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RECONSTRUCTING THE FORMATION OF PERI-ABANDONMENT DEPOSITS AT BAKING POT, BELIZE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2020

Julie A. Hoggarth Open the ORCID record for Julie A. Hoggarth [Opens in a new window] ,
J. Britt Davis ,
Jaime J. Awe Open the ORCID record for Jaime J. Awe [Opens in a new window]  and
Christophe Helmke Open the ORCID record for Christophe Helmke [Opens in a new window]
Julie A. Hoggarth*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Institute of Archaeology, Baylor University, One Bear Place #97173, Waco, Texas76712
J. Britt Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, 5 East McConnell Drive, P.O. Box 15200, Flagstaff, Arizona86011
Jaime J. Awe
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, 5 East McConnell Drive, P.O. Box 15200, Flagstaff, Arizona86011
Christophe Helmke
Affiliation:
Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Karen Blixens Plads 8, DK 2300 København S, Denmark
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
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Abstract

Archaeological research in the Maya lowlands has identified special deposits that offer essential information about the abandonment of Classic Maya centers. We argue that some of the “problematical deposits” associated with terminal architecture may be more accurately described as peri-abandonment deposits since they temporally and behaviorally relate to the activities associated with the final use of ceremonial space. Here, we describe several peri-abandonment deposits that were identified in Group B at the site of Baking Pot, located in western Belize. Using detailed stratigraphic and contextual information, artifact assemblages, and calendar dates recorded on polychrome vessels recovered in the deposits, we describe the nature of activities associated with the formation of peri-abandonment deposits at Baking Pot in the eighth to ninth centuries. We find patterning in the spatial locations of deposits in the corners of plazas and courtyards at Baking Pot, with variability in artifact assemblages between specific deposits.

Type
Special Section: Problematic “On-Floor” Deposits in the Terminal Classic Eastern Maya Lowlands: Implications for the Maya Collapse
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , Spring 2020 , pp. 139 - 149
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2020

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