled a pattern Awe (1992:284-285) noted in Str. B-4 and other peripheral mounds with long occupation histories. He observed that some figurine heads were similar enough in certain facial and ornamental characteristics to be considered portraits of the same person, but that variation in these attributes at the assemblage level showed that several different people were depicted, and these people were more likely to be lineage heads than the community rulers suggested for similarly detailed figurines from Middle Formative Chalcatzingo (Grove and Gillespie 1984). If elaborate, realistic figurines were made as portraits of important corporate group members or leaders, we might expect to see more similarities among figurine heads buried in the same structure than between figurines from

The roles human figurines played in Mesoamerican societies continue to be debated, and the relatively sparse 165

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization drilling. The thousands of unmodified sherds in the Plaza B assemblage indicate this raw material was never lacking, yet comparatively few modified sherd artefacts were recovered (n = 27). Most of these were sherds with perforated centres (n = 19), the functions of which have been widely speculated on in the literature but rarely defined with certainty. Much smaller numbers of perforated sherd pendants (n = 5), net weights (n = 2), and a possible palette (n = 1) round out the assemblage. Reworked sherd artefacts were probably manufactured at Cahal Pech as needed, where broken vessel fragments were in ready supply.

different platforms. This may have been the case at Cahal Pech, as a comparison of previously excavated figurine heads from Str. B-4 and peripheral group structures failed to identify more than one example that might have matched a head from Platform B.2 The single match was an unprovenienced, stylized head with triple-punctate eyes and mouth that was nearly identical to SF-795 (Figure 9.5G). Other heads used decorative techniques that were like those from Platform B but depicted individuals with different facial features, hairstyles or headgear, and ear ornaments, which suggests they were portraits of different people. Two figurines from Platform B contexts closely resembled each other, however, and most of the Platform B examples had no close matches among figurines from other structures at Cahal Pech. This variation may represent the veneration of a different set of corporate group ancestors and the mobilization of several smaller groups (households) for the construction of Platform B. An alternative explanation might view the Platform B figurines as depicting the same real or mythical figures portrayed in the Str. B-4 assemblage, and that differences resulted from their creation by different artisans associated more with the builders of Platform B. This issue cannot be resolved with the current data, but each scenario suggests the builders and users of these different structures identified with different groups or factions within the greater community.

Type: Palette (Figure 9.7C, Table 9.8) Frequency: 1 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk) Context: Midden

Artefact Description: SF-892 was a partly rounded body sherd with a roughly circular depression that was scraped or ground from one of its faces. Its original orange-brown surface was worn into a shallow concavity marked by deep striations that originated from several directions. These striations may indicate repetitive contact with a hard object used in a twisting downward motion, or abrasion

One final observation on figurines and their possible functions involves the materials from which they were made and unfortunately cannot be addressed with the data at hand. At least four figurine heads appeared to be made from the same clay fabrics that were used in Cunil pottery vessels. Head fragments were only recovered from Phase IV contexts that post-dated Cunil times by at least three centuries and included examples made from orange Savana-like clays; Savana-group pottery was being made and used throughout Phase IV, but the presence of Cunillike fabrics in late Phase IV contexts seems anachronistic. Two scenarios may explain this problem: either figurines continued to be made with Cunil-like fabrics well after pottery producers switched to other clay recipes, or Cunilphase figurine heads were curated and heirloomed for long periods before being deposited. Evaluation of these scenarios awaits future research, but the curation of head fragments seems to fit with the careful way figurines were decapitated and the generally good preservation of head fragments. Figurines that were not cached or deposited with construction materials may have continued to be used in household settings until they were broken or structures were abandoned. Reworked Sherd Artefacts

Figure 9.7: Reworked sherd net weights and palette. A) SF823; B) SF-825; C) SF-892.

Broken potsherds were reshaped into functional and decorative objects by chipping, grinding, cutting, and

Table 9.8: Metric data for sherd palette

This comparison was made with photographs provided in Zweig’s (2010:Appendix B) MA thesis and does not reflect a direct examination of the previously excavated figurine heads.

SF#

Lot

Length (mm)

Width (mm)

Depression Diameter (mm)

892

1s-5

86

66

53

2

166

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery Table 9.9: Metric data for sherd net weights SF#

Lot

Subtype

Length (mm)

Width (mm)

Thickness (mm)

Diameter (mm)

Mass (g)

823

3d-7

Round

-

-

5.7

31.5

  7.3

825

7c-10

Oval

40.9

37.6

7.6

-

12.4

by several individual objects in a linear, back-and-forth motion. The opposite face was slightly concave but appeared to be unmodified, and the edges were roughly chipped into shape but were not ground. SF-892 was unique in the Plaza B reworked sherd assemblage, but it was initially catalogued as an unmodified sherd and similar pieces may also have gone unrecognized. It was discovered near the end of a short lab season focused on the unmodified sherd assemblage and could not be studied in detail. I am unaware of any examples of reworked sherds with comparable wear patterns.

Few ceramic net weights have been reported from Middle Preclassic contexts in the Belize Valley, although they were widely distributed throughout the Maya Lowlands during later periods (see Willey 1972:84 and Willey et al. 1965:408 for extensive comparisons). Two late Middle Preclassic net weights recovered near Str. B-4 were the only other examples from Cahal Pech and included a round specimen similar to SF-823 (Cheetham 1995:Figure 10j). More notched-sherd weights have been reported from Middle Preclassic settlements in northern Belize (Bartlett 2004a; Buttles 2002:Tables 5.10-5.12; Hammond 1991a), which may reflect the proximity of these communities to the Caribbean coast, inland lagoons, and extensive swamps. The relative paucity of net weights from the Cahal Pech community is problematic, however, given its location along a major river system where fish are plentiful.

Context Description: This artefact was recovered from a large Phase IV refuse deposit located north and east of Platform 1, in a central area between the northern and southern architectural groups. This midden contained the highest densities of marine shell debitage and chert drills of any excavated context in Plaza B, which raises the possibility that SF-892 was involved in the shell bead production process. It could have been used to lightly grind the edges and faces of marine shell beads, but further study is required to support this hypothesis.

Context Description: SF-825 was recovered from Platform 1 construction fill and dates to the early part of Phase IV. SF-823 came from a problematic limestone cobble deposit above the level of the Phase IV platforms but below the level of the lower Phase V cobble surfaces in Operation 3. This may have been a late Phase IV cobble surface, but it was thicker than most comparable constructions and few sherds or artefacts were deposited with the cobbles. It was more likely a fill deposit placed to raise the area outside of the earlier platforms before the Phase V surfaces were laid down.

Type: Net Weight (Figure 9.7A-B, Table 9.9) Subtype:Round, Oval Frequency: 2 Architectural Phase: IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk) Context: Fill

Artefact Description and Comparison: Net weights were made from flat sherds that had been ground into small round or oval shapes. Notches were cut at opposite points along the encircling edge and were smoothed to facilitate attachment to fishing nets. Wide u-shaped notches were cut into the rounded ends of the oval-shaped weight (SF-825; Figure 9.7A), while smaller, shallower v-shaped notches were placed along a diameter of the round specimen (SF823; Figure 9.7B). Both net weights had black exteriors, but SF-825 was blackened across fractured surfaces and was probably burned. The partially blackened exterior of SF-823 may have been caused by post-depositional weathering of a slip or wash. The functional inference that these artefacts were fishing net weights is based on formal similarities with the large Cerros collection (n = 333) described by Garber (1989:77, Figures 28 and 29).3 The Cerros collection dates to the Late Preclassic and later periods, but the Cahal Pech examples were similar enough in formal/functional attributes to conclude they were used in the same way.

Type: Perforated Disk (Figure 9.8 bottom row, Table 9.10) Frequency: 19 Architectural Phase: II (Early Kanluk): 2 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 17 Context: see Table 9.11

Artefact Description and Comparison: The perforated disk assemblage was almost evenly split between complete (n = 9, 47.4%) and broken (n = 10, 52.6%) pieces and was the largest category of reworked sherd artefacts from the Plaza B excavations. Relatively flat sherds were selected and roughly chipped into disks, and most disks then had their edges ground smooth. All disks were biconically perforated at central points, but the sizes of the holes varied. Eight disks were broken along their drill holes, which may have occurred during manufacture or use, and an additional four pieces were discarded before drilling was completed. Bright orange Savana-group sherds were most frequently encountered among perforated disks (n = 8), followed by sherds of the Jocote (n = 6) and Joventud (n = 1) groups, and eroded sherds that could not be classified (n = 4). Five sherd disks were blackened on both faces and were either burned or made from previously burned sherds.

3 Garber (1989:77) cites Jack Eaton and David Phillips as the original sources of the net weight interpretation, but I was not able to obtain the referenced materials.

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Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 9.8: Finished and unfinished sherd pendants and perforated disks. Top row pendants, left to right: SF-881; SF-422; SF-183; SF-885. Bottom row disks, left to right: SF-428; SF-874; SF-833; SF-268. Table 9.10: Metric data for perforated sherd disks. Thickness and drill hole diameter measured on 15 specimens, diameter measured from 12 complete or nearly complete specimens Type

Min Diam (mm)

Max Diam (mm)

Mean Th (mm)

SD Th

Min Drill Hole Diam (mm)

Max Drill Hole Diam (mm)

Perforated Disk

30.0

61.9

6.7

1.74

2.7

13.5

Table 9.11: Contextual distribution of perforated sherd disks Context

Broken

Complete

Total

n

%

n

%

n

%

Fill

 1

 10.0

2

 22.2

 3

 15.8

Floor

 0

  0.0

1

 11.1

 1

   5.3

Later Refuse

 2

 20.0

1

 11.1

 3

 15.8

Midden

 3

  30.0

3

  33.4

 6

  31.5

Off-Platform Refuse

 2

 20.0

1

 11.1

 3

 15.8

Pit

 1

 10.0

1

 11.1

 2

 10.5

Op. 2a

 1

 10.0

0

  0.0

 1

  5.3

Total

10

100.0

9

100.0

19

100.0

Perforated sherd disks have been recovered at many sites and were a ‘ubiquitous Maya lowland item’ (Willey 1972:81). Gordon Willey’s comment referenced the comparatively large numbers of perforated sherd disks from Protoclassic and Classic contexts at lowland sites (see Willey et al. 1965:405 for comparisons), but the numbers of Middle Preclassic examples have grown considerably in recent years. Nine have been previously recovered from Plaza B and surrounding structures at Cahal Pech (Awe 1992:248; Cheetham 1995, 1995), and two more were reported from the Cas Pek group that date to the late Middle

Preclassic (Lee and Awe 1995; Lee 1996). Awe (1992:250) provided a summary of sites in northern Belize (Cerros, Colha, Cuello), the Belize Valley (Barton Ramie), and Petén (Altar de Sacrificios, Uaxactun) that have produced Middle or Late Preclassic perforated sherd disks, to which I would add Chiapa de Corzo (Lee 1969:102-103) and K’axob (Bartlett 2004a). Numerous interpretations of perforated sherd disks have been made based on formal analogy. Awe (1992:250) noted that his perforated disks were similar in diameter 168

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery to Willey’s (1972:80) small disk size-class (2.4 – 5.7 cm diameter), and the Plaza B examples mostly fit within this range. Willey (1972:81) interpreted these artefacts as spindle whorls based on their size, shape, and occurrence in domestic or generalized refuse contexts. Other interpretations include game pieces, tokens, beehive doors, record keeping devices, and amulets (summarized in Awe 1992:250). Variability in the size of disks, the diameters of their perforations, and the smoothing of their edges suggests different items may have served different functions, but little direct evidence supports any of those suggested.

Type: Pendant (Figure 9.8 top row, Table 9.12) Frequency: 5 Architectural Phase: II (Early Kanluk): 1 IV (Early Kanluk – Late Kanluk): 3

Artefact Description and Comparison: The edges of sherd pendants may have been initially chipped to achieve the desired outline before being smoothed by grinding. Single biconical holes were then drilled close to one margin to facilitate vertical suspension. Pendants were probably not embellished beyond the original surface treatments of their parent sherds, although most surfaces had a weathered look and decorations may have deteriorated after deposition. Rim, base, and body sherds were all used to make pendants, and their final shapes varied widely. SF-881 was an eroded, early rectangular sherd pendant that was probably a manufacturing reject. Its edges were incompletely ground, and its incomplete perforation was placed near a corner of the encircling edge that would have made suspension awkward. It was made from an eroded bowl base with a buff-orange fabric and pinkish discolorations, and this object may represent an attempt at mending a broken vessel rather than a pendant. The later rectangular pendant (SF-885) was better made but also weathered, with smoothly ground and rounded edges and a perforation cantered opposite a ground rim. SF-422 was a large ovoid pendant with a fine buff fabric and traces of a thin brown slip or wash on both faces. Its curvature suggests it came from the body of a bowl or jar. SF-183 and SF-0 were also made from body sherds that were extensively ground into teardrop and triangular shapes, respectively. Both were made with the fine, bright-orange fabric usually associated with Savana group vessels.

Four perforated disks with larger drill-hole diameters (around 1 cm) were deposited in the Op. 1r/Op. 1s midden, which contained large quantities of chert drills, marine shell production debris, and marine shell beads. These sherd disks may have been used in the shell bead production process; their rounded outlines and central perforations are similar in form to fly-wheel elements in composite pump drills, although fly-wheels are usually made from heavier materials (e.g., stone, wood). We do not currently know what types of drills were used to produce shell beads in the Middle Preclassic, and additional study of the chert drill assemblage is required to determine if and how they were hafted. Hohmann (2002:141-142) reviewed ethnographic and ethnohistoric data on bead making in the Americas and found that both pump and bow drills were commonly used, however, and the shape of burin spall drills suggests they would be difficult to use without a hafting element. Context Description: All perforated sherd disks were recovered from refuse deposits or platform fill except for SF-833, which was a complete disk deposited on the Phase II (Early Kanluk) marl floor in Op. 3d. The other Phase II example was a broken disk discarded beneath the same marl floor in Op. 3d. There were few differences between broken and complete Phase IV disks in terms of where each kind was deposited; they were almost evenly distributed between different refuse contexts, with complete disks slightly more likely to be included with building materials. Complete and broken disks showed slightly higher concentrations in the Op. 1r/Op. 1s and Op. 1i middens (n = 6) located between the northern and southern architectural groups near the centre of Plaza B. The remaining Phase IV disks (n = 11) were recovered from refuse and fill deposits associated with platforms in the northern group.

Sherd pendants were technologically related to drilled sherd disks and were similarly distributed throughout the Maya Lowlands. Examples from late Middle Preclassic Belize Valley contexts come from Cahal Pech Plaza B near Str. B-4 (Cheetham 1995), from the Cas Pek (Cheetham et al. 1993) and Tolok groups (Powis and Hohmann 1995), and from Pacbitun (Hohmann and Powis 1996). Middle Preclassic sherd pendants were also reported at Colha (Buttles 2002:150) and Cuello (Hammond 1991a:Fig. 8.16c) in northern Belize. Context Description: All sherd pendants were recovered from refuse or platform fill deposits and most dated to Phase IV. The earliest pendant (SF-881) was deposited on or beneath the Phase II soft marl floor in Op. 5a, which was

Table 9.12: Contextual and metric data for sherd pendants. SF-881 and 885 measured from photographs.Table 9.11: Contextual distribution of perforated sherd disks SF#

Lot

Phase

Context

Shape

L (mm)

W (mm)

Th (mm)

Mass (g)

881

5a-7

II

Fill

Rectangular

47

37

-

 -

0

1b-17

IV

Later Refuse

Triangular

39.4

35.0

7.2

 9.5

183

1o-5

IV

Fill

Teardrop

-

-

5.8

12.0

422

3b-5

IV

Off-Platform

Ovoid

69.0

55.2

6.5

29.9

885

1a-11

IV

Later Refuse

Rectangular

49

53

-

 -

169

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization a problematic context described in the preceding section on ear ornaments. The teardrop-shaped pendant (SF-183) came from Platform B construction fill above the Burial 1 crypt, which also contained a polished granite hemisphere, marine shell beads, worked slate fragments, and a potbelly figurine fragment. Platform B was built early in Phase IV, around the transition from Early to Late Kanluk, and SF-183 was therefore deposited at the beginning of this phase. SF-422 was recovered with domestic refuse off the northwest platform corner in Op. 3a. The later rectangular (SF-885) and triangular (SF-0) pendants came from Late Kanluk refuse deposits that covered Platform A and the edge of Platform B. Sherd pendants were only associated with northern group platforms.

the local ceramic sequence for Cahal Pech from stratigraphic columns placed in Str. B-4 and other buildings, and he concluded that this sequence closely paralleled the regional Belize Valley ceramic chronology developed earlier at Barton Ramie (Gifford 1976). The type-variety framework facilitated the creation of a relative chronology for Cahal Pech and the recognition of stylistic and modal similarities with contemporaneous ceramic assemblages from other sites and regions (e.g., northern Belize). The Cahal Pech ceramic sequence was anchored by stratified radiocarbon dates from Str. B-4 (Awe 1992:Appendix 2; Healy and Awe 1995), and this framework forms the basis of the chronological assessments presented in the preceding chapters.

Summary: Modelled-Clay Artefacts and Reworked Sherds

Pottery analysis has been used primarily as a means to date architecture and associated deposits since the Cahal Pech chronology was established, although substantial efforts have also been made to fully define the Cunil ceramic complex at the beginning of the sequence (Sullivan and Awe 2013; Sullivan et al. 2018). These analyses have produced valuable data for understanding building chronologies, and they have revealed some general information about stylistic and compositional variability that suggested exchange and interaction with geographically distant communities (e.g., Sullivan 2006). The studies do not provide the data necessary to quantify this variability and investigate the operation of exchange networks, however, and additional analyses were necessary to define and compare pottery consumption patterns among different Middle Preclassic consumer groups. The following section discusses some general aspects of the ceramic assemblage before describing the functional and stylistic characteristics of pottery associated with the architectural phases defined in chapter six. I then summarize the macroscopic fabric types identified in the sherd assemblage and discuss possible relationships between similar fabrics. The chapter closes with summary comments about pottery consumption patterns as revealed by the stylistic and macroscopiccompositional data, with contextual and spatial analyses to be included in the following discussion chapter.

Fired-clay artefacts served several purposes at Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech and were made from both raw and recycled materials. Fresh clay was modelled into personal adornments (e.g., earspools, beads), musical instruments, and anthropomorphic figurines that were consumed and deposited in Plaza B from Early Kanluk times at the latest, but the location(s) where these objects were produced has not yet been determined. 4 Figurine fragments were the most numerous modelled-clay objects and may have been used in household or community rituals. Many figurines were intentionally destroyed at some point after or during use, although heads and probably some torsos appear to have been curated and may have been heirlooms. Earspools were less common than figurine fragments but came from both early and later contexts, and ocarina fragments were similarly distributed throughout most of the Plaza B sequence. Sherds were recycled into ornaments, tools, and objects of unclear function throughout the Middle Preclassic sequence. Broken pottery vessels provided a constant supply of materials for pendants, net weights, and drilled disks, which were most likely made as needed by inhabitants of the site epicentre. The use and significance of drilled sherd disks is not clear, but they may have been related to shell ornament manufacture or other economic activities (e.g., spinning thread).

General Assemblage Composition The Middle Preclassic pottery assemblage consisted of 26 partially reconstructible cache vessels and at least 64,273 fragments, some of which were classifiable under the typevariety framework. 5 Cache vessels were not available for detailed study, although the information reported about them usually included their type-variety designation and a discussion of interesting stylistic or morphological features. A small percentage (n = 1078, 1.7%) of the total sherd count was suitable for macroscopic compositional

Pottery Pottery fragments were the most numerous Middle Preclassic artefacts examined, and they exhibited a considerable amount of stylistic, functional, and compositional variability. Awe (1992:226-248) established 4 Awe (1992:270) mentions three figurine fragments from Cunil-phase contexts, and Zweig (2010:Table 4.17) expands this number to six. The limited number of Phase I deposits sampled in Plaza B may account for the absence of earlier modelled clay artefacts in this assemblage, but these objects seem to have rarely been deposited in earlier times. This may reflect smaller numbers of artefacts in use during earlier periods but may also relate to curation practices that kept these items out of the record for extended periods of time.

At least one sherd lot from Op. 1x (an in situ Phase I refuse deposit) was removed from the collection for analysis and was not returned by the time I examined the materials. I also could not locate several sherd lots that were excavated from Ops. 1e, 1g, and 1o, and I suspect these may also have been analysed separately. This total therefore represents a minimum estimate of the number of sherds recovered from the Plaza B excavations. 5

170

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery Table 9.13: Type-variety designations present in consumption-related contexts by architectural phase. Phases II and III fall in the early facet of the Kanluk phase and are combined. Related types/varieties are separated by commas; groups and larger units are separated by semicolons Phase 0 I II/III

IV

Type-Variety Units Present Fine/Serving Ware: Uck Red (eroded); Mars Orange Ware (ashy fabric)/Savana Orange Coarse/Utilitarian Ware: Sikiya Unslipped Group, Ardaugh Orange-brown; Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris and Jocote varieties Fine/Serving Ware: Uck Red, Baki Red Incised: Baki Variety; Cocoyol Cream; Savana Orange Coarse/Utilitarian Ware: Sikiya Unslipped Group, Ardaugh Orange-brown; Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris variety Fine/Serving Ware: Uck Group (eroded); Savana Orange: Ash-paste and Savana varieties, Reforma Incised; Chunhinta Black Coarse/Utilitarian Ware: Ardaugh Orange-brown; Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris and Jocote varieties Fine/Serving Ware: (Kitam Incised; Uck Red); Savana Orange: Savana, Rejolla, Ash-paste varieties, Reforma Incised: Reforma and Mucnal varieties, Sibun Punctated; Chunhinta Black, Deprecio Incised; Pital Cream; Sampopero Red, Joventud Red; Consejo Red, Backlanding Incised; (Sierra Red; Polvero Black; orange-black trickle ware)* Coarse/Utilitarian Ware: Chacchinic Red-on-orange-brown, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris and Jocote varieties *Small quantities of Cunil and Xakal phase sherds were recovered in some Phase IV deposits that were probably introduced through post-depositional mixing. These types appear in parentheses at the beginning and end of the fine ware list.

Table 9.14: Sherd counts and minimum number of vessels by architectural phase. Sherds from Phases II and III are combined Phase 

Context Type Consumption

0

Fill/Other

Nondiagnostic

Diagnostic

Subtotal

All Sherds

  124

   7

  131

 1510

Total Sherd Count Minimum Number of Vessels   1641

   2

I

  926

   39

  965

 1186

  2151

  19

II/III

  2391

  137

  2528

 9884

12412

  78

IV

23031

2083

25114

22955

48069

  987

Total

26472

2266

28738

35535

64273

1086

analysis, but this figure increased when contextual factors were considered (see below).

were not included in the subsequent spatial analysis. Sherd assemblages from ‘problematic’ contexts expanded the sample of vessel forms and decorative styles for phases where few intact refuse deposits were encountered, but they were not seen as directly reflecting pottery consumption. Refuse included with building materials could have accumulated over several depositional episodes or been aggregated from different contexts, and no direct linkage between subfloor sherds and the groups that used their parent vessels could be made.

Type-Variety Breakdown of the Assemblage Type-variety assessment was not a focus of this study. The data summarized here derive from analyses conducted by project ceramicist Lauren Sullivan (2010) and are presented in full in Appendix B. Ceramic wares, groups, types, and varieties identified in deposits from each architectural phase are presented in Table 9.13. The table summarizes the type-variety information exclusively for consumption-related contexts except in the case of Phase 0, which includes data from all excavated lots. I organize the type-variety designations according to the general categories of ‘fine/serving ware’ and ‘coarse/utilitarian ware’ used in the descriptions of stylistic and functional characteristics in following sections.

Diagnostic sherds represented about 7.9 percent of the pottery fragments recovered from consumption-related contexts, and around 3.9 percent (n = 1078) of this assemblage was included in the analysis of macroscopic fabric attributes. Diagnostics included comparatively large portions of vessel profiles with the rim area intact; small rim fragments from which vessel form could not be determined; vessel bases, spouts, handles, and feet; all vessel fragments displaying incised, groove-incised, punctated, daubed, and appliquéd secondary decorations, which often occurred in combination with slip or wash; and ashy Cunil complex rims and bases.6 Slips included

Sherd Assemblage and Vessel Categories Pottery fragments from all available Middle Preclassic lots were analysed to quantify the entire assemblage (Table 9.14), but only a representative subset of pottery was included in the detailed study. Sherds recovered from platform fill, subfloor, and otherwise ambiguous contexts were counted and examined to identify rare or particularly distinctive forms and decorative treatments, but the physical characteristics of ceramic bodies (i.e. paste attributes) were not assessed in detail, and these contexts

Cunil pottery was being studied by Lauren Sullivan and Jaime Awe at the time of this analysis, and I purposely excluded these sherds from the more detailed examinations of the Plaza B ceramic assemblage when I recognized them. Some Cunil serving wares are quite distinctive and have received the most attention from previous studies (Awe 1992:226-230; Cheetham 1998:28-43), but coarse ware/utilitarian pottery has received far less attention. No reference work had been published that included a 6

171

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization I adapted the categories to account for deviations observed in the Cahal Pech assemblage, such as coarse ware vessels decorated with fillet appliqués and serving vessels with comparatively coarse-textured fabrics.

dull and glossy reds and red-oranges, matte blacks, dull maroons, and rare creams, while washes comprised thinly applied dark reds, blacks, and browns. Red paint was daubed on the necks and rims of some jars but was relatively rare. Many modal attributes recorded for diagnostic sherds were associated with temporally sensitive pottery types, and changes in decorative modes are apparent in the phase-by-phase description below.

The functional categories serving vessels and utilitarian vessels usually corresponded to the fine and coarse ware groups, although this relationship did not hold for all vessels. Most serving vessels were finely slipped and decorated open forms that included dishes, plates, and bowls, although some jars and tecomates (neckless jars/ restricted orifice bowls) were also considered serving vessels because of the quality of their decorative treatment and surface finish. Serving vessels were designed for the presentation and consumption of food, which likely occurred in a range of social settings, and many also have served as media for iconographic displays. Utilitarian vessels consisted of restricted orifice forms such as jars, tecomates, and bowls with insloping or incurving sides. Smaller, less-restricted bowls with rounded or straight sides and blackened vessels were also included in this category. Utilitarian vessels were probably used for everyday tasks like preparing and cooking food, storing liquids and foodstuffs, and serving informal meals; they received far less embellishment than serving vessels in terms of surface treatment and decoration. Some of these vessels may also have functioned as transport containers for foods and other commodities that were traded into Cahal Pech (cf. Ball and Taschek 2003:189), although this has yet to be tested.

Nondiagnostic body sherds greatly outnumbered diagnostics in all phases. Most nondiagnostic pieces were sherds with diameters smaller than a Belizean quarter. Little pertinent information could be gained from these small fragments, which were simply tabulated and added to the final sherd count. Larger nondiagnostic sherds included plain slipped, unslipped, washed, daubed, blackened, eroded, striated, and ashy Cunil-complex body fragments. The slips and washes observed on nondiagnostic sherds were the same as those described above for the diagnostic assemblage, and eroded sherds were considered nondiagnostic when the original colour and extent of their surface treatment could not be determined. Many sherds were blackened by prolonged exposure to fire and may have derived from cooking pots. Although postdepositional burning cannot be completely ruled out as the cause of this discoloration, unburned sherds were always more numerous than blackened sherds from the same refuse deposits, and there was little additional evidence for in situ burning in most cases. Both diagnostic and nondiagnostic sherds were sorted into fine-ware and coarse-ware categories, and sherd counts within these categories provided gross estimates for the prevalence of each ware type in different contexts. Minimum number of vessel estimates provided a more accurate way of comparing pottery consumption among contexts, but counts of nondiagnostics provided a way to extend the analysis when samples contained fewer diagnostic sherds. The fine-ware and coarse-ware categories were defined according to the size of inclusions in sherd fabrics, the presence or absence and quality of surface treatments, and the intended function of the original vessels. These categories closely follow those defined at Lamanai by Howie (2012:50; italics in original):

A third functional category, special purpose vessels, was created to describe vessels that did not fit easily into either of the other two functional groups. Special purpose vessels were rare and morphologically distinctive, and they were made from both fine and coarse clay pastes. Examples of special purpose vessels include spouts that were presumably attached to ‘chocolate pots,’ coarsefabric censer or brazier fragments, a bell-chambered drum fragment, and ‘tabs’ – possibly handles attached to unrecognized rare vessel forms or bridges from vessel bodies to spouts. Cache Vessels The 26 partially reconstructible vessels from caches were predominantly serving dishes and bowls (n = 21, 80.1%). Savana Orange and related types were the most common serving vessels and represented over half of all vessels recovered from offerings (n = 15, 57.7%). Other cached serving vessels include two Sampopero Red dishes, a Pital Cream tecomate, two Cocoyol Cream (Cunil complex) vessels, a Backlanding Incised dish, and a Consejo Red bowl. The latter two vessels are Middle Preclassic types that are more common at sites in northern Belize, which suggests some level of communication between these two areas. Utilitarian vessels were rarely included in caches and were limited to jars in all cases; these included four Jocote Orange-brown examples and one Cunil-complex type, Ardaugh Orange-brown.

‘…fine ware denotes vessels with surface decoration, that are well made, that tend to have comparatively fine-textured pastes and probably functioned as serving vessels in ritual and commensal contexts. In contrast, coarse ware refers to vessels that are generally undecorated, that are of relatively poorer quality, that have comparatively coarse-textured pastes and that were primarily used for food preparation and storage (i.e. utilitarian functions).’

comprehensive treatment of Cunil pottery at the time of this analysis, and I likely included some Cunil coarse ware sherds in the detailed analyses of the Phase 0 and Phase I assemblages. Cunil fine ware sherds were simply counted as diagnostics in most cases and were not analysed.

172

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery Sullivan (2006) identified low quantities (2 – 5% of matrix) of volcanic glass fragments (fresh ash) in one of the cached Sampopero red dishes, and much higher percentages (15 – 20%) in two Savana group dishes, the Consejo Red bowl, and one Cocoyol Cream vessel. Her study attempted to identify the prevalence of volcanic ash in early cache vessels and explore how ash-tempered Cunil vessels may have contributed to the development of later stylistic groups. The geographic areas where these vessels could have been produced were not identified, although Sullivan did suggest that either fresh volcanic ash or whole vessels may have been obtained from the Maya Highlands through exchange (see also Sunahara et al. 2006). The identification of large amounts of volcanic ash in the Consejo Red bowl is interesting, as that type is stylistically related to northern Belize pottery; there are no known deposits of fresh ash in northern Belize, and ash was not mentioned as a Consejo Red temper at Cuello where examples were more abundant (Kosakowsky 1987:16).

omitted from counts unless stated otherwise. The pottery assemblages from Phases II and III are described together, due to the small number of consumption contexts sampled in each of these phases and the position of both in the early facet of the Kanluk phase. Pottery fragments from Phases 0 and I are described together for similar reasons, although I note variability that may relate to chronological differences. Vessel frequencies are summarized by functional/stylistic categories for all phases in Table 9.15. Phase 0/I (Figure 9.9) Pottery fragments were rare in Phase 0 deposits, especially given the extent of the black occupation horizon across much of Plaza B. Most were small, eroded body sherds (n = 1285, 78.3%) that provided little useful information on the consumption of different stylistic and functional vessel categories. The contexts of most Phase 0 sherds were also ambiguous, as they were usually located near the top of the stratum and directly beneath platform floors and prepared surfaces. Two lots from the southern end of the Main Trench (Ops. 1v-18 and 1v-20) came from contexts covered by Phase I architecture, but these contained only 54 larger nondiagnostics, 7 diagnostic sherds, and a minimum of 2 vessels.

Functional and Stylistic Groups by Phase The following sections describe pottery associated with different architectural phases in terms of the functional and stylistic vessel categories recovered from consumption-related contexts. Additional vessel shape classes and stylistic modes were extrapolated from construction fill and ambiguous subfloor contexts when intact refuse deposits were rare, but these examples were not included in the subsequent compositional and spatial analyses. Nondiagnostic rims and small body sherds were

The assemblage from these two lots contained nearly equal numbers of fine- and coarse-ware sherds (n = 27 and 34, respectively), but the proportions changed when sherds from all Phase 0 deposits were considered. Fine-textured serving vessels accounted for just over one-third (n =

Figure 9.9: Examples of vessels from Phase 0/I consumption-related contexts. A) Black slipped narrow mouth jar or deep insloping bowl; B) Outcurving bowl made from ashy-orange fabric; C) Rounded and incurving coarse ware bowls.

173

Phase

Group

Serving Vessels Black Slipped Groove Incised

0/I

Plain

Incised

Plain

Groove Incised

Bowl

Dish/bowl Tecomate Bowl

Jar

Bowl

Bowl

Dish/bowl Bowl

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South central

 

 

 

 1

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 1

Northwest

 

 

 

174

South Central

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 3

 

 

2

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

2

 

 

 

 3

 

 

 

 4

1

 

1

1

 4

Northwest

 

 

 

 2

2

 

3

1

12

Platform B

 

 

 

 1

 

 

 

1

 2

South

3

2

 

 1

1

 

 

2

 8

South central

1

 

 

 3

 

1

1

1

15

West

2

 

 

 1

1

 

 

 

 2

Dish

Incised

 

II/III Total

IV

Incised

Red Slipped

South

0/I Total II/III

Eroded

 

  1 4

Dish/bowl Jar

Bottle

 

 

 

 5

 

 

Bowl

 

Dish/bowl Jar

 

 

 3

 

 1

 

 

 6

 

 

 

 3

 

 

13

 

 

 4

 5

 

15

2

1

 9

17

 

 3

 

 

 4

 1

 

 6

 

 

 8

 2

 

14

1

 

 8

19

2

 

 

 4

 

IV Total

6

2

 

12

5

2

5

6

43

5

51

3

1

37

44

2

Grand Total

6

2

2

13

8

2

5

6

46

5

57

3

1

37

47

2

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Table 9.15: Functional and stylistic vessel categories by phase

Table 9.15: Continued Phase

Group

Serving Vessels

Special Purpose Vessels

Red Slipped

Rare Serving Applique Vessels

Plain Bowl 0/I

Jar

Tecomate Bowl

Red Slipped

Red Wash

Unslipped

Plain

Incised

Plain

Plain

Plain

Spout

Drum

Bowl

Tab

Censer

Censer

Spout

Special Purpose Total

 

  1

 

 

 

  2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South central

 

  1

 

 

 

  2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Northwest

175

South II/III Total IV

Dish/ bowl

Black Slipped

South

0/I Total II/III

Dish

Serving Total

 

   3   6   9

  2

 

 

 

 

  4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  4

 2

 

 

 

 20

 

 

1

1

 

 

 

 2

  6  

2

 

 2

  21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  10

 2

2

 

 2

  41

 

 

1

1

 

 

 

 2

 19

 5

 

 

 1

  69

 

 

 

3

 

1

1

 5

  38

 9

1

2

 7

177

1

1

 

1

 

 

 3

 12

 4

 

1

 

  34

 

 

 

 

 

3

 5

 20

 5

3

 

 2

103

 

 

 

1

 

 

 1

 19

 7

 

2

 3

123

 

 

 

 

 

 

 1

 

 

 

 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 11

Northwest

 47

Platform B

  5

South

 27

South central

 25

West

  6

 3

  1

IV Total

121

19

110

30

4

5

13

526

1

1

 

6

2

1

4

15

Grand Total

130

19

122

32

6

5

15

571

1

1

1

7

2

1

4

17

 7  9

2 1

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery

Central

Phase

Group

Utilitarian Vessels Black Slipped

Brown Wash

Groove Incised

Plain

Plain

Daubed Red Paint Applique Plain

Bowl

Bowl

Jar

Bowl

 

 

 

 

Jar

Tecomate Bowl

 

 

1

 

 

South central

 

2

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northwest

 

 

 

South

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Central

 

 

 

1

1

 

 

 

 

Northwest

1

 

Platform B

 

 

2

1

1

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

South

 

South central

 

1

 

 

 

 

2

 

1

 

1

West

 

 

 

 

 

IV Total

1

3

2

3

7

Grand Total

1

5

2

3

7

0/I Total II/III

176

II/III Total IV

Jar

 

5

Red Slipped

Applique Plain

Tecomate Jar

0/I

South

Eroded

Applique Incised Jar

Plain

Tecomate Bowl

Bottle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

1

 

1

 

 

 

 

3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

1

 

1

5

2

1

1

1

2

3

1

4

1

1

1

5

2

1

1

1

2

4

1

 

 

2

Bowl

Jar

Tecomate    

 

 

 

1

   

 

1

   

2

2

1    

1

   

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Table 9.15: Continued

Table 9.15: Continued Phase

Group

Utilitarian Vessels Red Wash

Unslipped

Plain Bowl 0/I

South

 3

South central

 1

0/I Total II/III

 4 Northwest

 2

South

 1

177

II/III Total IV

 3

Applique Dish/bowl Jar    3

Tecomate

Bowl

Jar

Groove Incised Tecomate

   

 

  3

 

  8

 2

 

 

  8

 3

 

Central

 1

  23

 8

 1

Northwest

 4

 25

 6

 7  1

Platform B

 2

 15

 7

South

 4

 12

15

South central

 3

 28

 2

West

 1

1

 

Plain

Jar

Jar

Bowl

 

 

 

 

 

 6

 

 

 

 6

1

 

 

1

 

1

 

 5

 1  

Incised

1

2

Utilitarian Total

Applique Collander Jar

Tecomate

Bowl

Jar

   1

   

 

 2

 5

 1

 1

 3

 3

 2

 8

 3

 

Tecomate  

 1

 

 1

 

 

Grand Total

  7

   9

 

 10

  12

 

  17

  21

1

 24

  46

 

 11

  32

1

  35

  78

 

 

 2

12

10

 1

2

 

 64

  138

 

1

 9

40

45

 5

1

1

161

  341

 

 

 

 7

 

 

 

 8

 9

21

 

 7

1

18

14

 2

2

2

 

 3

 3

 

  34

  73

1

 76

  180

3

 97

  221

 7

 

 

 

 

 14

  34

15

1

106

45

11

4

2

 

1

26

1

86

93

 9

3

5

446

  987

Grand Total

22

1

117

48

11

4

3

1

1

37

1

95

96

10

3

6

498

1086

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery

   3

IV Total

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization 130, 36.6%) of the total assemblage, with coarse-textured utilitarian vessel fragments making up the remaining 63.4% (n = 225). The two identifiable vessels from the Op. 1v lots were both coarse utilitarian jars. No special purpose vessels were encountered in Phase 0 contexts.

Ashy-textured vessel fragments included pre-slip incised black bowls, red-slipped rounded bowls, and red-slipped shallow bowls or dishes with incurving or outcurving sides. Cream-slipped vessels were not represented in Phase I consumption-related contexts, but the Cocoyol Cream vessel from Cache 10 and rare cream-slipped sherds in subfloor deposits provide evidence of this decorative treatment in Phase I.

Phase I pottery fragments resembled those described for Phase 0 but were somewhat better preserved and more numerous. The Phase I sherd assemblage derived from a small number of consumption-related contexts and included relatively large quantities of Cunil-complex serving vessel fragments that were not analysed in detail. This skewed the analysis of Phase I pottery in two important ways: 1) the friability of the fine, ashy-textured Cunil serving vessels has most likely led to an overrepresentation of servingvessel sherds in total sherd counts; and 2) the constraints placed on the analysis of Cunil-complex serving vessels has led to an underrepresentation of this vessel category and associated fabric types in the functional and macroscopiccompositional analyses.

Coarse utilitarian vessels The two coarse-textured, utilitarian vessels identified from the Op. 1v Phase 0 lots were large jars with outcurving necks; one of these was daubed with red paint on the exterior of its neck and rim, and the other had a thin red wash applied to the same general area. Red-washed and unslipped tecomate fragments and red-washed insloping bowl fragments were recovered from more problematic deposits, and the application of thin red washes to areas around the necks and rims of vessels seems to have been the dominant surface treatment. Large, undecorated strap handles were also present in Phase 0 deposits that were probably attached to larger jars.

About two-thirds (n = 320, 66%) of the Phase I assemblage consisted of fine-textured serving vessel fragments, over half of which (n = 177) were Cunil-complex types with thick dark cores, buff exteriors, and an ashy feel. The remainder of the assemblage (n = 165, 34%) comprised fragments from coarse-textured utilitarian vessels, which included several blackened pieces (n = 44) that probably derived from cooking pots. Around twice as many individual utilitarian vessels (n = 13) were identified in consumption-related contexts as fine-textured serving vessels (n = 6).

Phase I coarse-textured utilitarian vessels included redwashed (n = 4) and unslipped (n = 6) bowls with rounded or incurving sides and outcurving-neck jars that were either unslipped (n = 1) or red-washed (n = 2). Fillet appliqués decorated the exteriors of some of these vessels, although this decorative technique was not as common as in later phases. Large strap handles continued in use and were more common than the smaller lug handles that appeared at this time.

Fine serving vessels

Fragments from red-washed tecomates, jars with blackpainted flaring necks, and the earliest ‘colanders’ were recovered from deposits beneath Phase I floors. Colanderstyle vessels were represented by body sherds and possible base fragments that had multiple holes punched through their exteriors before firing. The exterior surfaces were then smoothed, but the interiors of colanders were not similarly finished and preserved material that protruded from the opposite surface when the holes were created. Vessel form could not be determined for the small colander fragments from Phase I subfloor contexts, but Cheetham (2009) suggests colanders were shaped like open bowls and were used in corn rinsing and processing.

Phase 0 serving vessels included incurving bowls with thick sides and shallow dishes or plates. Fine-ware fragments were extremely friable and may have disintegrated during excavation and storage; most had soft, ashy-feeling textures, buff-to-cream coloured exterior margins, and thick, dark cores. Two bowl fragments were a light orange colour throughout and had an ashy feel. Most fine-textured sherds were eroded, but traces of a dull red slip on one incurving bowl provided some evidence of decorative treatment. All serving vessel fragments were recovered from problematic contexts beneath Phase I floors. Phase I serving vessels included black-slipped bowls with incurving or rounded sides (n = 3), dishes or shallow bowls with dull red slips (n = 2), and a black-slipped jar (n = 1). Vessel bodies had buff or light orange exteriors, generally lacked thick, dark cores, and were more resistant to breakage than the ashy-textured Phase 0 vessel fragments. Light orange sherds from dish or shallow bowl forms resembled Mars Orange Ware fabrics and may have been transitional between these and earlier ashy-textured pastes. Examples of post-slip incising and pre-slip groove incising were present on red-slipped body sherds from dishes and bowls.

Phase II/III (Figure 9.10) More pottery fragments were recovered from Phase II and III consumption-related contexts than from earlier deposits, but the number of sherd lots associated with architectural features was still relatively small. The repertoire of vessel forms, surface treatments, and secondary decorative styles expanded in Phases II and III, as was previously noted for early facet Kanluk pottery (Awe 1992:235). Ashytextured Cunil-complex pottery fragments were still present in Phases II and III, but the relative frequencies of these sherds were less than in the two preceding phases. A 178

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery

Figure 9.10: Examples of vessel forms and decorations from Phase II/III consumption-related contexts. A) Red slipped outcurving dishes; B) Red slipped spouted vessel fragment, red slipped spout; C) Red washed outcurving neck jar; D) Unslipped tecomate or restricted orifice bowl; E) Fillet appliqué body sherds showing straight and undulating fillets; F) Strap handles with connecting fillets.

minimum number of 78 individual vessels were identified in Phase II and III contexts, but only two of these were ashy-textured Cunil vessels. The Phase II/III assemblage was composed of slightly more fine serving vessels (n = 42, 53.8%) than coarse-textured utilitarian vessels (n = 34, 43.6%), and special purpose vessels (n = 2, 2.6%) appeared for the first time.

incising was also noted on black-slipped body sherds that probably derived from dishes or shallow bowls. Coarse utilitarian vessels Utilitarian vessels had either plain, unslipped surfaces (n = 19) or a reddish wash (n = 15). Washes varied in colour from light red to dark brownish-red and were applied exclusively to the exterior surfaces of vessels. Red-washed forms included small rounded bowls (n = 3), jars with outcurving necks (n = 8), and tecomates (n = 3); an additional red-washed tecomate was decorated with an undulating fillet on its exterior. Unslipped forms were almost identical to red-washed vessels and occurred in similar frequencies. Unslipped vessels included incurving and rounded bowls (n = 5), jars with outcurving necks (n = 8), and tecomates (n = 3), and they were also occasionally decorated with either undulating or straight appliquéd fillets (n = 2). One unslipped jar had three encircling grooves incised along the exterior of its neck below the rim, and another, anomalous jar had a red slip applied to its exterior surface that resembled slips used on serving vessels. Lug and loop handles (n = 2) were occasionally placed just below rims on the sides of rounded bowls; strap handles were slightly more common (n = 3) and were likely attached to the larger jar forms.

Fine serving vessels The serving vessel assemblage (n = 24) was dominated by red-slipped bowl (n = 9) and dish/bowl (n = 10) forms without secondary decoration. Bowls were more variable in shape, with flaring, incurving, or rounded sides, whereas shallow dish/bowl forms had outcurving sides. Redslipped vessels also included jars with outcurving necks (n = 3) and tecomates (n = 2). Slip colour ranged from dark red to light orange-red and had a glossy lustre that differed from the dull red slips typical of Phase I vessels. Redslipped serving vessels were sometimes decorated with fine-line or groove incisions. Single encircling lines were incised on the interior and exterior surfaces of dishes and shallow bowls below their rims (n = 3), and two or more parallel grooves were placed in the same areas on other dishes and bowls (n = 9). One red-slipped tecomate was also embellished with parallel encircling grooves below its rim.

Special purpose vessels

Far fewer black-slipped serving vessels (n = 5) were identified in the same contexts, and all of these were forms with restricted orifices that were probably involved in serving liquids. Jars with outcurving necks (n = 2) and tecomates (n = 1) were slipped black and received no further decoration, while the exteriors of some blackslipped tecomates (n = 2) were incised with horizontal encircling lines below their rims. Parallel pre-slip groove

Two pieces of special purpose vessels, both of which derived from spouted jars or bowls, were present in the Phase II/III assemblage. One of these was a sherd from a small red-slipped bowl with a circular opening set in its rim, and the other was a short, thick spout that appeared to be made of two concentric cylindrical pieces. The outer cylinder was solid and slipped red, and it was formed 179

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization decorations increased during Phase IV, as did numbers of stylistically rare serving vessels and macroscopically unique ceramic pastes (‘one-offs’). This diversification occurred across all vessel categories, and several new forms of special purpose vessels appeared at this time. The relative frequencies of serving vessels (n = 532, 53.9%), utilitarian vessels (n = 440, 44.6%), and special purpose vessels (n = 15, 1.5%) were quite similar to those from Phase II/III deposits despite the increase in the diversity and overall quantity of pottery fragments, yet fragments of ashy-textured Cunil serving vessels were increasingly rare.

around a hollow inner cylinder with an opening that was narrower at the point of attachment to the vessel body than at the opposite end. The Phase II/III spouted vessels were different from later forms (see below) and may represent earlier versions of ‘chocolate pots.’ The contents they once contained can only be guessed with the data at hand, but residue analyses of stylistically similar vessels from Colha and elsewhere suggest many spouted vessels were used for making chocolate libations (e.g., Powis et al. 2002). Spouted forms were rare in the assemblage and were probably used for specialized purposes regardless of the liquid they once contained.

Fine serving vessels Phase IV serving vessels displayed several different surface treatments, although red slips were numerically dominant (n = 481). Red slips were either glossy or waxy and ranged in colour from light orange-red to darker tones approaching reddish-brown. Waxy maroon-slipped vessels were rare (n = 3) and may represent a darker extreme of the red slip colour spectrum that appeared near the end of Phase IV. Black slips (n = 38) became glossier than in previous phases and occurred less frequently in comparison to red slips. Cream-slipped (n = 2), bichrome (n = 2), and

Phase IV (Figures 9.11 and 9.12) The densest refuse deposits were associated with Phase IV architecture in the latter half of the Middle Preclassic, and these contexts produced the largest quantities of both pottery fragments and identifiable vessels (n = 987). Phase IV contexts also contained the highest numbers of reconstructible cache vessels and vessel portions representing complete or nearly complete vessel profiles. Diversity in vessel forms, surface treatments, and

Figure 9.11: Examples of decorated serving vessels from Phase IV contexts. A) Red-slipped horizontal wide groove incised dish/bowl; B) Red-slipped interior and exterior rim rounded bowl; C) Red-slipped incised outcurving dish/bowl; D) Redslipped body sherds with complex designs; E) Red-slipped groove incised composite silhouette bowl; F) Red-slipped incised bowl with interior/exterior incisions; G) Red-slipped spout; H) Cream-slipped fire-clouded rounded bowl.

180

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery

Figure 9.12: Examples of coarse-textured utilitarian vessels from Phase IV contexts. A) Outcurving neck jars; B) Tecomates or restricted orifice bowls; C) Rounded bowls with fillet appliques.

dishes and bowls; they ranged in shape from shallow and wide (sometimes called chamfered; Awe 1992:Figure 66b) to relatively deep, narrow, and close-spaced. Parallel grooves occasionally covered the entire exterior surfaces of shallow dishes, but they were more regularly placed in groups of two or more below rims or just above bases. One or more grooves were occasionally placed on slightly everted rims or on dish interiors just below rims, and three red-slipped jars had grooves just below their rims on the inside of their necks. More complex geometric designs were occasionally executed in grooves on the exteriors of red slipped bowls, but these were much less common than simple encircling lines.

resist-decorated (n = 1) vessels were all extremely rare in Phase IV contexts. Plain red slips were used to decorate bowls with flaring, insloping, incurving, outcurving, and rounded sides, as well as a handful of vessels with medial angles that were probably composite silhouette forms. Flaring and outcurving dishes, or shallow bowls, were also simply decorated with a coating of red slip, as were flaring- and outcurving-neck jars and tecomates. Red slip was regularly applied across the interiors and exteriors of dishes and bowls, but it was occasionally confined to the interior or rim area of exterior surfaces. Red slips ranged from glossy to waxy regardless of vessel form, and neither surface finish appears to have been more closely associated with any specific shape class. Extremely waxy, crazed red slips were used exclusively on rare (n = 9) dishes with widely everted rims that are more commonly associated with Late Preclassic Sierra Group types. These vessel fragments derived from later refuse deposits beneath the Phase V (late Kanluk – early Xakal) cobble surfaces in Operation 3 and likely relate to this transitional phase.

Pre-slip incising was applied to a similar range of redslipped vessels, and encircling lines like those described above were most common. Red slipped bottles were also decorated with concentric incised lines at the base of their necks. Vertical lines were incised on vessel exteriors and the interiors of outcurving bowls, and these lines were occasionally executed in a curving zigzag or ‘squiggle’ style that resembled snakes (Figure 9.11F). Right-angled, zigzagging lines that may have represented lightning were also present but rare, and punctations co-occurred with incised lines on a handful of body sherds. Post-slip incised sherds were less common in the Phase IV assemblage; these most often displayed zoned sets of parallel lines or more complex geometric designs. Post-slip incising

Pre-slip groove-incised decorative elements were commonly added to the same range of dish and bowl forms that were simply slipped red, and this technique was used on vessels that had both glossy and waxy slips. Grooves were usually horizontal and encircled the exteriors of 181

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization wash were less common (n = 15), and these may represent red wash colour variants. Black-slipped (n = 8) and redslipped (n = 1) coarse wares were comparatively rare but notable for having surface treatments similar to serving vessels. Daubing with red paint was also used to decorate utilitarian vessels (n = 1). Just over one-quarter of the coarse ware vessel assemblage was made up of blackened sherds (n = 120, 27.2%) that may have been used in food preparation.

was a decorative technique associated with earlier Cunilcomplex pottery that became less frequent later in the Middle Preclassic (Awe 1992:227). A comparatively rare, and apparently later, secondary decoration on red-slipped vessels involved placing fillet appliqués on their exterior surfaces before the vessel was slipped. This type of decorative treatment was observed exclusively on rounded and incurving red-slipped bowls, and it mimicked the fillet appliqués placed on earlier (and contemporaneous) coarse-textured utilitarian bowls and jars usually associated with Jocote Group types. Nubbins or small lugs were also applied to red slipped bowls but were not as common as fillet appliqués.

Unslipped utilitarian vessels were predominantly closed forms with restricted orifices, but they also comprised small bowls with rounded and incurving sides. Jars with outcurving, flaring, and insloping necks were the most common unslipped vessels and were closely followed by tecomates. Both straight and undulating fillet appliqués were commonly applied to the exteriors of unslipped bowls, jars, and tecomates, and strap and loop handles were occasionally added. Rare examples displayed both additions, and both handles and fillets were more widely used during Phase IV than in earlier times. The only example of incised decoration was a simple line encircling the neck of an unslipped jar.

Black-slipped vessels resembled their red-slipped counterparts but were far less common. Black slips were applied to the same range of bowl and jar forms as red slips, but only one black-slipped dish was recovered. Preslip groove incising was the most common secondary decorative technique applied to black-slipped vessels, and encircling grooves were place in the same locations noted for red-slipped vessels. Pre-slip incising was rare on blackslipped vessels, and post-slip incising was not observed; incised lines were used to decorate one flaring-sided bowl and one jar in the black-slipped vessel assemblage, and incised black-slipped body sherds were less common (n = 52) than similarly decorated red-slipped examples (n = 209).

Vessels displaying a red wash included the same range of vessel forms as those with unslipped surfaces. Jars and tecomates were predominant among red-washed utilitarian vessels, although washes were also applied to a smaller number of bowls. Straight and undulating fillets, and strap or loop handles, were also added to red-washed vessels. Brown washes were applied to the same range of vessel forms but were not combined with secondary decorations and were far less prevalent overall. One tecomate was decorated with an undulating fillet and daubs of red paint along part of its rim and shoulder.

Waxy, dark red or maroon slips were comparatively rare in the Phase IV assemblage and may represent a later stylistic development.7 Vessels with maroon slips included one jar and one tecomate, both without additional decoration, and a rounded bowl that had preslip groove incisions encircling most of its exterior. Cream-slipped vessels were even rarer; they were limited to a rounded bowl with a unique rim form and a blackened, fire-clouded surface, and an outcurving dish or shallow bowl without additional decoration. Red-andblack paint (bichrome) was applied to an incurving bowl and outcurving dish, and a resist treatment was also used on an outcurving dish. Eroded sherds with fine-textured fabrics were also recovered from all dish and bowl form categories described above.

Black and red slips were rarely applied to utilitarian vessels and these closely resembled fine ware forms. Slips were thicker and more consist than the red and brown washes that were more common on utilitarian vessels. Black-slipped coarse ware vessels included outcurving dishes, rounded bowls, and necked jars; one black-slipped shallow bowl or dish had a deep groove incision encircling its rim and a fillet appliqué on its exterior. The assemblage also included a coarse-textured jar with a glossy red slip that resembled slips found on fine-textured Savana Group vessels.

Coarse utilitarian vessels Most utilitarian vessels were either unslipped (n = 224) or had a thin red wash (n = 184) similar to that used on Phase II/III coarse-ware vessels. Vessels with a brown

Special purpose vessels The most common special purpose vessels in Phase IV contexts were slipped spouts made from fine-textured fabrics. Glossy red slips (n = 6) were most frequent, although one spout was treated with a dull black slip. Spouts consisted of long hollow cylinders with a uniformly wide central chamber and wall thickness that appeared more regular and better formed than the earlier Phase II/ III example. No complete spouted vessels were recovered from Phase IV contexts and their original forms are not known.

7 Two types identified at Barton Ramie may be related to the maroonslipped vessels from Cahal Pech: the late facet Jenney Creek type Black Rock Red: Black Rock Variety that has a ‘red-brown slip that may approach black or maroon’ (Sharer and Kirkpatrick 1976:79), and an earlier unnamed maroon-slipped variety of Sierra Red (Gifford 1976:88). The scarcity of maroon-slipped vessels and their possible relation to the Barton Ramie types suggests that they may have been introduced later in Phase IV, although neither of these types was identified in the Plaza B assemblage (see Appendix B).

182

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery Rare censer or brazier forms were made from coarsetextured fabrics and deposited in Phase IV contexts. These included the thick-walled base of an open, bowl-like vessel that was covered by a thin red wash, an unslipped base or pedestal stand that supported a blackened circular top with a large central perforation, and three unslipped rim sherds with aberrant profiles that may have been lids. It is not clear whether these functioned as ritual vessels for the burning of incense or as braziers for food preparation, but their scarcity in the assemblage suggests they were not common elements of the ceramic repertoire.

ware vessels from the Plaza B assemblage that were not Cunil-complex types were classified as members of the Jocote Group, but the range of variation in their fabrics was far greater than that described in the Barton Ramie report. 10 I identified fifteen distinct coarse fabrics in utilitarian vessels at Cahal Pech that could be assigned to types in the Jocote Group, which suggests a far more complicated set of relationships existed among the producers and consumers of utilitarian vessels than previously envisioned. Differences in fabric composition may reflect microtemporal variation in pottery production that lies beyond the precision of our chronological assessments, but they may also represent the actions of multiple producers manufacturing stylistically similar products. The use of different materials (e.g., types of clay, added temper) and/ or production techniques (e.g., clay mixing and levigation, paste recipes, firing methods) can generate visually distinct fabrics among stylistically similar vessels, and both material choice and fabrication techniques can vary among groups of producers. Macroscopic characterization of vessel fabrics aimed to identify variability attributable to the practices of different groups of producers and examine how different consumer groups accessed these products through time.

An unusual red slipped rim sherd was identified as part of a bell-chambered drum (Linda Howie, personal communication 2012), although no other pieces of such an instrument were recovered. Two red slipped ‘tabs’ were also recovered that belonged to an unrecognized vessel form. Tabs were relatively thick rectangular pieces that appeared to have two intact ‘rims’ at either end; they may have been sections of large basket-handles, or possibly pieces that connected the spouts and bodies of chocolate pots (see Powis et al. 2002:Figure 4 for Late Preclassic examples of connected-spout chocolate pots). Macroscopic Fabric Characterization Vessel fabrics were examined with a hand lens and at 10 – 40X with a USB microscope to identify variability in physical attributes related to technological and provenance differences.8 Type-variety assessments of Middle Preclassic pottery have tended to discount differences in vessel fabrics while privileging variation in decorative styles; macroscopic fabric analysis was undertaken to document compositional variability that may have been masked by previous studies. Limited variation in the fabrics of fine-textured serving vessels is usually expected and assumed to result from their circulation through giftgiving or prestation exchange, but little attention has been paid to the fabrics of utilitarian vessels that are presumed to be local products.

Fabric Characterization and Attributes Macroscopic analysis of diagnostic vessel fragments identified 55 distinct fabric types, which are shown in photomicrograph in Table 9.16 along with a summary of the vessels that contained each fabric type (see Appendix D for detailed fabric descriptions).11 Six of these fabrics were very well represented (n > 50), while 27 rare fabrics occurred in fewer than five vessels. Five fabrics were identified in contexts that spanned Phases 0/I through IV and the rest were limited to earlier or later phases. Four additional fabric types that possessed similar attributes but were limited in temporal distribution appear to represent developmental sequences of vessel fabrics; these were differentiated by textural attributes and are described in more detail below. The pottery assemblage exhibits a diachronic trend toward increasing variability in fabric types that paralleled the stylistic developments described above, and an almost exponential increase in fabric types was observed in vessels from Phase IV contexts.

For example, the seminal and oft-cited study of Belize Valley pottery from Barton Ramie lists four established types and varieties that belong to the Jocote Group of Uaxactun Unslipped Ware (Sharer and Kirkpatrick 1976:63-70). 9 Temporal variation was identified at both the type and variety levels but descriptions of paste attributes were nearly identical across the entire group. Types and varieties were primarily defined by different surface treatments and decorative styles, and any macroscopically observed variation in pastes was subsumed in a broad description of the Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote variety paste attributes. All identifiable Middle Preclassic coarse

Sayab Daub-striated and Cooma Striated are two additional late facet Jenney Creek types that correspond to my definition of coarse utilitarian wares (Sharer and Kirkpatrick 1976:71-73). Neither of these types was listed in the type-variety assessments (Appendix B), and I identified only eight striated body sherds in the Middle Preclassic assemblage. These types have the same paste description and would not account for much more of the variability in the Cahal Pech coarse ware fabrics even if they were more abundant. 11 Two fabric types were identified in sherds from problematic contexts and are not included in this report. Seven additional fabric sub-types were tentatively identified that were closely related to specific fine fabrics. These possible sub-types contained comparatively few examples and were differentiated from members of the better-represented types by the presence of firing horizons and/or partially oxidized cores. Sub-types have been combined with their related fabrics until microscopic analysis can be performed to determine the cause of the observed variability. 10

8 The precise meaning of this variability could not be determined without petrographic analysis. The visual distinctiveness of the different fabric classes, and the repetition of several classes across a wide range of vessels, suggests they did reflect differences in material composition and/ or production technology that remain to be determined. 9 This total does not include nine unspecified varieties for which no paste descriptions were given.

183

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 9.16: Photomicrographs of fabric types taken at 40X magnification. Phase and stylistic vessel associations are listed for each fabric type along with fabric-type codes used in Table 9.17. Functional/stylistic vessel designations are presented in the format surface treatment-decoration: form-shape class. A red-slipped incised outcurving dish/bowl is written as ‘Red-incise: oc-db.’ Key to Abbreviations (surface treatments/decorations: app = appliqué, blk = black slipped, brwash = brown washed, erod = eroded, groove = groove-incised, maroon = maroon slipped, red = red slipped, rdwash = red washed; forms: flar = flaring, inc = incurving, insl = insloping, oc = outcurving, rnd = rounded; shape classes: b = bowl, d = dish, db = dish/bowl, tec = tecomate)

Buff-firing Fine Fabrics

Early Matrix-rich Buff 3 (BF3) N=2 Phase 1 Red: oc-db

Matrix-rich(chalky/vesicles) Orange 3 (O3) N = 62 Phase 2/3 – Rd-groove: db Orange-firing Rd-incise: flar-db/oc-db/tec Fine Fabrics Phase 4 Blk-groove: inc-b Red-groove: flar-b/inc-b/ insl-b(3)/ oc-db(6)/jar(2) Red-incise: inc-b(2) /insl-b/ocb(2)/rnd-b(2)/flar-db/oc-db(8) Red: flar-b(2) /inc-b(5) /insl-b/ oc-b(2)/rnd-b(5)/flar-db/ocdb(5) /jar(3) Erod: oc-db

Fine textured Brown-Black 2 (BBK2) N=2 Phase 1 Blk: rnd-b Erod-incise: rnd-b

Early Fine textured Buff 2 (BF2) N=1 Phase 2/3 Red: inc-b

Matrix-rich(chalky/vesicles) Orange 4 (O4) N = 35 Phase 2/3 – Red: insl-b Phase 4 Red-groove: rnd-b/oc-db(4) Red-incise: flar-b/inc-b/rnd-b/ flar-db/oc-db(4) Red: inc-b(4)/rnd-b(4)/oc-db(10) /jar(2)/tab

184

Matrix-rich(chalky)/Fine textured Orange 7 (O7) N = 33 Phase 4 Blk-groove: rnd-b Red-groove: inc-b/insl-b/ocdb(3) Red-incise: oc-db(7)/jar Red: flar-b /inc-b(3)/rnd-b(3)/ oc-db(11)/jar

Early BIMOD Buff 4 (BF4) N=1 Phase 1 Red: oc-db

Matrix-rich(chalky/vesicles) Yellow-Brown 2 (YB2) N=4 Phase 4 Red-groove: inc-b Red-incise: bottle/db Red: inc-b

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery Table 9.16: Continued

Fine textured/ Matrixrich(non-chalky) Orange 5 (O5) N=9 Phase 4 Red: flar-b/rnd-b(3)/flar-db/ oc-db/jar(2) Erod: inc-bowl

Fine textured Orange 9 (O9) N = 95 Phase 2/3 Red-groove: inc-b(3) /oc-db(2) Red: oc-db/jar(2) Phase4 Blk: flar-b/insl-b Red-app: inc-b(3) Red-groove: flar-b /inc-b(8)/ rnd-b(3)/flar-db/oc-db(8) Red-incise: flar-b/inc-b(4)/ rnd-b(5)/flar-db(3)/oc-db(4) Red: flar-b /inc-b(12)/oc-b/ rnd-b(7)/oc-d/flar-db(2)/ocdb(15)/jar(15)/tab Erod: oc-db

Fine textured Orange 1 (O1) N = 49 Phase 1 – Blk: jar Phase2/3 – Red-groove: flar-db Red-incise: oc-db Phase 4 Blk-groove: oc-db(2) Blk-incise: inc-b(2) Blk: rnd-b/jar Red-groove: oc-b(2) /rnd-b/oc-db Red-incise: oc-b(2) /insl-b/ocdb(2) /drum Red: inc-b /insl-b(2)/oc-b(3)/ rnd-b/oc-d(4)/oc-db(11)/jar(4)/tec Erod-incise: rnd-b Bichrome: oc-d Maroon-groove: rnd-b

Fine textured Orange 10 (O10) N=2 Phase 4 Red: oc-db Erod: insl-b

Fine textured Orange 6 (O6) N = 26 Phase2/3 – Red-groove: oc-db Red: rnd-b Phase 4 Red-groove: oc-db(2) /rnd-b Red-incise: inc-b(2)/flar-db/ oc-db(4) Red: inc-b(5) /oc-b(2)/rnd-b(2)/ oc-db(9) Erod: oc-db

Matrix-rich(chalky/vesicles)BIMOD Orange 2 (O2) N = 169 Phase 2/3 – Blk: jar(2) Red-groove: tec/oc-db Red-incise: oc-db(2) Red: flar-b/inc-b/oc-db(7)/tec Phase 4 Blk: rnd-b(2)/oc-db Red-groove: flar-b(3) /inc-b(3)/ oc-b(2)/rnd-b(3)/inc-d/ oc-d(3)/ flar-db/oc-db(20) Red-incise: inc-b/insl-b/oc-b/ rnd-b(4)/oc-db(9) Rd: flar-b/inc-b(10)/insl-b(3)/ oc-b(5)/rnd-b(12)/oc-d(7)/ flardb(3)/oc-db(47)/jar(4)/tec(3) Erod: oc-db Maroon: jar/tec

185

Fine textured Orange 8 (O8) N = 23 Phase 2/3 – Red: spouted-b Phase 4 Blk: inc-b Red-groove: inc-b(2)/insl- b/ flar-db /oc-db(5) Red-incise: inc-b/oc-db(2) Red: inc-b(3)/insl-b/oc-db(3)/ jar Erod-groove: b

Matrix-rich(chalky/vesicles) BIMOD Orange-Brown 1 (OB1) N=5 Phase 4 Red-groove: oc-d (rare) Red: oc-db/jar/rnd-b/oc-b

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 9.16: Continued

Matrix-rich BIMOD Orange 11 (O11) N=2 Phase 4 Red-groove: jar Red: jar

Brown-firing Fine Fabrics

BIMOD Orange 12 (O12) N=1 Phase 4 Red-groove: db (rare rim)

Matrix-rich(chalky/vesicles) Brown 7 (B7) N=3 Phase 4 Blk: rnd-b Red: oc-b/oc-d Erod: b

Fine textured Brown 2 (B2) N = 15 Phase 2/3 – Blk-incise: tec Phase 4 Blk: rnd-b/oc-db Erod: oc-b/inc-b Red: inc-b/flar-b/flar-d/oc-db/jar 3 rare vessels (bichrome inc-b)

Fine textured Brown 9 (B9) N=1 Phase 4 Red: rnd-b

Fine textured – ashy Brown 6 (B6) N = 2) Phase 4 Blk: jar Red: jar

Fine textured Yellow-firing Yellow-Brown 1 (YB1) Fine Fabrics N = 13 Phase 4 Red-groove: rnd-b Red-incise: jar Red: inc-b(4)/rnd-b(2)/ocdb(3) Erod: flar-b Cream: oc-db (rare)

Coarse Orange (CO1) N=6 Phase 2/3 Rdwash: tec/rnd-b(2) Phase 4 Red: inc-b(2) Rdwash: rnd-b

Fine textured Brown 3 (B3) N=6 Phase 4 Blk: oc-d/jar Red-groove: rnd-b Red-incise: inc-b Red: inc-b/tec

Fine-textured/BIMODAL Coarse Brown 1 (CB1) N=5 Phase 4 Erod: inc-b Red-groove: oc-db/inc-b Rdwsh: tec Unslip: insl-b

Fine textured Yellow-Black (YBK1) N=1 Phase 4 Blk: jar

186

Fine textured Brown 4 (B4) N=6 Phase 4 Blk: inc-b Red: rnd-b/oc-db/flar-db Erod: oc-jar (rare)

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery Table 9.16: Continued

Grog Brown 10 (B10) N=2 Phase 4 Blk: rnd-b Cream: rnd-b (fired clouded),

Grog tempered Fine Fabrics Grog Brown 1 (B1) N=6 Phase 4 Blk: inc-b Red: evert-d/oc-b/oc-db

Brown-Black Fine textured Fine Fabrics Brown-Black 1 (BBK1) N=2 Phase 4 Blk: spout/jar

Black Medium Fabrics

Coarse Gray Fabrics

Sandy (mixed sand/clay-rich) Black 1 (BK1) N=2 Phase 1 Unslip: rnd-b

Sandy (mixed sand) Gray-Brown 3 (GB3) N=3 Phase 1 Unslip: rnd-b

Grog Brown 8 (B8) N=1 Phase 4 Red: oc-b

Fine textured Brown-Black 3 (BBK3) N=1 Phase 4 – Blk: inc-b

Sandy (mixed sand/well sorted) Medium Black (MB) N = 11 Phase 2/3 Blk-incise: tec Blk: tec Phase 4 Blk: jar Red: jar Brwash: jar(2)/tec Rdwash: jar Unslip: rnd-b

Sandy (mixed sand) Coarse Gray (CG) N = 39 Phase 4 Erod-app: rnd-b Rdwash: inc-b/insl- b/jar(7)/ tec(6) Unslip-app: rnd-b/jar/tec Unslip: inc-b/insl-bowl/jar(12)/ tec(6)

187

Fine textured Gray-Brown 1 (GB1) N=2 Phase 4 Blk: jar Red: jar

Own group Coarse Black (CBK1) N=6 Phase 4 Blk: rnd-b/jar Blk-incise: flar-b Rdwash: jar Unslip: jar/tec

Fine textured Buff-Gray 1 (BFG1) N=2 Phase 4 Blk: jar Red: inc-b

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 9.16: Continued

Sandy (mixed sand) Brown Sandy (BS) N = 233 Phase 0 – Red-daub: jar Rdwash: jar Phase 1 – Redwash: jar Phase 2/3 – Red: jar Rdwash: jar(3)/tec(2) Unslip: inc-b/rnd-b/jar(6)/ tec(2) Phase 4 Blk-groove/app: oc-b Blk: jar Red: jar(2)/tec Brwash: insl-b/rnd-b/jar(2)/ tec(3) Red-daub/app: tec Coarse Sandy Erod: rnd-b/tec Rdwash-app: rnd-b(5)/jar(2) Fabrics / tec(2) Rdwash inc-b(2)/insl-b(5)/ rnd-b(3)/oc-db/jar(56)/tec(24) Unslip-app: flar-b/rnd-b(3)/ jar/ tec(2) Unslip-incise: jar Unslip: insl-b(2)/rnd-b(8)/ censer(2)/jar(30)/tec(49)

Sandy (siliceous) Coarse Red (CR) N=3 Phase 4 Blk: rnd-b Rdwash: jar Unslip: jar

Sandy (mixed sand) Black Sandy (BKS) N = 54 Phase 1 – Rdwash: inc-b Unslip: inc-b Phase 2/3 – Unslip: inc-b/jar Phase 4 Red-incise: bottle Rdwash-app: rnd-b Rdwash: rnd-b(2)/jar(9)/tec(5) Unslip-app: inc-b/rnd-b/tec(2) Unslip: inc-b/oc-b/rnd-b/jar(10)/ tec(14)

Sandy (siliceous) Brown 11 (B11) N=1 Phase 4 Rdwash: jar

Sandy (siliceous) Orange Sandy (OS1) N=8 Phase 1 – Rdwash: jar Phase 2/3 – Red: jar Phase 4 Rdwash: jar/tec Unslip: tec(4)

Sandy (siliceous) very coarse Coarse Brown Sandy (CBS) N = 12 Phase 2/3 – Unslip: incbowl Phase 4 Rdwash: jar(5) Unslip: jar(5) Erod: jar

188

Sandy (mixed sand) Coarse Red-brown (CRB1) N=5 Phase 1 – Blk: inc-b/rnd-b Unslip: inc-b Phase 4 Unslip: jar/tec

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery Table 9.16: Continued

Sandy (carb rich) Brown Limestone Sand (BLS) N = 57 Phase 2/3 – Unslip-app: tec CarbonateRdwash: rnd-b /jar(2) Unsliprich Coarse Sandy Fabrics groove: jar Unslip: rnd-b/jar Phase 4 Rdwash-app: rnd-b(2) Blk: jar Brnwash: jar(2) Rdwash: jar(8)/tec Unslip-app: bowl Unslip rnd-b/inc-b/b/jar(20)/ tec(9) Erod: insl-b/rnd-b/jar

Sandy (carb rich) Black Limestone Sand (BKLS) N = 29 Phase 1 – Unslip: jar Phase 4 Blk: rnd-b Red: jar Brwash: insl-b Rdwash-app: rnd-b Rdwash: jar(6)/tec(4) Erod: rnd-b Unslip insl-b/rnd-b/censer/jar(6)/ tec(4)

Own group Brown Limestone Sand 3 (BLS3) N=2 Phase 4 Unslip: rnd-b/tec

Rare Coarse Fabrics Calcite temp Coarse Brown 2 (CB2) n=2 Phase 4 Unslip: tec/jar

Own group Red Limestone Sand (RLS) N = 49 Phase 1 – Rdwash inc-b/rnd-b Phase 2/3 – Rdwash: jar(3)/tec Unslip-app: rnd-b Unslip: tec Phase 4 Brwash-app: jar Brwash: jar Erod: b Rdwash-app: rnd-b(2)/jar(2) Rdwash: censer/jar(6)/tec(5) Unslip-app: inc-b/jar Unslip: insl-b/rnd-b/inc-b/ censer/jar(7)/tec(9

Coarse sand temp Coarse Buff (CBF) N=1 Phase 4 Rdwash: jar

Own group Brown Limestone Sand 2 (BLS2) N=4 Phase 4 Brwash: jar Unslip: rnd-b/colander/jar

Own group Red-Brown Sandy (RB1) N=1 Phase 4 – Resist: oc-b

well-sorted and poorly sorted examples of fine and coarse fabrics were identified. Fine fabrics had smooth textures in fresh fracture that translated to a smoother and, occasionally, ‘ashy’ feel across vessel surfaces, which contrasted with the cement-like feel and visible surface inclusions typical of coarse-textured vessels. The textural characteristics of fine and coarse fabrics made them particularly well-suited to the construction of serving vessels with high-quality surface finishes and utilitarian vessels with comparatively crude surfaces, respectively, and there was good correspondence between these fabric types and functional classifications in general.12 A category of black-coloured fabrics was also identified in a number of jar fragments that had textures intermediate between fine and coarse fabrics.

I used the same attributes to identify different fabric types (see Table 4.2) and combine similar types together into ‘groups’ of like fabrics. Eleven groups were present, with group members sharing one or more attributes thought to represent important compositional similarities. Several coarse fabrics, for example, were grouped together because of the prevalence of carbonate rock and mineral inclusions in the sand-size coarse fraction component and were internally differentiated by matrix colour, while numerous orange-firing fine-textured fabrics were grouped by colour and differentiated by the characteristics of their inclusions. These fabric ‘groups’ were used more as an organizational framework than as a rigid classification system based on known compositional or technological similarities, as the relationships among fabric group members cannot be determined without petrographic analysis. I initially sorted fabrics into fine and coarse categories based on the size and prevalence of aplastic inclusions and the textural and physical characteristics of the clay matrix. Fine fabrics tended to have fewer, smaller inclusions than coarse fabrics and appeared to contain more clay matrix in fresh fracture, while coarse fabrics contained more largesized inclusions and proportionately less clay matrix. The sorting of inclusions was not a reliable discriminating attribute between fine and coarse fabrics, because both

Coarse-textured fabrics were rarely used to make slipped serving vessels (n = 8), and most of these (n = 7) were found in Phase IV contexts. Nearly all these fabrics were also used to make utilitarian vessels during or before Phase IV, and the slipped serving vessels may represent experimentation by pottery producers. One fabric type was unique in the assemblage and may represent either an intrusive vessel fragment from a later time period or a vessel acquired from outside the community. 12

189

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Fine Fabrics

Kirkpatrick 1976:73-77). Examples of matrix-rich fabrics include Buff 3 of the buff-firing group; Orange 3 – 4 and Yellow-brown 2 of the orange-firing group; and Brown 7 of the brown-firing group. Two orange-firing fabrics, Orange 5 and Orange 7, were intermediate between the fine-textured and matrix-rich categories; the fabric of each was dominated by an orange-firing clay matrix, but fine sand-sized inclusions were more abundant than in other matrix-rich fabric types. Orange 5 also lacked the chalky texture common to all other matrix-rich fabrics.

Fine fabrics included the largest number of total fabric types in the assemblage (n = 34), which were placed in fabric groups based on firing colours. Firing colour was chosen as a discriminating attribute because of its relationship to the chemical composition of clays (e.g., the presence and abundance of iron and organic materials; Rice 1987:333). Colour differences can result from the use of specific clay deposits with distinctive chemical properties (e.g., iron-rich clays to produce red or orange coloured vessels), the addition of materials to clays to achieve the desired colouring effect, and/or different firing techniques (Shepard 1956:217-222). Colours were recorded from oxidized portions of vessel walls that were distinctive even when sherds contained dark-coloured cores, which suggested variability in firing colour related less to a lack of control over firing methods than to chemical characteristics of the clay fabric components. The fine fabric groups included buff-firing fabrics (n = 4), orange-firing fabrics (n = 15), brown-firing fabrics (n = 6), brown/black-firing fabrics (n = 4), yellow-firing fabrics (n = 2), and grog-tempered brown fabrics (n = 3).

Bimodal fabrics contained abundant inclusions that exhibited clearly bimodal size distributions. Larger inclusions were comparatively angular and typically fell in the size range of very coarse sand (1 – 2 mm), while small inclusions were usually in the very fine to medium sand range (0.063 – 0.50 mm) and were sub-rounded or rounded. Bimodal fabrics could resemble either matrixrich or fine-textured fabric types but were differentiated from both by the relative abundance of both fine and coarse sand-sized inclusions; matrix-rich bimodal fabrics had chalky textures and prevalent vesicles, while finetextured bimodal fabrics had a sandier appearance and lacked identifiable vesicles. The inclusions that dominated the upper size mode (coarse to very coarse sand) could represent material intentionally added to modify paste properties or less rigorous processing of natural clays, although the contrasting angularity and uneven distribution of the larger inclusions suggests they were added constituents (i.e., temper). Examples of matrix-rich bimodal fabrics include Orange 2, Orange 11, and OrangeBrown 1 in the orange-firing group; fine-textured bimodal fabrics include Coarse Brown 1 in the brown-firing group, Orange 12 in the orange-firing group, and Buff 4 in the buff-firing group.

Fabric types were differentiated within groups based on characteristics of their clay matrix and aplastic inclusions. The size, sorting, and distribution of inclusions were important discriminating factors, as was the relative abundance of inclusions compared to the clay matrix that surrounded them. Most fine fabrics in each firing-colour group could be placed in one of three categories based on similarities in these attributes: 1) fine-textured; 2) matrixrich; and 3) bimodal. Fabrics that represented each of these categories were found in the orange-firing, brownfiring, and buff-firing groups, the last of which was mostly limited to the earlier end of the sequence.

Grog-tempered fabrics may represent a special sub-group of bimodal fabrics that were intentionally tempered with crushed sherds (grog). All grog-tempered fabrics had brown firing colours and included reddish-brown coloured sherd fragments, and at least one fabric (Brown 10) appears to have also included black sherd fragments. Poorly sorted, multi-coloured angular sand particles were prevalent in all grog-tempered fabrics, and organic materials, represented by dark blackish-grey matrix smudges and irregularly shaped voids, were common in the Brown 1 grogtempered fabric type. Examples of grog-tempered fabric types include Brown 1, Brown 8, and Brown 10.

Fine-textured fabrics included the largest number of fabric types, which contained numerous well-sorted, very fine to fine sand-sized inclusions (0.063 – 0.25 mm) and occasional particles in the medium sand-sized range (0.25 – 0.50 mm). The clay matrix was visible but dominated by the smaller inclusions in fresh fracture, which imparted a fine sediment-like texture to these fabrics. Examples of fine-textured fabrics include Buff 2 and Brown-Black 2 in the buff-firing group; Orange 1, Orange 6, and Orange 8 – 10 in the orange-firing group; Brown 2 – 4, Brown 6, and Brown 9 in the brown-firing group; Brown-Black 1, Brown-Black 3, Gray-Brown 1, and Buff-Gray in the brown-black firing group; and Yellow-Brown 1 and Yellow-Black in the yellow-firing group.

The Coarse Orange fabric type represents a rare paste recipe present in both serving and utilitarian vessels. Its matrix consisted of a chalky-textured, brownish-orange clay similar to that identified in orange-firing, matrix-rich fine fabrics, but this fabric also contained abundant, angular, and poorly sorted fine to coarse sand-sized inclusions (0.125 – 1.0 mm) that differed from the inclusions in all other orange-firing fabrics. Coarse Orange therefore possessed attributes of both fine and coarse fabrics and can be interpreted as representing a sand-tempered version of an orange-firing, matrix-rich fabric.

Matrix-rich fine fabrics had comparatively few fine sand-sized inclusions and were comparatively rich in clay matrix. These fabrics had ‘chalky’ textures with infrequent, unevenly distributed medium sand-sized inclusions and contained numerous vesicles. One matrixrich fabric (Orange 4) appeared almost completely devoid of inclusions and may relate to the finer Savana Group pastes described from Barton Ramie (Sharer and 190

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery Most of the fine fabrics described above were used to make a similar range of decorated serving vessels, which is interesting considering the observed variability in fabric composition. Similarly coloured matrix-rich and finetextured fabrics may represent the use of texturally similar clays from discrete geographic locations, with variation in the types and abundance of naturally occurring rock and mineral fragments resulting from differences in depositional history, environment, and soil formation processes. These fabrics may also represent similar techniques of processing different clays in order to achieve desired textural characteristics. Bimodal fabrics, which possessed angular, coarse sand-sized white particles that appeared to be crushed pieces of carbonate rock, may represent the deliberate addition of tempering material to clays. The anomalous Coarse Orange fabric, which was observed in types associated with both the Jocote and Joventud Ceramic Groups, may also represent the tempering of the distinctive chalky orange clay with sand.

(possibly shale, slate, mudstone or argillaceous rock, or a mixture of these). Black 1 and Medium Black had complementary temporal distributions, and the similarities in their inclusion content, firing colour, and texture may reflect the development of one fabric into the other through time. Black 1 fabrics were only identified in unslipped rounded bowls from Phase I contexts (n = 2; Figure 9.9C), while Medium Black was almost exclusively recognized in jars and tecomates that appeared in Phase II/III contexts and continued through Phase IV. Black 1 may therefore represent an earlier version of Medium Black that was adapted to the production of jars sometime after Phase I, when coarsetextured fabrics became prevalent in unslipped utilitarian bowls. Coarse Black was restricted to Phase IV contexts, and its relationship to either Black 1 or Medium Black is not clear. The abundance of polycrystalline rock fragments and reddish ‘mudstone’ inclusions clearly differentiates Coarse Black fabrics from both other medium-textured fabrics on geological grounds. The near exclusive association of Coarse Black with jars and tecomates, however, makes its textural similarities to the earlier fabric types seem significant from technological and functional perspectives.

Some of this variability can probably be explained by chronological factors: buff-firing fabrics, for example, were recovered primarily from earlier contexts and likely represented methods of paste preparation and/or resource use antecedent to the orange- and brown-firing fabrics. Grog-tempered fabrics, by contrast, were exclusively associated with later Phase IV refuse deposits and may represent a later development. Orange- and brown-firing fabrics were present throughout most of the sequence, however, and both were used to make several red- and black-slipped serving vessel forms, so the variability observed across these fabrics is less easily explained by chronological or stylistic differences. Provenance determinations and a detailed explication of production technology lie beyond the scope of the current analysis, but the identification of variability in serving vessel fabrics suggests the products of multiple pottery producers were consumed at Cahal Pech throughout much of the Middle Preclassic.

Coarse Fabrics Coarse-textured fabrics were separated into four groups that contained 18 different fabric types. The Coarse Sandy (n = 6) and Carbonate-rich Sandy (n = 5) groups were composed of fabrics that had a similar range of inclusion types comprising siliceous and carbonate rock and mineral fragments as well as mudstone/shale/slate; clearly visible differences in the quantity of carbonate inclusions led to the distinction between groups with predominantly mixed-sand (Coarse Sandy) and carbonate-rich sand (Carbonate-rich Sandy) inclusions. Fabrics within the two sandy groups were differentiated based on firing colour and/or unique attributes of their inclusion content. The Coarse Gray fabric group consisted of two sandy fabrics with a highly distinctive texture and greyish-green firing colour that may have been developmentally related, and they were treated separately from the other sandy fabrics because of this possible relationship. The Rare Coarse group included highly distinctive fabrics (n = 4) represented by very few vessels (n < 3). The actual clay content of coarse-textured fabrics appeared to be much lower than that of their fine-textured counterparts, and all coarse-textured vessel fragments had a rough, cement-like feel. It was impossible to discern whether individual fabric types represented natural clays containing a lot of sand, the addition of sand as temper, the differential processing of raw materials (clay and temper), or all of these together, although different paste recipes and materials with different geological origins are clearly evident.

Medium Black Fabrics Three black-firing fabric types (Black 1, Medium Black, Coarse Black) that had textures intermediate between the fine and coarse fabric categories were identified in a small number of vessels (n = 19). These medium-textured fabrics were primarily identified in restricted-orifice vessels such as jars and tecomates, although they were also present in a limited number of open bowl forms. Each contained abundant medium to coarse sand-sized inclusions (0.25 – 1.0 mm) that occurred in a black-fired clay matrix. The Black 1 fabric type was the most matrix-rich of the three and contained a range of poorly sorted inclusion types (e.g., siliceous, carbonate, mudstone, slate); Medium Black was similar in terms of the types of inclusions present, but these were well-sorted and slightly larger, and this fabric was also less matrix-rich. The Coarse Black fabric type differed from the preceding two due to the presence and abundance of very coarse sand-sized fragments of polycrystalline rock and reddish-coloured ‘mudstone’

Coarse Sandy fabrics had abundant sand-sized inclusions comprising different rock and mineral grains, with some fabric types containing predominantly siliceous 191

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization inclusions. The visible inclusion component of most Coarse Sandy fabrics was poorly sorted, and grain-sizes ranged from fine to coarse sand (0.125 – 1.0 mm). Quartz was comparatively frequent in some fabrics (labelled ‘siliceous’ in Table 9.16), whereas fabrics with a wider range of inclusion types (labelled ‘mixed sand’ in Table 9.16) contained a mixture of dominantly siliceous and carbonate rock/mineral grains with reddish and greyishblack fine-textured sedimentary rock fragments (e.g., mudstone, slate, shale, or a combination of these). The clay matrix firing colours of Coarse Sandy group fabrics corresponded to the names given to each type. Examples of mixed sand fabrics included Brown Sandy, Black Sandy, and Coarse Red-brown; siliceous sand fabrics included Orange Sandy, Coarse Red, Brown 11, and Coarse Brown Sandy. Brown 11 was the only example of comparatively a well-sorted fabric in the Coarse Sand group, and Coarse Brown Sandy included abundant siliceous sand grains in the very coarse sand size range (1.0 – 2.0 mm).

fabrication techniques applied to the same materials used in earlier times. Rare Coarse fabrics were visually and texturally distinct from all other coarse-textured fabrics and were identified in no more than two vessels per fabric type. Coarse Brown 2 contained very poorly sorted, very coarse sand-sized, very angular fragments of crystalline calcite and calcite mosaics in a light brown matrix. Crystalline calcite grains were abundant and ranged from very coarse to very fine sand (0.063 – 0.125 mm); discrete grains approximately the same size as those comprising the polycrystalline calcite mosaics were prevalent and probably represented terminal grades of the parent rock. The unimodal distribution of the calcite inclusions, their angular character, and the cooccurrence of polycrystalline mosaics with their terminal grades are characteristics consistent with the deliberate addition of freshly crushed tempering material.13 In contrast, Coarse Buff fabrics contained abundant, poorly sorted, very coarse sand-sized fragments of polycrystalline siliceous rock (possibly sandstone) and had a buff-coloured clay matrix. The size distribution of the inclusions was bimodal in these fabrics, and both polycrystalline aggregates and terminal grades were present, suggesting that they were also tempered with freshly crushed material added to the clay. The Brown Limestone Sand 3 fabrics contained abundant and comparatively rounded inclusions of fine-grained polycrystalline carbonate rock that were well sorted. In addition to its distinctive sorting, Brown Limestone Sand 3 fabrics differed from the other two Brown Limestone Sand fabrics in the high sphericity (i.e. tendency towards spherical grains), roundness, and finely crystalline texture of its carbonate inclusions. The final fabric type in the Rare Coarse group was RedBrown Sandy, which had a reddish-brown clay matrix and contained several distinctive inclusion types comprising unidentified golden yellow terrigenous lumps with small inclusions, abundant polycrystalline rock fragments, and angular quartz and feldspar fragments. Inclusions were poorly sorted and generally in the medium to coarse sand range (0.250 – 1.0 mm).

Carbonate-rich Sandy fabrics contained poorly sorted sand inclusions with comparatively abundant medium to coarse sand-sized grains (0.25 – 1.0 mm) of carbonate rock (e.g., limestones and/or dolomitic limestones) and crystalline calcite. Finer sand grains included a range of inclusion types like those observed in Coarse Sandy fabrics, but the prevalence of large, white fragments of carbonate produced markedly different visual and textural characteristics in this group. Fabric types were named according to their firing colours, which was the primary attribute used to discriminate between the Brown Limestone Sand and Black Limestone Sand fabrics. The Red Limestone Sand fabric contained highly conspicuous fragments of carbonate together with very large inclusions of reddish ‘mudstone’ that set it apart from other fabrics in the group. Similarly, the Brown Limestone Sand 2 fabric type contained very coarse sand-sized limestone fragments that were considerably larger than carbonate inclusions in other fabrics and distinctive purplish ferromanganiferous concretions. The two Coarse Gray fabrics present an interesting subset of coarse-textured sandy fabrics that were chronologically separated and may be developmentally related. The early version (Gray-Brown 3) was limited to Phase I deposits and contained a range of abundant, poorly sorted sandsized inclusions occurring in a greenish- or brownish-grey matrix. Irregularly shaped voids were prevalent, as were yellow-coloured inclusions and white carbonate grains. The later grey fabric (Coarse Gray) was identified in Phase IV contexts and included the same ‘mixed sand’ with abundant yellow grains, but it was much better sorted than Gray-Brown 3 and was set apart by a distinct platy texture. Coarse Gray contained abundant channel and planar voids that displayed a preferred orientation with the larger, elongated rock and mineral inclusions. These channel and planar voids were distinct from the abundant, irregularshaped voids (vughs) present in the earlier Gray-Brown 3 fabric, and they may represent the development of new

Coarse-textured fabrics were primarily identified in restricted-orifice vessels and rounded bowls that appeared to serve utilitarian purposes of food preparation and storage. The level of variability observed among these fabrics exceeded expectations of local production for local consumption, and it is intriguing that many of the rarest fabrics were exclusively identified in storage vessels that could have been used to transport commodities. Equally interesting is the possible development of the Coarse Gray fabrics through time, which appeared to mirror the proposed relationship between Black 1 and Medium Black; Gray-Brown 3 was recognized in unslipped The structural properties of crystalline calcite produce an apparent unimodal size distribution among inclusions in fabrics that are intentionally tempered with this material, as opposed to the bimodal size distributions that indicate tempering with other materials. Smaller particles of crystalline calcite represent the terminal size grades of this mineral when it is crushed and added to a clay mixture. 13

192

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery utilitarian bowls early in the sequence, whereas the bettersorted Coarse Gray fabric type was identified primarily in jars and tecomates in Phase IV contexts.

and brown-firing fabric groups in later times when buff fabrics were no longer produced. Orange-firing fine fabrics (Orange 1, n = 1) were comparatively rare among Phase I serving vessels and may be slightly later developments; Orange 1 became a significant fabric type during later phases (n = 48) and represented a particularly long-lived and possibly local tradition of pottery production.

Ceramic Fabrics by Phase Temporal factors contributed to some of the variability in fabric composition (Table 9.17), which might be expected given the sensitivity of pottery styles to changes through time and the paste differences recorded for pottery types in different periods. Patterns in fabric distributions across a range of functional and stylistic vessel categories suggest a complex picture of materials use and technological choices in pottery production through time, and variability in the fabric types of roughly contemporaneous vessels indicates the presence of multiple producers making functionally equivalent products. Some fabrics that appeared early in the sequence were not identified in vessels from later deposits, while other fabrics were used throughout most of the Middle Preclassic. The expansion of the stylistic and functional ceramic repertoire during Phase IV was paralleled by the introduction of several new fabrics, and some amount of experimentation was evident in the use of coarse-textured fabrics to make distinctively decorated serving vessels.

The medium-textured Black 1 (n = 2) and coarse-textured Gray-Brown 3 (n = 3) fabrics were identified in unslipped utilitarian bowls in Phase I deposits. Neither fabric appeared in vessels from later contexts, and each was likely the developmental precursor of a better-sorted, later fabric that was primarily used in restricted-orifice forms (e.g., jars, tecomates, deep insloping bowls). The Phase I fabrics in this developmental trajectory may therefore represent the use of different production techniques to make vessels that did not require well-sorted inclusions to function effectively. Coarse-textured fabrics were somewhat variable, and all these fabrics were recognizable in the vessel fragments of later deposits. Examples from both the Carbonate-rich Sandy (Black Limestone Sand, n = 1; Red Limestone Sand, n = 2) and Coarse Sandy (Black Sandy, n = 2; Brown Sandy, n = 3; Coarse Red-brown, n = 3; Orange Sandy, n = 1) fabric groups were present in Phase I deposits, and Brown Sandy was the only fabric type identified in the small sample of Phase 0 diagnostic sherds (n = 2). Coarsetextured fabrics were recognized in a limited range of redwashed, red-daubed, thin black-slipped, and unslipped jars and utilitarian bowls; some fabrics appeared to be more closely associated with jars and others with bowls, but the small sample from Phase 0/I contexts prohibited drawing more definite conclusions about the association of fabric types with vessel form. Brown Sandy became the dominant coarse-textured fabric in later phases (n = 233) and likely represented a deep-rooted local production tradition.

Phase 0/I Twelve different fabric types were identified in vessel fragments from Phase 0/I consumption-related contexts, which was a relatively small number compared to later deposits. Coarse-textured fabrics (n = 7) accounted for most of the identified types, with fine-textured fabrics (n = 4) and an early medium-textured fabric (n = 1) making up the remainder. Cunil-complex serving vessels that had soft, ashy-feeling surfaces and thick black cores were not included in this analysis and may have contributed additional fine-textured fabric types to the earlier assemblages. The Phase 0/I fabric types exhibited both continuity and disjunction with fabrics identified in later contexts. Buff-firing fabrics were predominant among Phase I redslipped dishes and black-slipped bowls but essentially disappeared from the record in later deposits (but see the Phase II/III section for one later example).14 Matrix-rich (Buff 3, n = 2), fine-textured (Brown-Black 2, n = 2), and bimodal (Buff 4, n = 1) buff-firing fabrics were present in the Phase I assemblage, and these three distinctive textural categories were also readily distinguishable in the orange-

Phase II/III Observed variability among fabric types increased in Phase II/III contexts, which paralleled the broadening of the stylistic and functional vessel repertoire previously noted for these phases. Seventeen distinct fabric types were identified in the Phase II/III assemblage, which included examples of fine-textured (n = 10), medium-textured (n = 1), and coarse-textured fabrics (n = 6). Continuities with Phase 0/I fabrics were most evident among utilitarian vessels, although a developmental relationship may have existed between the early buff-firing fabrics and the orange-firing pottery that became significant in Phase II/ III and dominant in Phase IV.

14 Fragments of an eroded incised bowl and a red-slipped outcurving dish with buff-firing fabrics came from Phase IV sherd lots (assigned a late facet Kanluk date by Sullivan) and may represent the mixing of materials by ancient activities and during recovery. The dish fragment came from a lot at the bottom of a later refuse pit that intruded into two Phase I plaster floors, while the bowl fragment was recovered with materials in a later midden deposited atop a Phase I cobble surface. The clear association of other buff-firing fabrics with earlier deposits and their scarcity in the larger Phase IV middens suggests these vessel fragments were discarded during Phase I, although they may also have been curated as heirlooms and deposited later.

A fine-textured, buff-firing fabric (Buff 2, n = 1) identified in a red-slipped incurving bowl fragment was the only example from the buff-firing fabric group recognized in Phase II/III. This bowl had a waxy red slip applied to both surfaces that differed from the dull Phase I slips and 193

Phase

Group

Serving Vessel Fabrics B1

0/I

B2

B3

B4

B6

B7

B8

B9

B10

BBK1

BF2

BF3

BF4

BFG1 CB1

CBK1

GB1 MB

1

South central

1 1

1

 1

1

194

1

 2

2

Northwest

3

 3

2

Plat B corner

5

1

1

1

1

1 1

1

1

  6

 4

 10

 3

 1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

O5

 2

  16

 7

 1

1

 5

 18

 3

 8

1

12

  39

24

 7

2

2

  13

 3

O4

2

 1

South central

 3

1

1

 2

1

IV Total

6

14

6

6

2

3

1

1

2

1

1

1

Grand Total

6

15

6

6

2

3

1

1

2

1

2

1

West

2

1

 1 Central

O3

 1  2

II/III Total

O2

 1

Northwest

South

O1

1

1 South

IV

BBK3

South

0/I Total II/III

BBK2

1

1

1 1 1

2

1

 3

19

  32

10

 7

2

 6

  32

16

 8

2

1

1

 3

 19

 2

2

2

3

1

2

2

45

153

55

33

9

2

3

1

2

4

48

169

62

34

9

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Table 9.17: Breakdown of fabric type frequencies by phase and associated deposits

Table 9.17: Continued Phase

Group

Serving Vessel Fabrics O6

0/I

O9

O10

O11

O12

OB1

OS1

RB1

YB1

YB2

YBK1

O8

O9

RLS

South

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2

 

 

 6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 20

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 1

Northwest South

195

 

 

 

 2

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2

 

 

 8

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

  41

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 1

Central

 4

 6

 1

12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 69

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 2

Northwest

 6

 7

11

38

1

1

1

2

 

 

 3

1

1

177

1

 

 

1

 

 

1

 

 3

II/III Total IV

O8

Special Purpose Total

South central 0/I Total II/III

O7

Serving Special Purpose Vessel Fabrics Total BBK1 BKLS BS O1 O4

 1

 1

 1

11

 

 

 

1

 

 

 2

 

 

  34

 

1

2

 

 

 

 

 

 3

 5

 1

 3

10

1

 

 

2

 

1

 3

 

 

103

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 1

South central

 6

15

 5

15

 

1

 

 

 

 

 5

2

 

123

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

West

 2

 3

 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  38

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV Total

24

33

22

86

2

2

1

5

 

1

13

4

1

544

1

1

2

1

1

 

1

2

 9

Grand Total

26

33

22

94

2

2

1

5

1

1

13

4

1

589

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

2

10

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery

Plat B corner South

Phase

0/I

Group

Utilitarian Grand Total Total

B11

BK1

BKLS

BKS

BLS

BLS2

BLS3

BS

CB1

CB2

CBF

CBK1

CBS

CG

CO1

CR

CRB1

GB3

MB

OS1

RLS

South

 

 

 

 1

 

 

 

  1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

1

 1

  5

   7

South central

 

2

 1

 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

2

 

 

 1

 10

  12

 

2

 1

 2

 

 

 

  1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3

3

 

1

 2

  15

  19

Northwest

 

 

 

 

 6

 

 

 11

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

 

 

 5

 24

  45

South

0/I Total II/III

Utilitarian Vessel Fabrics

196

 

 

 

 2

 1

 

 

  5

 

 

 

 

 1

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 1

 11

   32

II/III Total

 

 

 

 2

 7

 

 

  16

 

 

 

 

 1

 

3

 

 

 

 

 

 6

  35

  77

IV

Central

 

 

 6

13

 8

 

 

 26

 

 

 

1

 1

 6

 

1

 

 

 

 

 2

 64

  135

Northwest

 

 

 9

14

15

 

1

 85

 

 

1

 

 5

 7

3

1

 

 

4

2

14

161

  341

Plat B corner

 

 

 4

 3

 4

 

 

 20

 

 

 

 

 

 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2

  34

  71

South

 

 

 3

 8

 2

2

 

  32

1

 

 

1

 

10

 

1

2

 

1

4

 8

 75

 179

South central

1

 

 3

11

 8

2

1

 45

 

2

 

2

 5

10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 7

 97

 220

West

 

 

 2

 1

13

 

 

  4

1

 

 

1

 

 5

 

 

 

 

2

 

 6

  35

   73

IV Total

1

 

27

50

50

4

2

212

2

2

1

5

11

39

3

3

2

 

7

6

39

466

1019

Grand Total

1

2

28

54

57

4

2

229

2

2

1

5

12

39

6

3

5

3

7

7

47

516

1115

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Table 9.17: Continued

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery may represent a later variant. The Buff 2 fabric was finetextured and resembled the earlier Brown-Black 2, but it contained significantly more channel-shaped voids and dark discolorations, suggesting a higher organic content in its clay matrix. Buff-firing fabrics disappeared completely from the assemblage after Phase II/III, when serving vessels became increasingly associated with orange-firing fabrics.

clay source, or the beginnings of exchange relationships with a different group of pottery producers that continued into the following phase. The earliest occurrence of the medium-textured fabric Medium Black (n = 2) was identified in two black-slipped tecomates, one of which was incised. Medium Black was a well-sorted fabric that was almost exclusively found in jar and tecomate forms. Nearly all Medium Black vessels were treated with a slip or wash, and most had finer surface finishes than comparable vessels containing coarsetextured fabrics. Similarities in firing-colour, inclusion type, and inclusion sorting suggested a developmental link between Medium Black and Black 1, in which Medium Black was simply a much better sorted version of the earlier fabric. The possible change in production technology that led to the development of Medium Black was concomitant with the shift toward jar production using medium-textured fabrics; the two changes appear to be related, but a more detailed technological study is required to determine the nature of this relationship.

Phase II/III deposits produced the first examples of three orange-firing fabric types that became dominant among serving vessels in the overall assemblage. These included a matrix-rich, chalky-textured fabric with prominent vesicles (Orange 3, n = 7), a fine-textured fabric (Orange 9, n = 8), and the bimodal fabric (Orange 2, n = 16) identified in the largest number of total serving vessels for all phases (n = 169). These fabrics were primarily identified in red-slipped groove-incised and incised bowl and dish forms, although they were also recognized in a smaller number of black- and red-slipped jars and tecomates. The early appearance and numerical significance of these three distinctive orange-firing fabric categories suggests continuity with earlier pottery-making traditions that involved buff-firing fabrics, which were also made in matrix-rich, fine-texture, and bimodal varieties. The earlier fine-textured Orange 1 fabric (n = 2) was also identified in red-slipped groove-incised and incised serving vessels from Phase II/III deposits, which suggests some level of continuity in serving vessel production. This fabric was significant throughout the sequence but never rose to the prominence of the three fabrics described above.

Four coarse-textured fabrics identified in Phase 0/I deposits continued into Phase II/III with no discernible modifications. Brown Sandy (n = 16), Red Limestone Sand (n = 6), Black Sandy (n = 2), and Orange Sandy (n = 1) fabrics were identified in Phase II/III vessel fragments, although Coarse Red-Brown and Black Limestone Sand fabrics were not. Each of the latter fabrics reappeared in Phase IV contexts, however, and their apparent absence from Phase II/III may be a result of sampling error. Two new coarse-textured fabrics appear to have been introduced during Phase II/III: Brown Limestone Sand (n = 7), which was more abundantly represented in Phase IV contexts; and Coarse Brown Sandy (n = 1), which was also identified in Phase IV vessel fragments but remained a relatively uncommon fabric type.

Four additional orange-firing fabrics first occurred in Phase II/III contexts in significantly smaller numbers of vessel fragments. These included the matrix-rich Orange 4 (n = 1), fine-textured Orange 6 (n = 2) and Orange 8 (n = 1), and the possibly sand-tempered Coarse Orange (n = 3). Orange 4 and Orange 6 were identified in red-slipped dish and bowl forms like those containing the more abundant orange-firing fabrics, while Orange 8 was discovered in a spouted-bowl fragment. Coarse Orange vessels appeared to be more utilitarian, consisting of two rounded bowls and a tecomate with a thin red slip or wash. Each of these fabric types, aside from Coarse Orange, was identified in over 20 vessels in Phase IV deposits and formed a significant part of the ceramic assemblage; Coarse Orange occurred in only three other vessels and may represent the experimental production of utilitarian pots with clays typically used in serving vessels.

Coarse-textured fabrics were primarily identified in restricted-orifice vessels that were either red-washed or unslipped, although they also occurred in smaller numbers of unslipped and red-washed rounded bowls. Unslipped bowls and tecomates containing the Red Limestone Sand and Brown Limestone Sand fabrics were also decorated with the distinctive appliquéd fillets usually associated with Jocote Group types (Figure 9.10E), which became more prevalent on utilitarian vessel fragments in Phase IV deposits. Each of the coarse-textured fabrics present in Phase II/III continued to be used into Phase IV, and the pattern of producing many more coarse-textured jars and tecomates than rounded bowls remained stable.

An early example of a fine-textured, brown-firing fabric (Brown 2, n = 1) was identified in a black-slipped incised tecomate fragment from a Phase II/III deposit. Examples of brown-firing fabrics were almost entirely limited to Phase IV contexts, and it is unclear if this vessel was intrusive or if it represents an early example of a later tradition. Brown 2 became the best-represented fabric type in the brown-firing group during Phase IV, and its occurrence in Phase II/III may reflect the early development of a new production technology, experimentation in the use of a new

Phase IV More fabric types (n = 49) were identified in vessel fragments from Phase IV contexts than in the combined total of the preceding two phase groups. The high level of variability in fabric types in Phase IV deposits corresponded to the functional and stylistic expansion of the ceramic inventory. Variability was greatest among 197

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization fine fabric types (n = 31), although medium-textured (n = 2) and coarse-textured (n = 16) fabrics were also more diverse.

to vessels with common orange-firing fabrics, and rare maroon slips were also used to decorate orange-fired vessels.

The dominant fine and coarse fabrics from Phase II/ III contexts remained the most frequently identified fabric types in Phase IV vessel fragments. These fabrics were found in a more diverse range of vessel shapes and decorative treatments, which suggests continuity in production techniques and materials usage among some pottery-producing groups even as decorative styles changed through time. The more common new fabric types were frequently identified in vessel fragments that were functionally and stylistically equivalent to those made with pre-existing fabrics, however, which may indicate that the products of different producers were being acquired for similar uses by groups of consumers. Several rare new fabric types were compositionally distinct and may represent vessels acquired from outside the local community. Rare fabric types were commonly encountered in stylistic outliers among serving vessels and in jars with unusual coarse textures

Newly introduced, rare orange-firing fabric types were identified in some common serving vessels but were also present in more exotic forms. Yellow-Brown 2 was recognized in a rare red-slipped incised bottle along with more common dishes and bowls, while Orange-Brown was present in a waxy red-slipped bowl with a sharp medial angle and nubbin appliqué. The only example of an Orange 12 vessel was a dish with an everted rim that had an encircling groove along its lip, and Orange 11 was identified exclusively in jars. Far fewer serving vessels were composed of brownfiring fabrics, most of which may have been introduced toward the end of Phase IV. Brown 2 was the only fabric type in this group recovered from an earlier context and was also the most abundant among Phase IV vessel fragments (n = 14). Most Phase IV brown-firing fabrics were classified as fine-textured and were similar in this respect to Brown 2; these included Brown 3 (n = 6), Brown 4 (n = 6), Brown 6 (n = 2), and Brown 9 (n = 1). Brown 7 (n = 3) was the only example of a matrix-rich fabric, and Coarse Brown 1 (n = 5) was the only bimodal fabric in the group. Brown-firing fabrics were identified in red- and black-slipped dish and bowl fragments that were functionally and stylistically equivalent to vessels made with orange-firing fabrics, although brown-firing fabrics were proportionately better represented among black-slipped vessels. Some stylistically ‘exotic’ serving vessels also contained these fabrics, such as the unique red-slipped rounded bowl with the Brown 9 fabric type that survived as a partial vessel (Figure 9.11B). Jars were comparatively rare, although Brown 6 was only identified in slipped jar fragments and had an ashy feel that was unique in the brown-firing group. The presence of matrix-rich, bimodal, and fine-textured fabrics in the brown-firing group suggests a relationship between these fabrics and those in the orange- and buff-firing groups. Brown-firing fabrics may represent later developments in a series of pottery production traditions that began early in the history of Cahal Pech, but additional study is necessary to clarify the nature of possible relationships between these groups.

Time-depth may be responsible for some of the variability observed in Phase IV fabrics, although change through time alone seems unlikely to be the sole factor behind the range of fabric types recorded. Grog-tempered fabrics, for example, have been identified in Late Preclassic pottery types at Barton Ramie and Tikal (Gifford 1976:111-112) and in similarly dated San Jose I monochrome red sherds (Shepard 1939). Examples of this fabric group were rare in Phase IV deposits, and they may have been introduced near the end of the phase through either changes in local production techniques or exchange with innovative producers outside the community. Orange-firing fine fabrics were identified in nearly all Phase IV serving vessel fragments (n = 508, 93.4%), and the previously established Orange 2 (n = 153), Orange 3 (n = 55), and Orange 9 (n = 86) fabric types accounted for most of these vessels. Significant quantities of serving vessels also contained the Orange 1 (n = 45), Orange 4 (n = 33), Orange 6 (n = 24), and Orange 8 (n = 22) fabric types, although Coarse Orange vessels remained rare (n = 3). New orange-firing fabrics included the matrix-rich Yellow-Brown 2 (n = 4), the matrix-rich/fine-textured Orange 5 (n = 9) and Orange 7 (n = 33), the fine-textured Orange 10 (n = 2), and the bimodal Orange 11 (n = 2), Orange 12 (n = 1), and Orange-Brown (n = 5).

Three distinctive types of grog-tempered fabrics were identified in Phase IV deposits that likely represent developments at the end of the phase. Brown I (n = 6) appeared to contain abundant organic material in addition to grog and was identified in red-slipped bowls, evertedrim dishes, and a waxy black-slipped incised bowl. Brown 8 (n = 1) occurred in a waxy red-slipped bowl, and Brown 10 (n = 2) was recognized in a unique cream-slipped, fireclouded bowl (Figure 9.11H) and a black-slipped incised bowl. The shapes and surface treatments of grog-tempered vessels were more typical of Late Preclassic pottery types and may represent the introduction of new styles at the close of the late Middle Preclassic.

The most abundant orange-firing fabrics were identified in a range of black- and red-slipped dishes and bowls, which were commonly decorated with groove-incised and incised designs. Black-slipped vessels were less common, as were red-slipped jars and tecomates. Rare special purpose vessels included two red-slipped tabs containing Orange 4 and Orange 9 and a bell-chambered drum fragment composed of Orange 1. Continuity through time within Phase IV was also observed in the application of dull, glossy, and slightly waxy red slips 198

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery Yellow-firing and brown-black firing fabrics were rare in Phase IV and were found in a range of stylistically different vessels. These groups included only fine-textured fabrics and lacked the matrix-rich and bimodal variants present in the brown- and orange-firing groups, which suggests they were not as closely related and may have resulted from different pottery manufacturing traditions. Yellow-Brown 1 was the most abundant of these fabrics (n = 13) and was identified in several red-slipped bowl and dish fragments as well as a rare cream-slipped dish. Yellow-Black (n = 1) had rare double firing horizons and a distinctive yellow core; it was identified in a single blackslipped jar fragment and was unlike any other fabric in the assemblage. The brown-black firing fabric group included Brown-Black 1 (n = 2), Brown-Black 3 (n = 1), GrayBrown 1 (n = 2), and Buff-Gray 1 (n =2), all of which were extremely rare. Fabrics in this group were primarily used in black- and red-slipped jars and bowls, and they differed from other fine fabric groups in their comparatively high proportions of black-slipped vessels and jars. BrownBlack 1 was identified in the only recovered example of a black-slipped spout fragment, and a Buff-Gray 1 blackslipped jar appeared to contain the remains of a large seed (visible in Table 9.16).

were present but rare, and fillet appliqués were common on vessel exteriors. Coarse Gray (n = 39) was the only significant coarsetextured fabric that was exclusively recovered from Phase IV contexts. Distinctly similar firing colours and inclusion types set Coarse Gray and the Phase I fabric Gray-Brown 3 apart from all other coarse-textured fabrics and strongly suggest a developmental relationship between the two. The development of Coarse Gray from Gray-Brown 3 appears to have a direct parallel in the relationship between Medium Black and Black 1: the later fabrics in each case are distinguish from their antecedents by very wellsorted inclusions and an almost exclusive use in jars and tecomates, as opposed to the utilitarian bowls produced during Phase I. Most Coarse-Gray vessels were unslipped or red-washed, and fillet appliqués only decorated unslipped vessels. No slipped examples comparable to those containing Medium Black were identified among Coarse Gray vessels. Each of the remaining Phase IV coarse fabrics were recognized in fewer than five vessel fragments. New members of the Coarse Sandy group included Coarse Red (n = 3) and Brown 11(n = 1), both of which contained primarily siliceous sand inclusions. Coarse Red was identified in two restricted-orifice vessels and a black slipped bowl, and Brown 11 occurred in a red-washed jar. Brown Limestone Sand 2 (n = 4) was a new addition to the Carbonate-rich Sandy group that contained distinctive sedimentary inclusions; it was identified in two jars, a rounded bowl, and what may be a colander fragment preserving a single drainage hole.

Phase IV medium-textured fabrics included Medium Black (n = 9) and Coarse Black (n = 6), both of which were primarily identified in jars and tecomates. Medium Black continued to be used to produce slipped and washed jars during Phase IV, and Coarse Black occurred in utilitarian storage vessels and black-slipped bowls. The relationship between Coarse Black and Medium Black is not clear, aside from their use in the production of functionally similar vessels.

The four fabrics of the Rare Coarse fabric group complete the Phase IV assemblage. Coarse Brown 2 (n = 2) was identified in fragments of two unslipped restricted-orifice vessels and contained distinctive crystalline calcite inclusions indicative of deliberate tempering that was not observed in any other fabric from the Plaza B assemblage. Coarse Buff (n = 1) was a similarly unusual fabric discovered in a red-washed jar fragment that appeared to be tempered with a coarse-grained type of sand. Unslipped bowl and tecomate fragments contained the Brown Limestone Sand 3 (n = 2) fabric, which may also have been tempered with unusually round white carbonate sand grains. Red-Brown Sandy (n = 1) provided an example of a coarse-textured sandy fabric used in a stylistically rare, red/black resist-decorated outcurving bowl. The resist decoration was only preserved on a small area near the rim of this bowl and may be an example of ‘accidental’ resist on an otherwise red-slipped serving vessel (cf. Smith 1955:114 for a description of Mamom bowls with accidental resist).

Each coarse fabric that was identified in Phase II/III vessel fragments was also present in Phase IV deposits, and most of these greatly increased in abundance. The most prevalent coarse fabric type was Brown Sandy (n = 212), which was identified in over four times as many vessel fragments as the second and third most abundant fabrics. These were Black Sandy (n = 50) and Brown Limestone Sand (n = 50), followed by Red Limestone Sand (n = 39) and Black Limestone Sand (n = 27). Coarse Brown Sandy (n = 11), Orange Sandy (n = 6), and Coarse Red Brown (n = 2) were also present but in significantly lower quantities. The most abundant of these fabric types were more significantly associated with jars and tecomates, although they were also present in small numbers of rounded and incurving bowls, rare red-slipped incised bottles (Black Sandy, n = 1), and unslipped censers or braziers (Brown Sandy, n = 2; Red Limestone Sand, n = 2; Black Limestone Sand, n =1). Less abundant (n < 20) fabric types were identified exclusively in jar and tecomate fragments despite the use of all three in the production of utilitarian bowls during previous phases. Most vessels containing these fabrics were unslipped or red washed; brownwashed, red-slipped, and black-slipped utilitarian vessels

Pottery Summary Functional, stylistic, and macroscopic paste characterization analyses of the Plaza B pottery assemblage suggest the products of multiple pottery producers, comprising 199

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization fragments and was significantly represented in multiple phases. The Orange 4, Orange 6, Orange 7, and Orange 8 fine fabrics, and the coarse fabric Black Limestone Sand, were also common (20 < n < 49) and potentially produced in the vicinity of Cahal Pech, although the case for local production is somewhat weaker in these instances.

both serving and utilitarian vessels, were acquired and consumed at Cahal Pech throughout much of the Middle Preclassic. Functionally and stylistically equivalent vessels were made with compositionally distinct ceramic fabrics, suggesting pottery producers using different raw materials and/or production techniques possessed a shared knowledge of consumer preferences, which likely resulted from interaction and the exchange of their products. Continuity in certain fabric types through multiple architectural phases, and developmental relationships between other fabrics that occurred in chronologically separated deposits, indicate products of several longenduring local traditions of pottery making were present in the consumption-related contexts examined; rare fabrics, most of which were identified in Phase IV deposits, represented different patterns possibly related to the consumption of products from a diversifying contingent of local or geographically distant pottery producers.

The textural and compositional similarities between the Phase I buff-firing fabrics and the dominant orange-firing fabrics (O2, O3, and O9) suggest a close technological relationship and may reflect changes in the paste recipes used by local potters over time. The buff-firing group contained examples of matrix-rich, fine-textured, and bimodal fabric types that mirrored the textural characteristics of the three most significant orange-firing fabrics, and the use of each textural category to make similar slipped serving vessels suggests they were members of a developmental sequence. A similar relationship may have existed between the dominant orange-firing fabrics and members of the possibly later brown-firing group, although the matrix-rich and bimodal constituents of the latter were not as well represented as the fine-textured fabrics. Coarse Gray appears to have developed from the earlier coarsetextured (and presumably local) fabric Gray-Brown 3, and it was comparable in abundance to longer-lasting coarse fabrics that have been proposed as local products. The case for the medium black fabrics being local is less secure despite their apparent development through time; vessels containing these fabrics were never particularly abundant, and the later fabric variants were used almost exclusively to produce restricted-orifice vessels.

Many of the identified fabric types contained materials that could have derived from known geological deposits around Cahal Pech, and more intensive studies are necessary to link these groups to source areas on the landscape.15 On the one hand, the prevalence of sand comprising a broad mixture of inclusion types in many of the coarse-textured fabrics might be expected in pottery made from clays procured near the confluence of rivers that drained geologically diverse landscapes, and Cahal Pech was located less than two kilometres from such an area; fine-textured fabrics, on the other hand, commonly contained white carbonate grains that could reflect a connection to raw materials procured from the surrounding limestone hills. Fabrics containing these materials that were abundant in the assemblage and exhibited continuity through time might be expected to represent vessels made in the surrounding region rather than products acquired from far-away producers. The variability observed among these fabric types suggests that multiple groups of pottery producers were active in this region, however, and we cannot assume they were all members of the Cahal Pech community. Rare fabrics made from geologically distinctive raw materials or produced with different techniques (e.g., crystalline calcite tempering) more likely represent the products of more distant pottery producers that were acquired through some form of exchange. The Plaza B pottery assemblage may therefore contain both local and non-local products if this criterion of abundance argument is valid.

The more abundant fabrics were present in a range of stylistically diverse vessels that belonged to functionally similar categories. Orange 2, for example, was identified in small numbers of black-slipped jars and bowls, red-slipped tecomates, and maroon-slipped jars, and in much larger numbers of red-slipped dishes and bowls of various forms that were frequently decorated with fine-line or grooved incisions. A similar pattern was apparent among Orange 3 and Orange 9 vessels, as well as vessels containing common fabrics that were somewhat less abundant, and there appeared to be no direct correlation between any of the most common fabrics and any particular stylistic convention. The vessels containing these fabric types were all clearly designed for food service and were functionally equivalent in this respect. Differences in decorations may have reflected the predilections of pottery producers and consumers as well as changes in broader societal preferences through time, but they did not correspond to the output of specific pottery-producing groups as reflected in raw material selection and manipulation practices.

The strongest candidates for local production based on the criteria outlined above include the fine fabric types Orange 1, Orange 2, Orange 3, and Orange 9, and the coarsetextured fabric types Brown Sandy, Brown Limestone Sand, Black Sandy, and Red Limestone Sand. Each of these fabrics was identified in 49 or more total vessel

A similar pattern was apparent among abundantly represented coarse-textured fabrics, although vessels made from these fabrics differed in terms of their function. The Brown Sandy fabric, which had the highest representation of any fabric type and was almost certainly produced within the community, was most commonly identified in minimally decorated (e.g., washed or unslipped)

15 These studies would ideally include petrographic analysis of vessel fragments to accurately identify rocks and minerals, the associations of certain inclusions, and distinctive features of clay matrices that may be related to provenance; they would also include sampling and analysis of clay deposits around Cahal Pech to refine the picture of locally available resources.

200

Fired-Clay Artefacts and Pottery vessels with restricted-orifices presumably used for food preparation, storage, and possibly transport, although it was also found in smaller numbers of open bowls and slipped or painted jars. Other abundant coarse-textured fabrics were recognized in a similar range of functionally equivalent vessels in similar proportions, and no single decorative technique was more associated with one coarsetextured fabric than another. This functional and stylistic equivalence across fabric types suggests that the products of multiple local producers were being used for the same tasks by groups of consumers in a way that was analogous to serving vessels.

and stylistically equivalent vessels were likely produced by local potters. Although definitive identification of locally produced and exotic pottery must await microscopic analysis, the macroscopic study presented above has documented patterns of continuity, change, and increasing variability in the compositional characteristics of Middle Preclassic pottery from Cahal Pech. The results suggest that multiple producers in the surrounding areas made both utilitarian and serving vessels over a long period of time, and that these potters made a range of functionally equivalent yet stylistically diverse vessels that cross-cut standard typevariety units of classification. Other vessels appear to have been the products of potters from different communities, which may have been acquired for their own intrinsic worth or as containers for other valuable commodities. The spatial distribution of vessels and fabric types among different consumption related contexts is presented in the following chapter to explore the relationships between pottery producers and the groups that consumed their products.

If the most abundant fabric types can be taken to represent local products, then rarer fabrics likely represent either foreign vessels acquired through exchange or innovations by local groups that broke with earlier potting traditions. Rare fine fabrics were identified in serving vessels that were functionally the same as those made with ‘local’ fabrics but were somewhat different in terms of form and/or decoration. The everted-rim dish made from the distinctive fabric Orange 12, for example, was similar to other serving vessels in terms of rim form and groove incised decoration. The way these two attributes were combined, however, produced a stylistically rare vessel that immediately stood apart from others recovered from the same context. Rare fine fabrics were also disproportionately identified in black-slipped and restricted-orifice vessels (see the Brown-Black-firing group for examples of both), which were less common among the comparatively abundant fine-textured fabric types. Fine-textured, decorated dishes and jars were presumably used for serving and consuming food and liquids, and vessels containing rare fabrics may have been brought to Cahal Pech for this purpose. Such vessels may have been acquired from trading partners for subsequent use by local groups, or they may have been used by visitors during meals hosted by local contacts to celebrate their arrival and reinforce social ties and exchange relationships. Most rare coarse-textured fabrics that appeared to be geologically distinctive and therefore outside the ‘local’ range of products were identified in jar and tecomate fragments, which suggests different factors contributed to their occurrence in the assemblage. Vessels containing rare coarse fabrics were functionally and stylistically identical to those composed of more abundant fabric types, which raises the question of why limited numbers of similar vessels were produced with radically different paste recipes. The distinctive crystalline calcite-tempered fabric Coarse Brown 2, for example, was identified in two unslipped jar and tecomate fragments and was unlike any other coarse-textured fabric in the assemblage. These vessels were probably manufactured elsewhere, and their restricted-orifice forms suggest they were used as containers to transport other commodities. At least some of the variability in coarse-textured fabrics may therefore relate to the exchange of other products, as it is unlikely that utilitarian storage vessels would have been acquired from outside the local community when many functionally 201

10 Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns Introduction

ethnographically developed models of kinship systems and family organization observed thousands of years later. These types of interpretations may become plausible once more information is collected, but I have chosen to let the data speak for themselves until that time.

Architecture and artefacts provide the means to investigate social interactions and exchange at Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech. Data from these seemingly disparate categories furnish a more complete perspective of the networks that channelled materials to groups of consumers, although our knowledge of these relationships and the actions that sustained them will always be lacking in some details. Examination of artefacts discarded around platforms, or intentionally deposited in caches and burials within them, can be used to quantify and compare the consumption of materials by different groups. The structures these groups created, used, and modified over time formed the settings for diverse activities, and the ability to invest in architectural expansion or improvement may have related to a group’s success in negotiating social relationships that included materials acquisition and exchange. Analyses of artefacts and architecture supply complementary datasets for investigating the consumer side of networks that moved material goods within and between communities, and these datasets provide the framework for recognizing both the presence and possible effects of variability in materials consumption.

The analyses presented below included materials from refuse accumulations and artefacts deposited in architectural caches and burials. They did not include objects recovered from platform fill because of the inability to associate these artefacts with the use of structures, although it is possible that refuse was recycled into platforms near the area of its original discard. A focus on consumption-related deposits led to a winnowing of contexts and the conflation of early remains from related architectural phases. Phase 0/I I have combined contexts from the first two phases because of uncertainties surrounding the Phase 0 black dirt stratum and to create more analytical units for comparison (Figure 10.1). The formation processes that produced the organic soil and its relationship to the earliest Phase I architectural remains are not well understood; this stratum covered bedrock pits and possible postholes and may have been generated by occupations that pre-dated Phase I structures, but it was also abutted Phase I floors and may have resulted from their use. Comparatively little pottery was recovered from Phase 0 contexts, and the black dirt stratum may represent the mixed remains of preceramic and early ceramic-using occupations.

This chapter presents a spatial analysis of artefact distributions and a discussion of material consumption patterns and architectural change through time. I begin by defining the locations of consumer groups and their relationships to architectural and continue with a presentation of artefact distribution data in terms of these contexts. I include assessments of structure function by phase that amplify statements made in chapter six with additional artefact data. Phase IV patterns are treated in more detail, as the data are more abundant and require more explanation.

Phase 0/I deposits were divided into four groups related to distinct Phase I architectural remains. The South Group comprised the cobble surfaces at the south end of the Main Trench and adjacent black dirt deposits. South-Central Group deposits were located on and below a cobble surface (Platform G) that was built atop a section of the occupation horizon and covered possible bedrock postholes. Each of these groups was associated with pottery and artefacts from floor and off-platform refuse contexts that were separable from overlying deposits.

Definition of Consumption-Related Contexts/ Consumer Groups Consumption patterns were analysed for ‘consumer groups’ rather than sociological units (e.g., nuclear families, extended families, households) for two reasons (see Footnote 25). Sample size was the most important, as will be discussed in detail below. No structures were completely excavated, and the architectural environment could only be partially reconstructed for any phase, which made recognizing different households more problematic for the Middle Preclassic than in later periods with prominent housemounds. We also do not know how social groups were structured at this time, and it seems presumptuous to force the Middle Preclassic data into

The North-Central Group was represented by the hard marl floor in Op.1x and Patio Floor 5 in Op. 1y, which were probably the remains of a domicile and prepared outdoor space. Artefacts from caches associated with this group and related occupation horizon deposits were included, but materials from the refuse deposit adjacent to the marl living floor were not available for study. A North Group may have been represented by white marl layers in the 203

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 10.1: Locations of Phase 0/I consumption-related contexts with associated architecture and features.

northern end of the Main Trench and artefacts recovered from the occupation horizon.

used by the same social groups; conflation of Phases II and III for the sake of comparison is therefore supportable, if not ideal. Few intact deposits were encountered from these earlier stages of occupation, and only three discrete groups were amenable to comparison even after the phases were combined.

Phase I architecture was uncovered in Op. 3c and Op. 5a, but neither of these units were included due to a lack of directly associated artefacts. The floors in Op. 3c were partially destroyed by a later refuse pit and no artefacts were recovered from their surfaces. It was unclear whether Phase I artefacts from Op. 5a were associated with the stone alignment and carbon stains or were recovered from deposits beneath these features. Black dirt deposits were not encountered in either Operation 3 or Operation 5.

The South Group was located in the southern end of Plaza B and was spatially related to the Phase 0/I floor surfaces of the same name. South Group architecture included the pebble-and-marl floor (2009:Platform 2) and raised marl platform from Operation 7, the Phase II marl surface in the Main Trench, and Platform H and its perimeter floors. Off-platform refuse, caches, and floor deposits yielded quantities of pottery and other artefacts for comparison with other groups.

Phase II/III Artefacts from Phases II and III were also combined to increase the number of contexts for comparative analysis (Figure 10.2). These architectural stages related to the same phase (early facet Kanluk) and were represented by sequentially built platforms and floors that were likely

The North-Central Group was located in the same general area as the preceding phase grouping, and consisted of two demolished Phase II platforms (Platforms P and R) 204

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns

Figure 10.2: Locations of Phase II/III consumption-related contexts with associated architecture and features.

and a related marl patio surface (Patio Floor 4), as well as a round or apsidal cobble platform (Platform L) related to a superimposed series of Phase III white marl patio floors (Patio Floors 1 – 3). The earliest platforms were dismantled and buried in platform or subfloor fill, and the later patio floor sequence was so tightly spaced that few artefacts could be associated with any one surface. The few pottery fragments recovered from these contexts appeared to have been recycled as building materials, and only special finds with noted associations to architectural features were included in the comparative analysis from this group.

was deposited beneath and directly atop the later addition that was probably generated by the occupants of the earlier structure. Phase IV The largest number of intact deposits and identifiable consumer groups was associated with Phase IV in the architectural sequences of Plaza B (Figure 10.3). Phase IV platforms may have originally been built late in the early Kanluk phase and continued in use through most or all of late Kanluk times, which represented a longer period of occupation and use than was observed among the platforms of preceding phases. Architectural caches and burials related to events at the beginning of Phase IV, as opposed to refuse deposits that accumulated over the duration of the phase.

The Northwest Group encompassed the third and final set of related contexts and was located in Operation 3. Northwest Group architecture comprised a Phase II marl floor located in Op. 3d and may also have included the resurfacing and continued use of a Phase I plaster floor from Op. 3c. The Phase II floor probably represents the addition of a prepared outdoor patio or terrace to the earlier plaster-floored structure in Op. 3c, and concentrated refuse

A South Group was present in Phase IV and was represented by deposits associated with the rounded 205

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 10.3: Locations of Phase IV consumption-related contexts with associated architecture and features.

or apsidal platform (Platform 1) partially uncovered in Operation 7. This platform encased the Phase II/III South Group structures and was the final construction in the southern sequence before the Late Preclassic Floor 4 was laid down over Plaza B. Refuse was concentrated in an area off the hypothesized western face of Platform 1, which may have been the rear of the structure but was dismantled in antiquity. Far fewer sherds and other artefacts were deposited off the northern and eastern faces of Platform 1, which supports the proposal that this platform faced southeast toward Str. B-4 and may have been part of an architectural group including that longlived structure.

centre of Plaza B and Platform 1 in the south, and may have been associated with either of these constructions or with another structure that has not yet been excavated. This refuse deposit was described as a central midden in previous chapters and appears to have been localized in space; a clear drop-off in artefact frequencies occurred south of the first meter of Op. 1s, which left a distance of about 5.5 meters between this midden and the northern face of Platform 1. The artefact content of this midden also differed from the refuse deposits surrounding the central floor and cobble feature to the north, and the two were analysed as separate contexts for this reason. The midden in Ops. 1r and 1s contained the largest number (n = 18) of partial vessels and the greatest densities of marine shell production debris and chert drills recovered from any context in Plaza B.1

A dense concentration of refuse that accumulated over the Phase I floor in Ops. 1r and 1s has been ascribed to a South-Central Group in Phase IV, although it was not clear which architectural group was associated with the formation this deposit. It was located between a Phase IV cobble feature and section of a plaster floor near the

The term partial vessel refers to fragments that preserved complete profiles of their parent vessels. 1

206

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns The Central Group consisted of deposits on and to the north of the plaster floor and cobble feature near the centre of Plaza B. Little of these features were excavated, and the reasons behind their construction during Phase IV in an area previously devoid of substantial architecture is not understood. The Central Group midden contained fewer marine shell production debris and pottery fragments than the South-Central Group midden but was similar in terms of its overall composition.

deposits around the platform remains with caution. Pottery fragments from less problematic lots were stylistically late Middle Preclassic, however, and only materials from these deposits were included in this analysis. A number of special finds were encountered atop a marl-and-flagstone surface that supported the stone alignment of a possible superstructure in Op. 5a, and these were included with the West-Central Group. Excavation notes were more ambiguous concerning the association of recovered pottery fragments with this superstructure, however, and a macroscopic characterization of the sherd assemblage was not carried out.

The Platform B Group was located above the Phase II/ III North-Central and North Groups and corresponded to the eastern face of Platform B. This platform stretched nearly 18 meters north-to-south and incorporated several caches and a burial. Artefacts associated with the Platform B Group were recovered from special deposits, from a midden off its southeastern corner, and from refuse deposited along and on top of its eastern face. The latter part of the architectural sequence is not well defined in this area, and use of a partially excavated later Phase IV platform (Platform A) may account for some of the refuse deposited above the eastern face of Platform B. Macroscopic characterization of pottery fragments was limited to materials from the nearby midden in Op. 1h due to the substantial numbers of early (Cunil complex) and late (Xakal complex) sherds included in lots overlying Platform B, which suggested these lots were mixed and possibly redeposited as building materials.

Caveat The analyses that follow proceed from the position that different architectural groups and associated deposits were created by different groups of people, which I have called consumer groups. This assumes that the people who built, used, and modified specific structures formed discrete social entities that differed from groups associated with other structures, as might be expected when comparing different Classic-period housemound groups. Different interpretations are possible, however, especially given the incomplete nature of the Plaza B excavations. One might view Plaza B as occupied by a single group of individuals who built different platforms for different purposes, or see multiple structures as reflecting different domestic units that together formed a single larger group (e.g., an extended family). Differences among consumption patterns defined for different contexts would then represent something other than the unique suite of exchange relationships possessed by distinct social groups, and comparison of these patterns would be less helpful for understanding community social organization from the network perspective developed in chapter three.

The Northwest Group comprised a complex sequence of deposits that probably spanned the duration of Phase IV and were located in Operation 3. Refuse deposits off the edges of an unnamed rounded platform and a later quadrilateral platform (probably Platform B) were included, as was a cache placed inside the later platform. The Northwest Group also included the contents of a pit that partially destroyed the north face of the quadrilateral platform as well as a refuse deposit located on top of its surface. These contexts were capped by two sequential Phase V cobble surfaces that did not correspond to other features in Plaza B and were not included in this analysis. The later quadrilateral platform may represent the northwest corner of Platform B and deposits in this area may therefore relate to those in the Platform B Group, but the architectural sequence in this area was different enough from that observed in the Main Trench to warrant a separate treatment. Excavations in Op. 1x and Op. 5a suggest that Platform B supported at least two superstructures that may have been used by different families or groups, and the refuse deposited off its northwest corner may have been produced by the occupants of an additional unexcavated superstructure.

The analyses of materials consumption and structure function in the following section bear directly on the question of how Middle Preclassic platforms were used, which relates to the alternative interpretation of platforms being built by a single group for different purposes. Materials consumption patterns in this scenario would relate to structure function rather than differences in exchange relationships, which would presumably be maintained on behalf of the entire group. Observed variability in artefact distributions suggests this was not the case, but sampling error and chance distributions of rare artefact types preclude definitive statements on these grounds alone. I return to this interpretation after presenting the spatial analyses and argue against it using several lines of evidence.

Two additional consumption contexts were identified that may relate to Platform B and its associated superstructures. The West Group included deposits above and around the poorly preserved remains of a platform that may have been the southwest corner of Platform B and a cache placed beneath this surface. Substantial later construction occurred in this area and I have treated the

The alternative interpretation that multiple domestic units may have operated as a single social group and not distinct entities is more difficult to address. The analyses below indicate most platforms were residential and were likely related to distinct domestic groups, but they say little about how these groups may have been related 207

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 10.1: Special finds and cache vessels from Phase 0/I consumer groups Phase 0/I

Ground Stone Lava

Chipped Stone Mineral Granite

Limestone Spheroid

Quartzite (red)

Quartzite (grey)

Slate

Chert Tool

Cave Material

Group

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

North

0

  0

0

  0

 1

  4.2

1

100

0

  0

0

 0

0

  0

0

  0

North-Central

0

  0

0

  0

23

  95.8

0

  0

1

 50

4

50

0

  0

1

100

South-Central

0

  0

0

  0

 0

  0

0

  0

1

 50

0

 0

0

  0

0

  0

South

1

100

1

100

 0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

4

50

1

100

0

  0

Total

1

100

1

100

24

100

1

100

2

100

8

50

1

100

1

100

Phase 0/I

Shell and Bone

 

Marine Ornament

Bone Bead

Cache Vessels

Total Special Finds

Group

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

North

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

 2

  4.2

North-Central

1

  16.7

0

  0

2

100

32

  66.7

South-Central

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

 1

  2.1

South

5

  83.3

1

100

0

  0

13

  27.1

Total

6

100

1

 0

2

100

48

100

Phase 0/I

to each other through kinship or descent. Evidence suggests that two or more domestic groups that were spatially separated in earlier phases became co-residents on a large platform during Phase IV; these people may have acted as a group thereafter, but their possible relationships prior to the construction of Platform B remain unclear. Variability in the materials associated with different residences suggests that connections to certain goods were not equally shared among domestic units, and this holds true whether or not members of those units considered themselves part of the same larger social group. The question of whether this variability existed among the components of a larger social group or several smaller discrete entities cannot be answered at this time, but it seems less important than the recognition of differences in the consumption patterns of different domestic groups.

Materials Consumption Few materials were available for analysis from Phases 0 and I that could be directly associated with a specific consumer group (Table 10.1). Other artefacts originally used during these phases may have been recycled into later platform fill or discarded in unexcavated areas, although the relative dearth of materials may also have related to the small size of the initial population. Little can be said about the Northwest and North Groups during the earliest phases of occupation, for example, due to a lack of recovered materials. No artefacts were associated with the Phase I plaster floors in the Northwest Group, and a red quartzite hammerstone and limestone spheroid made up the entire inventory from the marl surfaces of the North Group at this time.

Analysis of Materials Consumption and Structure Function by Phase

North-Central group deposits contained over 95% (n = 23) of the limestone spheroids recovered from Phase 0/I deposits, which were almost certainly made from locally derived materials and were apparently deemed important enough to be included in a cache dug into bedrock (Cache 5, n = 20). An additional brownish-grey quartzite spheroid was associated with this group and might have been locally procured, although the provenance of different-coloured quartzite artefacts has not been studied in detail. Quartzite ultimately derives from metamorphic formations in the Maya Mountains and has been noted in alluvial deposits around Blackman Eddy in the central Belize Valley (Yacubic 2006).

The groups outlined above consumed various resources and generated deposits (e.g., refuse, caches) that differed in their material contents. Analysis of the materials present in the deposits of different groups allows some facets of total group consumption to be compared and differences in exchange relationships identified. Functional characterization of artefact assemblages also provides the strongest support for determinations of structure function if the assemblages in question can be linked to specific architectural features. The following section presents a comparative analysis of the artefact assemblages associated with different consumer groups in each of the three phase groupings and addresses questions of materials consumption and structure function.

Non-local materials were also associated with the NorthCentral Group (Figure 10.4), which included four worked 208

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns

Figure 10.4: Contributions of different materials and ceramic fabrics to the artefact assemblages of Phase 0/I consumer groups. Pie charts to the right of excavation units represent ceramic fabrics.

slate pieces2 and a rare triangular marine shell ornament. This ornament and a large slate disk were elements in a ceremonial offering (Cache 10) associated with Phase 0/I architecture in Plaza B, which was placed to the east of a marl floor and included at least two partially reconstructible vessels. Caches 5 and 10 appear to have initiated a pattern of deliberate deposition that would be intensified in later Phase IV constructions.

related contexts. Utilitarian vessel fragments made up over 83% (n = 12) of the South-Central Group pottery assemblage (Table 10.2), although several unexamined ashy-textured Cunil-complex vessel fragments would likely have raised the quantities of identified serving vessels. Fine-textured fabric types included BBK2 and BF4 (see Table 9.17), and CRB1 was the dominant coarsetextured fabric among utilitarian vessels (n = 3). Examples of GB3, RLS, BKS, BLS, and the medium-textured BK1 were also present.

A single brownish-grey quartzite spheroid was associated with the postholes and later cobble surface of the SouthCentral Group, and no clearly exotic materials came from

South Group deposits contained a chert biface and carved bone bead that were probably made from local materials, and they also included the largest and most diverse assemblage of non-local artefacts (Figure 10.4). Mano and metate fragments made from red granite and extrusive lava (possibly basaltic or rhyolitic) were recovered from South Group contexts, along with 83% of all marine shell beads from Phase 0/I contexts (n = 5) and four slate fragments.

2 Slate and granite could be procured nearby in the Maya Mountains and occur in alluvial deposits near Cahal Pech (see ch 5 and ch 7). Only one slate artefact had the distinctive water-worn appearance of a river pebble, however, and the suitability of alluvial granite for use in grinding tools is questionable. I therefore treat these materials as deriving from non-local sources, although these sources may have been located relatively near Cahal Pech (10 – 20 km).

209

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization remains of residences or outdoor areas associated with houses. Probable domiciles included plaster Floors 7 and 8 in the Northwest Group (Op. 3c), which represented a refurbishing event (Floor 7) after the earlier floor was burned; Marl Floor 4 in the North-Central Group (Op. 1x) and its associated outdoor marl surface in Op. 1y; and the uppermost marl floor and underlying cobble surfaces in the South Group (Op. 1v). Many artefacts appeared to be scattered and fragmented pieces of domestic debris related to food preparation (e.g., manos, metates), tool manufacture (e.g., hammerstones), or personal adornment (e.g., marine shell beads), although the functions of some remain unclear (e.g., limestone spheroids). Utilitarian pottery was more abundant in the studied assemblages (Table 10.2), which might be expected for household inventories given the extreme friability of serving vessels at this time.

Table 10.2: Functional categories of vessels from Phase 0/I consumer groups Phase 0/I

Serving Vessels

Utilitarian Vessels

Total Vessels

Group

n

%

n

%

n

%

South-Central 2

16.7

10

83.3

12

  57.1

South

2

22.2

 7

77.8

 9

  42.9

Total

4

19.0

17

81.0

21

100

Phase 0/I wearable ornaments were disproportionately associated with the deposits of this group (n = 6, 85.7%). Utilitarian vessel fragments accounted for over 77% of the pottery assemblage from the South Group (see Table 10.2), which was similar to the high percentage of this functional category noted from the South-Central ceramic inventory. Two fine-textured fabrics were identified in this assemblage (BF3 and O1) that did not find counterparts in the SouthCentral Group despite the functional equivalence of the vessels they occurred in. The BS fabric type, which became the most abundant of all fabric types in later phases and was almost certainly a local product, was numerically dominant in this assemblage (n = 3), and it was identified in vessels that were equivalent to those with CRB1 fabrics from the South-Central Group. The BKS, GB3, and RLS fabric types were shared with the South-Central Group, but OS1 was identified only in South Group vessel fragments.

Cobble surfaces and marl ‘lenses’ were somewhat more difficult to interpret. The cobbles attached to the hard marl floor in the North-Central Group, for example, were almost certainly an outdoor extension of that residence, while the cobble Platform G in the South-Central Group may represent the elevation of an earlier ground-level structure identified by postholes in the underlying bedrock. A quartzite spheroid was the only non-ceramic artefact recovered from the latter cobble surface and a residential assignment for this structure must remain tentative at this time, although the ceramic assemblage mirrored that of the better-defined floor surfaces of the South Group in terms of vessel function. The marl surfaces tentatively associated with a North Group here were originally thought to be floors but were subsequently reinterpreted as fill units (Garber et al. 2005), and their position in the architectural sequence of the north end of Plaza B is far from clear. The more detailed stratigraphic sequence of closely spaced marl floors revealed in Op. 1y (see Figure 6.8) and the apparently domestic nature of associated refuse suggest the function of these marl layers may need to be reconsidered once again.

The ceramic fabrics identified in a range of functionally and stylistically equivalent vessels from the South-Central and South Groups indicate that each group obtained pottery from multiple producers, and that each had connections to some producers that were not shared by the other. Although the absence of overlap among fine-textured fabrics might be explainable by a lower sample size, the more abundant coarse- and medium-textured fabrics suggest requirements for pottery procurement were met with different strategies by different social groups. Non-ceramic artefact assemblages demonstrate the consumption of both locally available and exotic materials by multiple consumer groups, but not every group consumed artefacts from more distant regions in the same ways. The South Group appears to have had more connections that allowed its members to acquire greater numbers and different kinds of exotic goods, which included both durable items like manos and metates and ornaments of marine shell; large slate fragments deposited on Phase I South Group floors further suggest that group members were involved in slate artefact production. Members of the North-Central Group were also able to procure slate artefacts and marine shell ornaments, however, and it appears that access to these materials was not restricted.

Phase II/III Materials Consumption Frequencies of exotic goods increased during Phase II/III, as did variability in the types of non-local materials acquired and the forms of artefacts consumed (Table 10.3). Locally available limestone and chert cobbles, and potentially local quartzite, continued to be used as hammerstones and spheroids, and the distinctive chert burin-spall drills appeared during Phase III. Ceramic artefacts, apart from pottery, were also added to the material inventory of each consumer group, although the form and function of these artefacts varied among contexts.

Structure Function

Intensive later construction activity and the tightly superimposed stratigraphy of several sequential patio floor surfaces have obscured the material record of the NorthCentral Group during Phase II/III times. No special finds

The characteristics of the Phase 0/I artefact assemblages indicate that marl and plaster floors represented the 210

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns Table 10.3: Special Finds from Phase II/III consumer groups Ground Stone

Group

Chipped Stone

Lava

Limestone Quartzite Spheroid (red)

Quartzite (grey)

Slate

GreenStone

Limestone Figurine

Obsidian Chert Tool Chert Drill

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

North-Central 1

100

3

 60

1

 50

2

  66.7

6

  66.7

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

2

 50

Northwest

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

1

 33.3

0

  0

0

  0

1

100

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

South

0

  0

2

 40

1

 50

0

  0

3

 33.3

1

100

0

  0

2

100

1

100

2

 50

Total

1

100

5

100

2

100

3

100

9

100.0

1

100

1

100

2

100

1

100

4

100

 

Mineral

Shell

 

Quartz

Marine Ornament

Group

n

Fired Clay Marine Debris Freshwater Bead

Figurine/ Ocarina

  Drilled Sherd Earspool

 

Total Special Finds

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

North-Central 1

100

0

  0

1

 14.3

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

1

100

18

 36.0

Northwest

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

5

 62.5

2

100

0

  0

8

 16.0

0

South

0

  0

2

100

6

  85.7

1

100

3

  37.5

0

  0

0

  0

24

  48.0

Total

1

100

2

100

7

100

1

100

8

100

2

100

1

100

50

100

were recovered from the area around the demolished stub of the Phase II Platform R or the marl surface on which it was built, and the few pottery fragments collected around this area were likely building materials from an overlying platform. The nearby marl patio floors contained three limestone spheroids embedded in their surfaces, three spheroids of red and grey quartzite, one piece of marine shell production debris, three slate fragments, a quartz crystal, and two chert burin-spall drills (Figure 10.5). A ceramic earspool and a large basalt mano were also recovered from a layer between two marl surfaces and have been included in the artefact inventory of the NorthCentral group despite their slightly ambiguous context. An obsidian flake recovered from the cobble fill of Platform P suggests that members of the North-Central Group also had access to this material, but the probability that this context represented building materials led to its exclusion from this analysis.

nearly two-thirds of all identified vessels (Table 10.4). This functional imbalance presents a reversal of the utilitarian-dominated pottery assemblages from Phase 0/I contexts, and the meaning of this change is not clear. The observed difference in functional categories may have been due to sampling error and the effects of later construction on the Phase II/III assemblage, but this pattern continued into Phase IV (see below) and may reflect social practices. A larger number of different ceramic fabrics were observed in the Phase II/III South Group assemblage than in earlier times (Table 9.17; Figure 10.6). O2, which became the most abundant fine-textured fabric in Phase IV, was the dominant fine fabric in this assemblage (n = 10), and representatives of the abundant O3 (n = 3) and O9 (n = 2) fabrics were also present. Single examples of O4, CO1, BF2, and B2 constituted the remaining fine fabric types; Buff 2 was the only buff-firing fabric identified in deposits post-dating Phase I, and B2 was the only brownfiring fabric that pre-dated Phase IV. BS was the dominant coarse-textured fabric identified in utilitarian vessels (n = 5), followed by BKS (n = 2) and single examples of the BLS, CBS, OS1, and RLS fabric types. MB was also identified in two black-slipped tecomate fragments and may represent the development of the Phase 0/I fabric type BK1 into a specialized container fabric.

The South Group assemblage contained few artefacts made from local materials, which consisted of two limestone spheroids, a chert hammerstone, two chert burin-spall drills, and a freshwater mussel shell ornament. A small polished spheroid of a rare red-and-cream banded stone, possibly quartzite, and three anthropomorphic figurine fragments were also included in these deposits and may be locally derived. The inventory of exotic artefacts expanded to include two obsidian flakes, one of which was deposited with three slate plaques or mirror-backs in a Phase II layered cache atop a pebble-and-marl floor (Figure 10.5), and the earliest green-stone triangulate recovered outside the eastern face of Platform H (Phase III). Marine shell ornaments were only recovered from contexts related to the South Group in Phase II/III, and over 85% (n = 6) of the marine shell production debris from this time was associated with South Group deposits.

Contexts associated with the Northwest Group produced few special finds, and almost all of these were anthropomorphic figurine fragments. One such fragment was a torso and legs made from pecked limestone, while the remaining figurine fragments were ceramic and consisted of arm and leg appendages. An early ceramic ocarina and quartzite spheroid completed the small finds assemblage for this group. The absence of exotic goods may have resulted from an inability to obtain them, but the small size of the excavated deposits (located entirely within Op. 3d) suggests that sampling bias was also a factor.

Slipped serving vessel fragments were dominant in the South Group pottery assemblage and accounted for 211

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 10.5: Contributions of exotic materials to Phase II/III consumer group artefact inventories (pie charts), and frequencies of ceramic figurine and ocarina fragments by group (shading).

Group vessel fragments, and vessels were stylistically and functionally equivalent between these two groups.

Table 10.4: Functional categories of vessels from Phase II/ III consumer groups Group

Serving Vessels

Special Purpose

Utilitarian Vessels

Total Vessels

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

Northwest

20

43.5

2

4.3

24

52.2

46

  59.0

South

21

65.6

0

0.0

11

34.4

32

 41.0

Total

41

52.6

2

2.6

35

44.9

78

100

Ceramic fabrics identified in Northwest Group vessel fragments differed in their relative frequencies compared to those described for the South Group, although these two contexts shared several fabrics in common (Table 9.17; Figure 10.6). O2 and O9 were equally abundant (n = 6) among fine fabric types in the Northwest Group, and O3 contributed only slightly lower frequencies (n = 4). O1 (n = 2), O6 (n = 2), and O8 (n = 1) were also present in lower quantities and had no parallels among the South Group assemblage. The relatively rare CO1 fabric type was also identified (n = 2).

The ceramic assemblage of the Northwest Group was more functionally balanced than that observed in South Group contexts; it contained slightly less than 10% more utilitarian vessel fragments than decorated serving vessels, as well as a small number of special purpose vessel fragments that represented the remains of spouted bowls or jars (Table 10.4). Decorative techniques and vessel shapes observed in this assemblage resembled those recorded from South

The most dramatic difference between the fabric types present in the Northwest and South Groups is apparent among the coarse-textured fabric types (Figure 10.6). Only three different coarse-textured fabrics were identified in 212

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns

Figure 10.6: Contribution of ceramic fabrics to the vessel inventories of different Phase II/III consumer groups. Pie charts to the left depict fine-textured fabrics, while coarse- and medium-textured fabrics are shown to the right in both cases.

the Northwest Group assemblage as opposed to the seven recorded in South Group deposits. BS made up exactly half (n = 11) of all coarse-textured fabrics present in the Northwest Group, and the remainder consisted of nearly equal quantities of the BLS (n = 6) and RLS (n = 5) fabric types. This lack of variability was striking in comparison to the fine-textured fabrics in the same assemblage and the coarse-textured fabrics associated with the South Group.

stone to their list of acquisitions. Marine shell continued to be important in each of these groups, and the roughly contemporaneous appearance of marine shell debris and burin-spall drills suggests that both groups may have become more involved in shell ornament production at this time. In contrast, the characteristics of the slate artefacts associated with each group appeared to reverse the pattern established in preceding phases: only finished artefacts were recovered from South Group deposits, while the North-Central slate assemblage consisted entirely of blocky fragments with unworked edges. This may relate to a shift in production and consumption roles between members of these groups, although slate artefact production processes are not well understood for this time period.

The relative frequencies of exotic materials present in the Phase II/III deposits of the North-Central and South Groups appeared to continue and expand upon trends begun during the preceding phases of occupation. NorthCentral Group members continued to acquire small amounts slate and marine shell while adding basalt to their material inventory. Members of the South Group, who possessed higher quantities and a more diverse range of exotic materials during preceding phases, continued along this trajectory by adding obsidian and green-coloured

The ability to obtain a wide array of exotic materials seems to at least partially track a group’s connections to different pottery producers. South Group members consumed 213

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Phase IV

utilitarian vessels drawn from a more diverse set of pottery producers than their contemporaries in the Northwest Group, whose larger utilitarian vessel assemblage contained a more restricted range of fabric types. Most of these fabrics were identified in jar and tecomate fragments that could have been used to transport other materials, and the co-occurrence of diverse container fabrics and exotic goods within the same context suggests an underlying relationship between these material categories. Whether this involved the use of ceramic containers to transport other commodities or some other social practices involved in maintaining exchange relationships is not clear, but any plausible scenario appears to have necessitated the creation and maintenance of connections to a diverse network trading partners and pottery producers.

Materials Consumption Phase IV deposits were the largest, most dense, and most variable of any occupational phase encountered in Plaza B, and the number of contexts that may have represented different consumer groups also increased (Table 10.5). Artefacts were deposited in architectural caches, a burial, and in refuse discarded near platform edges. Trash also accumulated in large middens near the centre of Plaza B, which contained some of the highest recorded densities of pottery fragments (Figure 10.7) and marine shell debris of any excavated units. I limit discussion below to exotic materials, pottery, and abundant artefacts that were probably made with locally available materials (e.g., chert drills, figurines) due to the large quantities of artefacts recovered from Phase IV consumption-related deposits. Patterns in the consumption and deposition of different materials or functionally related artefact classes structure the following discussion in lieu of a full description of artefact inventories by consumer group.

Structure Function The functions of Phase II/III structures were more difficult to determine through artefact associations due to substantial destruction by later building practices, a dearth of artefacts with known functions, and the partial excavation of identified structures. The marl floor in the Northwest Group (Op. 3d) was probably an outdoor surface or terrace that was an addition to the earlier plasterfloored house in the same area. A residential function is suggested by the balanced assemblage of serving and utilitarian vessel fragments and the presence of figurines in refuse deposits that may have been used in household rituals (Marcus 1998, 1999).

Exotic Stone Artefacts Artefacts made from exotic stone included ornamental or otherwise symbolic objects (e.g., beads, triangulates), tools used for quotidian tasks (e.g., food preparation, cutting), and possible artefact production debris. The most diverse assemblages, in terms of types of exotic stone present, were associated with the Platform B and Northwest Groups (Figure 10.8). These assemblages included a variety of ornamental/symbolic and utilitarian objects made from some materials that were widely shared among several groups and others that were unique to each. Deposits associated with other groups contained lower frequencies of exotic stone goods in a less diverse range of material types, although these did include demonstrably exotic and presumably valuable materials such as obsidian and green-coloured stone.

The dismantled and buried Platform R (Op. 1x) in the North-Central Group may have also served as a residence, although few artefacts were recovered to support this assertion. The same can be said of the partially excavated cobble platforms (Op. 1y) built on white marl patio floors in the same area somewhat later in time. North-Central Group artefacts from Phase II/III deposits resembled those associated with an earlier domestic structure in the area, and the addition of a basalt mano to the later assemblage lends some support to the idea that this area was home to a residential group. Whether or not Platforms L and P were themselves residences, however, remains an open question.

The largest quantities (n = 24) and density (ρ = 3.01/m3) of green-stone artefacts were associated with the Platform B Group, which accounted for 75% of the green-stone artefacts recovered from Phase IV consumption-related contexts (Table 10.5). The density of green-stone artefacts in Platform B deposits was over three times larger than the mean density among all consumer groups (ρ = 0.91/m3) and nearly as large in comparison to the overall density of green-stone artefacts from excavated contexts (ρ = 1.26/ m3), which indicates that green-stone was consumed much more intensively by members of this group compared to others. The West-Centre Group, which may have included a building located atop the surface of Platform B, accounted for 12.5% (n = 4) of Phase IV green-stone artefacts and also had a higher-than-average density (ρ = 2.17/m3) of these materials. Green-stone artefacts were also associated with the Northwest, West, and South Groups, although the below-average densities of these objects suggest greencoloured stone was consumed much less intensively in

Pottery and figurine fragments deposited on the interior and perimeter floors of Platform H, and a preserved posthole near the edge of the platform floor, suggest this structure supported a residence made from perishable materials. Excavation of the Phase II raised marl platform beneath Platform H was limited to a small section, although a wider area of the pebble-and-marl floor beneath it was exposed. Some evidence that this platform supported a residence came in the form of a refuse deposit off the western edge of the exposed floor that contained well-preserved serving and utilitarian vessel fragments, although it is difficult to make a functional determination based on such limited exposure. If these structures were in fact residences, the artefacts their inhabitants consumed and deposited set them apart from contemporaneous social groups. 214

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns Table 10.5: Special finds and cache vessels from Phase IV consumer groups. ρ denotes density measurements in n/m3. Column percentages are given Ground Stone Group

Lava

Granite Red

Granite Pink

Gneiss

Sandstone Limestone Quartzite Spheroid

Slate

n

n

n

n

n

n

%

%

%

%

%

n

%

n

%

Green-Stone ρ

%

n

ρ

%

Central

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

1

 50

0

  0

 1

0.49

   3.7  0

0

  0

Northwest

4

  66.7

0

  0

0

  0

1

100

0

  0

0

  0

1

 25

 8

1.47

29.6

 2

0.37

  6.3

Platform B

2

 33.3

1

100

0

  0

0

  0

1

100

1

5 0

2

 50

12

1.5

44.4

24

3.01

  75.0

South

0

  0

0

  0

1

 50

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

1

 25

 2

0.46

   7.4  1

0.23

  3.1

South-Central 0

  0

0

  0

1

 50

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

 1

0.52

   3.7  0

0.00

  0.0

West

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

 2

1.14

   7.4  1

0.57

  3.1

West-Centre

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

 1

0.54

   3.7  4

2.17

  12.5

Total

6

100

1

100

2

100

1

100

1

100

2

100

4

100

27

1.06

100

1.30

100

Chipped Stone Group

Mineral

Obsidian n

ρ

%

Chert Tool

Chert Drill

n

n

%

ρ

%

32 Shell

Quartz

Cave

n

n

%

%

Hematite

Marine Ornament

n

n

%

ρ

%

Central

 0

0.00

  0

0

  0

 23

11.17

   8.5

1

 33.3

0

  0

0

  0

 9

4.37

 10.5

Northwest

25

4.58

 55.6

0

  0

 62

11.36

 23.0

0

  0

1

 50

1

100

 5

0.92

   5.8

Platform B

11

1.38

 24.4

1

 20

 53

 6.64

  19.6

2

  66.7

1

 50

0

  0

34

4.26

  39.5

South

 0

0.00

  0

2

 40

   7

 1.60

  2.6

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

14

3.20

 16.3

South-Central

 2

1.04

  4.4

1

 20

 66

34.38

 24.4

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

19

9.90

 22.1

West

 7

3.98

 15.6

0

  0

 43

24.43

  15.9

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

 0

0

  0.0

West-Centre

 0

0.00

  0

1

 20

 16

  8.70

   5.9

0

  0

0

  0

0

  0

 5

2.72

  5.8

Total

45

1.77

100.0

5

100.0 270

10.63

100.0

3

100.0

2

100.0 1

100.0 86

3.39

100.0

Shell Group

Fired Clay

Marine Debris

Freshwater Figurine/Ocarina Bead

Drilled Sherd

Sherd Pendant

Earspool

Cache Vessels

Total Special Finds

n

n

n

n

n

ρ

%

%

n

ρ

%

%

n

%

n

%

Central

  108

 52.43

 10.1 0

  0

   9

4.37

   8.7  1

   7.7 0

  0

0

  0

 1

  4.3   154

  9.0

Northwest

  173

  31.68

 16.2 3

 60

 35

6.41

 34.0  4

  30.8 1

 33.3 0

  0

 0

  0

  326

  19.1

Platform B

  109

 13.66

 10.2 1

 20

  27

3.38

 26.2  2

 15.4 2

  66.7 2

100

22

  95.7   311

  18.2

South

  32

   7.32

  3.0 0

  0

  2

0.46

   1.9  0

  0.0 0

  0

0

  0

 0

  0

  62

  3.6

South-Central  520

270.83

  48.6 1

 20

 10

5.21

   9.7  5

  38.5 0

  0

0

  0

 0

  0

  626

  36.7

West

   82

  46.59

   7.7 0

  0

 11

6.25

  10.7  1

   7.7 0

  0

0

  0

 0

  0

  147

  8.6

West-Centre

  45

 24.46

  4.2 0

  0

   9

4.89

   8.7  0

  0.0 0

  0

0

  0

 0

  0

  81

  4.7

Total

1069

  42.10

100

100

103

4.06

100

100

100

2

100

23

100

1707

100

5

13

%

3

%

from granitic gneiss. A similarly rare mano fragment of calcareous sandstone recovered from a midden off the southeast corner of Platform B was the only grinding tool associated with that group. Pink-and-grey granite mano fragments (n = 2) were associated with the SouthCentral and South Groups, and this material appeared to be exclusively associated with groups in the southern area of Plaza B. Four additional smoothed stones of black and greenish-black basalt were recovered from the Northwest (n = 2) and Platform B Groups (n =2), and a red granite hemisphere was associated with Platform B. All extrusive lava artefacts were therefore associated with either the Northwest or Platform B Groups, and two-thirds of these came from deposits of the former.

these areas. Similar materials were conspicuously absent from the Central and South-Central Group middens, although they were present in refuse deposits associated with the other groups. Extrusive lava (basalt or andesite), granite, and sandstone were exotic materials used as grinding tools, although a small number of symbolic artefacts were also made from these rocks (Figure 10.8). Mano and metate fragments made from exotic materials were distributed across the different groups. The Northwest Group possessed the most diverse array of grinding equipment in terms of material types, which included all Phase IV basalt grinding tools (n = 2) and the only metate fragment made 215

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 10.7: Sherd densities for Phase IV deposits by excavation unit. Consumer group outlines shown in red. Note the low densities around the northern and eastern face of South Group Platform 1.

Slate objects included both fragments (n = 18) and worked or complete artefacts (n = 7), and at least one slate artefact was associated with each Phase IV group (Figure 10.8). The highest quantities and densities of slate artefacts were associated with Platform B (n = 12, ρ = 1.5/m3) and Northwest Group (n = 8, ρ = 1.47/m3) contexts, which accounted for a combined 74 % of the Phase IV slate assemblage. The remaining contexts contained either one or two pieces of slate and had densities around 0.50/m3 except for the West Group, which had an above-average density of 1.14/m3.

deposits of this group; an only slightly lower obsidian density (ρ = 1.04/m3) was calculate for the South-Central Group midden, which included only two specimens. Marine Shell Ornaments Marine shell ornaments were among the most abundant exotic goods recovered from Phase IV consumptionrelated deposits, and they appear to have been unevenly distributed among the different contexts examined (Figure 10.8). Almost 40% of marine shell ornaments were associated with Platform B (n = 34, ρ = 4.26/m3), although the density of these artefacts was comparable to that calculated for the Central Group midden (n = 9, ρ = 4.37/m3). Ornaments were most densely concentrated in the South-Central Group midden (n = 19, ρ = 9.9/m3), which accounted for slightly over 22% of these materials. A significant quantity of marine shell ornaments was also associated with the South Group (n = 14, 16%), although

The greatest concentrations of obsidian, which occurred as both flakes and blades in Phase IV deposits, were recovered from Northwest (n = 25, ρ = 4.58/m3) and West Group (n = 7, ρ = 3.98/m3) contexts (Figure 10.8). Although a substantial number of obsidian artefacts were associated with Platform B (n =11), they were not as densely concentrated (ρ = 1.38/m3) in the refuse or special 216

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns

Figure 10.8: Relative contributions of different exotic stone material types to Phase IV consumer group assemblages and density of marine shell ornaments associated with each group.

again at lower concentrations (ρ = 3.2/m3). Surprisingly few marine shell ornaments were recovered from Northwest Group contexts (n = 5, ρ = 0.92/m3), and none were associated with the West Group.

shell debris assemblage. The Central and West Groups were associated with relatively low quantities of this material that were nonetheless highly concentrated, while the opposite condition held for deposits in the Northwest Group (Table 10.5). The comparatively low quantities of marine shell debris distinguish Central Group contexts from those associated with the South-Central midden despite the adjacency of the two groups in space.

Marine Shell Debris and Chert Drills Marine shell debris and chert drills were by-products and tools associated with marine shell ornament production, and their spatial distributions provide evidence for the relative degree that different groups may have engaged in ornament production processes over time (Figure 10.9). Nearly half (48.6%) of all marine shell debris fragments were associated with the South-Central Group midden (n = 520, ρ = 270.83/m3); no other context came close to the frequencies and concentration of shell debris recovered from this group. Particularly low concentrations of debris were associated with the South, West-Centre, and Platform B Groups, which accounted for a combined 20.9% of the

Chert drills were somewhat more evenly distributed among the different groups. No single group consumed more than one-quarter of Phase IV chert drills, although the South-Central, Northwest, and Platform B Groups accounted for 67% of these tools (Table 10.5). The highest number and densest concentration of drills was associated with the South-Central Group midden (n = 66, ρ = 34.38/ m3), which mirrored the concentration of marine shell detritus in this area. Drills were also concentrated in West Group contexts (n = 43, ρ = 24.43/m3), and were more 217

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 10.9: Dot density map of marine shell debris and chert drills by excavation unit, with consumer group contexts shaded grey. Dots depict quantities of each artefact type in units of density (n/m3) and not find spots of materials.

abundant but less densely distributed around Platform B and in the Northwest Group. Deposits around the South Group produced the lowest frequencies and densities of drills (n = 7, ρ = 1.60/m3) and marine shell debris (n = 32, ρ = 7.32/m3) among Phase IV contexts.

group (r = 0.896, n = 7, p = 0.006), which is illustrated in Figure 10.10A. To investigate possible effects of other deposited materials on the relationship between chert drills and marine shell debris, I compared the log-transformed densities of these materials to the log-transformed sherd densities associated with each consumer group.3 Sherds were the most abundant materials in Phase IV refuse deposits, and they may serve as a proxy for generic trash disposal, as all groups discarded broken pottery. If significant correlations existed between sherd densities and marine shell debris and/or chert drills, the observed correlation between the latter two materials might have simply resulted from refuse disposal practices that aggregated all forms of trash into middens and not to any strong relationship between them. The computed

I investigated the apparent linkage between chert drills and marine shell debris suggested by the numbers from the South-Central and South Groups through a correlation analysis of their calculated densities. I applied a log transformation to the density values of each material to normalize their frequency distributions, which were skewed right in histograms of the raw density values. An inspection of the transformed density values in a scatter plot suggested a linear relationship, and I computed a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient using SPSS to assess the relationship between drill and debris densities. The results showed a strong positive correlation between these values within each consumer

Sherd densities were also log-normally distributed across consumer groups. 3

218

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns

Figure 10.10: Scatter plots of A) the correlation between chert drill and marine shell debris densities; and B) partial correlation between the same variables, controlling for sherd densities. Both densities were log-transformed to normalized distributions.

Pearson product-moment coefficients suggested a strong positive correlation existed between sherd densities and marine shell debris (r = 0.776, n = 7, p = 0.040); a weaker positive correlation was suggested for sherd densities and chert drills (r = 0.506, n = 7, p = 0.247), but the resulting value was not statistically significant. This suggested that the distribution of marine shell debris across different contexts may have related to regular trash removal and not to specific production activities that involved chert drills, although the same relationship did not appear to hold true for drills.

figurine fragment densities reached above 4/m3 in the deposits associated with all but two groups, one of which was Platform B (Table 10.5). Few figurine fragments were associated with South Group contexts (n = 2, ρ = 0.46/ m3), although the apparent relationship between Platform 1 in this group and the figurine-rich Str. B-4 may have influenced the distribution of figurine fragments in the area. Functional Vessel Categories and Cache Vessels The functional composition of pottery assemblages associated with different consumer groups was remarkably consistent in most respects during Phase IV, even as total amounts of ceramic vessel fragments varied (Table 10.6). Each group possessed a range of functionally equivalent serving vessels, most of which were red slipped (see Table 9.15), and a comparable extent of unslipped or minimally decorated utilitarian pots and storage jars. Most contexts contained functionally balanced pottery assemblages that comprised slightly more serving than utilitarian vessel fragments and much smaller numbers of special purpose vessel sherds. Even the Northwest Group pottery assemblage, which contained the largest number of identified vessel fragments and accounted for about one-third of the analysed collection (n = 359, 33.2%), conformed to the general pattern of a functionally balanced assemblage. Serving vessels accounted for more than 53% of all vessel fragments in only two contexts (South, 57.2%; South-Central 55.7%), and the difference in functional vessel proportions was not great.

I computed a partial correlation to control for the effect of sherd density on the relationship between the logtransformed chert drill and shell debris density measures (Figure 10.10B), which returned a stronger positive correlation than was initially observed between these materials (r = 0.914, p = 0.011). This suggests that an underlying process, such as differential participation in marine shell ornament manufacture by different groups, was primarily responsible for the observed correlation in the spatial distributions of these materials. Although chert drills and shell production waste did eventually end up in the same trash deposits as other materials, the frequency of their occurrence in these deposits probably related to factors other than the total amount of refuse being discarded. Ocarina and Anthropomorphic Figurine Fragments More ceramic figurine and ocarina fragments were recovered from Northwest and Platform B Group contexts than the deposits of any other Phase IV group (Figure 10.11). Figurine fragments recovered from these contexts made up 60.2% of the Phase IV assemblage and were most densely concentrated in the Northwest Group (ρ = 6.41/m3). Most of the remaining groups appear to have consumed ceramic figurines at a relatively intense rate despite the disparity in associated frequencies, however;

Disproportionate amounts of special purpose vessel fragments were present in the Platform B and Central Group assemblages (Table 10.6). These vessels included equal numbers of decorated spouted forms (n = 5) and coarsetextured censers or braziers (n = 5). Spout fragments were recovered from two other Phase IV contexts, but censer/

219

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

Figure 10.11: Distribution of ceramic figurine and ocarina fragments across Phase IV consumer groups, showing the density and percentage of the total assemblage associated with each group. Table 10.6: Functional categories of vessels from Phase IV consumer groups Group Central

Serving Vessels

Special Purpose

Utilitarian Vessels

Total

n

Row %

n

Row %

n

Row %

n

%

  69

50.0

 5

3.6

 64

46.4

  138

  12.8

Northwest

190

52.9

 3

0.8

166

46.2

  359

  33.2

Platform B

 34

46.6

 5

6.8

 34

46.6

  73

  6.8

South

103

57.2

 1

0.6

  76

42.2

  180

  16.7

South-Central

123

55.7

 1

0.5

  97

43.9

  221

  20.4

West

  58

52.7

 3

2.7

  49

44.5

  110

  10.2

Total

577

53.4

18

1.7

486

45.0

1081

100.0

brazier fragments were only associated with the Central Group plaster floor and Platform B corner midden.

other excavated feature contained such a large number of deliberately deposited vessels, which were partitioned between seven different caches. The only other example of a Phase IV pottery cache consisted of a single partially reconstructible serving dish encountered to the south and below the level of the Central Group cobble feature, and

Phase IV cache vessels were almost entirely associated with Platform B (n = 22, 95.7 %) and were deposited in various locations along and inside its eastern face. No 220

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns

Figure 10.12: The relative contributions of different fine-textured fabrics to the pottery assemblages of Phase IV consumer groups. Rare Fine fabrics were represented by less than five examples in the combined Phase IV pottery assemblage.

the relationship between cache and feature was not clear. Including ceramic vessels and other material in caches appears to have been a hallmark of the Platform B Group and may reflect continuity with earlier caching practices by groups in the same general area.

vessel fragments recovered from every Phase IV context, and the same fabric types were regularly identified among the fragments of stylistically different vessels. At least one of the three most abundant orange-firing fabrics in the combined Plaza B pottery assemblage (O2, O3, and O9) was dominant among the fine-textured fabric types associated with each consumer group (see Table 9.17). These three were the principal fabric types identified in the Northwest and South-Central Group assemblages, although their relative frequencies varied between these contexts. The Central Group contained abundant O2 and O9 vessels but far fewer examples of O3, and this latter fabric was completely absent from the Platform B assemblage despite its strong O2 and O9 representation. The West Group assemblage stood apart from the others in terms of the relative abundance of the three dominant fabric types: O2 was most abundant, which fit well with its representation in the assemblage

Fine-Textured Ceramic Fabrics A striking increase in the number of distinctive finetextured fabrics (n = 32) was identified in serving vessel fragments associated with Phase IV consumer groups. The addition of several new fabric types, the continued use of those established during the preceding phases, and the possible evolution of some fine fabrics into new types with distinctive attributes (e.g., different firing colours) later in Phase IV contributed to the massive amount of variability observed among the fabric types consumed by different groups (Figure 10.12). Several fine-textured fabric types were identified in functionally and stylistically equivalent 221

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization for much smaller proportions of all fine-textured fabrics associated with each group, with a few notable exceptions. The O4, O5, and O6 fabric types were more or less evenly distributed in low numbers across contexts, although O4 was not identified in the West Group assemblage and O5 was absent in Platform B contexts. O7 was concentrated in the South-Central Group midden and was equal in abundance with examples of the O9 fabric type within this group (n = 15), and half of all O8 sherds were associated with the Northwest Group assemblage (n = 11). The uncommon OB1 fabric type was exclusively identified in Northwest, South, and Platform B Groups.

as a whole, but O9 was conspicuously absent and O3 was rare (n = 2). The three dominant orange-coloured fabrics were also prevalent in the South Group assemblage, which differed from the other groups in its relative abundance of the O1 fabric type. This fabric was identified throughout the occupational sequence in the south end of Plaza B and was the second most abundant fine-textured fabric in the South Group assemblage, which accounted for over 40% of all Phase IV examples (n = 19, 42.2%). O1 was also comparatively common in Northwest Group pottery (n =12) despite its lower contribution to the overall assemblage composition (6.8%).

Brown-firing fabrics were less common as a group and included several rare fabric types. The most common brown-coloured fabric, B2, was evenly distributed across all groups in small numbers. B3 was absent in the Platform B and South Group assemblages and rare in all other

The remaining orange-firing fabrics that were not considered rare (n < 5) were more evenly distributed across contexts in most cases. These fabrics typically accounted

Figure 10.13: The relative contributions of different medium- and coarse-textured fabrics to the pottery assemblages of Phase IV consumer groups. Rare Coarse fabrics were represented by less than five examples in the combined Phase IV pottery assemblage.

222

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns contexts, and the B1 and B4 fabric types were primarily identified in Northwest Group vessel fragments. CB1 was not identified in the middens associated with the Central, South-Central, and Platform B Groups and was rare but evenly distributed across the remaining contexts. The only yellow-firing fabric that was not considered rare (YB1) was almost evenly distributed between the Northwest, South-Central, South, and Platform B Group assemblages (Table 9.17).

South Group assemblages, and it was present in more than half of equivalent vessel fragments in the Northwest and Platform B Groups. The total frequencies of the BS fabric type and its relative abundance in nearly every Phase IV assemblage suggest this fabric was a local product. Varying quantities of the remaining Coarse Sandy and Coarse Limestone Sand group fabric types were identified in roughly equivalent relative frequencies among the vessel fragments of most group assemblages. Some notable exceptions to this rule include low relative frequencies of BKLS and BKS in the West Group assemblage, similarly low frequencies of BKLS and BLS in the South Group and BKLS in the South-Central midden, and higher than expected frequencies of RLS in the West Group. OS1 was only identified in South and Northwest Group vessel fragments, and CBS was limited in distribution to the South-Central, Central, and Northwest Groups. The distinctive Coarse Gray jar fabric made up significant and roughly equivalent proportions of the Central, SouthCentral, and South Group assemblages but was only a minor component of Northwest and Platform B group pottery. The highest proportional representation of Coarse Gray was identified in the West Group assemblage.

Rare fine fabrics accounted for nearly half (n = 15) of all fine-textured fabric types identified in Phase IV contexts despite being present in only 5.6% of analysed vessel fragments. Rare fabrics constituted 5% or less of sherds with fine-textured fabrics in the South, South-West, and South-Central Groups and were absent from the Platform B assemblage. The Central and Northwest Groups contained slightly higher relative frequencies of rare fine fabrics than were observed in the combined Phase IV assemblage, although rare fabric types accounted for less than 9% of fine-textured fabrics in each context. Coarse-Textured Ceramic Fabrics Medium- and coarse-textured fabric types identified in Phase IV vessel fragments also increased in number (n = 18) from preceding phases, which produced increasingly variable utilitarian pottery assemblages from a compositional perspective (Figure 10.13). Utilitarian vessels remained functionally equivalent and stylistically akin to those from preceding phases despite the increase in distinctive fabric types, and several fabrics that were established earlier in the occupational sequence continued to be important components of these assemblages.

Rare coarse fabrics (n = 8), like their fine-textured counterparts, were identified in fewer than five vessel fragments from Phase IV contexts. Examples of these fabric types were absent from the Platform B and West Group assemblages, and they were minor components in collections associated with the Northwest and Central Groups. The South-Central midden and South Group had higher relative proportions of rare coarse fabrics than any other Phase IV group.

The two Phase IV medium-textured fabrics (CBK1 and MB) were relatively uncommon in most assemblages, and the Platform B Group collection did not contain either one (see Table 9.17). CBK1 was not identified in Northwest Group vessel fragments and was best represented in the South-Central Group midden (n = 3); all other groups contained single examples of this fabric. Single examples of MB were also identified in the Central and South Group assemblages, and this fabric appeared to be absent from the South-Central Group midden. The highest frequencies of MB vessel fragments came from Northwest (n = 4) and West (n = 3) Group deposits. CBK1 and MB were primarily container fabrics and appeared to have a complementary distribution within the two largest pottery assemblages (South-Central and Northwest Groups), which suggests these groups were somehow connected to different pottery producers who made functionally and stylistically similar restricted orifice vessels.

Phase IV Consumption Patterns Table 10.7 and Table 10.8 below summarize the different consumption patterns of each consumer group that are suggested by the relative frequencies and densities of the materials examined in the preceding sections. Consumption of these different materials related to the various routine and ceremonial practices that required their use, and the relative abundance of these materials in different deposits reflects the abilities of group members to acquire them as well as their use in different activities. Higher concentrations of specific materials in the deposits of different groups may signify more intensive participation in activities that required their use and consumption or long-term participation over the duration of Phase IV; in either instance, however, patterns of materials consumption and deposition reveal different connections between groups inhabiting Plaza B and others within and outside the Cahal Pech community.

The BS fabric type was the dominant coarse-textured fabric in every Phase IV group assemblage except that of the West Group, which contained proportionately more BLS vessel fragments than any other group (Figure 10.13). BS vessel fragments accounted for slightly less than half of all coarse-textured vessels in the Central, South-Central, and

Northwest Group The Northwest Group had diverse connections that provided comparatively large quantities of volcanic stone, probably from the Guatemala highlands, slate from 223

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Table 10.7: Consumption patterns of selected non-local materials and figurines for each Phase IV consumer group. The MS Debris/Drills column shows the consumption of these materials but is also a measure of shell ornament production Highlands Group

Lava

Obsidian

Maya Mountains

Unknown

Caribbean

Granite

Green- Stone

Marine Shell Ornaments

MS

Slate

Local? Figurine

Debris/ Drills

Central

None

None

None

Low

None

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

Northwest

High

High

None

High

Low

Low

Moderate

High

Platform B

Moderate

Moderate

Low

High

High

Moderate

Low

Moderate

South

None

None

Low

Low

Low

Moderate

Low

Low

South-Central None

Low

Low

Low

None

High

High

High

West

None

Moderate

None

Moderate

Low

None

Moderate

High

West-Centre

None

None

None

Low

Moderate

Low

Low

Moderate

Table 10.8: Consumption patterns of ceramic vessels with fine- and coarse-textured fabrics. Diversity reflects the total number of different fabrics present, and the ‘Local’ and Rare Fabrics columns show the relative contributions of these fabrics to each group’s assemblage. Architectural investment indexes the size of associated platforms and number of construction episodes Fine-textured Fabrics

Coarse Textured Fabrics

Architecture

Group

Diversity

‘Local’ Fabrics (O2, O3, O9)

Rare Fabrics

Diversity

‘Local’ Fabric (BS)

Rare Fabrics

Architectural Investment

Central

Moderate

Moderate

Moderate

High

Moderate

Low

Low*

Northwest

High

Moderate

High

High

High

Low

High

Platform B

Low

High

None

Low

High

None

High

South

Moderate

Moderate

Low

High

Moderate

High

Moderate

South-Central

High

Moderate

Moderate

High

Moderate

High

None

West

Moderate

High

Low

Low

Low

None

Unknown

West-Central

-

-

-

-

-

-

Moderate*

the nearby Maya Mountains, and marine shell from the Caribbean. Relatively large quantities of obsidian were procured by this group and were deposited in a cache (Cache 13) and discarded with domestic trash. High-quality volcanic stone grinding tools were also obtained from the highlands and possibly from the Hummingbird Batholith (granitic gneiss) in a distant area of the Maya Mountains. Northwest Group members participated in marine shell ornament production but appeared to have kept few ornaments for their own use; these may have circulated within the community or been traded to partners in other locations. Green-stone artefacts were also accessible but not obtained in large quantities. High frequencies and densities of figurine fragments, including heads, suggest household ritual was an important component of regular group practice.

fabrics, on the other hand, contributed relatively little to the overall utilitarian assemblage. The remains of two platforms were uncovered in the Northwest Group that were associated with early/late Kanluk pottery and have been assigned to Phase IV. Each was faced with roughly cut limestone blocks and their extent is not known, although the second platform may have been the northwest corner of Platform B. Substantial investment in architecture was indicated by the choice of building materials (e.g., cut limestone blocks), the elevation of the later platform above the earlier construction, and the choice to incorporate only a section of the earlier platform face into the new structure. The area continued to be occupied after the second, rectangular platform fell into disuse, as indicated by an intrusive trash pit dug into its northern face. This pit was placed in an area that avoided the corner cache of obsidian and other materials, however, which suggests the ancient excavators remembered its location and purposely avoided disturbing that area.

Northwest Group pottery contained a diverse range of fineand coarse-textured fabrics that indicate connections with many pottery producers. Probable local fabrics made up substantial portions of both serving and utilitarian vessels, although vessels with several comparatively common fabrics were also consumed. Rare fine fabrics, which occurred in stylistically distinctive vessels in this context and may represent vessels made in distant locations, made up a larger proportion of Northwest fine-textured fabric types than in any other assemblage and fit the pattern of diversity observed in other exotic materials. Rare coarse

Platform B The eastern face of Platform B was the primary locus of green-stone artefact consumption throughout Phase IV. Green-stone ornaments and triangulates were deposited in three caches related to the initial construction and completion of this structure, which included the ‘head224

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns in-bowl’ cache (Cache 7) that contained the skull of an individual interred in the platform’s southeast corner. Variability in the visual appearance of the green-stone artefacts associated with Platform B suggests connections to several geographic locations, potentially including the Maya Mountains, the Motagua Valley of Guatemala, and possibly as far away as Central Mexico (Powis et al. 2016); the green-stone triangulate contents of Cache 2 (see Figure 7.16) may have derived from several such locations and represent the pooling of goods obtained from multiple sources. Green-stone artefacts were also recovered with refuse associated with the use of Platform B, which indicates the long-term acquisition of these materials by group members throughout Phase IV.

repurposing of existing architecture in the area. At least one superstructure (Platform N) was built on top of its marl floor and other examples may exist in unexcavated areas. West and West-Centre Groups The West and West-Centre Groups shared some patterns with the Northwest and Platform B Groups, respectively, which suggests possible relationships in the activities carried out in these two sets of areas. Limited excavation and the possibility of disturbance by later construction in both groups mandate caution in pushing interpretations of similarity too far, however, and a better understanding of materials consumption in these areas awaits more extensive excavation.

Platform B Group members acquired and used moderate quantities of obsidian for both quotidian and apparently ceremonial purposes, as indicated by the presence of this exotic material in refuse deposits and offerings. Slate was also consumed in relatively high quantities and was used as a building material, which likely required a connection to the Maya Mountains to obtain suitable-quality stone. The Platform B Group was more engaged in consuming marine shell ornaments than producing them, although some level of manufacturing activities was suggested by comparatively lower densities of shell debris and drills. Ceremonial activities involving anthropomorphic figurines also appear to have taken place on or around Platform B and were likely important to the identity of the group.

Obsidian was consumed in moderate quantities by the West Group, although Operation 4 did not produce any extrusive lava artefacts comparable to those associated with the Northwest Group. Slate was consumed at a similar level of intensity, and the concentration of figurine fragments was relatively high in this spatially restricted context. Green-stone artefacts were comparatively rare in West Group deposits, although access to these materials was not completely restricted. The West Group was associated with moderate levels of marine shell production but no finished ornaments, which resembled the use of these materials in the Northwest Group.

The pottery assemblage from the Platform B southeast corner midden differed markedly from collections associated with other groups in both functional and compositional aspects. Platform B Group vessel fragments included the highest proportional representations of both fine- and coarse-textured fabric types thought to be local products, and the diversity of fabrics present in each texture category was quite low in comparison to the assemblages of other Phase IV groups. No rare fabrics of either texture category were identified, and numbers of common fabrics were low, which gave the assemblage as a whole a distinctive ‘local’ signature. The assemblage was perfectly balanced between serving and utilitarian vessels, and it contained much higher frequencies of rare censer or brazier fragments than any other collection relative to its size. The location of these rare vessels in a midden near Burial 1 suggests they were used in veneration rituals directed at the interred individual sometime after the construction of Platform B was complete.

The West Group pottery assemblage contained balanced quantities of serving and utilitarian vessel fragments but was distinctive from other groups in terms of the ceramic fabrics present. Diversity among fine fabrics was moderate and rare fabrics made up relatively low proportions of this assemblage, but the representation of possible local fabrics was mostly limited to a single fabric type (O2). Coarsetextured fabrics were less diverse than those identified in other group assemblages and did not include examples of rare coarse fabrics. The most striking aspect of the pottery assemblage, however, was the relatively small proportion of fabrics identified as the BS fabric type, which was dominant among utilitarian vessel fragments from all other contexts and tentatively identified as a local product. The vacuum created by the lack of BS pottery was apparently filled by vessels containing the BLS, RLS, and CG fabric types, which represented a consumption pattern unlike any other associated with a Phase IV consumer group. West-Centre Group artefacts resembled those associated with the eastern face of Platform B to some degree, which was most notable in the moderate quantities of greenstone triangulates and ceramic figurines deposited in this area. Green-stone artefact densities were well below those associated with Platform B but higher than any other group, and the intensity of figurine consumption more closely matched Platform B levels than those of the Northwest and West Groups. Relatively small quantities of slate and marine shell ornaments were consumed, and shell ornament production did not appear to be an

Platform B was the largest architectural feature (length = 17.72 m) uncovered in Plaza B and represented a significant investment of labour and materials by its builders. Its construction involved the near-complete demolition of earlier architecture in the area and its replacement with relatively sterile sediment-and-cobble construction fill. This also involved chopping and removing sections of the earlier white marl patio floors that were preserved immediately to the east of its exposed face, which represented a significant modification and possible 225

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization important activity in this area. The pottery assemblage from this group was not analysed in detail due to problems in defining its depositional context and the possibility of mixing with later materials.

vessels were present in lower numbers. The prevalence of the common O1 fabric type in this assemblage, and its persistence among the vessel fragments associated with groups in this area throughout the occupational sequence, suggests a long-lived relationship between South Group members and the producers of these vessels. A more diverse range of coarse-textured fabric types characterized utilitarian vessels from the South Group, which included a moderate number of local products and the highest relative frequencies of rare coarse fabrics of any Phase IV group. Rare coarse fabrics and the CG container fabric made up a significant proportion of all restricted orifice vessel fragments in the South Group assemblage.

The architectural investment associated with each of these groups is difficult to characterize due to the limited extent of excavations. Nothing beyond the partial remains of a cobble-and-marl floor and two large, roughly hewn limestone blocks were left intact in the West Group excavations. These may represent the surviving remnants of the southwest corner of Platform B or some other unknown platform, and any associated additions or modifications were destroyed by later construction. The Phase IV flagstone floor and associated stone alignment in the West-Centre Group may represent a section of the Platform B surface and an associated superstructure, although a direct stratigraphic association between these features and Platform B could not be made with certainty. The area did appear to be a locus of platform construction during Phase IV and earlier times, and the substantial depth of platform fill beneath the Phase IV flagstone surface suggested a considerable investment of labour and materials in its construction.

The South Group was linked to the round or apsidal Platform 1 during Phase IV, which was not completely excavated but covered an area of at least 54 m2. Although nowhere near the size of Platform B, Platform 1 likely required a significant input of labour and materials to build. Its plaster surface was refurbished at least once following completion, and it appears to have been used throughout much or all of Phase IV. Platform 1 may represent a slight enlargement from the rectangular Platform H that it replaced (estimated area 52 m2), but the size and quality of its facing stones were inferior to those of the earlier structure.

South Group

Central and South-Central Groups

Artefact consumption by the South Group was markedly different from the patterns described above, which appears to represent a shift in consumption patterns from earlier phases of occupation. No materials associated with highland Guatemala source areas were present in this assemblage, and green-stone and slate artefacts were comparatively rare. A distinctive pink-and-grey mano fragment suggests connections were maintained to Maya Mountains sources that may have included the Mountain Pine Ridge batholith, which may also account for the green-stone and slate artefacts in the assemblage.

The space between Platform B and the South Group was occupied by a related group of partially exposed architectural features and dense concentrations of garbage. Refuse deposits assigned to the Central and SouthCentral Groups resembled each other in some aspects of composition but were decidedly different in others, and each shared some characteristics in common with the Platform B and South Group artefact assemblages, respectively. Materials recovered from these middens, and their respective distances from the Platforms B and 1, suggest they were created by one or two other consumer groups associated with unexcavated platforms somewhere near the centre of Plaza B.

Marine shell ornament densities were relatively high compared to indicators of ornament production, which indicate that South Group members were primarily consumers of these ornaments. Figurine fragments were comparatively rare in South Group trash deposits, perhaps reflecting a different focus of household ritual or the deliberate recycling of these artefacts in the fill of temple platforms inside Str. B-4. The small quantities of exotic goods and comparative lack of diversity in their materials represents a striking reversal of Phase 0/I and Phase II/ III consumption patterns in the South Group area, and the stratigraphic sequence of these platforms suggests this was not due to the relocation of the earlier groups to another area of Cahal Pech.

Slate was consumed in low quantities by the Central Group and was the only exotic stone present in its associated refuse. Marine shell ornaments appear to have been both produced and consumed in moderate quantities by this group, and its members had access to substantial quantities of raw materials for manufacturing purposes. The Central Group pottery assemblage contained a functionally balanced set of serving and utilitarian vessel fragments that was similar to most other group assemblages except for one aspect: it included higher proportions of special purpose vessel fragments than any other assemblage apart from Platform B and contained two censer/brazier fragments. The censer/brazier fragments were associated with the partial floor and burned cobble feature and may somewhat postdate materials deposited to the north of those features in an associated refuse deposit,

The ratio of serving to utilitarian vessels that were consumed at the South Group was slightly higher than those recorded in other contexts, although the assemblage was still quite close to being functionally balanced. Finetextured fabrics were diverse and well-represented by the three ‘local’ orange-firing fabrics, and rare fine fabric 226

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns and they may have been used in ceremonies similar to those conducted near the Platform B corner that housed Burial 1.

therefore be assigned a residential function. Platform B and the features located in the Central Group were two possible exceptions to this functional assessment, although Platform B was likely related to multiple residences in the north end of Plaza B.

Fine-textured fabrics consumed by the Central Group were more diverse than those associated with Platform B and included moderate proportions of rare fabric types. ‘Local’ fine-textured fabrics were consumed in abundance but were not as completely dominant as those from the Platform B assemblage. Coarse-textured fabrics were highly diverse despite high proportions of ‘local’ BS fabric vessels, although the group consumed comparatively small proportions of rare coarse fabric types.

The obsidian blade fragments, broken grinding equipment, and the functionally balanced pottery collection recovered from refuse surrounding two platform faces and a trash pit associated with the Northwest Group indicate the assemblage represents domestic debris. Refuse accumulated during the use of both structures and after the abandonment of the later rectangular platform, which suggests a long-term occupation in the area that spanned the duration of Phase IV. The similarly balanced pottery assemblage and prevalence of obsidian blades in West Group deposits suggests a comparable occupation in this area, although the small size of the excavation and problematic contexts in Operation 4 make this determination somewhat less certain.

Architectural investment in this area appears to have been low. The cobble feature was placed atop midden materials that resembled those of the South-Central Group in their higher concentrations of marine shell production debris, and no other features were identified beneath this refuse deposit. Earlier floors or platform remains were not visible in profile beneath the plaster floor segment, which appears to have been a later Phase IV construction. This floor may have also been built on top of a pre-existing midden, but activities on its surface likely produced some part of the refuse that accumulated in the area.

Trash deposited off the western face of Platform 1 contained functionally balance pottery vessels and a granite mano fragment, which suggest a residential function for this platform in the South Group. Fewer figurine fragments and marine shell debris, and the apparent lack of obsidian blades, differentiated this group from others farther north in Plaza B. The disparity in these artefact assemblages likely resulted from differences in household practice and external connections rather than structure function, however, and Platform 1 likely served as a residence for people more closely associated with the late Middle Preclassic elevated temple platforms within Str. B-4 to the southeast.

The South-Central Group consumed relatively low quantities of obsidian, slate, and pink-and-grey granite in numbers comparable to those recovered from South Group refuse. Other exotic stone artefacts, such as green-stone triangulates, were not included in the trash deposit. The South-Central Group was the most heavily involved in marine shell ornament production of any Phase IV group, and group members apparently retained many of these products for themselves. Figurine fragments were densely concentrated in the South-Central Group midden, which suggests an emphasis on household ritual despite the lack of an associated domestic platform.

The Central and South-Central Group midden assemblages conform to the pattern of domestic debris in their functionally balanced pottery assemblages, as well as the inclusion of a mano fragment and obsidian blades in South-Central Group trash. Both assemblages contained abundant evidence of marine shell ornament manufacture, which has been associated with Middle Preclassic household activities at the nearby site Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002). These middens may have been produced by groups that resided on platforms that have not yet been located, or they may relate to the plaster floor and cobble feature tentatively assigned to the Central Group.

Pottery fragments from the South-Central Group midden comprised a functionally balance assemblage of slightly more serving than utilitarian vessels, and the comparatively few special purpose vessel fragments were limited to detached spouts. Diversity was high among fine-textured fabrics, which included relatively abundant amounts of the three ‘local’ fabric types and a moderate contribution from rare fine fabrics. Rare fine fabrics were primarily identified in stylistically distinctive vessel fragments in this assemblage (see Figure 9.11A and H for examples). Coarse-textured fabrics were also highly diverse and contained high proportions of rare coarse fabric types; this resembled the overall composition of the coarse-textured fabrics consumed by the South Group, although the types of rare coarse fabrics differed between the assemblages.

The stratigraphic relationship between the Central Group floor and cobbles and the deep middens that surrounded them was not well defined, and other aspects of these features make a residential assignment problematic. Censer/brazier and serving vessel fragments were deposited off the western edge of the plaster floor at a level flush with its surface, and the southern edge of this floor and adjacent cobble feature showed signs of extensive burning. These vessels may have been used in ceremonies that included incense burning or the cooking and serving of certain foods, and the possibility that the associated architectural features were the remains of a non-residential, special

Structure Function Phase IV artefact assemblages were mostly consistent with expectations of domestic consumption by different household groups, and most architectural features can 227

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization with different groups matched those most frequently consumed and deposited in refuse by the same groups; obsidian consumption, for example, was still highest in Northwest Group deposits (n = 12, ρ = 2.2/m3) even after the 13 obsidian chips from Cache 13 were removed from the calculation. Green-stone artefact densities in the Platform B Group dropped to levels comparable to those observed in other groups when cache items were removed, but their frequencies were still higher than those associated with other groups (n = 5, ρ = 0.6/m3). Interpretations of these caches as part of a ritual circuit of resurrection and ancestor veneration have been discussed elsewhere (Garber and Awe 2008), but the possibility that these caches represent the contributions of different social groups to a collective building project has not been previously explored.

purpose structure cannot be ruled out. The deposition of special purpose vessels and burning of associated architectural features further suggests this structure was ritually terminated before Floor 4 was laid over the area, and little evidence exists for similar termination rituals at more demonstrably residential structures. Platform B was a large elevated substructure or terrace that appears to have supported multiple residences. The remains of a probable superstructure were partially exposed near the eastern face of Platform B that was definitely associated with its surface (Op. 1x), and the stone alignment set atop the flagstone floor in the West-Central Group (Op. 5a) probably represents another such structure. Refuse recovered from the eastern face of Platform B and a midden associated with its southeast corner contained many items identified as household debris in other contexts, such as obsidian blade fragments, grinding tools, and a functionally balanced pottery assemblage. Artefacts associated with the rectangular platform corner in the Northwest Group and the platform remains in the West Group also indicate domestic activities if these features were in fact part of Platform B. Differences in artefact consumption patterns associated with each of these consumer groups suggest that several households occupied different areas of Platform B as a co-residential group, and that each household maintained their own set of connections to producers of different material goods.

The eastern face of Platform B may also have been the locus for activities aimed at reinforcing group solidarity or collective identities. Architectural caches and the Platform B Group pottery assemblage provide some evidence for ceremonial food consumption5 and collective veneration of the dead. Nearly all Phase IV cache vessels were deposited in Platform B construction fill along its eastern face, including at least 15 partial vessels (Cache 9) that were apparently smashed and deposited as part of a dedication ceremony when the construction of Platform B was completed. Decorated serving vessels accounted for nearly all the pottery content of this cache, which suggests food consumption was an important component of this ceremony. The few other materials included in this deposit represent a range of functional and symbolic objects that included both local and non-local resources (see Appendix C), and they did not appear to represent the conspicuous consumption of large amounts of valuables typically associated with competitive feasts or potlatches (Hayden 1995, 1998; Hayden and Gargett 1990). Although these artefacts could represent the deliberate deposition of rare items by a sponsor of this dedication ceremony, they may just as likely have been individual contributions from different groups that participated in the construction of Platform B and took part in the proceedings at its dedication.

Aspects of the construction history and artefacts associated with Platform B cannot be explained by household practice alone. Platform B may have been built in a collective effort by those who resided atop its surface, but its construction involved the appropriation and extensive modification of space that was previously occupied by at least one residential group. The number of spatially separated architectural groups that were replaced by Platform B increases to at least three if this structure did indeed extend into the Northwest and West Group areas. Architectural features in at least two of these groups (Northwest and North-Central)4 were separated by a distance (18 m) that suggested they were not part of the same patio group or similar co-residential unit, yet they each appear to have been incorporated into the same later structure (cf. Gerhardt 1988 and Hammond, Gerhardt, and Donaghey 1991for examples of Middle Preclassic patio group spacing; and Cheetham 1995 for a proposed example from Cahal Pech).

The pottery assemblage from the southeast corner midden contained high relative frequencies of censer/ brazier fragments, and the proximity of this refuse deposit to Burial 1 suggests that censers or braziers were important components of veneration ceremonies related to the interred individual. ‘Local’ ceramic fabrics were disproportionately represented among both fine- and

The amalgamation of different household or corporate groups into a single co-residential unit appears to have involved contributions of different materials, most of which were exotic items like obsidian and green-coloured stone, to caches deposited in the corners of Platform B. The exotic materials included in platform caches associated

I avoid using the word ‘feast’ here for two main reasons. Feasts and feasting are terms that are loaded with theoretical baggage concerning the political strategies of presumed Big Men or chiefs (see ch 3), and I do not think these strategies are reflected in the material consumption patterns of the Phase IV groups. The scale of these possible events is also difficult to determine from the available materials; the term ‘feast’ often connotes festivals at the community-wide or even inter-community scales, which would seem inappropriate for rituals that may have involved much smaller groups of co-residents consuming food. 5

4 Sections of marl surfaces that pre-dated the construction of Platform B were uncovered beneath the West-Center flagstone floor in Op. 5a, but these were much closer to the North-Central Group features in Op. 1x (c. 5 m) and shared use by the same group cannot be ruled out.

228

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns coarse-textured fabric types in this assemblage, which included fewer examples of other common fabric types and no vessels containing rare fabrics. The emphasis on ‘local’ pottery consumption in this assemblage, and the exclusion of possible ‘foreign’ products or trade items (i.e., rare fabrics), may be the result of collective ceremonies that involved members of several Platform B households and were focused on the remembrance of the individual buried in the platform corner. Vessels acquired from outside the community may not have been appropriate for use in such ceremonial expressions of collective identity, whose objectives likely included reinforcing the integration of once-separate groups into a collective whole. Whether or not the individual in Burial 1 was considered an ‘ancestor’ by any of these groups is an open question, but the site of his crypt appears to have been the focal point of rituals or other practices that differed from the regular routines of daily life. The small number of identifiable vessels in this deposit relative to the assemblages of individual households (Table 10.8) suggests it did not develop as the result of continued daily practice, but that it may have resulted from less frequent, periodic events that were held throughout most of Phase IV.

to attribute the South Group’s relative abundance of non-local goods to an earlier association with the wellconnected residents of that structure. Access to non-local goods was not restricted at this time, however, and the relative abundance of exotics associated with Str. B-4 need not be attributed to inherited social rank.6 A few ornaments made from both locally available and exotic materials had distinctive, idiosyncratic forms or decorations that contrasted with the generic shapes of many later personal adornments. These included the triangular marine shell ornament cached in the North-Central Group (see Figure 8.7B), the carved bone bead in the South Group (see Figure 8.1A), an early zone-incised earspool from beneath the Phase I floor in Op. 5a (see Figure 9.2A), and the ‘flame-brow’ green-stone object from Str. B-4 (Awe 1992:Figure 91o). Each of these may have been a simple adornment, but their apparent uniqueness and function as ornaments or outwardly worn symbols, and the deposition of at least two of them in caches, suggests they were ‘badges’ or ‘insignia’ of different social personae (Gillespie 2001:82; see also Canuto 2017). Exactly what these personae were is difficult to determine, but it appears that exotic materials were used to symbolize them within the community.

Intrasite Patterns, Interactions, and Social Organization – A Summary of Diachronic Change

Phase II/III – early Kanluk

Phase 0/I – Cunil and transitional early Kanluk

Variability in consumption patterns became more pronounced during Phases II and III, and there are some indications of an increase in wealth inequality among the groups. Locally available materials were still significant parts of each group’s artefact inventory, but the South Group began to acquire and consume higher quantities and a greater variety of non-local goods. These included the earliest green-stone object in Plaza B, larger quantities of marine shell ornaments, slate plaques or mirror backs, and obsidian. South Group members may also have invested the largest amount of labour and resources in architecture at this time; a Phase II patio floor and an associated raised marl platform and possible stone superstructure were engulfed and replaced by a large rectangular platform oriented toward Str. B-4 during Phase III, when the group also began acquiring green-stone objects.

Artefact consumption patterns appear similar in the earliest phases of settlement at Cahal Pech (Phase 0/I), although variability was already present in the materials different groups consumed. Locally available resources were the most abundant materials in artefact inventories, and possible early examples of locally made ceramic fabrics were present in each examined context. Variability among Phase 0/I ceramic fabrics identified in functionally and stylistically equivalent vessels suggests multiple producers supplied the community with pottery, and differences in the quantities and relative frequencies of these fabrics indicate that links between pottery producers and consumers were not completely redundant. External connections can be inferred from marine shell ornaments, granite and lava grinding tools, and slate fragments and artefacts recovered from refuse associated with multiple architectural groups, as well as a piece of obsidian found in a Phase I subfloor context. Marine shell ornaments, green-stone mosaic fragments, slate objects, and obsidian flakes were also included in a termination ritual cache associated with a Cunil-phase residence beneath Str. B-4 (B-4\4th; Awe 1992:341), which demonstrates the breadth of external connections in this early community.

Architectural expansion and the acquisition of non-local goods like green-coloured stone and marine shell were not limited to the South Group, although substantial later constructions have obscured these processes in several contexts. A large elevated platform with perishable superstructures was built over the earlier residences inside Str. B-4 at this time (B-4\5th), to which Awe (1992:136) Awe (1992:341, 346) suggests this deposit may indicate ‘that Str. B-4 was the dwelling of a wealthy family, or that the structure was used for important ritual functions,’ and he tentatively associated some of these objects with higher status individuals and/or ritual practices. He was correct in not suggesting that status was inherited at this time, as the ornamental functions he ascribes to many non-local items could just as easily mark specific social personae with associated levels of status as persons with hereditary social ranks. 6

Members of the South Group consumed slightly more exotic artefacts than other groups during Phase 0/I, and construction activity was somewhat more intense in this area. Platforms in this group appear to have been oriented toward Str. B-4 during later phases, and it is tempting 229

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization tentatively assigned a non-domestic function. Marine shell and green-stone beads were found in caches associated with this structure (Awe 1992:342-343), which mirrored the materials consumed by the South Group and suggested a connection between the two.

was covered by the rectangular Platform H, which marked a time when the South Group became demonstrably oriented towards Str. B-4. This may represent the development of a distinctive social persona, that of the ritual specialist or shaman, who was a member of the South Group.

Several white marl patio floors and at least three cobble platforms were built by the North-Central Group, which also consumed slate, basalt, and marine shell during Phases II and III. The latest architectural features in this series were more substantial, but they lacked the large, well-cut facing stones used in South Group architecture and appear to indicate less investment in materials and possibly labour. The lack of exotic goods associated with the Northwest Group during these phases may also be related to the relatively modest addition of a marl patio or terrace to an existing structure, despite the use of highquality plaster in the original construction.

Non-local items and diverse pottery fabrics were associated with the South Group in early Kanluk times, but access to many exotic materials does not appear to have been restricted in a way that might be expected in a society where exchange was governed by social rank. This was particularly true in the case of marine shell ornaments, which were made in discoidal or irregular shapes and may have begun functioning more as generic wealth items than badges of social personae at this time (Isaza Aizpurúa and McAnany 1999; Hohmann 2002). We might expect control over the production of wealth items to have been concentrated in the hands of high-ranking individuals or related groups (e.g., Earle 1987; Helms 1978), but the evidence does not support such a scenario; instead, it appears that more than one group was able to acquire the raw materials and requisite skills to manufacture marine shell ornaments, albeit at a relatively small scale in all instances. This suggests the apparent concentration of exotic material goods and compositionally diverse pottery in the South Group was more closely tied to group investment in creating and maintaining exchange relationships than to any controlling social proscriptions. Obsidian and slate plaques or mirrors may have been necessary materials for the successful operation of South Group ritual specialists, and group members may have leveraged their established exchange connections and position within the community to acquire additional resources at the same time other groups were expanding their materials procurement networks.

Possibly local ceramic fabrics persisted through Phase II/ III and were consumed in greater quantities by all groups, and earlier buff-coloured fabrics may have developed into the orange-firing pastes that became characteristic of Middle Preclassic serving vessels. All groups appeared to have access to a range of stylistically similar serving vessels containing fine-textured fabrics, although South Group pottery contained a more diverse range of coarsetextured fabric types than the other Phase II/III assemblages examined. This suggests groups with more connections to different pottery producers could also access more diverse exotic materials and that these different types of connections were related. Small numbers of anthropomorphic figurine fragments were recovered with refuse around several structures. These fragments may represent an increased focus on household ritual in the Northwest Group (Marcus 1998, 1999), but chance cannot be ruled out as a contributing factor to the observed concentration in this group. The North-Central and South Groups also started to produce marine shell ornaments during these phases, although this appears to have been at a relatively small scale or to have started later in the sequence. Marine shell ornament production may have been embedded in household practice at other Middle Preclassic sites in the Maya Lowlands (Hendon 1999; Hohmann 2002; Hohmann et al. 2018), and it appears that at least some members of the Cahal Pech community began to participate more regularly in what later became an important regional practice.

Phase IV – transitional early/late Kanluk through late Kanluk An extensive shift in artefact consumption patterns and building practices occurred during Phase IV that was characterized by a dramatic increase in variability in several material categories. New fabric types, including rare examples that almost certainly originated outside the local community, were identified among stylistically and functionally equivalent pottery vessels. Vessels containing a range of both fine- and coarse-textured fabrics were consumed by all groups, but the relative proportions of fabric types in group assemblages varied to an extent that suggested connections to pottery producers were not equally shared among groups.

Evidence for possible ritual specialization comes from the slate and obsidian cache in the South Group. Both slatebacked mirrors and obsidian have been linked to shamanic scrying and bloodletting rituals during later time periods in Mesoamerica (Blainey 2007; Healy and Blainey 2011; Saunders 2001), and the co-occurrence of these materials in a cache alongside a partial bowl suggests that may have been parts of a ceremonial ‘toolkit’ belonging to a ritual specialist. The cache was placed on a patio floor near the base of a raised residential platform before the entire area

Marine shell ornament production and consumption became increasingly important during Phase IV, and all groups appeared to have participated in these economic activities to varying degrees. Concentrations of marine shell debris indicate either a higher level or longer history of engagement in productive activities by certain groups, but the ability to produce these presumably valuable objects was not limited to any one group. 230

Spatial Analysis of Materials Consumption Patterns The Alternative Addressed

Consumption of exotic stone shifted and became more closely associated with groups in the north with the construction of Platform B, which was the largest structure yet identified in the plaza. Construction of Platform B involved the aggregation of multiple independent residential groups into a new shared living space, and its residents became increasingly connected to sources of non-local materials and a diverse array of pottery producers. The only Middle Preclassic burial in the Cahal Pech epicentre was incorporated into a corner of Platform B and may have been the focus of ceremonial proceedings while the structure was in use. Rare marine shell tinklers, green-stone beads, and a complete obsidian blade interred with this person, along with obsidian chips and green-stone triangulates cached in other platform corners, indicate the builders of Platform B already possessed connections to several different resource zones before construction began, and these connections were maintained and possibly enhanced after the building project was completed.

The evidence presented in this chapter supports my interpretations of structure function and the association of different social groups with architectural features and sequences, but the alternative interpretation that a single group occupied Plaza B and built different platforms for particular purposes must still be addressed. The differences in artefact distributions reported above would be viewed as resulting from sampling error or the different activities performed around certain structures from this perspective, and these data would say little about the exchange relationships of distinct social groups. Several aspects of this interpretation are hard to discount. Sampling error probably did affect artefact distributions in unknown ways, and I have suggested that ritual proceedings produced different consumption patterns around Platform B than were associated with other structures (i.e., different activities at different structures). The interpretation of a single group of individuals inhabiting Plaza B seems less plausible during the earlier phases (Phases 0 – III), however, due to the number of residential structures identified across the plaza and the distances that separated them. Several early domestic platforms and floors were encountered in Plaza B by BVAP and Trent University excavations (Cheetham 1995, 1996) that were separated by 15 – 60 m. Platforms separated by 15 m might have been part of the same residential group, but 30 – 60 m seems too distant given the small size of early platforms. These platform remains were also parts of distinct stratigraphic sequences that did not accumulate in the same ways, suggesting differential investment in domestic architecture that would be expected from different groups of individuals.

Architectural expansion was also observed in the South Group during Phase IV at a more modest scale. A slightly larger rounded or apsidal platform replaced the earlier rectangular structure in this area and maintained an orientation toward Str. B-4, which suggests continuity with the platforms of earlier phases. This later platform was faced with limestone blocks that were smaller, less regular in shape, and more roughly cut than the large rectangular blocks used to build its predecessor, and the expansion of its footprint appears to have been more modest. Fewer exotic stone artefacts were consumed by South Group residents during Phase IV, which seems to represent a reversal of patterns established during earlier occupations. The South Group apparently maintained connections to a more diverse group of coarse-textured container producers at this time, however, and may have been more involved in the exchange and consumption of perishable materials that were transported in these vessels.

Single-group occupancy of Plaza B may be more plausible for Phase IV, although some data suggest this was not the case. Phase IV platforms were built over early structures, which suggests some continuity with earlier residential groups unless families moved from their original dwellings to other areas of Cahal Pech. Chance may have been a factor in the recorded distributions of less-common artefacts, but more abundant materials showed stronger depositional patterns that were less likely to result from sampling error. Refuse deposits associated with different structures contained similar percentages of serving and utilitarian vessel fragments in a functional balance, and other food preparation and general-purpose tools further characterized these deposits as domestic debris. Refuse could have been generated by a single group that sequentially inhabited different structures or discarded the same trash around platforms used for different purposes, but the functionally redundant artefacts in the different assemblages suggest the deposits were produced by different contemporaneous domestic groups. The low elevations and modest size of all Plaza B platforms – except Platform B –suggest they were residences; none of the examples approached the elevation of Str. B-4 during Middle Preclassic times (Awe 1992:135-137), and

The apparent concentration of green-stone artefacts, obsidian, and stylistically rare marine shell ornaments associated with Platform B might signal the emergence of social ranking and higher status for the residents of this platform, but several factors suggest caution in applying this interpretation. Access to obsidian and green-stone objects was not completely restricted to Platform B residents, and other groups were more associated with shell ornament production and consumption during Phase IV. A refuse pit partially destroyed a section of Platform B, and northern sections of this structure were covered by at least two cobble surfaces before Floor 4 converted the area of Plaza B into ritual or public space. Construction in this area did not reflect the regular growth and expansion that might be expected of a high-status group in a ranked society, and Platform B appears to have fallen into disuse before the South Group residence (Platform 1) despite the apparent inequality in wealth items that existed between these groups. 231

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization valuable goods does not fit neatly with most prevailing models of Middle Preclassic social organization (Horn et al. 2017). We recovered little evidence to support the assertion that a ‘founding’ group or lineage remained socially prominent from the earliest days of occupation, or that important members of such groups became revered ancestors and were the focus of household or community ritual for long periods of time (e.g., McAnany 1995; McAnany et al. 1999). The only Middle Preclassic burial was interred relatively late in the sequence and appears to have been part of a special building program that included different residential units; this dearth of burials may relate to the relatively small window provided by trenches and test units, but it may also reflect practices that differed from the ancestor veneration ceremonies documented in northern Belize. Recent large-scale excavations of several superimposed platforms in the south of Plaza B have not expanded the burial sample (Peniche May 2016), and the southern end the plaza contained some of the earliest evidence of settlement. Founding ancestors may have been important to ritual practice and social organization at early Cahal Pech, but we can entertain the idea that descent relationships were not the only structuring elements in this Middle Preclassic community.

Platform B supported at least two superstructures that were small enough to be residences. Multiple residential platforms were likely inhabited by different families or groups of individuals even if these groups were somehow related through kinship and descent. The alternative interpretation addressed here cannot be disregarded based on current data, and there may have been fewer groups inhabiting Plaza B than I have defined in this chapter. Conversely, the large unexcavated areas may contain the remains of additional residential structures, and Middle Preclassic refuse recovered outside Plaza B (e.g., Awe 1992; Ferguson et al. 1996) suggests that other groups lived in different areas of the Cahal Pech epicentre. The conclusion of this chapter discusses materials consumption patterns from the perspective that several groups of individuals were living at Cahal Pech during the Middle Preclassic, while keeping in mind the possibilities and problems raised above. Summary Discussion The analysis of consumption patterns and related construction practices revealed unexpectedly high levels of variability in the Middle Preclassic material record, which suggests social groups at Cahal Pech maintained a range of connections to local and non-local peoples. Some of the patterns presented above may have resulted from sampling error and incomplete excavation of architectural features, and the interpretations offered can be modified if new data are recovered. The excavated area represents a fraction of Plaza B and an even smaller portion of Cahal Pech, resulting in a relatively narrow window through which to view processes of social development and change. Excavations always involve sampling, however, and the Plaza B sample was substantial in terms of excavated area (135 m2) and spatial extent. We may not know what occurred beyond our excavation units, but the Plaza B dataset was large enough to draw some conclusions about the Middle Preclassic community.

The data also do not support the hypothesis that social ranking emerged at Cahal Pech almost immediately after the area was permanently settled (contra Clark and Cheetham 2002). Social rank and ascribed status may have been evolving during earlier phases of occupation, and some Phase IV consumption patterns may indicate the emergence of more formalized intra-community interactions, but there is little to suggest that rigid status relationships structured the flow of materials and limited access to socially valuable items. If a chiefly lineage were established at Cahal Pech sometime during the Middle Preclassic, then the remains of its residence(s) must lie somewhere outside the excavated area. What we see instead is a fluid system of social relationships, where architectural expansion and group success appear linked to the maintenance of local and non-local connections, and where multiple materials and information were acquired, manipulated, and consumed in many different ways. Patterning in the data may be better understood through the lens of network interactions, in which groups differentially created and maintained connections to others in ways that allowed a variety of goods to flow into the community and among its members. Aspects of network structure can be glimpsed through examining patterns in artefact consumption and platform construction, and the circumstances that preceded the emergence of hereditary inequality and complex society can be explored in more detail.

Steady, incremental growth in the architecture associated with different residential units was the exception rather than the rule. Architectural expansion and elaboration, which may reflect the status or relative success of social groups, resembled less a series of gradual developments than intense concentrations of building ‘events’ dispersed through longer periods of relatively minimal construction activity. Structures may have been built or gradually remodelled elsewhere at Cahal Pech or in unexcavated areas of Plaza B (e.g., the long-term architectural sequence inside Str. B-4 [Awe 1992:133-139]), but the slow, cumulative growth of domestic platforms documented at Cuello and K’axob in northern Belize does not well describe the Plaza B architectural sequences (Gerhardt 1988; Hammond, Gerhardt, and Donaghey 1991; McAnany 2004). This ‘punctuated equilibrium’ of construction activity and shifts in the consumption of rare, exotic, and/or socially 232

11 Discussion of the Data from a Network Perspective Small World Networks and Brokers

of small-world networks during the first four phases of occupation (Phases 0-III) (Watts 2003:99). Strong ties characterizing local integration are seen in similarities among artefact inventories associated with different consumer groups, which included functionally and stylistically similar pottery vessels, limestone spheroids, chert tools, and other artefacts made from locally available materials. Ceramic fabric types identified as potential local products were established early in the sequence and grew in importance to become dominant in Phase II/ III assemblages, and anthropomorphic figurines became important in household inventories during these phases as well. Shared elements of material culture reflect regular, face-to-face interactions among community members, similarities in household or group practice, and the transmission of redundant information available to most or all members of the society. These daily interactions and exchanges of information among consumer groups are analogous to the high clustering coefficients of smallworld networks (Watts 1999; Watts and Strogatz 1998) and were important elements of community integration and cohesion (e.g., Yaeger 2000b).

The variability in construction and artefact consumption patterns documented throughout the Plaza B occupation sequence suggests a complex system of social relationships preceded the emergence of social stratification in later periods. Whether or not these patterns represent the development of rank society in the classic sense (e.g., Fried 1967) is more difficult to discern; there appears to have been an important societal shift at the beginning of Phase IV that may signify such a development, but the concomitant increase in variability among material consumption patterns, and the practices they represent, complicates this interpretation. A better understanding of this variability and its significance to the later development of complex, hierarchical social structures may be gained from viewing the Cahal Pech community as a network of social relationships rather than an analogue to ethnographically described chiefdoms or rank societies in other areas of the world. The smallworld network model outlined in chapter three fits well with the material traces of social relationships at Cahal Pech without pigeonholing these relationships into categories of practice based on assumptions not borne out by the data. Concentrations of exotic materials and/ or diversity in ceramic fabrics can be viewed in terms of connections between groups of producers and consumers rather than control of access to particular materials, and well-connected groups may represent brokers of materials and information who accrued social capital through their positions in exchange networks (Burt 2001, 2002).

The most archaeologically obvious elements of disorder in the densely clustered network of regular interpersonal interactions consisted of weak ties to external exchange partners. Exotic materials such as obsidian, basalt, and marine shell had to travel considerable distances to arrive at Cahal Pech, and the relative scarcity and scattered distributions of non-local resources suggest the transactions that facilitated their transport took place on an infrequent basis. We do not know the nature of these transactions or the social relationships they may have been embedded in, but they must have involved communication with persons or groups outside the local community. Contacts may have been inhabitants of the areas where the materials occur naturally, middlemen in a down-the-line trade system, or members of a nearby community that acquired the materials from other sources; in all cases, contact with people living outside Cahal Pech for purposes of exchange would have allowed new materials and information to flow into the community (e.g., Granovetter 1973), and the creation and maintenance of these connections may have allowed some groups to accrue social capital and achieve advantageous positions within the society.

The flexibility of the network framework accommodates differences in status and wealth while accounting for other aspects of exchange that related to social identities, and it can be used to compare aspects of social organization at different stages of development. The constraints of the data and the apparent social transformation that occurred over the course of Phase IV limit this discussion to a comparison of network structures in the early and later periods of settlement (Phases 0 – III vs. Phase IV). The small number of excavated contexts dating to Phases 0 – III is the limiting factor in this comparison, and additional excavation would be required to clarify differences in network structures during these stages of occupation.

Other elements of disorder can be seen in ceramic vessel consumption throughout this part of the sequence. Petrographic identification of volcanic glass shards in cache vessels suggests possible external connections (Sullivan 2006), although the geographic origins of ash-containing vessels remain unknown. Stylistically distinctive serving

Early Small-World Networks Artefact consumption, as a reflection of exchange relationships, demonstrates both the elements of dominant ‘order’ and small amounts of ‘disorder’ characteristic 233

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Members of the South Group may have acted as brokers during Phase II/III, when B-4\5th was built as a raised, possibly non-domestic, platform (Awe 1992:136). The South Group artefact inventory contained the largest quantities and most diverse range of exotic goods of any domestic assemblage in Plaza B at this time, which included connections to the same geographic regions represented by the materials in B-4\4th. The ceramic assemblage contained a diverse range of coarse-textured fabrics, and South Group members appear to have been early experimenters in marine shell ornament production. Substantial investment in architecture culminated in the rectangular Platform H, which was oriented to face Str. B-4 (B-4\5th or B-4\6th) and used large, dressed masonry facing blocks. Exchange relationships initiated to obtain materials for a ritual specialist appear related to the South Group’s architectural expansion and elaboration over the course of Phases II and III, and information obtained from external contacts may have led South Group members to become early marine shell ornament producers.

vessels incised with pan-Mesoamerican motifs appear to have been concentrated in the Cunil-phase residences beneath Str. B-4 at the beginning of this sequence (Awe 1992:226), suggesting these occupants were connected to different pottery producers or that this area was settled earlier.1 The ceramic fabric types consumed by the earliest groups in Plaza B varied, in terms of both the fabric types in each assemblage and the proportional representation of each. This variability was seen in fabric types thought to be locally produced and among the rarer potential imports, and it suggests that each group of pottery consumers maintained a distinctive set of relationships to different pottery producers. Although functional and stylistic similarities among ceramic vessels indicate that each group used their vessels in comparable ways (e.g., food preparation, storage, service, etc.), the relationships between pottery producers and consumers were not redundant within the community. Connections to different pottery producers, and the relative strengths of connections between the same producer and different consumers, have the potential to introduce new information and materials into the local system that would not be shared equally by all community members. These relationships may therefore reflect weak ties that could provide social capital to those who created and maintained them.

Later Small-World Networks Interaction networks connecting social groups at Cahal Pech to each other and external exchange partners shifted at the beginning of Phase IV, although the overall structure of the network continued to conform to the small world model. Strong ties formed through regular interactions in the village remained evident in the shared use of implements made from locally available materials, anthropomorphic figurines, and functionally and stylistically similar ceramic vessels. Ceramic fabric types potentially attributable to local producers were predominant, which suggests that most local demand for vessels was met with an expanded local supply. New indicators of strong local integration included the widespread production and consumption of generic marine shell ornaments as possible wealth items or valuables, the construction of Platform B and the amalgamation of previously independent residential groups, and the collectively oriented ceremonial proceedings focused on the individual interred in Burial 1.

Two groups, which may have been spatially and socially related, were identified as potential brokers during the early phases of occupation at Cahal Pech. The earliest evidence comes from the Cunil-phase dwellings beneath Str. B-4 and an associated termination cache containing several exotic materials (Awe 1992: 341). This group consisted of multiple dwellings arranged around a small courtyard or patio (Cheetham 1995), and its inhabitants were able to procure substantial quantities of goods from the Guatemala Highlands, Caribbean coast, Maya Mountains, and possibly the Motagua Valley.2 The construction history of B-4\4th contained at least three episodes of remodelling or refurbishment (Awe 1992:135), which suggests that members of this group were able to invest labour and resources into the upkeep of their residence and can be regarded as relatively successful members of the early community. This emphasis on structural investment and maintenance was mirrored in the sequence of Phase I floors uncovered in the south end of the Main Trench and associated with the South Group, which also consumed a more diverse range of exotic materials than other Plaza B groups at this time.

Marine shell ornament production and consumption was limited in preceding phases but became a mostly redundant set of economic pursuits during Phase IV. Access to this non-local material was certainly not restricted at this time, and the level at which different groups participated in production and consumption appears to have been related to other factors. New information obtained from the acquisition of raw marine shell would have been readily dispersed throughout the community of ornament producers upon its arrival and would be an unlikely source of social capital, although the exchange of finished products to groups outside of Cahal Pech could have created bridging ties to distant communities. The large quantities of marine shell debris relative to finished ornaments recovered from Phase IV deposits raise the possibility that marine shell ornaments were being traded outward, but more research on ornament production processes and additional excavations are needed to support this hypothesis.

1 A small number of sherds incised with pan-Mesoamerican symbols have been recovered from deposits within Plaza B but were not analysed as a part of this project. The friable nature of early serving vessels and their regular occurrence as tiny fragments suggests caution is warranted in comparing sherd frequencies from plaza refuse deposits to vessels deposited in architectural caches. 2 As noted in ch 7, the provenance of green-stone artefacts has not been convincingly demonstrated in most cases, and it is likely that sources existed in the Motagua Valley, the Maya Mountains, and elsewhere in Mesoamerica.

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Discussion of the Data from a Network Perspective An expansion in the quantity and variety of non-local resources consumed during Phase IV suggests an expansion of external connections. Although consumption of exotic materials such as obsidian and green-stone increased, these resources remained relative scarce, and they likely resulted from infrequent meetings with exchange partners. Obsidian and green-stone artefacts were not equitably distributed across Phase IV artefact assemblages, but neither was access to these materials completely restricted. This suggests that the ability to obtain these rare materials was determined by a complex network of local and external relationships rather than control over resources exercised by a single group.

local potters. Vessels deposited in the Northwest Group contained the largest proportion of rare fine fabrics identified in any Phase IV assemblage, but rare fabrics were conspicuously absent from vessels deposited around Burial 1. Evidence from these contexts, and from ceramics associated with the West Group, suggest that Platform B residents were well-integrated into local producer-consumer networks while simultaneously possessing numerous external contacts. This position in the web of Phase IV social relationships may have allowed Platform B group members to act as bridges and broker the flow of information and materials between outside groups and community members with fewer or different connections.

The expansion of weak ties is also indicated by an increase in variability among fabric types in the ceramic vessels consumed by different groups. Phase IV serving and utilitarian vessels contained several rare fabric types, and most of these differed from the more common fabric types to such an extent that a foreign provenance seems likely. Vessels containing these fabric types, along with fabrics that were slightly more common but still minority assemblage components, were consumed in different quantities and proportions by the various Phase IV groups. This suggests groups of pottery consumers were increasingly connected, albeit through infrequent or irregular contact, to an expanded group of producers through some form of exchange. The frequent occurrence of rare coarse-textured fabrics in restricted-orifice containers further suggests the contents of these vessels, rather than the vessels themselves, were the materials being exchanged (cf. Ball and Taschek 2003).

An interpretation of the South Group’s social and network positions during Phase IV is more problematic. Most of the material indicators used to measure relative socioeconomic success or status suggest the South Group lost much of the clout it appears to have had before Phase IV: its share of Phase IV green-stone artefacts decreased significantly; no obsidian was recovered from associated refuse; and investment in architecture continued but was less substantial compared to previous phases. The groups residing on Platform B appear to have usurped many of these exchange connections, which may have resulted from a competitive advantage conferred by their decision to collectively construct an impressively large residential terrace. This decision could have been a deliberate strategy designed to increase competitiveness over scarce non-local resources and power within the local community (e.g., Brumfiel 1992; Clark and Blake 1994; Hayden and Gargett 1990), but it could also have resulted from different social processes (e.g., inter-group marriage) that may or may not have been politically motivated.

Groups residing on Platform B present obvious choices for the identification of potential Phase IV brokers. These individuals consumed more basalt, obsidian, and greenstone artefacts and ornaments than any other Phase IV group, and the data suggest they could acquire these materials before Platform B was built. Platform B residents obtained obsidian from three distinct sources (Kersey 2006), which suggests multiple exchange relationships may be represented by this single material category. The construction of Platform B required a massive input of labour and resources, and it completely reshaped the built environment on the north side of Plaza B. This architectural expansion may have been facilitated by the comparative success of previously separate social groups in creating and maintaining a diverse array of exchange contacts, and by the pooling and expenditure of both material and social capital in a collective construction project on a grand scale. The decision of different domestic units to aggregate into a new co-residential group may have increased their capacities to act as brokers and maintain connections to sources of distant materials, as Platform B continued to be the primary locus of exotic stone consumption for many years after its completion.

South Group members were still able to obtain significant quantities of marine shell ornaments, and they participated in their manufacture to a lesser degree or for a shorter period of time. Higher proportions of slate in the South Group assemblage, and the presence of a distinctive pink-andgrey granite mano, suggest a re-orientation of exchange networks toward the Mountain Pine Ridge area of the Maya Mountains. The South Group also maintained connections to a diverse group of pottery producers throughout Phase IV and acquired both serving and utilitarian vessels containing a range of fabrics. Utilitarian vessels contained the highest proportions of rare coarse fabric types relative to any other Phase IV group, and specialized container fabrics (CBK1, CG, MB) were relatively abundant. The South Group may have been positioned to broker access to the vessels of different pottery producers or the contents these vessels contained; if this were the case, the group could have maintained connections to external sources of new information despite their decreased ability to obtain some exotic goods.

The Platform B groups maintained a diverse set of connections to producers of serving vessels that contained fine-textured fabrics while remaining tightly linked to

The presence of multiple brokers with different external connections in a complex, integrated system is predicted by the small-world model developed in chapter three (cf. 235

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Burt 2004; Watts 1999, 2003; Watts and Strogatz 1998). As the Phase IV inhabitants of Plaza B amplified processes of community integration begun during earlier times, they also expanded connections that facilitated procurement of more varied non-local materials necessary for several different tasks. These interactions created a dense cluster of relationships at the local level that facilitated the sharing of information and the formation of a community identity by groups engaged in redundant activities (e.g., strong ties), while at the same time connecting some groups to sources of new information through external links that were not widely shared (e.g., weak ties). Any group that possessed weak ties to materials and knowledge had the potential to act as a bridge between Cahal Pech and other communities, and they may have used their structural positions as brokers to increase their standing in the community.

The proximity of these sites to Cahal Pech (distance < 1 km) and their shared patterns of materials consumption suggest they were integrated into a community at this time, although groups at each site presumably had their own sets of relationships with others and with groups residing in the site core. These interactions may also have followed a small-world network structure, with epicentral groups possibly acting as brokers, but more detailed analysis of artefact assemblages from the outlying groups is necessary to make this determination. The Cahal Pech community shared several patterns of materials consumption with other Belize Valley sites that suggest intense interactions at a local scale, especially during the late Middle Preclassic when interaction networks expanded and became more locally integrated. Marine shell ornament production with chert burin-spall drills was an important activity at Pacbitun, Blackman Eddy, Chan, and other Belize Valley sites during the Middle Preclassic (, and green-stone triangulates appear to have been a regionally distinctive artefact form that circulated through Belize Valley sites at this time. Stylistically similar vessels of the Savana, Joventud, and Jocote Groups (Sharer and Kirkpatrick 1976) were predominant in Belize Valley pottery assemblages throughout most of the Middle Preclassic and certainly by the second half of this period.

The Position of Cahal Pech in a Series of Middle Preclassic Small Worlds Community and Regional Small Worlds One of the strengths of the network model is its ability to ‘scale up’ beyond the level of intra-site patterns to describe interactions at the local, regional, and interregional scales. Archaeologists use terms such as regional patterns or traditions to describe broad similarities in materials consumption, construction activity, and decorative styles among geographically proximate sites (e.g., Willey and Phillips 1958:30), and these terms imply that nearby communities will interact more intensely with each other than with more distant groups. The small-world network model accounts for these relatively intense local interactions and suggests that communities with more connections beyond the local network could act as brokers for new materials and information entering the system. The ability to define regional networks is constrained by differences in analyses and reporting of materials excavated from Middle Preclassic Maya settlements, but a rough outline of network structure can be constructed for some areas at this time.

Similarities in mortuary practices provide additional evidence for integration at the local scale. Middle Preclassic burials have rarely been encountered at Belize Valley sites, with the only reported exceptions being Burial 1 at Cahal Pech; three late Middle Preclassic examples from the Zotz (n = 2) and Cas Pek Groups (n = 1) in the Cahal Pech periphery (Awe 1992:336-337); and single burials beneath public plazas at Chan (Robin 2017) and Xunantunich (Brown et al. 2018). Sampling bias has likely affected these totals, although large numbers of Middle Preclassic residential platforms have now been excavated in the Belize Valley without increasing the burial sample. This suggests Belize Valley communities shared burial practices that differed from those of other regions where Middle Preclassic interments were common.

The Cahal Pech epicentre was surrounded by several smaller satellite settlements by early Kanluk times (Phases II and III) and possibly before. Data from the early occupations of these settlements are scarce, but similarities among activities conducted at these sites and Cahal Pech increased during the late Kanluk phase (Phase IV). Marine shell ornaments were apparently produced in large quantities at Cas Pek during this time (Lee and Awe 1995; Lee 1996), and finished ornaments were acquired at Tolok (Powis 1996). Limited quantities of green-stone artefacts and obsidian were recovered from these two settlements and from the somewhat more distant occupation at Zubin (Iannone 1996). Many of these items were deposited in platform core and are difficult to relate to specific activities, but their presence at multiple satellite groups indicates access was not restricted by a controlling ‘elite’ at Cahal Pech.

Similarities and differences between Belize Valley communities and those located in other regions suggest occasional interactions at a less intense scale than those described above. Late Middle Preclassic pottery styles have been described as similar across a wide geographic area but characterized by regional differences (Ball 1977b), which suggests that broadly shared ideas of appropriate styles and forms were adapted to local preferences and conditions. The development of regional variants likely involved exchange between different groups and communities, and exchange relationships that transcended community boundaries may have driven the spread and further modification of popular regional styles. Minimally decorated, coarse-textured container vessels may have also facilitated the circulation of other goods within and beyond the lowland region, but the relative 236

Discussion of the Data from a Network Perspective stylistic homogeneity of these vessels has led researchers to regularly dismiss them as local products.

route. There is no clear evidence that Cahal Pech controlled the exchange of materials within the Belize Valley or among its communities and sites in different areas, but its inhabitants would have been aware of interregional exchanges from the earliest times and may have benefited from information gained from traders traveling to other communities. This position also provided the potential to create new exchange relationships with travellers moving in both directions along the river, as well as the ability to disrupt exchange and co-opt the trading partners of internal and external rivals.

Marine shell ornaments made from Caribbean or Gulf Coast shellfish have been recovered from sites in central Petén, Guatemala, but evidence for on-site production of these ornaments is thus far scant (but see Hendon 1999 and the case for production at Uaxactun). Shell ornament production almost certainly occurred in northern Belize communities due to their proximity to the Caribbean, although dense concentrations of beads and debris such as those recovered from Cahal Pech and Pacbitun (Hohmann 2002) have not been discovered. Marine shell ornaments appear to have represented wealth items whose value was recognized across the Maya Lowlands during the Middle Preclassic, and whose presence at sites in multiple areas suggests an interconnected network of shell acquisition, production, and consumption. The positions of different communities in this network remain to be determined by future research.

Materials consumption patterns at Cahal Pech suggest its inhabitants were well-connected to many different areas, which probably encompassed the whole of Belize and areas of the Guatemala Highlands and Motagua Valley. Similar materials have been recovered at several Belize Valley sites, and it is unlikely that Cahal Pech could limit access to them within the area, but comparative provenance studies are necessary to investigate these relationships in depth. Cahal Pech expanded its obsidian procurement network from one to three sources during Phase IV, when Blackman Eddy and Pacbitun each began to focus on a single source (Awe et al. 1996; Kersey 2006). If obsidian from different sources arrived in the Belize Valley through different trading routes or exchange relationships, the inhabitants of Cahal Pech may have had access to different sources of information than those shared by other Belize Valley communities.

Middle Preclassic burial patterns at northern Belize sites were dramatically different from those observed (or not observed) in the Belize Valley. Sequences of domestic structures at northern Belize sites regularly contained one or more interred individuals associated with different construction episodes (Hammond, Clarke and Robin 1991; Hammond et al. 1992; McAnany et al. 1999), and this appears not to have been a regular practice in the Belize Valley until later times. We should therefore not expect locally specific patterns of mortuary practice identified in northern Belize, which likely formed through intense interactions at the local scale, to be present in the Belize Valley or elsewhere in the lowlands during Middle Preclassic times.

The variety of ceramic fabrics identified in Phase IV vessels raises the possibility of connections to a range of pottery producers, which included many that were probably located somewhere in the Belize Valley and others that may have resided beyond its boundaries. Comparable studies of ceramic fabrics have not been conducted at other Belize Valley sites, so it is impossible to say whether this diversity characterized the region or was peculiar to Cahal Pech. The diversity in fabrics was mirrored in several regional styles identified with serving vessel fragments from Cahal Pech deposits. Awe (1992:232-240) noted stylistic types more commonly found in northern Belize (e.g., Tower Hill Red-on-cream, Consejo Red) and Petén (e.g., Guitara Incised, Desvario Chamfered) than among vessels recovered from Barton Ramie (Sharer and Kirkpatrick 1976) and other Belize Valley sites, such as Pacbitun (Terry Powis, personal communication 2014). These ‘foreign’ types were found interspersed with more common, readily identifiable Belize Valley styles in Plaza B deposits, and the mixture suggests exposure to these regional styles even if the vessels were locally produced.

Patterns of local similarity and regional difference, interspersed with affinities that transcend local boundaries, suggest a network of tightly integrated clusters of geographically proximate communities interconnected by infrequent contact characterized the social landscape of the Middle Preclassic Maya Lowlands. This appears to conform to a small-world network structure, in which new information could travel between dense local clusters across bridging ties formed by the creation and maintenance of exchange relationships. The position of different communities in this network may have afforded them distinct competitive advantages and driven the development of even more complex social relationships at different times. Cahal Pech as a Potential Broker

These lines of evidence, though incomplete, suggest the Cahal Pech community occupied an advantageous position in a Middle Preclassic small-world network that allowed it to act as a bridge between its local area and more distant locales in the lowland region and beyond. The establishment of exchange relationships that acted as network ties began at the initial settlement of the community, and these evolved through a complex series

Several factors suggest the Cahal Pech community was positioned to act as a broker between other Belize Valley communities and sites in different areas of the lowlands. Its location atop a hill near the confluence of the Macal, Mopan, and Belize Rivers was perfectly positioned to monitor the movements of people and materials between the Caribbean coast and the interior via this waterborne 237

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization of internal and external social interactions to become part of an interregional small-world network by the late Middle Preclassic, if not before. It was around this time that largescale construction projects and intensified economic activities began to occur at several sites in the Belize Valley, and it is difficult not to see a relationship between the integration of these communities into an interregional small-world network and the trajectory toward complex society they shared. The position of Cahal Pech as a possible broker in this network may help explain several precocious aspects of social development and the deep, apparently unbroken history of settlement on Cahal Pech Hill over the span of the Middle Preclassic. Summary I have used the small-world network model to interpret the variability observed in the Middle Preclassic record of Cahal Pech in terms of developing social complexity. This model appears to better fit the data than those proposing an early development of ranked social statuses or a community focus on founding ancestors. Variability in the material record suggests a fluid system of statuses based more on the successful navigation of myriad social relationships than on rigid descent rules and status ascription. I outlined material indicators of practices related to network interactions, both in terms of artefact distributions in Plaza B and regional patterns across the Maya Lowlands, to demonstrate the small-world network structure of exchange relationships at multiple scales. Taking this analysis further, I have identified potential brokers among the consumer groups in Plaza B and have made the strongest case for Cahal Pech as a broker at the local, regional, and interregional scales that current data allow. The establishment of the late Middle Preclassic smallworld network that connected different areas of the Maya Lowlands was a necessary precursor for the development of hierarchically organized societies in the Belize Valley and possibly for the entire lowland region. Participation in this network created a tangled web of social relationships that may have disproportionately benefited those positioned to broker the flow of information and goods across the region, and the desire to maintain connections and network positions produced increasingly complex behaviour and organizational structures through time.

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12 Conclusions A Summary of Network Interactions and Social Complexity

increasingly unequal relationships among groups at both the intra- and intercommunity scales. Various mechanisms through which increased inequality may lead to social transformation continue to be a major topic of debate among archaeologists (e.g., Flannery and Marcus 2012; Hayden 1995, 1998), but most accept increasing inequality as a necessary precondition for the transformations that occurred when complex socio-political institutions emerged in ancient societies. We still do not know how community leaders in the Maya Lowlands became divine kings with institutionalized authority, but we now have a testable model that describes social interactions prior to the emergence of rulers.

Excavations in Plaza B have revealed the Middle Preclassic as a dynamic period in the socioeconomic development of the Cahal Pech community. Set against the backdrop of emerging complex socio-political organization at sites throughout the Belize Valley and across the Maya Lowlands, differences in artefact consumption patterns and architectural investment at Cahal Pech suggest the fluid evolution of social statuses linked to interpersonal connections within and beyond the community. The material goods consumed by different social groups suggest exchange over both long and short distances connected groups and communities in an interaction network, which facilitated the flow of resources and information within and between geographic regions.

Contributions to the Study of Middle Preclassic Maya Society I hope to have made some contributions, however modest, to the broader understanding of Middle Preclassic societies and social development in the Maya Lowlands with this study. The variability documented in the artefact assemblages and architectural sequences should dispel any lingering sense that Middle Preclassic communities were all ‘simple farming villages.’ Even those sites that did not reach the grandiose heights of architectural development documented in northern Petén (Hansen 1998) or Tabasco, Mexico (Inomata et al. 2020) have the potential for incredibly complex construction sequences, which should serve as a cautionary note to future excavators working in ‘flat’ plaza areas. Variability in identified ceramic fabrics suggests complex exchange systems involving multiple pottery producers operated during much of the Middle Preclassic, and this facet of interaction often goes unrecognized when pottery analysis is focused solely on stylistic traits. Variability in artefact consumption patterns, and the ways these changed through time, suggests a complicated web of exchange relationships was created, maintained, and modified over the course of the Middle Preclassic, and that these do not easily fit with models of simple egalitarian or rigidly ranked societies.

A small-world network, characterized by strong local integration and weak regional and interregional ties, developed out of earlier exchange relationships that may have been structured along the same lines and became entrenched during late Middle Preclassic times in the Maya Lowlands. Participation in this network appears to have been an important factor in the development of political authority structures and the institution of divine kingship that later arose at communities across the Maya Lowlands, but the data do not indicate that network participation was rigidly structured around lines of social rank or limited to members of Middle Preclassic society with higher social statuses. Artefact consumption patterns instead suggest that different groups established and maintained their own unique set of exchange relationships based on a range of different priorities and created new sources of variability within the network structure by doing so. Actions by domestic groups and communities would have affected and been affected by the structure of the network, and the positions held by different groups were flexible and changed through time. Groups or communities that maintained more connections not widely shared by others may have been advantageously positioned to broker the flow of materials and information within the network. Brokers would not necessarily have controlled access to exotic goods and knowledge, but they would have been positioned to take advantage of new resources and ideas before others who were not similarly connected. Active manipulation of exchange relationships, and the goods, information, and status they provided would allow brokers in the Middle Preclassic smallworld network to accrue substantial quantities of both material and social capital, which in turn would produce

The synthesis of contextual, spatial, and materials analysis to identify artefact consumption patterns is a novel approach to Middle Preclassic studies, although each of these elements have been the focus of research by previous projects. Linking the consumption of multiple materials to developments in architectural sequences is essential to understanding social organization and processes of change through time, and this method can be applied at contemporaneous sites to generate comparable data on a regional scale. 239

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization The small-world network model provides a framework capable of accounting for the large amount of variability observed in the Middle Preclassic record of Cahal Pech. This model makes few assumptions about the social organization that underlies patterns in the material record and has the power to explain interactions at multiple scales. A synthesis of interactions at the intra-community and regional levels is necessary to develop a holistic picture of developing complexity during the Middle Preclassic, and the small-world network model provides the flexibility to integrate data at these seemingly disparate scales of analysis.

quantifying relationships and structural positions within the late Middle Preclassic small-world network proposed here. Large datasets encompassing multiple communities have facilitated regional social network analyses in the American Southwest (e.g., Mills et al. 2013; Peeples and Haas 2013), the Mediterranean Basin (e.g., Brughmans 2010; Knappett et al. 2011), the Near East (Coward 2009), and the Maya Lowlands during the Classic and later periods (Golitko et al. 2012; Munson and Macri 2009), but no comparable body of data has yet been assembled for the Middle Preclassic in the last area. This should change as more artefact provenance and contextual data become available from other sites, which will allow the application of formal network techniques to describe the structure of interactions during Middle Preclassic times.

Questions and Directions for Future Research Analysis of the Plaza B materials has generated more questions than it has answered, and additional research is needed to clarify several issues concerning the developmental sequence at Cahal Pech and the structure of the Middle Preclassic interaction network in which its inhabitants were embedded. More careful excavation is required to resolve behaviours and formation processes at both the early and late ends of the architectural sequences and to afford better stratigraphic control over deposits located in areas between structures. The processes related to the formation of the black occupation horizon stratum remain unclear, and the functions of the later cobble surfaces built in the north end of Plaza B are not known. These later features were built sometime before Floor 4 covered all earlier occupation remains, and their use may shed light on changing community relations near the time of this major architectural and social transformation.

One final theoretical question concerns the nature of the exchange relationships invoked throughout this study. We know that materials moved great distances across the landscape, but we do not know how these materials were exchanged once they reached their destinations or what other social practices these exchanges may have been embedded in. Both utilitarian and functional/ornamental goods changed hands in these exchanges, and there are indications that ceramic vessels were also traded or were used in proceedings accompanying the exchange of other goods. Additional research is necessary to determine if goods were brought into communities by merchants or traders, if exchange relationships existed between closely connected ritual trading partners as in the Kula system (Malinowski 2002 [1922]), or if trade was structured by familial relationships, fictive kin ties, or other types of more opportunistic interaction. We do not know if exchange partnerships were inherited; they may have been to some degree, but the changes seen through time at Cahal Pech suggest that inherited partnerships could be dissolved if not actively maintained.

Detailed microscopic analysis of several materials would help clarify their provenance and anchor aspects of the exchange network in geographically defined locations. Petrographic analysis of green-stone triangulates from Pacbitun has demonstrated how these socially valuable artefacts originated from diverse and distant locations (Powis et al. 2016), and many of these pieces are visually similar to materials recovered from Cahal Pech. Additional sourcing of obsidian fragments associated with different consumer groups could further delineate differences in extra-local contacts that groups possessed. A petrographic study of the fabric type collection drawn from the different pottery assemblages would reveal the meaning of the macroscopically observed variability in terms of both technical practice and origins of manufacture, and the same information would result from a microscopic study of anthropomorphic figurine fabrics. Petrographic analyses of both materials may be able to determine how the buffcoloured figurine heads found in Phase IV deposits relate to similarly buff-coloured pottery fragments restricted to earlier phases, which would be useful in determining if figurines were curated over long periods.

Some Concluding Thoughts Variability in artefact consumption at Middle Preclassic Cahal Pech suggests that abundant quantities of material goods, and perhaps equally large numbers of people, moved considerable distances across southeastern Mesoamerica at a relatively early date. Resources deriving from multiple geographically distinct source areas were obtained by domestic groups located throughout the Maya Lowlands, and the Middle Preclassic appears to have been anything but a backward time of relatively slow growth and development. The emergence of social rank and chiefdom-like structures are difficult to discern and may not be particularly apt descriptions of lowland social organization at all sites, but interactions at multiple scales were becoming increasingly complex and interconnected. The social milieu of the late Middle Preclassic Belize Valley, and perhaps the Maya Lowlands in general, is not unlike that described by Norman Yoffee (2005:209210) for the Ubaid period that preceded the emergence of independent city-states across much of Mesopotamia.

Formal methods of social network analysis have become increasingly popular tools of archaeological analysis in recent years (e.g., Brughmans 2013; Knappett 2011; Östborn and Gerding 2014), and they would be useful in 240

Conclusions Yoffee defines the Ubaid as a ‘regional interaction sphere’ that emerged from earlier systems of interaction (e.g., the Hassuna, Sammara, and Halaf spheres or ‘cultures’) and is archaeologically manifested by widely shared material culture and ceramic design styles. He explicitly connects participation in this network with aspects of individual and group identity and suggests the structure of this interaction sphere shifted during Ubaid times in ways ultimately responsible for the development of city-states during the following Uruk period. The formalization of beliefs, establishment of temples, and widespread cultural commonalities are viewed as ‘emergent properties’ of Ubaid communities that were regionally integrated through increasingly complex social interactions, and these cultural developments transformed the region in a way that prefigured the later evolution of states. The Ubaid was a period ‘of important social changes that were hardly reflected in the size and character of village life’ (Yoffee 2005:214); most settlements were about the same size, and no single community appeared to have control over any other. Ubaid settlement and materials consumption patterns did not fit well with expectations of ethnographically defined chiefdoms, and they did not resemble the archaeologically identified ‘classic chiefdoms of the American Southeast’ (Yoffee 2005:209). Indicators of social rank or stratification were largely absent from Ubaid settlements (Yoffee 2005:31), yet these communities were the progenitors of the first socially stratified urban centres that became the hallmark of Mesopotamian civilization for thousands of years to come. I do not suggest the Ubaid represents a direct analogue of the late Middle Preclassic Maya, or that most Late Preclassic Maya communities resembled Uruk-period city-states. Structural parallels between Ubaid and late Middle Preclassic communities are striking, however, and they suggest that a focus on patterns of interaction will reveal more about the development of social complexity than the continuous search for signs of chiefly authority or social rank. An interregional small-world interaction network emerged from a substrate of earlier exchange relationships during the late Middle Preclassic that increasingly connected communities across the Maya Lowlands, and intensified participation in this network preceded the rise of hierarchically organized society at Cahal Pech during Late Preclassic times. Additional research should aim to quantify the structure and clarify the nature of the relationships on which this network was built, which will bring us closer to a reasonable synthesis for the origins of Maya civilization.

241

Appendix A Description of Excavations by Lot Depths of lots are given both in centimetres below unit datum (cmbd) and centimetres below surface (cmbs), as multiple datums were used over the six seasons of excavation in Plaza B. The recorded depths are averages of five elevations taken at the opening and closing of each lot from the four corners and the centre. If a significant difference existed between the depth of one section of a lot and the others, it is noted in the comment section of the table. Munsell colour readings are provided when they were recorded by excavators. 2004 and 2005 Excavations The full record of excavation notes was not available for me to review for the 2004 and 2005 field seasons, and the field reports do not include a lot-by-lot description of the excavations. I therefore offer only general descriptions of the size, orientation and placement of these units here. Syntheses of architectural and artefactual data can be found in chapters six through nine, and the reader is referred to the relevant field reports for additional information (Garber, ed. 2005, 2006). Excavation units in this section are presented in order of their north-south placement within the Operation 1 Main Trench, which does not always follow the alphabetical order of their designations. Op. 1a General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. First unit of the Main Trench, placed approximately one meter from the southern extent of collapse debris from Structure B-7. The northwest corner of Op. 1a was located approximately 27.9 meters grid east of the reconstructed base of Structure A-2, and 42.9 meters magnetic west of the recently reconstructed northwest corner of Structure B-2. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Op. 1d General Description: 1-x-1-m trench extension unit, located along western sidewall of Op. 1a. The northeast corner of the unit was placed two meters south of the northwest corner of Op. 1a. Unit closed after exposure of Cache 2, not excavated to bedrock. Op. 1b General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located immediately adjacent to the south end of Op. 1a and in the same north-south alignment. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Op. 1c General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located immediately adjacent to the south end of Op. 1b and in the same north-south alignment. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Op. 1e General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located immediately adjacent to the south end of Op. 1c and in the same north-south alignment. Excavations begun in 2004, finished in 2005. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Op. 1f General Description: 1-x-1-m trench extension unit, located immediately adjacent to the southern limit of Op. 1e and in north-south alignment with that unit. Entire unit excavated to bedrock.

243

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Op. 1k General Description: .5-x-1-m trench extension unit, measuring .5 meters north-south and one meter east-west. Southwest corner of unit corresponds to southeast corner of Op. 1f and northwest corner of Op. 1g. Excavation closed at level of Platform B, unit not excavated to bedrock. Op. 1j General Description: .5-x-1-m trench extension unit, measuring .5 meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located immediately adjacent to the south end of Op. 1f and in the same north-south alignment. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Op. 1g General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located immediately adjacent to south end of Op. 1k. This unit continued the north-south line of the Operation 1 Main Trench but was shifted one meter to the east of the line established by Op. 1a. This shift in alignment was maintained by all subsequent units in Operation 1. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Op. 1o General Description: 1-x-2.5 m trench extension unit, measuring 2.5 meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located immediately adjacent to south end of Op. 1j and in same north-south alignment. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Op. 1h General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located adjacent to the south end of Op. 1g and in the same north-south alignment. Excavation closed at surface of Floor 4, continued in 2006 (see below). Op. 1m General Description: 1-x-2-m trench extension unit, measuring two meters north-south and one meter east-west. Southeast corner corresponds to southwest corner of Op. 1h. Unit aligned in same north-south direction as Op. 1h. Excavation closed at Floor 4 surface, bedrock not reached. Op. 1n General Description: 1-x-6-m trench extension unit, measuring six meters north-south and one meter east-west. Northeast corner corresponds to northwest corner of Op. 1m. Unit aligned in same north-south direction as Op. 1m. Excavation closed at Floor 4 surface, bedrock not reached. Op. 1l General Description: 1-x-4-m trench extension unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located immediately adjacent to south end of Op. 1m and in the same north-south alignment. Eastern sidewall corresponds to western sidewall of Op. 1i. Excavation closed at Floor 4 surface, bedrock not reached. Op. 1i General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located adjacent to the south end of Op. 1h and in the same north-south alignment. Excavation closed at surface of Floor 4, continued in 2006 (see below). 2006 Excavations Excavations in 2006 included three sections of the Main Trench, one trench extension, two test units of Operation 3, and one test unit of Operation 4. The units of Operation 1 (Op. 1h, 1i, 1p, and 1q) shared the same datum, while Operations 3 and 4 had separate unit datums.

244

Appendix A Op. 1h General Description: Excavation begun in 2005, see above section for location information. Lot and level descriptions begin with excavations through Floor 4 conducted in 2006. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Measurements taken from datum 2006:SD1, a stake 30 cm above ground surface near the SW corner of Op. 1i. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

Comment

1h-8

4

Well-preserved plaster Floor 4; covers unit from 59 cm south of north wall to southern limit; limestone pebble floor ballast in greyish-brown sandy matrix below

77-91 cmbd 51-65 cmbs

Closed at sediment deposits below ballast

1h-9

5

Lot combined with 1h-12

-

-

1h-10

4

Bright white plaster patch at north end of Floor 4; extends 59 cm 73-79 cmbd south into unit from north limit; limestone pebble floor ballast in 47-53 cmbs greyish-brown sandy matrix

1h-11

5

Sediment deposit beneath 1h-10 plaster patch; dark greyishbrown sandy clay, small limestone pebble inclusions

1h-12

5

Sediment deposit beneath Floor 4; uniform throughout unit; dark 91-111 cmbd greyish-brown sandy clay, small limestone pebble inclusions 65-85 cmbs

Closed at cobble surface in north of unit, bedrock reached in south

1h-13

6

Limestone cobble surface extending 255cm south from north limit; cobbles: 5-20+ cm in length, uncut; sediment matrix dark greyish-brown sandy clay

Closed at bedrock; bedrock 10 cm lower in north of unit

79-91 cmbd 53-65 cmbs

111-119 cmbd 85-93 cmbs

Closed at sediment deposits below ballast Closed at same level as subfloor deposit beneath Floor 4

Op. 1i General Description: Excavation begun in 2005, see above section for location information. Lot and level descriptions begin with excavations through Floor 4 conducted in 2006. Entire lot excavated to bedrock. Measurements taken from datum 2006:SD1, a stake 30 cm above ground surface near the SW corner of the unit. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

Comment

1i-4

4

Well-preserved plaster Floor 4; covers entire unit; limestone pebble floor ballast in greyish-brown sandy matrix below

78 -101 cmbd

Closed at sediment deposits below ballast

1i-5

5

Sediment deposit beneath Floor 4; greyish-brown sandy clay; limestone pebbles

101-133 cmbd

1i-6

6

Very dark greyish-brown sandy clay; limestone pebbles in matrix

133-168 cmbd

47-70 cmbs 70-102 cmbs 102-137 cmbs

Closed at soil change Closed at bedrock; bedrock dips sharply to south

Op. 1p General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located adjacent to the south end of Op. 1i and in the same north-south alignment. Entire lot reached Middle Preclassic occupation levels, but only 1-x-1-m section at south of unit excavated to bedrock. Measurements taken from datum 2006:SD1, a stake 30 cm above ground surface near the SW corner of Op. 1i. Lot

Level

Description

1p-1

1

Humus; limestone pebbles in dark organic matrix

1p-2

2

Floor 2: poorly preserved plaster floor section and greyish50-57 cmbd brown sandy clay with limestone pebble ballast beneath; concentration of fist-sized limestone cobbles in north end of unit 13-20 cmbs

Closed at plaster Floor 3

1p-3

3

Floor 3: poorly preserved plaster floor throughout unit; light greyish-brown clayey sand with limestone pebble ballast beneath

57-82 cmbd

Closed at plaster Floor 4

1p-4

4

Floor 4: well-preserved plaster plaza floor throughout unit; yellowish-white clayey sand with limestone pebble ballast beneath

82-88 cmbd

245

Depth

Comment

37-50 cmbd

Closed at partially preserved plaster floor section in SW unit corner

0-13 cmbs

20-45 cmbs

45-51 cmbs

Closed at grey clay sediment deposit

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization 88-90 cmbd

Closed at plaster Floor 5; Floor 5 corresponds to Floor 4 in other units

1p-5

5

Sticky grey sandy clay sediment

1p-6

5

Sticky grey sandy clay sediment outside of Floor 5; western half 88-90 cmbd of unit 51-53 cmbs

1p-7

6

Ceramic concentration and censer in greyish-brown sandy clay matrix; off and slightly below western edge of Floor X in area where floor not preserved

93 cmbd

1p-8

6

Limestone cobble concentration in southern one meter of unit; some stones burned; uncut limestone cobbles in greyish-brown sandy clay matrix

93-104 cmbd

1p-9

7

Dark greyish-brown sandy clay deposit beneath 1p-8; 1-x-1-m at 104-130 cmbd south end of unit 67-93 cmbs

Closed at bedrock

1p-10

7

Cache 12: Savana Orange vessel in eastern unit sidewall, southern 1-x-1-m section of unit

No specific depth in available records, within Level 7

51-53 cmbs

Closed at level of Floor 5; originally Level 6

56 cmbs

56-67 cmbs

-

Closed at removal of cobble feature

Op. 1q General Description: 1-x-2-m trench extension unit, measuring one meter north-south and two meters east-west. Extends two meters west from western sidewall of Op. 1p, perpendicular to alignment of Main Trench. Southern limit of unit located approximately .35 meters from southern edge of Op. 1p. Unit did not reach bedrock; excavation terminated at depth of Level 6 in Op. 1p. Measurements taken from datum 2006:SD1, a stake 30 cm above ground surface near the SW corner of Op. 1i. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

1q-1

1

Humus; limestone pebbles in dark organic matrix; may contain remains of Floor 1

37-55 cmbd

1q-2

2

Floor 2: poorly-preserved plaster plaza floor; limestone pebble ballast in greyish-brown clayey sand matrix beneath

55-62 cmbd

1q-3

3

Floor 3: poorly preserved plaster plaza floor; limestone pebble ballast in light greyish-brown clayey sand matrix

62-69 cmbd

1q-4

5

Sticky grey clay sediment beneath ballast of Floor 3

1q-5

6

Section of poorly-preserved Floor 4; feature of uncut limestone cobbles exposed corresponding to 1p-8

0-18 cmbs 18-25 cmbs 25-32 cmbs 69-81 cmbd 32-44 cmbs 81-94 cmbd 44-57 cmbs

Comment Closed at plaster Floor 2 Closed at surface Floor 3 Closed at sticky grey clay sediment Closed at section of Floor 4 Closed at exposure of cobble feature; final lot of unit

Op. 3a General Description: 2-x-2-m test unit, cantered approximately 17.72 meters grid west of Op. 1d. All of unit excavated to Middle Preclassic levels, approximately 2/3 of unit excavated to bedrock. Measurements taken from datum 2006:SD3, a stake placed in a tree root near the west sidewall of Op. 3a about 29 cm above ground surface. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

3a-1

1

Humus; roots prevalent

3a-2

1

Circular arrangement of cut limestone blocks (> 10 cm) in 29-44 cmbd humus near SW corner; above level of Floor 1; covering hole in 0-15 cmbs floor

Closed at removal of cut stones

3a-3

2

Sections of Floor 1 (poorly preserved) and ballast; underlying dark greyish-brown sandy clay and greyish brown clays; limestone pebble ballast

44-72 cmbd

Closed at well-preserved plaster floor; likely includes remains of two floors (1 & 2)

3a-4

F2

Feature 2; circular soil anomaly penetrating Floor 3; located below rock concentration in 3a-2; 55 cm diameter; loose brown sediment fill; possible posthole

72-94 cmbd

3a-5

3

Well-preserved plaster plaza Floor 3; limestone pebble ballast in 71-81 cmbd greyish-brown sandy clay sediments 42-52 cmbs

29-44 cmbd 0-15 cmbs

246

14-42 cmbs

43-65 cmbs

Comment Closed at plaster floor patches

Feature terminated at cobble surface Closed at Floor 4; Level 4 is sediment layer between Floors 3&4

Appendix A 81-94 cmbd

3a-6

5

Well-preserved plaster plaza Floor 4; underlying limestone pebble and marl ballast, greyish-brown sandy clay

3a-7

6

Cobble and marl platform surface found throughout unit; 94-103 cmbd limestone cobbles 5-20 cm long, set in greyish brown sandy clay 65-74 cmbs matrix with marl

3a-8

7

Second cobble surface found throughout unit; sediment matrix similar to previous cobble surface

103-126 cmbd

3a-9

8

Uniform sediment deposit of dark greyish-brown sandy clay; midden-like deposit

126-145 cmbd

3a-10

9

Midden deposit outside of platform corner; lot is L-shaped around outside of corner; dark greyish-brown, sticky/organic sandy clay; patches of marl

145-156 cmbd

3a-11

9

Surface and interior of platform, inside of corner formed by limestone blocks; greyish-brown tamped earth and sandy clay sediments

145-160 cmbd

3a-12

10

Packed marl layer and mottled greyish brown/light brownishgrey sediments beneath; directly beneath 3a-11

160-180 cmbd

3a-13

11

Gray sandy clay and marl sediments, inside of platform corner; 180-195 cmbd beneath 3a-12; frequency of limestone cobbles increased toward 151-166 cmbs bottom, no surface noted

Closed at bedrock

3a-14

12

13 obsidian flakes in bedrock depression; depression fill grey sand; inside of platform corner, near centre of south unit wall; Cache 13

195-209 cmbd

Closed at removal of obsidian

3a-15

11

Midden deposit outside platform wall; beneath section of 3a-10 to west of platform corner; dark greyish-brown, sticky/organic sandy clay; patches of marl

157-194 cmbd

3a-16

11

North-south wall of platform corner and greyish-brown sediment 157-196 cmbd deposit beneath 127-166 cmbs

52-65 cmbs

74-97 cmbs 97-116 cmbs 116-127 cmbs

116-131 cmbs 131-151 cmbs

166-180 cmbs

127-164 cmbs

Closed at cobble surface Closed at second cobble surface Closed at removal of cobbles and soil change Closed at platform corner stones Closed at exposure of stone alignment in northwest unit corner Closed at packed marl surface at base of corner stones Closed at level of flat-lying sherds

Closed at bedrock Closed at bedrock

Op. 3b General Description: 1-x-2-m extension unit, measuring one meter north-south and two meters east-west. Aligned to northwest corner of Op. 3a, and extends two meters west from the western sidewall of that unit. Unit was closed before bedrock reached to leave Middle Preclassic architectural feature intact. Measurements taken from datum 2006:SD3, a stake placed in a tree root near the west sidewall of Op. 3a about 29 cm above ground surface. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

3b-1

1-5

Combined lot of top five levels, as observed in adjacent unit Op. 29-96 cmbd 3a 0-67 cmbs

3b-2

6

Limestone cobble surface found throughout; equivalent to 3a-7

3b-3

7

Second cobble surface found throughout unit; equivalent to 3a-8

3b-4

8

Dark greyish brown sandy clay deposit with limestone pebbles throughout unit; coursed stones in southwest corner, not investigated

127-144 cmbd

3b-5

9

Midden deposit, dark greyish-brown sticky/organic sandy clay; found throughout unit, above and around platform edge

144-159 cmbd

96-105 cmbd 67-76 cmbs 105-127 cmbd 76-98 cmbs 98-115 cmbs

115-130 cmbs

Comment Closed at cobble surface Closed at second cobble surface Closed at sediment deposit similar to 3a-9 Closed at level of 3a-10 Closed at level of rounded platform edge; final lot excavated

Op. 4a General Description: 2-x-2-m test unit, cantered approximately 17.72 meters grid west of the central section of Op. 1g. Located near centreline of Structure A-2. Unit excavated to bedrock. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

4a-1

1

Humus; large cobbles and boulders mixed in humus, unlike Level 1 in other plaza units

40-64 cmbd

247

0-24 cmbs

Comment Closed at change in matrix

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

4a-2

Limestone cobble and boulder deposit, large irregularly-shaped stones; some cut stones included; light brown sandy matrix

2

64-75 cmbd 24-35 cmbs 75 cmbd

Closed at large cut stone

4a-3

2

Large cut stone in boulder fill; possible stela fragment

4a-4

3

Unknown. Notes not clear

4a-5

4

Brown sediment deposit south of floor surface; south .5 m of unit

4a-6

4

Plaster floor and underlying ballast

4a-7

5

Brown sediment and refuse deposit beneath floor; lot covered entire unit

4a-8

6

Deposit outside cobble concentration/floor;

4a-9

6

Deposit outside cobble concentration/floor, east of Op. 4a-8

4a-10

7

No information provided on deposit; notes mention Cunil sherds

Unknown why lot closed

4a-11

7

Notes not clear; possibly area outside cobble surface and beneath Ops. 4a-8 and 4a-9

Possibly closed at bedrock

4a-12

7

Deposits on top of and beneath cobble surface in southeast unit corner

35 cmbs 75-123 cmbd 35-83 cmbs 123-147cmbd 83-107 cmbs 123-135 cmbd 83-95 cmbs 135-174 cmbd 95-134 cmbs 174-218 cmbd 134-178 cmbs 218-220 cmbd 178-180 cmbs

174-215 cmbd 134-175 cmbs

Closed at removal Closed at well-preserved plaster floor surface Unknown why lot closed human bone recovered Closed after removal of floor and ballast Closed at cobble concentration/ floor; higher numbers of artefacts than previous lots Closed at two large cut stone blocks in north-south alignment Unknown why lot closed

Final lot in unit, closed at bedrock; contained cached figurine head at 218 cmbd

2007 Excavations Excavations in 2007 comprised five sections of the Main Trench, one trench extension, and one test unit of Operation 5. The trench extension unit, Op. 1w, was .5-x-1-m in size, and was terminated before penetrating beneath the Late Classic plaza levels. This unit will not be described here because it did not reach Middle Preclassic levels. The reader is referred to the 2007 field report (Garber et al. 2008:15) for a description of this unit. Op. 1r General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located adjacent to the south end of Op. 1p and in the same north-south alignment. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Measurements taken from datum 2007:SD1, a stake 5 cm above ground surface near the SW corner of the unit. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

Comment Closed when ballast became predominant

1r-1

1

Humus; some ballast stones; probably contains deteriorated Floor 1

4-11 cmbd

1r-2

2

Limestone pebble floor ballast (probably Floor 1); dark brown sandy matrix

11-21 cmbd

1r-3

3

Section of preserved Floor 2 and associated ballast; floor extends 21-29 cmbd 100 cm into unit from north wall; area outside floor is limestone 17-25 cmbs pebble ballast deposit

1r-4

4

Floor 3A: well-preserved plaster plaza floor, found throughout unit; limestone pebble ballast in brown sandy matrix

29-45 cmbd

1r-5

4

Floor 3B: section of plaster plaza floor extending 143 cm south into unit from north wall; probably area of replastering

42-44 cmbd

1r-6

5

Dark brown sandy clay sediment below Floor 3

1r-7

6

Floor 4: well-preserved plaster plaza floor found throughout unit; floor and ballast 13 cm thick; lot includes underlying midden deposit of greyish-brown sticky/organic clay

248

0-7 cmbs 7-17 cmbs

25-41 cmbs 38-40 cmbs 44-58 cmbd 40-54 cmbs 58-94 cmbd 54-90 cmbs

Closed at section of preserved floor Closed at plaster Floor 3A Levelled to section of Floor 3B Closed after removal of floor Closed at Floor 4 Closed at cobble surface (Platform G)

Appendix A

1r-8

7

Platform G cobble surface, covering entire unit; uncut limestone 94-113 cmbd cobbles 10-15 cm in length, lying flat in black organic sediment 91-110 cmbs matrix

1r-9

8

Greyish-tan sand; weathering bedrock

113-119 cmbd 110-115 cmbs

Closed at weathering bedrock layer Closed at intact bedrock

Op. 1s General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located adjacent to the south end of Op. 1r and in the same north-south alignment. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Measurements taken from datum 2007:SD1, a stake 5 cm above ground surface near the SW corner of Op.1r. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

Comment

5-12 cmbd

Closed when ballast became predominant

1s-1

1

Humus; some ballast stones; probably contains deteriorated Floor 1

1s-2

2

Thick limestone pebble floor ballast layer(probably Floors 1 and 12-34 cmbd 2); no floor surfaces observed 7-29 cmbs

Closed at Floor 3; no Level 3 exists for this unit

1s-3

4

Floor 3: well-preserved plaster plaza floor and limestone pebble 34-55 cmbd ballast; only single Floor 3 recognized in this unit 29-50 cmbs

Closed at sediment deposit beneath floor

1s-4

5

Dark brown clayey sand deposit beneath Floor 3

1s-5

6

Floor 4: well-preserved plaster plaza floor found throughout unit; floor and ballast 15 cm thick; lot includes underlying midden deposit of greyish-brown sticky/organic clay

1s-6

7

Two cobble surfaces, both of Platform G; uncut limestone 94-130 cobbles 10-15 cm in length, lying flat in black organic sediment 89-125 matrix; 70 cm gap between surfaces

1s-7

7

Concentration of river mussel (Nephronaias spp.) shells below cobbles, above bedrock

0-7 cmbs

55-61 cmbd 50-56 cmbs 61-94 cmbd 56-89 cmbs

102-103 cmbd 97-98 cmbs

Closed at Floor 4 Closed at cobble surface (Platform G) Closed at bedrock Closed after removal

Op. 1t General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located adjacent to the south end of Op. 1s and in the same north-south alignment. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Measurements taken from 2007:SD2, a stake 7 cm above ground surface the SW corner of the unit. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

Comment

1t-1

1

Humus; some ballast stones; probably contains deteriorated Floor 1

7-18 cmbd

Closed when ballast became predominant

1t-2

2

Limestone pebble floor ballast (probably Floor 1); dark brown sandy matrix

18-21 cmbd

1t-3

3

Small patch (5 x 10 cm) of preserved Floor 2 and associated ballast; area outside floor is limestone pebble ballast deposit

21-33 cmbd

1t-4

4

Limestone pebble ballast in brown sandy matrix found north of Floor 3A limit

33-44 cmbd

1t-5

4

Floor 3A: well-preserved plaster plaza floor, found in southern 175 cm of unit

33-41 cmbd

1t-6

4

41-62 cmbd Floor 3B: well-preserved plaster plaza floor found throughout unit, except for hole near centre of south wall 40 cm in diameter 34-56 cmbs

Closed at section of Floor 4A

1t-7

5

Floor 4A: section of plaster plaza floor found near centre of unit 62-70 cmbd and running across width; dark brown sand beneath 56-64 cmbs

Closed at Floor 4B

1t-8

6

Floor 4B: hard plaster floor covering unit; limestone pebble ballast in sand below

70-75 cmbd

1t-9

7

Dark greyish-brown sandy clay sediment deposit throughout unit; less dense/organic than equivalent in 1r and 1s

75-94 cmbd

249

0-11 cmbs 11-14 cmbs 14-26 cmbs 26-37 cmbs 26-34 cmbs

64-69 cmbs 69-87 cmbs

Closed at section of preserved floor Levelled to plaster Floor 3A section Closed at Floor 3B Closed at Floor 3B

Closed at greyish-brown sediment Closed at marl surface in southeast corner

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

1t-10

7

Triangular tamped white marl surface in southeast corner of unit; surface extends 80 cm along south wall, and 80 cm along east wall; dark greyish brown sandy clay beneath

94-104 cmbd

1t-11

7

Dark greyish-brown sandy clay deposit outside of tamped marl surface in southeast corner

94-102 cmbd

1t-12

7

Marl surface and sediments beneath; sediments same as previous 103-119 cmbd lot, level unchanged 96-113 cmbs

1t-13

7

Cobble surface, continuation of Platform G from adjacent units

1t-14

8

Black organic clay occupation horizon

1t-15

8

Rock concentration in black clay near centre of unit

1t-16

7

Limestone cobble surface (Platform K) in southern 60 cm of unit; unworked cobbles 10-15 cm long; surface is above black organic clay, and clay is mixed in

1t-17

8

Black organic clay occupation horizon

1t-18

9

Greyish-tan sand; weathering bedrock; found sporadically across 139-144 cmbd unit 132-137 cmbs

87-97 cmbs 87-95 cmbs

103-116 cmbd 96-109 cmbs 117-136 cmbd 111-130 cmbs 128-140 cmbd 121-133 cmbs 118-126 cmbd 111-119 cmbs 126-144 cmbd 119-137 cmbs

Closed at second marl surface Closed at level of second marl surface Closed at two cobble surfaces Closed at level of black soil in rest of unit Closed at bedrock Closed at bedrock Closed at level of black organic clay Closed at bedrock Closed at intact bedrock throughout unit

Op. 1u General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located adjacent to the south end of Op. 1t and in the same north-south alignment. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Measured from datum 2007:SD2, a stake 7 cm above ground surface near the SW corner of Op. 1t. Lot

Level

Description

1u-1

1-2

Humus; thick layer of limestone pebble ballast in dark brown 8-42 cmbd sandy matrix; likely ballast of Floors 1 and 2; no plaster surfaces 0-34 cmbs found

Depth (cmbs)

1u-2

3

Floor 3B: well-preserved plaster plaza floor found throughout unit

42-47 cmbd

1u-3

4

Brown sandy sediment and limestone pebble ballast beneath Floor 3B

47-64 cmbd

1u-4

5

Floor 4A: well-preserved greyish-white plaster plaza floor; intact 64-74 cmbd throughout unit; limestone pebble ballast 56-66 cmbs

1u-5

6

Floor 4B: well-preserved plaster plaza floor; intact throughout unit; limestone pebble ballast

1u-6

7

Light greyish-brown sandy clay sediment layer

1u-7

8

Floor and grey sediment fill of Platform H in southeast of unit; 95-115 cmbd distinct from tamped white marl surface seen in most of unit and 88-108 cmbs Op. 1t

Closed at second marl surface

1u-8

8

Tamped marl surface extending into southeastern Op. 1t; whitish 94-111 cmbd marl with greyish-brown sandy clay beneath; posthole with 86-103 cmbs possible daub near eastern wall

Closed at second marl surface

1u-9

9

Tamped white marl surface with dark blackish-brown sandy clay 111-116 cmbd beneath throughout unit 103-108 cmbs

Closed at new sediment layer

1u-10

10

Greyish-brown sandy clay sediment matrix with limestone cobbles; cobbles do not form surface

116-126 cmbd

1u-11

11

Dark black –grey sticky/organic clay occupation layer; limestone cobble fragment inclusions

126-150/190 cmbd

250

34-39 cmbs 39-56 cmbs

74-77 cmbd 66-70 cmbs 77-94 cmbd 70-87 cmbs

108-118 cmbs 119-140/180 cmbs

Comment Closed at intact Floor 3B Closed at removal of floor surface Closed at Floor 4A Closed at Floor 4B Closed at removal of ballast; no equivalent floor in units to north Closed at tamped marl surface

Closed at black organic clay layer Closed at bedrock; bedrock 40 cm deeper in southern end

Appendix A Op. 1v General Description: 1-x-4-m trench unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located adjacent to the south end of Op. 1u and in the same north-south alignment. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Measured from datum 2007:SD3, a stake 3 cm above ground surface near SW unit corner. Lot

Level

Description

Depth (cmbs)

Comment

1v-1

1

Humus; some ballast stones; probably contains deteriorated Floor 1

3-18 cmbd

Closed a predominant ballast layer

1v-2

2

Layer of limestone pebble ballast in brownish clayey sand matrix; no intact floor found

18-41 cmbd

1v-3

4

Floor 3: well-preserved white plaster plaza floor, intact throughout unit

41-63 cmbd

1v-4

5

Floor 4A: well-preserved greyish-white plaster plaza floor; intact 63-70 cmbd throughout unit; limestone pebble ballast 60-67 cmbs

1v-5

6

Floor 4B: well-preserved plaster plaza floor; intact throughout unit, preservation better in north; limestone pebble ballast

1v-6

7

Dark brown fine silty sand deposit throughout unit

1v-7

8

Gray tamped marl floor surface south of stone alignment; lot 100-147 cmbd is southern 85-100 cm of unit; dark greyish-brown sandy clay and marl beneath compact surface; second marl floor appears in 97-144 cmbs profile

1v-8

9

Greyish-brown sandy clay sediment matrix with limestone cobble inclusions; beneath 1v-7

147-173 cmbd

1v-9

9

Greyish-brown sandy clay sediment deposit with no limestone cobbles; beneath 1v-8

173-176 cmbd

1v-10

9

Greyish-brown sandy clay sediment deposit with no limestone cobbles; south of bedrock, beneath 1v-9

176-181 cmbd

1v-11

9

Greyish-brown sandy clay sediment surrounding and on top of limestone cobble surface; beneath 1v-10; lot removed final fill from cobble surface

181-185 cmbd

1v-12

10

Limestone cobble surface set in greyish-brown clay and marl matrix; stones uncut, 10-15 cm in length; sediment fill immediately beneath is greyish-brown sandy clay; beneath 1v-11

1v-13

11

Limestone cobble surface set in greyish-brown clay and marl 198-220 cmbd matrix, similar to surface in 1v-12; stones uncut, 8-15 cm in length; sediment fill immediately beneath is dark brown, loose 195-217 cmbs sandy clay that becomes more clayey with depth; beneath 1v-12

Closed at soil change to loose, fine sandy sediments; originally Level 14

1v-14

12

Loose, fine brown clayey sand; second bedrock step found in north of unit, sediment the same to south; lower marl floor 220-271 cmbd seen in profile, not noted by excavators; grey sandy clay with limestone cobbles and marl deposit beneath floor at base, resting 217-268 cmbs on bedrock; beneath 1v-13

Closed at intact bedrock throughout unit; unrecognized floor at 250-255 cmbs; final lot of southern section Op. 1v; Originally Level 15

1v-15

8

Light grey marl and cobble surface of Platform H and adjacent white marl surface; north of cut limestone block wall; sediment beneath is greyish-brown sandy clay

Closed at marl surface equivalent in depth to second marl surface in Op. 1u

1v-16

9

Brownish-grey marl surface and dark-greyish brown sandy clay 105-136 cmbd soil matrix; small (< 5 cm) limestone pebbles found throughout; 102-133 cmbs beneath 1v-15, north of cut stone wall;

1v-17

10

Gray marl surface and greyish brown sandy clay beneath; beneath 1v-16; tan marl deposit abutting floor not recognized

1v-18

11

Black sticky/organic clay occupation horizon; beneath 1v-17

1v-19

8-9

Removal of cut stone wall blocks and excavation of deposits 97-128 cmbd beneath; grey sandy-clay noted; two floors appear in profile, not 94-125 cmbs noted by excavators

251

0-15 cmbs 15-38 cmbs 38-60 cmbs

70-79 cmbd 67-76 cmbs 79-97 cmbd 76-94 cmbs

144-170 cmbs 170-173 cmbs 173-178 cmbs 178-182 cmbs 185-198 cmbd 182-195 cmbs

97-105 cmbd 94-102 cmbs

136-147 cmbd 133-144 cmbs 147-159 cmbd 144-156 cmbs

Closed at Floor 3 Closed at Floor 4A; Level 3 subsumed Closed at Floor 4B Closed at removal of ballast Closed at stone alignment Closed at marl floor surface; contained unrecognized marl surface at 125-130 cmbs Closed at sediment deposit with no cobbles Level to bedrock in northern area of lot; originally Level 10 Closed at cobble platform surface; originally Level 11 Closed when cobble surface cleaned; originally Level 12 Closed at second cobble surface beneath fill; originally Level 13

Closed at marl surface Closed at black organic clay layer Closed at weathered bedrock layer Top half of two-lot block removed beneath cut stone wall

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization 128-158 cmbd

Bottom half of two-lot block removed beneath cut stone wall; originally Level 15

1v-20

10-11

Black-brown sandy clay with some organic paleosol mixed in; beneath 1v-19

1v-21

12

Black-and-white mottled sandy clay matrix; northern section of 155-172 cmbd unit, including beneath cut stone wall; larger, flattened limestone 152-169 cmbs cobbles from southern end, do not appear to form surface

Closed at weathered bedrock deposit; originally Level 16

1v-22

13

Gray sandy sediment with few small rocks; beneath 1v-21; large 172-186 cmbd white plaster sill-like feature beneath wall, covering part of 169-183 cmbs bedrock stair

Closed at intact bedrock

125-155 cmbs

Op. 5a General Description: 2-x-2-m test unit, cantered approximately 12.2 meters grid southeast and 12.2 meters grid northeast from the centres of Op. 3a and Op. 4a, respectively. This unit was located by triangulation from these previously excavated operations. Its southeast corner lies 4.9 meters grid west from the northwest corner of the later unit Op. 1x. The entire unit was excavated to bedrock. All measurements taken from datum 2007:SD4, a stake at ground surface near the SW unit corner. Measurements are both below datum and below surface. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

Comment

5a-1

1-3

Deep humus layer; limestone pebble ballast included throughout; heavily disturbed, near large trees; probably contains deteriorated Floors 1, 2 and possibly 3

0-58

Closed at intact plaster floor; originally Level 1

5a-2

4

Floor 4: well-preserved white plaster plaza floor found throughout; limestone pebble ballast in greyish-brown silty sand 58-78 matrix

Closed at change in sediment beneath ballast layer; originally Level 2; depth matches Floor 4 elsewhere in plaza

5a-3

5

Dark greyish-brown sandy clay sediment deposit with medium limestone pebble inclusions throughout unit; more compact than 78-121 ballast materials above

Closed at tamped marl surface with rock alignments on top; originally Level 3

5a-4

6

Brownish-grey marl surface within area of stone alignments running along south and west unit sidewalls; limestone pebbles in greyish brown matrix beneath surface

121-125

Closed at flagstone surface; originally Level 4

5a-5

7

Flagstone surface throughout unit; large flat limestone blocks (>20 cm) in brown marl matrix, some large cut stones (45 x 31 cm) included; dark greyish-brown sandy clay beneath surface with limestone pebbles included

125-164

Closed at marl surfaces; originally Level 5

5a-6

8

Semi-circular surface of light yellowish-brown/tan marl; extends 94 cm into unit from south wall, 60 cm wide along wall; lot 164-170 confined to this surface

Closed when tan marl surface removed; originally Level 6

5a-7

8

Gray marl surface outside and beneath tan semi-circular surface in 5a-6; greyish-brown sandy clay beneath, changes to darker 164-186 brown with depth; several charcoal deposits, including large circular stain near centre of unit

Closed at carbon stains and stone alignment along south wall; originally Level 6

5a-8

9

Greyish-brown sandy clay sediment inside stone alignment found along south wall; sediments more compact with depth

Closed at intact bedrock; final lot of operation; originally Level 7

186-224

2008 Excavations Excavations within Plaza B proper consisted of two trench extension units during the 2008 field season. The excavations comprising Operation 6, which were located on the south side of Structure B-4 and faced away from the plaza, have not been considered in this analysis and will not be described here. Op. 1x and Op. 1y used the same sub-datum (2008:SD1), which was raised 28 cm above the ground surface near the southeast corner of Op. 1y. Op. 1x General Description: 2-x-4-m trench extension unit, measuring four meters north-south and two meters east-west. Located immediately adjacent to the west wall of Op. 1e in the same north-south alignment. The previously excavated unit Op. 1e was emptied of backfill, and Op. 1x was laid out along its western flank. The northwest and southwest corners of Op. 1e correspond to the northeast and southeast corners of Op. 1x, respectively. The entire unit was excavated to bedrock.

252

Appendix A Lot

Level

Description

1x-1

1

Humus throughout unit; limestone pebble ballast in dark organic 25-33 cmbd sandy clay matrix; possible eroded floor remains 0-8 cmbs

Closed at ballast layer

1x-2

2

Limestone pebble ballast layer throughout unit; matrix is very dark greyish-brown loamy clay; larger limestone blocks in N end; possible alignment of cut stone blocks in S end of unit

33-58 cmbd

Closed at preserved sections of plaster Floor 3; floor is eroded

1x-3

2

Ceramic concentration in SW corner of unit, near possible cut stone alignment

55-59 cmbd

1x-4

3

Plaster Floor 3 and limestone pebble ballast in dark greyish brown sandy clay matrix; floor is eroded and not continuous throughout unit; ballast similar to that below floor sections present where no floor found

1x-5

4

Heavily weathered plaster floor and brown sandy sediment directly beneath; southern 200 cm of unit, south of cobble surface ‘Platform M’

86-94 cmbd

1x-6

4

Limestone cobble surface ‘Platform M’; northern 200 cm of unit; flat-lying limestone cobbles in dark greyish brown sandy clay matrix

80-94 cmbd

5

Brown sandy clay deposit throughout unit; includes sediments beneath ‘Platform M’ cobble surface and around/outside ‘Platform N’ stone alignment in SW unit corner

94-98 cmbd

5

Double-coursed alignment of limestone cobbles (‘Platform N’) and brown sandy clay matrix; alignment runs ~ 200 cm from SW unit corner and curves into west wall; lot includes cobble concentration in southern 50 cm of unit at level of ‘Platform N’ alignment

1x-7

1x-8

1x-9

6

Depth

Light grey marl surface at base of ‘Platform N’ and brown sandy clay deposit beneath; marl surface weathered and not continuous throughout unit; underlying sediment deposit uniform throughout

8-33 cmbs 30-34 cmbs

58-86 cmbd 33-61 cmbs

61-69 cmbs

55-69 cmbs

69-73 cmbs

94-99 cmbd 69-73 cmbs

100-107 cmbd 75-82 cmbs

Comment

Closed at removal of ceramic concentration Closed at marl floor surface in south and centre of unit and cobble surface (called Platform M) in north end of unit; cobble surface on top of marl floor; two floor surfaces seen in profile Closed at stone alignment in SW corner of unit (called Platform N) Closed at same closing depth as Op. 1x-5 Closed at marl surface in centre/north of unit; level corresponds to base of ‘Platform N’ stone alignment Closed at removal of ‘Platform N,’ at level of marl surface Closed at discontinuous cobble surfaces; cobbles in northern and southern 150 cm of unit at same depth, with gap in centre; brown sediment in centre excavated to base of cobbles

7

Limestone cobble surfaces in north and south of unit in brown sandy clay matrix; cobbles at extreme northern edge of north 107-117 cmbd surface may form edge alignment; larger limestone blocks (> 20 cm) in SW unit corner at level of cobble surface; lot includes 82-92 cmbs matrix outside of limestone feature (‘Platform Q’) beneath level of cobbles

Closed at base of limestone cobble and block feature ‘Platform Q’

7

Limestone cobble and block feature ‘Platform Q’ in brown sandy clay matrix (consistent with previous lot); irregularly shaped feature running along west unit wall from SW corner 112-117 cmbd with narrow projection near unit centre; cobbles larger than 87-92 cmbs previous lot (10-15 cm), larger blocks (>30 cm) in SW corner; no unambiguous edge alignments; large areas of units devoid of cobbles

Closed at removal of feature ‘Platform Q’ at level established by previous lot

8

Brown sandy clay deposit throughout unit (consistent with previous lots); lot includes sediments to the north/outside of cobble and marl feature (‘Platform R’)

Closed at marl surface, base of cobble and marl feature ‘Platform R’ in southern end of unit

1x-13

8

Limestone cobble and marl feature ‘Platform R’ and brown sandy clay matrix (consistent with previous lot); cobble surface roughly triangular, extending diagonally from SW unit corner to 123-124 cmbd point approximately 200 cm north along east unit wall; marl is light grey, roughly oval-shaped mass approximately 80 cm long 98-101 cmbs by 20 cm wide; marl extends NE from west unit wall and abuts SW corner of cobble surface.

Closed at removal of ‘Platform R’; marl surface near centre of unit

1x-14

9

Light grey marl layer and greyish-brown sandy clay deposit beneath; not clear if marl layer is a surface or fill layer, preservation patchy across unit; greyish-brown sandy clay uniform throughout unit

Closed at intact section of floor in NW corner

1x-10

1x-11

1x-12

253

117-124 cmbd 92-99 cmbs

124-135 cmbd 99-110 cmbs

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization

10

Artefact concentration in northern area of unit outside preserved 130-135 cmbd section of floor; collected in 4 spatially-defined clusters 105-110 cmbs

Closed after collection of materials; artefacts/ceramics not available for analysis by author; originally called Level 9

1x-16

9

Limestone cobble feature ‘Platform S’ and brown sandy clay matrix; feature covers width of unit and extends approximately 150 cm north from south unit wall; cobbles loosely packed, probably not platform surface; directly atop black organic occupation horizon

Closed after removal of cobble feature ‘Platform S’

1x-17

10

Darker brown clay deposit beneath limestone feature ‘Platform S’ and in 300 cm of unit south of intact floor section

1x-18

10

Limestone cobble surface extending approximately 200 cm south from southern edge of intact floor in NW corner along west unit wall; surface extends approximately 50 cm east into unit near floor and runs diagonally into western wall; cobbles compact, resting on bedrock

1x-19

11

Sticky/organic black clay occupation horizon; found throughout 139-150 cmbd unit except in areas covered by marl floor and cobble surface 114-125 cmbs (previous lot)

Closed at bedrock; bedrock sloping downward from west to east, toward Op. 1e

10

Section of preserved white marl floor in NW corner of unit and grey sandy clay deposit below; floor has a rounded edge and extends approximately 79 cm east-west and 60 cm north-south 135-147 cmbd from unit corner; surface is relatively hard and well-preserved; located above flat section of bedrock, possibly modified; abutted 110-122 cmbs on south by cobble surface; trash deposits located immediately off eastern edge

Closed at bedrock; not underlain by black organic occupation horizon

1x-15

1x-20

124-135 cmbd 100-110 cmbs 135-139 cmbd 110-114 cmbs 135-139 cmbd 112-117 cmbs

Closed at base of limestone cobble layer along west wall and black clay horizon Closed at removal of cobble surface

Op. 1y General Description: 1-x-4-m trench extension unit, measuring four meters north-south and one meter east-west. Located immediately adjacent to the east wall of Op. 1e in the same north-south alignment. The previously excavated unit Op. 1e was emptied of backfill, and Op. 1y was laid out along its eastern flank. The northeast and southeast corners of Op. 1e correspond to the northwest and southwest corners of Op. 1y, respectively. The entire unit was excavated to bedrock. Lot

Level

Description

Depth 27-34 cmbd

Comment

1y-1

1

Humus layer with limestone pebbles, possibly floor ballast, throughout unit; heavily disturbed by tree roots

1y-2

2

Brown silty-loam sediment deposit with limestone pebble ballast 34-51 cmbd throughout unit; no recognizable floor; heavy disturbance by tree 7-24 cmbs roots

Closed at preserved section of plaster floor, possibly Floor 2

1y-3

3

Section of preserved plaster floor in north end of unit, 50-x-20- 51-53 cmbd cm in area; limestone pebble ballast in greyish-brown sandy clay 24-26 cmbs matrix below and surrounding section of floor

Closed at plaster floor surface

4

Better preserved plaster floor, probably Floor 3; two floor surfaces (4 cm and 5 cm thick) separated by 1 cm of brown 53-77 cmbd sandy sediment excavated in this lot, likely refurbishing of same 26-50 cmbs floor; ballast of limestone pebbles in brown sandy clay matrix below lowest floor included; tree root disturbance

Closed at plaster floor surface

1y-5

4

Partially preserved sections of plaster floor and associated ballast (similar to previous lot); floor poorly preserved, but showed up well in profile; floor sections and/or ballast found throughout unit; root disturbance prevalent but less than in preceding lots

Closed at soil change beneath subfloor ballast

1y-6

5

Loosely compacted dark greyish brown clayey sand deposit throughout unit; includes sediments deposited outside cobble surface Platform L

5

Limestone cobble surface Platform L; extends north from midpoint of south wall, curving into east wall approximately 200 88-99 cmbd cm; well-defined edge, partially rounded; at least two courses 61-72 cmbs of limestone cobbles, approximately 15 cm in length, roughly edged;

1y-4

1y-7

254

0-7 cmbs

77-90 cmbd 50-63 cmbs 90-99 cmbd 63-72 cmbs

Closed at soil change

Closed at marl surface ‘Platform C’ at base of Platform L Closed at level of Patio Floor 1 marl surface; surface does not continue beneath platform

Appendix A Closed at second marl floor layer; probably Platform C from 2004

6

White marl surface of Patio Floor 1; first in sequence of 3 tightly 99-102 cmbd superimposed marl floors; covers unit outside area of Platform L 72-75 cmbs

1y-9

6

Core of Platform L first stage; cobbles roughly same size/shape as second stage of platform; resting on second marl floor

99-102 cmbd

1y-10

7

Second and third marl floors and intermixed brown sandy clay subfloor sediments; lot extends 200 cm south from north unit wall and ends at cobble surface ‘Platform P’

102-112 cmbd

1y-11

7

Limestone cobble feature ‘Platform P’ located near centre of unit; approximately 100 cm north-south, covers width of unit; cobbles smaller than later platforms in sequence (7-15 cm), covered by second marl floor, abuts south side of third floor; no edges apparent

1y-12

7

Disturbed second marl surface and underlying grey-brown silty clay deposit in southern 112 cm of unit; several limestone cobbles at base of level, not forming discernible surface

8

Dark greyish-brown silty clay deposit beneath third marl floor and feature ‘Platform P’; lot extends throughout entire unit; includes Patio Floor 4, though unclear if recognized by excavators

9

Artefact and sediment deposits on white marl floor; surrounding sediment is fine, possibly ashy and organic brown clay; river 125-134 cmbd mussel shells and partial vessel embedded in surface; floor extends south 250 cm from north wall and covers width of unit; 98-107 cmbs southern 150 cm disturbed by roots, no floor present

Closed at removal of artefacts and floor; black organic horizon uncovered

1y-15

9

Southern 150 cm of unit, no recognizable marl floor; root disturbance noted; dark greyish-brown silty clay deposit similar 125-134 cmbd to that of Levels 7 and 8; limestone cobbles noted at base of 98-107 cmbs level

Closed at limestone cobbles in black organic horizon

1y-16

10

Sticky/organic black clay occupation horizon found throughout unit

1y-8

1y-13

1y-14

72-75 cmbs

75-85 cmbs 102-112 cmbd 75-85 cmbs 118-123 cmbd 91-96 cmbs 121-125 cmbd 94-98 cmbs

134-155 cmbd 107-128 cmbs

Closed at limestone cobble feature ‘Platform P’; called ‘Platform O’ by excavators, first stage of Platform L Closed at soil change after removal of third marl floor in sequence Closed at soil change seen in previous lot

Closed after removal of limestone cobbles Closed at mussel concentrations on marl surface

Closed at intact bedrock

2009 Excavations Plaza B excavations in 2009 consisted of two test pit extension units and a block of thirteen contiguous units (twelve 2-x-2-m squares, one 1-x-2-m extension). Two 2-x-2-m units were added to Operation 3 in the northwest corner of Plaza B, and the block units were grouped within the new Operation 7. Op. 3c General Description: 2-x-2-m test unit extension aligned parallel to the east wall of Op. 3a. Unit was shifted north one meter from the position of Op. 3a, so that its southwest corner was located at the midpoint of the east wall of Op. 3a. The previously excavated unit Op. 3a was emptied of backfill, and Op. 3c was laid out along its eastern flank. The entire unit was excavated to bedrock. Measurements were taken from 2009:SD3, a stake raised 13 cm above ground surface near the SE corner of Op. 3c. Lot

Level

Description

Depth 16-32 cmbd

3c-1

1

Humus layer with limestone pebbles

3c-2

2

Limestone ballast from Floor 1; section of plaster Floor 2 and ballast

32-54 cmbd

3c-3

F1

Feature 2; rock concentration at top of Floor 3, covering hole through floor (similar to F2 in Op. 3a)

54-76 cmbd

3c-4

3

Plaster Floor 3 and ballast

3c-5

4

Plaster Floor 4a

0-16 cmbs 16-38 cmbs 38-60 cmbs 54-67 cmbd 38-51 cmbs 67-69 cmbd 51-53 cmbs

255

Comment Closed at floor ballast Closed at Floor 3 and rock concentration Closed at plaster Floor 4 surface Closed at Plaster Floor 4 Closed at second floor surface

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization 69-79 cmbd

3c-6

4

Plaster Floor 4b

3c-7

5

Limestone cobble surface

3c-8

5

Sediment deposit beneath cobble surface

6

Dark brown sediments and refuse deposit; section of floor noted; 112-131 cmbd probably top of refuse pit 96-115 cmbs

3c-10

7

Cut limestone blocks in southeast end of unit

3c-11

6

Refuse pit midden deposit; high frequencies bone and shell

3c-12

8

Limestone cobble concentration near north unit wall

3c-13

6

Refuse pit deposits

3c-14

6

Refuse pit deposits

3c-15

6

Refuse pit deposits; probably includes deposits below bottom of 159-198 cmbd pit; few artefacts in fill below 143-182 cmbs

3c-16

9

Section of plaster Floor 7 in northwestern area of unit

3c-17

9

Section of Floor 7 in northeastern area of unit and fill beneath

3c-18

10

Section of burned plaster Floor 8 in northwestern area of unit and fill beneath

3c-9

53-63 cmbs 79-89 cmbd 63-73 cmbs 89-112 cmbd 73-96 cmbs

131-134 cmbd 115-118 cmbs 131-134 cmbd 115-118 cmbs 134-140 cmbd 118-124 cmbs 134-140 cmbd 118-124 cmbs 140-159 cmbd 124-143 cmbs

159-161 cmbd 143-145 cmbs 159-190 cmbd 143-174 cmbs 161-211 cmbd 145-195 cmbs

Floor 4b and ballast; originally called Floor 5 and Level 5 Unclear why lot changed, probably at removal of cobbles; originally Level 6 Closed at soil change; depths problematic; originally Level 7 Closed at disturbed limestone blocks from platform edge; originally Level 7 Closed at removal of limestone blocks; originally Level 8 Closed at level of limestone cobbles near north wall; originally Level 8 Closed after removal of limestone cobbles Closed at limestone blocks near unit centre; originally Level 9 Closed at level of Floors 7 and 8; originally Level 10 Closed at bedrock; originally Level 11 Closed at Floor 8; originally Level 11 Closed at intact bedrock; originally Level 11 Closed at intact bedrock; originally Level 11

Op. 3d General Description: 2-x-2-m test unit extension aligned parallel to the northern wall of Op. 3b. Unit was shifted 40 cm north and east from the northwest corner of Op. 3a, and was positioned to according to investigate the rounded stone alignment found in that unit in 2006. The previously excavated unit Op. 3a was emptied of backfill, its northwest corner found, and Op. 3d was laid out parallel to its northern edge. The entire unit was excavated to bedrock. Measurements were taken from 2009:SD3, a stake raised 13 cm above ground surface near the SE corner of Op. 3c. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

3d-1

1

Humus layer with limestone pebbles

3d-2

2

Limestone ballast from Floor 1

3d-3

3

Plaster Floor 2 and ballast

3d-4

4

Plaster Floor 3 and ballast; deposit beneath of larger cobbles

3d-5

5

Limestone cobble surface

3d-6

5

Brown sandy clay deposit with small limestone cobbles

3d-7

6

Large limestone cobbles brown sandy clay matrix

3d-8

6

Limestone cobbles and pebbles in brown sandy clay matrix

13-29 cmbd 0-16 cmbs 29-35 cmbd 16-22 cmbs 35-56 cmbd 22-43 cmbs 56-81 cmbd 43-68 cmbs 81-89 cmbd 68-76 cmbs

256

89-103 cmbd 76-90 cmbs 103-127 cmbd 90-114 cmbs 127-136 cmbd 114-123 cmbs

Comment Closed at floor ballast Closed at plaster Floor 2 Closed at plaster Floor 3 Closed at cobble surface; Floor 4 not noted Closed at removal of all cobbles Closed at deposit of large stones Closed at depth of platform from Op. 3b Closed at limestone cobble surface

Appendix A 136-150 cmbd

3d-9

7

Limestone cobble surface

3d-10

7

Brown sandy clay deposit, higher artefact frequencies

3d-11

8

Plaster floor and underlying deposits; orange sediment encountered and sampled

123-137 cmbs 150-176 cmbd 137-163 cmbs 176-242 cmbd 163-229 cmbs

Closed at arbitrary depth; increase in artefact frequencies Closed at plaster floor Closed at bedrock

Op. 7a General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located 20 cm to the east of the Operation 1 trench and in the same alignment. The northwest corner was aligned to the northeast corner of Op. 1u. Excavation of unit ceased at cobble pavement of 2009: Platform 1. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD1, a stake 22 cm above ground surface near the northwest corner of the unit. Lot

Level

Description

Depth 23-42 cmbd

7a-1

1

Humus layer with limestone ballast

7a-2

2

Plaster Floor 2 and limestone pebble ballast

7a-3

3

Plaster Floor 3 and limestone pebble ballast

7a-4

4

Plaster Floor 4 and limestone pebble ballast

7a-5

4

Raised plaster patch

7a-6

5

Plaster Floor 5 and limestone pebble ballast

7a-7

6

Plaster Floor 6 and limestone pebble ballast

7a-8

7

Plaster Floor 7 and limestone pebble ballast; later floor of Platform 1

0-19 cmbs 42-55 cmbd 19-32 cmbs 55-63 cmbd 32-40 cmbs 63-69 cmbd 40-46 cmbs 60-66 cmbd 37-43 cmbs 69-82 cmbd 46-59 cmbs 82-92 cmbd 59-69 cmbs 92-102 cmbd 69-79 cmbs

Comment Closed at plaster Floor 2 Closed at plaster Floor 3 Closed at plaster Floor 4 Closed at plaster Floor 5 and raised patch of plaster Closed at Floor 5 Closed at plaster Floor 6 Closed at plaster Floor 7 Closed at limestone cobble pavement of Platform 1; final lot of unit

Op. 7b General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located adjacent and to the east of Op 7a. The western limit of Op. 7b is the eastern limit of Op. 7a. Excavation of unit ceased at approximate depth of 2009: Platform 2 in adjacent unit Op. 7d. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD1, a stake 22 cm above ground surface near the northwest corner of Op. 7a. Lot

Level

Description

7b-1

1

Humus layer with limestone ballast

7b-2

2

Limestone pebble ballast of Floor 2

7b-3

3

Plaster Floor 3 and limestone pebble ballast

7b-4

4

Plaster Floor 4

7b-5

5

Plaster Floor 5 and limestone pebble ballast

7b-6

6

Plaster Floor 6 and limestone pebble ballast

7b-7

7

Plaster Floor 7 and limestone pebble ballast; later floor of Platform 1

Depth

Comment

31-48 cmbd

Closed at poorly preserved Floor 2

0-17 cmbs 48-58 cmbd 17-27 cmbs 58-68 cmbd 27-37 cmbs 68-73 cmbd 37-42 cmbs

257

73-82 cmbd 42-51 cmbs 82-92 cmbd 51-61 cmbs 92-100 cmbd 61-69 cmbs

Closed at plaster Floor 3 Closed at plaster Floor 4 Closed at plaster Floor 5 Closed at plaster Floor 6 Closed at plaster Floor 7 Closed at limestone cobble pavement of Platform 1

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization 100-107 cmbd

7b-8

8

Limestone cobble pavement of Platform 1

7b-9

9

Brown sandy clay sediment east of marl surface

7b-10

9

Marl surface in western half of unit; may be related to Platform H, but not continuous

108-117 cmbd

7b-11

10

Greyish-brown sandy clay matrix with limestone blocks; possibly fill of Platform H

120-134 cmbd

69-76 cmbs 106-120 cmbd 75-89 cmbs 77-86 cmbs 89-103 cmbs

Closed at marl surface in western half of unit Closed at level of large limestone blocks Closed at level of large limestone blocks Closed at level of Platform 2 in adjacent unit Op. 7d; final lot of unit

Op. 7c General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located adjacent and to the south of Op 7a. The northern limit of Op. 7c is the southern limit of Op. 7a. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD1, a stake 22 cm above ground surface near the northwest corner of Op. 7a. Lot

Level

Description

Depth 21-38 cmbd

7c-1

1

Humus layer with limestone ballast

7c-2

2

Deposit on top of Floor 2b; western 15 cm of unit, outside Feature 1:2009

7c-3

F1

Feature 2009:F1; limestone cobble concentration

7c-4

3

Plaster Floor 2b and ballast

7c-5

4

Plaster Floor 3 and limestone pebble ballast

7c-6

5

Plaster Floor 4 and limestone pebble ballast

7c-7

6

Floor 5 and limestone pebble ballast

7c-8

6

Replastering patch (Floor 5b)

7c-9

7

Plaster Floor 6 and limestone pebble ballast; later floor of Platform 1

7c-10

8

Limestone cobble pavement of Platform 1

7c-11

9

Large limestone blocks beneath Platform 1 cobbles in sandy clay 113-137 cmbd matrix; possibly fill Platform H 92-116 cmbs

7c-12

10

Brown sandy clay deposit in north of unit, outside floor of Platform 2; marl concentration noted

7c-13

11

Gray clay deposit in south of unit, outside floor of Platform 2

7c-14

11

Deposit directly below 7c-12; same sediment

7c-15

12

Black organic occupation horizon with grey mottling; area outside Platform 2 floor

163-166 cmbd

7c-16

13

Weathered bedrock with limestone chunks; beneath 7c-15, outside Platform 2 floor

166-170 cmbd

7c-17

11

Marl and pebble surface Platform 2 and underlying grey clay fill

7c-18

12

Black organic occupation horizon with grey mottling; area beneath Platform 2 floor

0-17 cmbs 38-54 cmbd 17-33 cmbs 38-54 cmbd 17-33 cmbs 54-67 cmbd 33-46 cmbs 67-72 cmbd 46-51 cmbs 72-82 cmbd 51-61 cmbs 82-89 cmbd 61-68 cmbs 81-89 cmbd 60-68 cmbs 89-101 cmbd 68-80 cmbs 101-113 cmbd 80-92 cmbs

258

137-149 cmbd 116-128 cmbs 140-163 cmbd 119-142 cmbs 137-163 cmbd 116-142 cmbs 142-145 cmbs 145-149 cmbs 139-155 cmbd 118-134 cmbs 155-170 cmbd 134-149 cmbs

Comment Closed at plaster floor Closed at plaster Floor 2b Closed at plaster Floor 2b Closed at plaster Floor 3 Closed at plaster Floor 4 Closed at plaster Floor 5 Closed at plaster Floor 6 and replastering patch Closed at removal of replastering Closed at limestone cobble pavement of Platform 1 Closed at limestone cobble concentration in southern unit end Closed at level of Platform 2 Closed at black organic clay horizon Closed at black organic clay horizon Closed at black organic clay horizon Closed at weathered bedrock Closed at intact bedrock Closed at black organic clay horizon Closed at intact bedrock; final lot of unit

Appendix A Op. 7d General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located adjacent and to the east of Op 7c. The western limit of Op. 7d is the eastern limit of Op. 7c. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD1, a stake 22 cm above ground surface near the northwest corner of Op. 7a. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

Comment

7d-1

1

Humus layer with limestone ballast

27-41 cmbd

Closed at soil change below Floor 2a

7d-2

2

Plaster Floor 2a and subfloor ballast; eastern half of unit

7d-3

F1

Feature 2009:F1; limestone cobble concentration in west of unit; 40-53 cmbd smaller cobbles removed 13-26 cmbs

Closed at plaster Floor 2b

7d-4

F1

Feature 2009:F1; limestone cobble concentration in west of unit; 34-53 cmbd larger cobbles removed 7-26 cmbs

Closed at plaster Floor 2b

7d-5

3

Plaster Floor 2b and limestone pebble ballast

7d-6

4

Plaster Floor 3 and limestone pebble ballast

7d-7

5

Plaster Floor 4 and limestone pebble ballast

7d-8

6

Plaster Floor 5 and limestone pebble ballast

7d-9

6

Replastering patch (Floor 5b)

7d-10

7

Plaster Floor 6 and limestone pebble ballast; later floor of Platform 1

7d-11

8

Limestone cobble pavement of Platform 1

7d-12

9

Large limestone blocks beneath Platform 1 cobbles in sandy clay 122-137 cmbd matrix; possibly fill Platform H 95-110 cmbs

7d-13

11

Gray clay sediment north of Platform 2 surface; mottled with black organic clay

7d-14

11

Marl and pebble floor of Platform 2

7d-15

12

Black organic occupation horizon with grey mottling; area beneath Platform 2 floor

0-14 cmbs 41-53 cmbd 14-26 cmbs

53-69 cmbd 26-42 cmbs 69-74 cmbd 42-47 cmbs 74-82 cmbd 47-55 cmbs 82-89 cmbd 55-62 cmbs 84-89 cmbd 57-62 cmbs 89-101 cmbd 62-74 cmbs 101-122 cmbd 74-95 cmbs

137-157 cmbd 110-130 cmbs 137-147 cmbd 110-120 cmbs 147-163 cmbd 120-136 cmbs

Closed at plaster Floor 2b

Closed at plaster Floor 3 Closed at plaster Floor 4 Closed at plaster Floor 5 Closed at plaster Floor 6 Closed at removal of replastering Closed at limestone cobble pavement of Platform 1 Closed at limestone block concentration Closed at level of Platform 2 Closed at intact bedrock Closed at black organic clay horizon Closed at intact bedrock

Op. 7e General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located adjacent and to the south of Op 7c. The northern limit of Op. 7e is the southern limit of Op. 7c. The southern limit of Op. 7e is near the midpoint of Op. 1v in the Main Trench. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD2, a stake 36 cm above ground surface near the southwest corner of Op. 7e. Lot

Level

Description

7e-1

1

Humus layer with limestone ballast

7e-2

2

Limestone pebble ballast deposit

7e-3

F1

Cobble surface related to Feature 1, NE corner of unit

7e-4

F1

Feature 2009:F1; limestone cobble concentration in NW corner of unit

Depth

Comment

37-54 cmbd

Closed at limestone cobble feature

0-17 cmbs 54-68 cmbd 17-31 cmbs

259

47-61 cmbd 10-24 cmbs 61-68 cmbd 24-31 cmbs

Closed at plaster Floor 2b Closed at lower cobbles of feature Closed at plaster Floor 2b

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization 68-77 cmbd

7e-5

3

Plaster Floor 2b and limestone pebble ballast

7e-6

4

Plaster Floor 3 and limestone pebble ballast

7e-7

5

Plaster Floor 4 and limestone pebble ballast

7e-8

6

Plaster Floor 5 and limestone pebble ballast

7e-9

7

Section of Floor6 and sediments beneath; later floor of Platform 102-116 cmbd 1 65-79 cmbs

Closed at cobble pavement of Platform 1

7e-10

8

Ceramic deposit on cobble surface

116-121 cmbd

Closed at cobble pavement of Platform 1

7e-11

8

Limestone cobble pavement of Platform 1

7e-12

9

Larger limestone cobbles in brown clay matrix

7e-13

9

Limestone cobbles of varying size in grey clay matrix

7e-14

10

Greyish-brown sandy clay to the west of Platform 2 floor

7e-15

11

Black organic occupation horizon; area west of Platform 2 floor

7e-16

10

Marl and pebble floor of 2009: Platform 2 and underlying grey clay

7e-17

11

Black organic occupation horizon in area beneath Platform 2

7e-18

10

‘Marl concentration’ south of Platform 2 floor; probably ramplike feature seen in profile

7e-19

11

Black organic occupation horizon beneath previous lot

7e-20

12

Occupation horizon and limestone cobbles

31-40 cmbs 77-87 cmbd 40-50 cmbs 87-95 cmbd 50-58 cmbs 95-102 cmbd 58-65 cmbs

79-84 cmbs 116-121 cmbd 79-84 cmbs 121-131 cmbd 84-94 cmbs 131-158 cmbd 94-121 cmbs 158-186 cmbd 121-149 cmbs 186-212 cmbd 149-175 cmbs 158-186 cmbd 121-149 cmbs 186-205 cmbd 149-168 cmbs 158-189 cmbd 121-152 cmbs 189-197 cmbd 152-160 cmbs 197-220 cmbd 160-183 cmbs

Closed at plaster Floor 3 Closed at plaster Floor 4 Closed at plaster Floor 5 Closed at section of plaster Floor 6

Closed at removal of cobble pavement Unclear why lot closed Closed at level of Platform 2 Closed at black organic clay horizon Closed at bedrock; bedrock dips south Closed at black organic clay horizon Closed at bedrock; bedrock dips south Closed at black organic clay horizon Closed at black organic clay horizon mixed with limestone Closed at bedrock; bedrock dips south

Op. 7f General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located adjacent and to the east of Op 7e. The western limit of Op. 7f is the eastern limit of Op. 7e. Entire unit excavated to bedrock. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD2, a stake 36 cm above ground surface near the southwest corner of Op. 7e. Lot

Level

Description

7f-1

1

Humus layer with limestone ballast

7f-2

2

Brown sediment deposit east of Feature 1

7f-3

F1

Sediment on top of Feature 1 cobbles

7f-4

F1

Feature 2009:F1; limestone cobble concentration in NE corner of unit

7f-5

3

Plaster Floor 2b and limestone pebble ballast

7f-6

4

Plaster Floor 3 and limestone pebble ballast

7f-7

5

Plaster Floor 4 and limestone pebble ballast

Depth

Comment

43-60 cmbd

Closed at level of limestone cobble feature

0-17 cmbs 60-66 cmbd 17-23 cmbs 51-57 cmbd 8-14 cmbs

260

57-66 cmbd 14-23 cmbs 66-78 cmbd 23-35 cmbs 78-89 cmbd 35-46 cmbs 89-98 cmbd 46-55 cmbs

Closed at plaster Floor 2b Closed when feature cleaned Closed at plaster Floor 2b Closed at plaster Floor 3; originally called Floor 2c Closed at plaster Floor 4; originally called Floor 2d Closed at plaster Floor 5; originally called floor 2e

Appendix A 98-102 cmbd

7f-8

6

Plaster Floor 5 and limestone pebble ballast

7f-9

6

‘Stone and plaster surface’; possibly related to Platform 1

7f-10

7

Floor 6 and limestone pebble ballast; later floor of Platform 1

7f-11

8

Limestone cobble pavement of Platform 1

7f-12

9

Sediment and cobble fill deposit

7f-13a

9

Layered cache, partial vessel, slate concentration on Platform 2 floor

150 cmbd

7f-13

10

Marl and pebble surface of 2009: Platform 2 and underlying grey clay deposit

151-169 cmbd

7f-14

11

Black organic occupation horizon in area beneath Platform 2

7f-15

10

‘Marl concentration’ south of Platform 2 surface; raised marl feature with stone alignment on top

151-184 cmbd

7f-16

10

Black organic occupation horizon in area beneath raised marl feature

184-223 cmbd

55-59 cmbs 102-105 cmbd 59-62 cmbs 105-111 cmbd 62-68 cmbs 111-131 cmbd 68-88 cmbs 131-151 cmbd 88-108 cmbs 107 cmbs 108-126 cmbs 169-195 cmbd 126-152 cmbs 108-141 cmbs 141-180 cmbs

Closed at ‘stone and plaster’ surface Closed at plaster Floor 6; originally called Floor 2f Closed at cobble pavement of Platform 1 Closed at large limestone cobble concentration Closed at Platform 2 surface Closed at removal of cache Closed at black organic clay horizon Closed at intact bedrock Closed at black organic clay horizon Closed at intact bedrock

Op. 7g General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located adjacent and to the north of Op 7a. The southern limit of Op. 7g is the northern limit of Op. 7a. Excavation closed before reaching bedrock, at level below edge of Platform 1 to the north. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD1, a stake 22 cm above ground surface near the northwest corner of Op. 7e. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

7g-1

2

Humus layer and Floor 1 limestone pebble ballast

7g-2

3

Plaster Floor 2 and limestone pebble ballast

7g-3

4

Plaster Floor 3 and limestone pebble ballast

7g-4

5

Plaster Floor 4 and limestone pebble ballast

7g-5

6

Plaster Floor 5 and limestone pebble ballast

7g-6

7

Plaster Floor 6 and limestone pebble ballast

7g-7

8

Plaster Floor 7 and limestone pebble ballast

7g-8

9

Plaster Floor 8 and limestone pebble ballast; later floor of Platform 1

7g-9

10

Brown sandy clay sediment north of Platform 1 edge

7g-10

10

Brown sandy clay sediment off western edge of Platform 1

7g-11

11

Marl surface off edge of platform

7g-12

12

Brown sandy clay with white marl; possibly related to surface of 117-124 cmbd Platform H, marl not continuous 89-96 cmbs

28-53 cmbd 0-25 cmbs 53-63 cmbd 25-35 cmbs 63-68 cmbd 35-40 cmbs 68-71 cmbd 40-43 cmbs 71-78 cmbd 43-50 cmbs 78-81 cmbd 50-53 cmbs 81-84 cmbd 53-56 cmbs 84-103 cmbd 56-75 cmbs 103-110 cmbd 75-82 cmbs 103-108 cmbd 75-80 cmbs 109-117 cmbd 81-89 cmbs

261

Comment Closed at plaster Floor 2 Closed at plaster Floor 3 Closed at plaster Floor 4 Closed at plaster Floor 5 Closed at plaster Floor 6 Closed at plaster Floor 7 Closed at plaster Floor 8 Closed at level 5-8 cm below outside of platform edge stones Closed at marl surface Closed at marl surface Closed at arbitrary level beneath marl surface Closed at patches of white marl; final lot in unit

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Op. 7h General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located adjacent and to the east of Op 7g. The western limit of Op. 7h is the eastern limit of Op. 7h. Excavation closed before reaching bedrock, at level below edge of Platform 1 to the north. Upper floor surfaces removed as two lots, based on stratigraphy seen in two profiles from adjacent units. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD1, a stake 22 cm above ground surface near the northwest corner of Op. 7e. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

7h-1

3

Humus and Classic period floors

7h-2

9

Sequence of Late Preclassic plaster floors seen in profile of adjacent units

7h-3

10

Brown sandy clay deposit north of Platform 1 edge

7h-4

11

Sediment deposit beneath previous lot; sediments similar

7h-5

9b

Second plaster surface of Platform 1, found near edging stones

7h-6

9c

Original plaster floor of Platform 1, found on top of edging stones

94-96 cmbd

7h-7

9c

Original plaster floor of Platform 1, found on top of edging stones

94-96 cmbd

31-68 cmbd 0-37 cmbs 68-90 cmbd 37-59 cmbs 90-119 cmbd 59-88 cmbs 119-127 cmbd 88-96 cmbs 90-94 cmbd 59-63 cmbs 63-65 cmbs 63-65 cmbs

Comment Closed at plaster Floor 3 Closed at surface of Platform 1 Closed at level of marl surface in Op. 7g; no marl found Closed at arbitrary level; final lot excavated off platform Closed at exposure of original Platform 1 floor surface Closed at level of Platform 1 cobble pavement Extension of previous lot southward away from platform edge

Op. 7i General Description: 1-x-2-m block unit located adjacent and to the north of Op 7g. The southern limit of Op. 7i is the northern limit of Op. 7g. Excavation closed before reaching bedrock. Upper floor surfaces removed as two lots, based on stratigraphy seen in profile of Op. 7g. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD1, a stake 22 cm above ground surface near the northwest corner of Op. 7e. Lot

Level

Description

Depth 27-62 cmbd

7i-1

3

Humus and Classic period floors

7i-2

9

Sequence of Late Preclassic plaster floors seen in profile of adjacent units

7i-3

10

Brown sandy clay sediment deposit

7i-4

11

Sediment deposit beneath previous lot; sediments similar

7i-5

12

Dark brown clay deposit with white marl mottling

0-35 cmbs 62-90 cmbd 35-63 cmbs 90-99 cmbd 63-72 cmbs 99-115 cmbd 72-88 cmbs 90-94 cmbd 59-63 cmbs

Comment Closed at plaster Floor 3 Closed at soil change below floor ballast Closed at level of marl surface in Op. 7g; no marl found Closed at approximate level of 7g Level 11 Closed at level of marl section in north and five stones; final lot in unit

Op. 7j General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located adjacent and to the east of Op 7h. The western limit of Op. 7j is the eastern limit of Op. 7g. Excavation closed before reaching bedrock, at level below edge of Platform 1 to the north. Upper floor surfaces removed as two lots, based on stratigraphy seen in profile of Op. 7g. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD1, a stake 22 cm above ground surface near the northwest corner of Op. 7e. Lot

Level

Description

Depth 32-82 cmbd

7j-1

3

Humus and Classic period floors

7j-2

9

Sequence of Late Preclassic plaster floors seen in profile of adjacent units

0-50 cmbs

262

82-93 cmbd 50-61 cmbs

Comment Closed at plaster Floor 3 Closed at level of Platform 1 edge

Appendix A

7j-3

10

Brown sandy clay sediment deposit north and east of Platform 1 edge

93-113 cmbd

7j-4

11

Similar sediments as previous lot, north and east of Platform 1 edge

113-129 cmbd

7j-5

9b

Section of plaster floor, later floor of Platform 1; equivalent to 9b floor in Op. 7h

93-96 cmbd

61-81 cmbs 81-97 cmbs 61-64 cmbs

Closed at arbitrary level Closed at mottling with white marl; final off-platform lot Closed at double alignment of edging stones; final lot

Op. 7k General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located south and east of Op. 7j. The northwest corner was placed at the midpoint of the southern limit of Op. 7j, leaving a one meter baulk between Op. 7k and Op. 7b. Excavation closed before reaching bedrock, at level below edge of Platform H to the east and beneath Platform 1 cobbles in the west. Upper floor surfaces removed as two lots, based on stratigraphy seen in adjacent units. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD1, a stake 22 cm above ground surface near the northwest corner of Op. 7e. Lot

Level

Description

Depth 32-85 cmbd

7k-1

3

Humus and Classic period floors

7k-2

9

Sequence of Late Preclassic plaster floors seen in profile of adjacent units

85-112 cmbd

7k-3

9

Ceramic concentration beneath depth of Platform 1 cobbles; probably associated with Platform H

112 cmbd

7k-4

9

Brown sandy clay deposit east of Platform H wall

7k-5

9

Deposit in gap between Platform H wall stones

0-50 cmbs 50-77 cmbs 77 cmbs 117-128 cmbd 82-93 cmbs 121-126 cmbd 86-91 cmbs

Comment Closed at plaster Floor 4 Closed at partially destroyed edge Platform 1 Closed at removal of concentration Closed at limestone cobble concentration Closed at layer of limestone rubble fill; final lot

Op. 7l General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located south of Op. 7k. The northern limit of Op. 7l is the southern limit of Op. 7k. Excavation closed before reaching bedrock, at level below edge of Platform H to the east and beneath Platform 1 cobbles in the west. Upper floor surfaces removed as three lots, based on stratigraphy seen in adjacent units. Measurements taken from datum 2009:SD4, a stake 27 cm above ground surface near the southwest corner of Op. 7m, levelled to 2009:SD1. Lot

Level

Description

Depth

7l-1

3

Humus and Classic period floors

7l-2

8

Sequence of Late Preclassic plaster floors seen in profile of adjacent units

7l-3

9

Final Late Preclassic plaster floor and ballast

7l-4

10

Brown sandy clay deposit east of Platform H wall

7l-5

10

Brown sandy clay deposit east of Platform H wall

7l-6

10

Limestone cobbles above and west of Platform H wall, probably 114-120 cmbd from Platform 1 82-88 cmbs

32-76 cmbd 0-44 cmbs 76-98 cmbd 44-66 cmbs 98-114 cmbd 66-82 cmbs 116-122 cmbd 84-90 cmbs 122-133 cmbd 90-101 cmbs

Comment Closed at plaster Floor 3 Closed at final Late Preclassic surface Closed at Platform H wall Closed at section of Platform 2 floor Closed at floor of Platform 2 Closed at layer of rubble fill, probably related to Platform H fill; final lot of unit

Op. 7m General Description: 2-x-2-m block unit located south of Op. 7m. The northern limit of Op. 7m is the southern limit of Op. 7l. Excavation closed before reaching bedrock, at level below edge of Platform H to the east and beneath Platform 1 cobbles in the west. Upper floor surfaces removed as two lots, based on stratigraphy seen in adjacent units. Measurements

263

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization taken from datum 2009:SD4, a stake 27 cm above ground surface near the southwest corner of Op. 7m, levelled to 2009:SD1 Lot

Level

Description

Depth

7m-1

3

Humus and Classic period floors

7m-2

9

Sequence of Late Preclassic plaster floors seen in profile of adjacent units

7m-3

10

Brown sandy clay deposit east of Platform H wall

7m-4

10

Brown sandy clay deposit east of Platform H wall, beneath previous lot

7m-5

10

Limestone cobbles and rubble west/inside of Platform H wall

29-81 cmbd 0-52 cmbs

264

81-114 cmbd 52-85 cmbs 114-122 cmbd 85-93 cmbs 122-131 cmbd 93-102 cmbs 114-128 cmbd 85-99 cmbs

Comment Closed at plaster Floor 4 Closed at level of Platform H wall Closed at arbitrary depth, similar to adjacent unit Closed at Platform 2 floor Closed at Platform 2 floor on inside of Platform H wall

Appendix B Temporal Assessments of Sherd Lots The table below presents data from BVAP Plaza B sherd lots analysed by project ceramicist Lauren A. Sullivan and reproduced with her permission. All available data for excavations discussed in this study are presented, and I direct the interested reader to a report by Sullivan (2010) for assessments from operations that were not part of this study. I have included lots from overlying deposits (e.g., Late Classic plaza floors) to contextualize the Middle Preclassic materials within a dated stratigraphic sequence. Each table entry includes a lot number (see chapter four for a description of this system), a temporal assessment (Period), an assessment of the ceramic complex most likely represented by the lot in the Belize Valley (Ceramic Complex) and Cahal Pech sequences, and a list of identified types and associated notes taken by Sullivan. Entries are presented in alphanumeric order according to operation and lot. I have edited the original notes for formatting but have not made any substantive changes to the original assessments. Lot

Period

Ceramic Complex

Cahal Pech Sequence

1a-1

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

Eroded sherds including some Belize Red and striated sherds.

1a-3

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout/ Tiger Run

Not as eroded as sherds in 1a-1 with slip better preserved. Includes some Belize Red although the forms from this lot are a bit different from 1a-1 so this may be earlier in the Late Classic.

1a-5

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout/ Tiger Run

Still seeing Belize Reds as well as some black slipped sherds.

Late Preclassic/ 1a-6

Terminal Preclassic/

Comments

Mount Hope/ Floral Park

Late Xakal

Sierra Red sherds as well as at least two mammiform foot fragments. There are some eroded black slipped sherds that may date to a later time period ; HOWEVER, the diagnostics suggest Late Preclassic.

Barton Creek

Early Xakal

Includes Sierra Red and Society Hall sherds. Sierra Red: Variety Unspecified (Maroon) is also present. Joventud Red sherds and differences with lot 1a-6 suggest this lot (1a-8) is earlier.

Protoclassic 1a-8

Late Preclassic

1a-11

early to late facet Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Early to Late Kanluk

Includes a lot of Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety (straight and curved filleting), Joventud Red sherds, and a strap handle. Lots of small ‘gunshot’ sherds noted in this lot (as compared to some of the others.)

1a-16

Middle Formative

early to late facet Jenney Creek

Early to Late Kanluk

Fair amount of Savana Orange, lots of ash tempered Jocote Orange Brown with filleting (straight), and some Joventud Reds. Transitional lot.

1a-35

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek?

Cunil to Early Kanluk?

Very few sherds in bag. Doesn’t appear to be pure Cunil and/or have much Cunil represented.

1a-37

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek?

Cunil to Early Kanluk?

Similar to 1a-19. Includes some possible eroded Uck Reds and other ash tempered sherds, an Ardagh Orange-brown sherd, and some possible Savana Orange.

1a-38

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek?

Cunil to Early Kanluk?

Includes strap handle, double lug handle (one piece of clay – not individual lug handles), Savana Orange, Uck Red, Sikiya Unslipped, and at least one incised sherd. This lot doesn’t appear to have as many slipped sherds as noted in CHP Unit 7 and more domestic/utilitarian sherds. Savana suggests not pure Cunil.

1a-39

Middle Formative Cunil

Cunil

Includes Sikiya Unslipped although these sherds don’t appear as heavily burnished as the Sikiya in CHP Unit 7 but do appear to have a similar calcite and quartzite temper. Also see eroded Uck Reds, Ardagh Orangebrown, and a strap handle.

1a-40

Middle Formative Cunil

Cunil

Includes some eroded Uck Reds, Ardagh Orange-brown, and other ash tempered sherds.

1e-59

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown

1e-60

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown

265

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Lot

Period

Ceramic Complex

1e-61

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

1g-1

Late Classic

Cahal Pech Sequence Cunil to Early Kanluk

Comments

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, and Ardagh Orange-brown

Spanish Lookout

Bag of 419 sherds, majority eroded. Includes Belize Reds, various Uaxactun Unslipped ware styles, Alexanders Unslipped, eroded black slipped sherds, and burned mottled red and black sherd. Lots of non-diagnostic eroded sherds with pitted surfaces. Some eroded black slipped? One Mount Pleasant Red form although paste has fewer calcite inclusions (see Gifford 1976 pg. 198 fig 112g). Also see Roaring Creek Red form as well as Early Classic style water jar rims. Mixed lot ranging from Early Classic to Late Classic (Tiger Run and Spanish Lookout)

1g-2

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

1g-3

Late Formative

Barton Creek

Early Xakal

Diagnostic body sherds include Sierra Red and Polvero Black. Late Preclassic types.

1g-4

Late Formative

Barton Creek

Early Xakal

Sierra Red, Polvero Black, possible eroded San Antonio Golden Brown.

1g-4

Late Formative to Barton Creek to Early Classic Hermitage

Late Xakal to Ahcabnal

Sierra Red, Savana Orange, 3 strap handles, incised Polvero Black. One ash temper with bit of red slip (poss. Belize Red?). Early Classic water jar forms.

1g-5

late facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek to Barton to Late Formative Creek

Late Kanluk to Early Xakal

Nice Polvero Black rim (pieces refit), Jocote Orange-brown with straight filleting, Savana Orange, Reforma Incised, and strap handles. One ‘caldron’ style rim. A few ash tempered sherds with no slip remaining.

1g-6

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Eroded body sherds, nothing that is really diagnostic in this bag. Possible Jocote Orange-brown body sherds.

1g-7

Middle Formative

early to late facet Jenney Creek

Early to Late Kanluk

Eroded Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote variety, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris variety (paste -7.5YR6/6 to 7.5YR6/4)

Middle Formative

early to late facet Jenney Creek

Early to Late Kanluk

Joventud Red (burned), Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote variety, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris variety, Savana Orange, possible ash tempered Cunil sherds

1g-10

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

Eroded Cunil sherds with light yellow ash paste, eroded Uck Red and Cocoyol Cream, also probable eroded Sikiya Unslipped, and Ardagh Orange-brown. Some Savana Orange, Chunhinta Black, Jocote Orangebrown: Jocote and Ambergris varieties.

1g-11

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek?

Cunil to Early Kanluk?

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, as well as some Cunil style sherds including Sikiya Unslipped

1g-12

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris variety, eroded Cunil ash tempered sherds including Sikiya Unslipped

1g-13

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris variety, small pieces of Savana Orange, ash tempered Cunil style sherds.

1g-14

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

Mixed lot – Jocote Orange-brown along with Sikiya Unslipped and other eroded Cunil ash tempered sherds.

1g-15

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, as well as some Cunil style sherds including Sikiya Unslipped

Cunil to Early Xakal

2350 body sherds; 813 gunshot; 100 rims, 17 incised sherds, 14 handles, and 20 appliqued sherds. Kitam Incised with Olmec cleft dragon profile, Savana Orange, Savana Orange spout fragment, Reforma Incised, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote variety (see Gifford 1976: 65, fig. 17 for similar form), Chacchinic Red-on-orange-brown, Chunhinta Black, Sampoperro Red, Deprecio Incised: Deprecio variety, Pital Cream, eroded Consejo Red, and a few pieces of Sierra Red. A number of sherds with ashy cream coloured paste and a black core with no slip remaining. A few eroded Uck Red sherds. There are other ash tempered sherds that may extend into Jenney Creek.

Cunil to Early Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown strap handle with filleting, Savana Orange, vessel base with foot broken off – Savana Orange style paste with small bits of black slip remaining, some Cunil sherds with ash paste including Uck Red, Cocoyol Cream, and Ardagh Orange-brown.

1g-9

1i-5

Middle to Late Formative

Cunil to Barton Creek

1o-5

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

266

Appendix B Lot

Period

Ceramic Complex

Cahal Pech Sequence

Comments

1p-7

Middle Formative

early to late facet Jenney Creek

Early to Late Kanluk

‘ceramic cluster’ that includes Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, partial censer style vessel (vessel base and other sherds)

1p-10

Middle Formative

early to late facet Jenney Creek

Early to Late Kanluk

Cache 12: 2006 – includes six different vessel (see detailed description)

late facet Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Savana Orange, Reforma Incised, Sibun Punctated, small eroded Uck Group sherds. More sherds coming from 1r-7 than from any other lot (rims: 151; bodies: 2286; handles: 5) – this lot seems to be typical early to late facet Jenney Creek with one eroded black slipped sherd.

Cunil to Early Kanluk

small pieces of Savana Orange, gritty tempered body sherds ranging from Sikiya Group to Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety

late facet Kanluk

Eroded Uck Red, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety with undulating filletting, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Savana Orange: Savana Variety, Reforma Incised, tecomate rim

late facet Jenney Creek

1r-7

Middle Preclassic

1r-8

Cunil to early Middle Preclassic facet Jenney Creek

1s-5

Middle Preclassic

1s-6

Cunil to early Middle Preclassic facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

gritty tempered body sherds ranging from Sikiya Group to Jocote Orangebrown: Ambergris Variety, eroded Uck Group sherds

1s-7

Cunil to early Middle Preclassic facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

eroded Uck Group sherds, gritty tempered body sherds ranging from Sikiya Group to Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, no Savana present

1t-14

Cunil to early Middle Preclassic facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

eroded Uck Group sherds, eroded unslipped sherds with gritty coarse temper (Sikiya Unslipped?), sherds from Plaza excavations are much grittier and coarser on surface and not a burnished at with the B4 sherds,

1t-19

Cunil to early Middle Preclassic facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, eroded Uck Red

1u-10

Cunil to early Middle Preclassic facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

eroded Uck Red, Sikiya Unslipped, Ardagh Orange-brown, some unslipped that resemble Jocote but surface of the sherds are very eroded, no Savana present

1u-11

Cunil to early Middle Preclassic facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

eroded Uck Group sherds, Sikiya Unslipped, Ardagh Orange-brown, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, no Savana present

1v-6

late facet Jenney Middle Preclassic Creek

late facet Kanluk

Consejo Red, Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, eroded Chunhinta Black, Reforma Incised, Jocote Orange-brown with undulating filletting, one piece that looks like a burned red with some kind of resist pattern

1v-7

Middle Preclassic

late facet Jenney Creek

late facet Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, Jocote Orangebrown: Ambergris Variety, eroded Chunhinta Black, a lot of small broken ‘gunshot’ sherds in this lot compared to other lots.

1v-12

Cunil to early Middle Preclassic facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

Ardagh Orange-brown tecomate rim, Sikiya Unslipped, Jocote Orangebrown, small Savana sherd

1v-13

Cunil to early Middle Preclassic facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

Burned Baki Red Incised: Baki Variety, Uck Red, Sikiya Unslipped, Ardagh Orange-brown (outflaring jar rim) – similar to those from CHP 8/2006 lv. 12, typical eroded body sherds ranging from Sikiya – Jocote that are hard to differentiate

1v-16

Middle Preclassic

early to late facet Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, eroded Uck Group sherds, lot only has a few eroded sherd but in early to late facet Jenney Creek range

1v-19

Cunil to early Middle Preclassic facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

small ‘gunshot’ sherds, Savana Orange, eroded Uck Group sherds

1v-20

Middle Preclassic Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Unslipped body sherds – one is Jocote Orange-brown in form

1v-22

Cunil to early Middle Preclassic facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

gritty calcite tempered body sherds ranging from Sikiya Group to Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Savana Orange

1x-4

Late Formative

Early Xakal

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, Sierra Red, and eroded Late Preclassic forms.

1x-5

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Chacchinic Red-on-orange-brown, Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, and Sampoperro Red.

late facet Jenney Creek

early to late facet Jenney Creek

Barton Creek

267

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Lot

Period

1x-6

Middle Formative

Ceramic Complex

Cahal Pech Sequence

Comments

late facet Jenney Creek

late facet Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown (some with undulating filleting) and Savana Orange.

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Reforma Incised, Jocote Orange-brown (some with undulating filleting), Chacchinic Red-on-orange-brown, Sampoperro Red, and see thin sherd with shallow incised lines (compare with Column 8/2006 Lv. 7 and 8).

1x-7

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

1x-8

Middle Formative

late facet Jenney Creek

late facet Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, Jocote Orangebrown: Ambergris Variety, and eroded Sampoperro Red.

1x-9

Middle Formative

late facet Jenney Creek

late facet Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown, Savana Orange, and eroded Sampoperro Red.

1x-10

Middle Formative

late facet Jenney Creek

late facet Kanluk

Savana Orange, Reforma Incised, Chacchinic Red-on-orange-brown jar rims, eroded Belize Valley Dull Ware, many Jocote Group sherds.

1x-11

Middle Formative

late facet Jenney Creek

late facet Kanluk

Reforma Incised, Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, and a few eroded Uck Reds.

1x-12

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Reforma Incised: Mucnal Variety, Savana Orange: Rejolla Variety, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, eroded Uck Reds.

1x-14

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Small utilitarian body sherds. Lots of Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote and Ambergris Varieties, strap handle fragments. Eroded Mars Orange and Cunil (Uck Red, Baki Red Incised, and a Sikiya jar rim).

1x-15

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

CONCENTRATION A. 232 sherds. Most seem to be Cunil – Belize Valley Dull Ware and part of the Uck and Cocoyol Groups. Some of the sherds are utilitarian and are from the Sikiya and Jocote Groups. The sherds are very eroded as is typical for the Plaza context and difficult to identify as ‘pure’ Cunil.

1x-15

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

CONCENTRATION B. 264 sherds. This concentration has a higher percentage of utilitarian sherds and lower percentage of Belize Valley Dull Ware in comparison to concentration A. The majority of these sherds fall in the range of Sikiya Group and Jocote Group sherds. One thin walled bowl rim with incurved sides and a restricted orifice.

1x-15

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

CONCENTRATION C. 55 sherds. Majority of sherds are from Jocote Group and Sikiya Group. See some Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety. Five sherds with Belize Valley Dull Ware style paste.

1x-15

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

CONCENTRATION D. 36 sherds. Thirteen Belize Valley Dull Ware sherds with no slip remaining. The rest of the sherds fall into the Jocote Group with the majority being Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety

1x-15

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

COMMENT ON SHERD CONCENTRATIONS: With the concentrations I see a mix of sherds and some eroded Belize Valley Dull Ware sherds but many are so eroded that it is difficult to give a firm chronological designation. I would classify the majority of the body sherds as part of the Jocote group as they lack the fire clouded surfaces that are characteristic of the earlier Sikiya group. None of these concentrations have any obvious Mars Orange and I would classify them as somewhere between Cunil and early facet Jenney Creek. The sherds from these concentrations look similar to Cache 10 (1e-66).

1x-17

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Primarily utilitarian style body sherds – Jocote and Sikiya Group. Two ash temper sherds that refit and are Jenney Creek in form.

1x-18

Middle Formative

early facet Jenney Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, other eroded Jocote Group body early facet Kanluk Creek sherds, two eroded Belize Valley Dull Ware sherds.

1x-19

Middle Formative

early facet Jenney early facet Kanluk Ardagh Orange-brown and Jocote Orange-brown sherds. Creek

1x-20

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Very eroded sherds – Jocote Group – nothing really diagnostic.

1y-3

Late Formative

Barton Creek

Early Xakal

Jocote Orange-brown, Savana Orange, eroded Laguna Verde Incised, and Polvero Black.

1y-4

Late Formative

Barton Creek

Early Xakal

Nothing really diagnostic in terms of forms. Some eroded Jocote Orangebrown and Savana Orange. Possible eroded Late Preclassic red.

1y-5

Late Formative

Barton Creek

Early Xakal

Sampoperro Red, Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, Polvero Black, and Sierra Red.

1y-6

late facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek to Barton Creek

Late Kanluk to Early Xakal

Jocote Orange-brown, and several thin sherds with a small about of black slip – possibly Polvero Black: Variety Unspecified (G-2) (Gifford 1976: 97).

268

Appendix B Lot

Period

Ceramic Complex

1y-7

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Primarily small body sherds, some Jocote Orange-brown, at least one piece of Savana Orange, one strap handle

1y-8

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Jocote Orangebrown: Jocote Variety, eroded Uck Red and other Belize Valley Dull Ware sherds.

1y-9

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety (two with filleting), small eroded possible Cunil sherds.

1y-10

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown, Savana Orange, Chacchinic Red-on-orange-brown, and a few eroded Uck Group sherds.

Kanluk

Baki Red Incised, Baki Red plate with everted rim, eroded Uck Reds, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote and Ambergris Varieties, Chacchinic Redon-orange-brown strap handle, no obvious Savana Orange but see Jenney Creek mixed with some Cunil sherds.

1y-11

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

1y-12

Middle Formative

1y-13

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Cahal Pech Sequence

Comments

Primarily Jocote Group sherds along with some Sikiya Group sherds. One early facet Jenney early facet Kanluk sherd is Unnamed Black Punctated-incised with cob impressions (just a Creek small fragment). Kanluk

Jocote Group sherds with some Savana Orange, Chacchinic Red-onorange-brown bowl, eroded Uck Red – identification primarily based on paste, no Savana Orange, one Z angle base with no slip remaining.

1y-14

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Primarily Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety and Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, also see eroded Chacchinic Red-on-orange-brown, at 10 sherds with Cunil style paste and dark core, other sherd with paste styles ranging from early to late facet Jenney Creek.

1y-15

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Chacchinic Red-on-orangebrown, eroded Uck Group sherds,

1y-16

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek?

Cunil to Early Kanluk?

Primarily utilitarian body sherds. Mix of Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote and Ambergris Varieties. Mix of eroded early to late facet Jenney Creek with a few Cunil sherds (possible Sikiya and Ardagh Orange-brown). Only one Mars Orange sherd.

3a-1

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

Lot consists primarily of eroded and some pitted sherds with little to no slip remaining. Types include Belize Red, Cayo Unslipped, Alexanders Unslipped, Garbutt Creek Red.

3a-2

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

No diagnostics, ten small eroded body sherds – Late Classic?

3a-3

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

One comal fragment, Zibal Unslipped (see Gifford 1976 fig. 135h for form), Sierra Red: Maroon Variety and other Preclassic forms, Mount Maloney Black, Belize Red, Roaring Creek Red, and Garbutt Creek Red.

3a-4

Late Formative

Barton Creek

Early Xakal

The diagnostic sherds appear to be Late Preclassic – Sierra Red, Society Hall, eroded Preclassic reds, Sapote Striated, and a comal fragment. Within large bag there is a small bag labelled 3a-4 lv. 3 (Feature 2) that has 4 nondiagnostic body sherds.

3a-5

Late Formative

Barton Creek

Early Xakal

Primarily Late Preclassic forms. Guacamallo Red-on-orange, a few ash tempered sherds with no slip or eroding slip.

3a-6

Middle to Late Formative

Jenney Creek to Barton Creek

Kanluk to Early Xakal

Sampoperro Red with ash paste (similar to Cache 7 vessel), Sierra Red, San Antonio Golden Brown, Polvero Black, Jocote Orange-brown, Savana Orange, and sherd with a matte red slip.

3a-7

Middle to Late Formative

late facet Jenney Creek to Barton Creek

Late Kanluk to Early Xakal

This lot consists of primarily eroded body sherds. Includes Late Preclassic rim forms and some Sierra Red. A few Savana Orange sherds are noted.

3a-8

3a-9

early facet Jenney Middle Formative Early Kanluk to Creek to Barton to Late Formative Early Xakal Creek

Middle Formative

early to late facet Jenney Creek

Early to Late Kanluk

Quantity of Savana Orange sherds increased compared 3a-7, some Savana sherds with ash tempering, Reforma Incised. Jocote Orange-brown (with undulating filleting), Joventud Red, Chunhinta Black with fine ash paste (Gifford 1976: 82), Pital Cream, Sampoperro Red (ash tempering), Desvario Chamfered, and a few Cunil style sherds. A few rims from this lot that are very red and waxy which are probably Sierra Red – however, most sherds from this lot are Jenney Creek. Savana Orange, Savana Orange: Rejolla variety, Savana (with ash paste), Reforma Incised, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote variety, Chunhinta Black, Savana Orange – chamfered style, Chacchinic Red-on-orange brown, possible Pital Cream, a few eroded Cunil sherds with no slip remaining, high ash temper, and large grey to black core.

269

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Lot

Period

Ceramic Complex

Cahal Pech Sequence

Comments

Early to Late Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown (with straight filleting), Jocote Orange-brown (with undulating filleting), Savana Orange, Reforma Incised, Reforma Incised: Mucnal Variety, Pital Cream, Chunhinta Black, Chachinnic Red-on-orange brown, one jar rim with ashy paste and small amount of red to brown slip on exterior, sherds with dull red wash. Nine Cunil sherds with creamy paste and grey to black core, no slip remaining.

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange spout, Jocote Orange-brown, Joventud Red

3c-8

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Savana Orange: Ash-paste Variety, Jocote Orange-brown with undulating filleting, Sampoperro Red, mottled black slipped sherd, Reforma Incised, Black slipped spout, Joventud Red

3c-9

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, Reforma Incised, Jar rim with burnishing

3c-10

Middle Formative

late facet Kanluk

Reforma Incised, Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, Sampoperro Red

3c-13

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, Jocote Orangebrown: Ambergris Variety

3c-14

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, Jocote Orangebrown: Ambergris Variety , Sampoperro Red, Chachinnic Orange-brown

3c-15

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, Jocote Orangebrown: Ambergris Variety, Uck Red

3c-17

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

Uck Red: Uck Variety, Uck Red: Variety Unspecified (Orange), Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Savana Orange

3d-6

Late Formative

Late Kanluk to Early Xakal

Laguna Verde Incised, Sierra Red, Joventud Red, Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, Chachinnic Orange-brown

3d-7

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown, Savana Orange, Sampoperro Red, Chunhinta Black

Late Kanluk to Early Xakal

Savana Orange, Chunhinta Black, Sierra Red, Joventud Red, Jocote Orange-brown

Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown, Savana Orange, Reforma Incised, Savana Orange: Ash-paste Variety

3a-12

Middle Formative

3c-6

early to late facet Jenney Creek

late facet Jenney Creek

late facet Jenney Creek to Barton Creek late facet Jenney Creek to Barton Creek

3d-8

Late Formative

3d-10

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

4a-1

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

Lot consists primarily of eroded body sherds, some ash tempered and some with gritty paste and large calcite inclusions. Types include Belize Red, Cayo Unslipped, Garbutt Creek Red rim forms. One interesting punctated sherd. Also noted are Preclassic rim forms and some eroded Sierra Red and Savana Orange.

4a-2

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

Most of the sherds from this lot are eroded with little to no slip remaining. Probable eroded Late Classic body sherds. Sierra Red sherds and ash tempered sherd with incised lines.

4a-3

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

Savana Orange: Rejolla variety, Reforma Incised. Probable eroded Late Classic body sherds.

4a-4

Middle Formative

early to late facet Jenney Creek

Early to Late Kanluk

Savana Orange: Rejolla variety, Reforma Incised, Joventud Red on local paste, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote variety, unslipped tubular spout – Jocote?, Chachinnic Red-on-Orange brown

4a-5

early to late facet Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Early to Late Kanluk

Savana Orange: Rejolla variety, Reforma Incised: Mucnal variety, Deprecio Incised, eroded Chunhinta Black, thin black slipped sherds with black paste, Pital Cream. Sherd with buff paste and small amount of red slip remaining – local variety of Consejo Red ?

4a-7

Middle Formative

early to late facet Jenney Creek

Early to Late Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote variety (undulating and straight filleting examples), Jocote Orange-brown lug handles, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris variety (gritty paste), Savana Orange: Rejolla variety, Savana Orange: Savana variety, Sampoperro Red. Kitam Incised sherd with preslip wavy incised lines on exterior – brown paste with small calcite inclusions – brown slip 5YR4/3 to 5YR4/4.

4a-8

Middle Formative

Cunil to late facet Cunil to Late Jenney Creek Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, and handle of Cunil style ash tempered sherds with dark black core. Tower Hill Red on Cream (paste 10YR7/4 slip 10YR8/2) (pulled for Awe) for comparison with local variety of Tower Hill from B4 2006 excavations.

270

Appendix B Lot

Period

Ceramic Complex

4a-10

Middle Formative Cunil

Cahal Pech Sequence

Comments

Cunil

Three body sherds that refit and have dark core with tan paste – Cunil style. Cocoyol Cream and an Uck Red sherd.

4a-11

Cunil to early Middle Formative facet Jenney Creek

Cunil to Early Kanluk

Little to no Savana Orange compared to other lots. Sherds are eroded. Possible Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris variety sherd, Kitam Incised and Chi Black. There are some sherds with a very eroded red slip – hard to distinguish whether they are eroded Uck Reds or Sampoperro Red with an ash paste.

4a-12

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

This bag came in at end of season- a quick glance revealed some Savana Orange and Jocote Orange-brown.

4a-13

Middle Formative

early to late facet Jenney Creek

Early to Late Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, and Pital Cream.

5a-5

Middle Preclassic

late facet Jenney Creek

late facet Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown with undulating filletting, eroded black slipped sherds

7a-1

Late to Terminal Classic

Spanish Lookout

Belize Red, Martins Incised, Pedregal Modelled, Gallinero Fluted, Cayo Unslipped, lot of pottery in lot

7a-3

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

eroded sherds with little to no slip, some Belize Red

7b-2

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

Belize Red, Roaring Creek Red, Cayo Unslipped, eroded Pine Ridge Carbonate Ware, some eroded Sierra Red

7b-6

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, Ardagh Orange-brown, eroded Uck Red

7b-8

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Ardagh Orange-brown jar rim, Jocote Orange-brown, one small piece of Savana Orange, Chunhinta Black

7b-9

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

a lot of small utilitarian body sherds, eroded Uck Red, Sikiya Unslipped, Ardagh Orange-brow, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety,

7b-10

Middle Formative

early facet Jenney Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety – lots of eroded gritty tempered early facet Kanluk Creek sherds

7c-1

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

Belize Red, Cayo Unslipped

7c-2

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

Belize Red, Roaring Creek Red, Late Classic Jar rims

7c-3

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

Belize Red, Garbutt Creek Red, Cayo Unslipped, eroded sherds with little to now slip

7c-8

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Sampoperro Red (burned, fire clouded), Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety

7c-9

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown, eroded Uck Red

7c-10

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

A few pieces of Savana Orange but primarily small utilitarian body sherds, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, eroded Uck red, Cocoyol Cream, Ardagh Orange-brown, Sikiya Unslipped

7c-17

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Savana Orange, eroded Uck Group sherds

7c-18

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

Savana Orange, Savana Orange: Ash-paste Variety, Jocote Orange-brown with straight filleting, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Sikiya Unslipped, Uck Red

7d-2

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

eroded Late Classic sherds, one eroded basal flange

7d-4

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

eroded sherds with little to no slip, some Belize Red

7d-10

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Ardagh Orange-brown, outflaring jar rim, Sikiya and Jocote Group sherds

7d-11

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Uck Red, Sikiya Unslipped, Ardagh Orange-brown, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety

7d-14

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

Uck Group sherds, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, one small piece of Savana Orange, 1 sherd with grey paste and no slip remaining (7.5YR5/2).

7e-9

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange – more Savana here than in the other units from the original 6 opened this year, Reforma Incised, Uck Red, Jocote Orangebrown with filleting, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, eroded Cunil style sherds

7e-11

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

eroded Uck Group sherds, Jocote Orange -brown: Ambergris Variety

271

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Lot

Period

7e-12

Ceramic Complex

Cahal Pech Sequence

Comments

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

Uck Red, there is one bag of Uck Group sherds that appear to all be from the same vessel, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety

7e-13

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown with curved filleting, not as much Dull Ware in this lot as in 7f-12 and 7e-12 and Dull Ware in this lot is more eroded, Sikiya Unslipped outflaring jar rim, Uck Red

7e-16

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Jocote Orangebrown: Jocote Variety

7f-3

Late Classic

Spanish Lookout

7f-7

Late Formative

late facet Jenney Creek to Barton Creek

7f-8 7f-10

Belize Red, Cayo Unslipped late facet Kanluk to Xakal

Polvero Black, Society Hall, Jocote Orange-brown, Striated

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Chunhinta Black, unidentified body sherds, striated

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown

7f-12

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

Uck Red, Cocoyol Cream, Sikiya Group sherds, the lot consists primarily of Cunil sherds especially in terms of the Dull Ware. The coarse ware utilitarian body sherds are hard to identify so there may be some early facet Jenney Creek mixed in: however, note that there is no Savana Orange present.

7f-13

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

eroded Uck Red, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety

7f-14

Cunil to early Terminal Early to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

eroded Uck Red, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety

7g-5

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Savana Orange

7g-6

Late Formative

Xakal

Sierra Red: Variety Unspecified (Maroon), Jocote Orange-brown

7g-8

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

Savana Orange, Reforma Incised, Chunhinta Black, Joventud Red, Uck Red, Jocote Orange-brown: Ambergris Variety, Jocote Orange-brown: Jocote Variety, small piece of Uck Red

7g-9

Middle Formative

Cunil to Kanluk

Jocote and Sikiya Group sherds

7g-10

Middle Formative Jenney Creek

Kanluk

a few small pieces of Savana Orange, eroded utilitarian body sherds

7g-11

Terminal Early Cunil to early Formative to facet Jenney Middle Formative Creek

Cunil to early facet Kanluk

Uck Group, Savana Orange, Jocote Orange-brown and eroded Sikiya Group sherds

Barton Creek

Cunil to Jenney Creek

272

Appendix C List of Caches and Burial The table below presents summary descriptions of the caches and single burial encountered by BVAP excavations. Detailed descriptions of the artefacts are given throughout the text, and this appendix provides a quick reference for the contents and contexts of these special deposits. Each table entry includes a cache/burial number, phase designation, brief context description, and a list of artefacts contained in the deposit. I have made comments on most special deposits and provided previous interpretations in the same column, and references to the original descriptions are included. Burial/ Cache #

Phase

Context

Contents

Comment

Source

1 Headless Body, male

Burial 1

IV

Crypt 2

1 Slate Slab

Slate slab used in crypt construction

1 Polished Basalt Triangular Stone

Skeletal remains poorly preserved

Southeast corner Platform B 1 Marine Shell Blank/Disk 1 Ceramic Ball 4 Oliva spp. Tinklers

Probably related to skull in Cache 7/Crypt 1 Garber et al. 2006:12-13 Obsidian blade placed in right hand Tinklers recovered near right hand, bracelet or costume element

1 Complete Obsidian Blade Construction fill Cache 1

Cache 2

IV

IV

Platform B eastern edge

1 Partial Dish, (Backlanding Incised)

Off centreline, near marl surface

1 Chert Flake 3 Freshwater Shell Fragments

Construction fill

3 Slate Fragments

Probable northeast corner Platform B

1 Figurine Torso

IV

Platform B eastern edge

Garber et al. 2005:17

Layered cache Green-stone artefacts lowest element, other elements in platform fill above

13 Green-stone Triangulates

Construction fill Cache 3

Interpreted as feasting residue by excavators

1 Partial Dish (Savana Orange)

Interpreted as part of ritual program including Caches 7, 13, and 14 Unclear where cache was deposited along platform Interpreted as feasting residue by excavators

Off centreline

Garber et al. 2005:17

Garber et al. 2005:18

Deposited on surface of Patio Floor 1 near interface with Platform B Platform surface Cache 4

III/IV

Near junction of Patio Floor 1 and Platform B

1 Partial Dish (Savana Orange) 2 Freshwater Shell Fragments

Shell remains not placed in vessel

Garber et al. Unclear which architectural feature cache is 2005:18 associated with Possible provisional discard but cache designation retained Possibly earliest cache in Plaza B

Shallow bedrock depression Cache 5

Cache 6

0

IV

Covered by black dirt stratum Beneath interface of Platform B and patio floor sequence

20 Limestone Spheroids 1 Chert Flake 1 Freshwater Shell Fragment

Spheroids pecked but probably lacked concentrated battering Not directly associated with later architecture

Garber et al. 2005:18

Ritual cache or materials hoard?

Sediment and rubble deposit 1 Partial Bowl (Savana Orange) off eastern edge of Platform 1 Partial Jar (Jocote OrangeB Brown) Near southeastern platform 3 Discoid Marine Shell Beads corner

273

Unclear if cache deposited off platform edge or part of collapsed facing Garber et al. Association of shell beads and vessels not clear

2006:8

Socioeconomic Networks and the Rise of Maya Civilization Burial/ Cache #

Phase

Context

Contents

Comment

Source

Cache placed in stone slab crypt Crypt 1 Cache 7

Cache 8

IV

V

1 Human Skull, male

1 Complete Dish (Sampopero Southeastern corner Platform Red:Variety Unspecified) B 6 Green-stone beads

Between wall stubs of Late Preclassic building Surface of Floor 4

1 Mostly Complete Bowl (Hillbank Red:Variety Unspecified [Brown])

Skull and beads placed in dish Adjacent to Burial 1, probably skull of headless individual Dish is ash-tempered

Garber et al. 2006:8-9

Interpreted as part of ritual program including Caches 2, 13, and 14 Cache vessel in Late Preclassic building foundation

Garber et al. 2006:9

15 Partial Vessels (mostly Savana and Jocote Group; 1 Pital Cream, 1 Sampopero Red) Construction fill/surface? Cache 9

IV

1 Chert Tranchet Adze 1 Green-stone Mosaic

Platform B eastern edge near 1 Prunum spp. Shell marl surface 1 Brown Quartz Crystal

Probably in Platform B fill, but some materials may be on floor Probably related to dedication of Platform B

Garber et al. 2006:10-11

1 Figurine Appendage 2 Ceramic Earspools Overlying hole in bedrock Cache 10

I

Cache 11

IV

Cache 12

IV

Beneath construction fill of later platforms

2 Partial Vessels (Cocoyol Cream, Ardagh Orange-brown)

1 Triangular Marine Shell Near Phase I domestic refuse Ornament deposit 1 Large Slate Disk

At same depth and adjacent to refuse deposit Garber et al. associated with Phase I floor in Op. 1x 2006:11 Probably related to early domicile

Construction fill

Deposited in platform fill near Burial 1

Platform B, 50 cm north and 1 Partial Dish (Consejo Red) above Crypt 2/Burial 1

Relationship to Burial 1 not clear

Midden beneath cobble feature Near centre of Plaza B (Op. 1p)

1 Partial Dish (Savana Orange, chamfered)

Dish is ash-tempered Association with cobble feature uncertain

Garber et al. 2006:11-12 Garber et al. 2007:9

Layered cache Bedrock depression Cache 13

IV

Construction fill

1 Ceramic Death’s Head Figurine Fragment

Platform corner Op. 3a, 3 Smooth Stones probably northwest Platform 13 Obsidian Flakes B Construction fill

Cache 14

IV

2009:Cache II 1

Possible southwest Platform 1 Large Ceramic Figurine Head B corner On top hard Phase II marland-pebble floor

1 Partial Bowl Base

North of tan marl platform

1 Obsidian Flake

3 Slate Disks/Mirror-backs

Obsidian flakes placed in bedrock depression Other materials deposited in platform fill inside corner

2007:11

Interpreted as part of ritual program including Caches 2, 7, and 14 Interpreted as part of ritual program including Caches 2, 7, and 13

Garber et al. 2007:13

Layered cache Placed on floor surface and covered by Phase III platform Ritual specialist’s items?

274

Garber et al.

Garber et al. 2010:17

Appendix D Descriptions of Ceramic Fabric Types The tables below present descriptive and quantitative data for the fabric types discussed in chapter nine. I use parameters derived from sedimentary petrology and ceramic petrography to describe photomicrographs of freshly fractured sherds taken at 40X magnification. These descriptions form the basis of the summary discussions of fabric types and provide justification for their identification and discrimination. The parameters are presented below before the fabric type descriptions are given.

Voids coarse fraction:fine fraction (