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Fire Intensity Assessment through the Analysis of Artifacts and Building Materials

Burning and Abandonment at the Classic Maya Sites of Aguateca and Ceibal, Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 January 2017

Takeshi Inomata
Takeshi Inomata*
Affiliation:
School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, 1009 E. South Campus Drive, Tucson, AZ 85721 ([email protected])
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Abstract

Different types of artifacts and building materials react in varying manners to heat exposure, and the analysis of their degrees and patterns of thermal alterations provide important clues to the intensity of fire to which they were subjected. Such data allow researchers to examine the presence or absence of a building fire, the quantity of fuel, and the intentional or accidental nature of the fire. This approach is particularly important in the tropical lowlands, where evidence of fire in the forms of charcoal and ash may not be well preserved. At the rapidly abandoned site of Aguateca, Guatemala, the amount of charcoal and ash was small, but the examination of numerous artifacts left in situ and of building materials identified clear evidence that many buildings were burned at the time of abandonment. Similar lines of evidence were also found in artifact-poor, gradually abandoned structures at Ceibal, Guatemala. These results suggest the possibility that the burning of structures at the time of abandonment may have been more common in the Maya Lowlands than generally thought.

Diferentes tipos de artefactos y materiales de construcción reaccionan de manera diversa a la exposición al calor. Por lo tanto, el análisis de los grados y patrones de alteraciones térmicas de dichos materiales provee indicios importantes sobre la intensidad del fuego a la que fueron sometidos. Estos datos permiten a los investigadores examinar la presencia o ausencia de un incendio en un edificio, la cantidad de combustible y el carácter intencional o accidental del fuego. Este enfoque es particularmente importante en las tierras bajas tropicales, en donde la evidencia de fuego en forma de carbón y ceniza puede no estar bien conservada. En el sitio de Aguateca, Guatemala, que fue abandonado rápidamente, la cantidad de carbón y ceniza fue pequeña. Sin embargo, el análisis de numerosos artefactos dejados in situ y de los materiales de construcción identificó evidencia clara de que muchos edificios fueron incendiados en el momento de su abandono. Se encontraron indicios similares en algunas estructuras de Ceibal, Guatemala, las cuales fueron abandonadas gradualmente y contenían pocos artefactos. Estos resultados sugieren la posibilidad de que los incendios de edificios en los momentos de abandono pudieron haber sido más comunes en las tierras bajas Mayas de lo que se asume generalmente.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 50 - 63
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2014

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