Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T01:18:56.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

THE GROWTH AND DECLINE OF THE ANCIENT MAYA CITY OF LA MILPA, BELIZE: NEW DATA AND NEW PERSPECTIVES FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAZAS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2012

Gregory Zaro  and
Brett A. Houk
Gregory Zaro*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and the Climate Change Institute, 5773 South Stevens Hall, University of Maine, Orono, Maine, 04469
Brett A. Houk
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Texas Tech University, Box 41012, Lubbock, Texas, 79409
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Construction histories of ancient Maya monumental centers have long been used to interpret the growth and decline of Lowland Maya polities. Changes in the built environment at monumental centers reflect labor appropriation by ruling elites and may indirectly serve to gauge changes in political clout over time. Consequently, the precision and accuracy with which archaeologists measure these changes take on increased importance when assessing the ancient Maya political landscape. Recent excavations in the monumental core of La Milpa, Belize, have generated new data that call for a re-assessment of the center's historical trajectory. Our data indicate that La Milpa had a larger Late Preclassic foundation, likely grew much more incrementally through the Classic period, and persisted centuries longer than previously understood. The apparent persistence of occupation into the tenth century a.d. challenges the traditionally accepted dates for La Milpa's abandonment, and, the ceramic sequence upon which it is often based.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , Spring 2012 , pp. 143 - 159
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abrams, Elliot 1994 How the Maya Built their World. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Abrams, Elliot 1998 Structures as Sites: The Construction Process and Maya Architecture. In Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture, edited by Houston, Stephen D., pp. 123–140. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Adams, Richard E.W. 1999 Río Azul: An Ancient Maya City. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Adams, Richard E.W., Robichaux, Hubert R., Valdez, Fred Jr., Houk, Brett A., and Mathews, Ruth 2004 Transformations, Periodicity, and Urban Development in the Three Rivers Region. In The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and Transformation, edited by Demarest, Arthur A., Rice, Prudence M., and Rice, Don S., pp. 324–341. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Aimers, James J. 2003 Abandonment and Nonabandonment at Baking Pot, Belize. In The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America, edited by Inomata, Takeshi and Webb, Ronald W., pp. 149–160. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Aimers, James J. 2007 What Maya Collapse? Terminal Classic Variation in the Maya Lowlands. Journal of Archaeological Research 15:329–377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, Christopher 2009 Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates. Radiocarbon 51:337–360.Google Scholar
Chase, Arlen F., and Chase, Diane Z. 2007 This is the End: Archaeological Transitions and the Terminal Classic Period at Caracol, Belize. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 4:13–27.Google Scholar
Chase, Diane Z., and Chase, Arlen F. 2003 Texts and Contexts in Maya Warfare: A Brief Consideration of Epigraphy and Archaeology at Caracol, Belize. In Ancient Mesoamerican Warfare, edited by Brown, M. Kathryn and Stanton, Travis W., pp. 171–188. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, CA.Google Scholar
Chase, Arlen F., Chase, Diane Z., and Smith, Michael E. 2009 States and Empires in Ancient Mesoamerica. Ancient Mesoamerica 20:175–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheek, Charles 1986 Construction Activity as a Measurement of Change at Copan. In The Southeast Maya Periphery, edited by Urban, Patricia A. and Schortman, Edward M., pp. 50–71. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coe, William R. 1965 Tikal: Ten Years of Study of a Maya Ruin in the Lowlands of Guatemala. Expedition 8:4–56.Google Scholar
de Montmollin, Olivier 1988 Tenam Rosario–A Political Microcosm. American Antiquity 53:351–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Montmollin, Olivier 1995 Settlement and Politics in Three Classic Maya Polities. Monographs in World Archaeology No. 24. Prehistory Press, Madison, WI.Google Scholar
Dunning, Nicholas, Jones, John G., Beach, Timothy, and Luzzadder-Beach, Sheryl 2003 Physiography, Habitats, and Landscapes of the Three Rivers Region. In Heterarchy, Political Economy, and the Ancient Maya: The Three Rivers Region of the East-Central Yucatán Peninsula, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L., Valdez, Fred Jr., and Dunning, Nicholas, pp.14–24. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Graham, Elizabeth A. 2004 Lamanai Reloaded: Alive and Well in the Early Postclassic. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 1:223–241.Google Scholar
Grube, Nikolai 1994 A Preliminary Report on the Monuments and Inscriptions of La Milpa, Orange Walk, Belize. Baessler-Archiv NS 42:217–238.Google Scholar
Grube, Nikolai (editor) 2001 Maya, Divine Kings of the Rainforest. Konemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH.Google Scholar
Guderjan, Thomas H. 1991 Investigations at La Milpa. In Maya Settlement in Northwestern Belize, edited by Guderjan, Thomas H., pp. 7–34. Maya Research Program and Labyrinthos, San Antonio and Culver City.Google Scholar
Hageman, Jon B., and Lohse, Jon C. 2003 Heterarchy, Corporate Groups, and Late Classic Resource Management in Northwestern Belize. In Heterarchy, Political Economy, and the Ancient Maya: The Three Rivers Region of the East-Central Yucatán Peninsula, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L., Valdez, Fred Jr., and Dunning, Nicholas, pp. 109–121. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman 1999 A Pillar of State…Majestic, though in Ruin: The Royal Acropolis of La Milpa. Context 14:11–15.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman, and Bobo, Matthew R. 1994 Pilgrimages Last Mile: Late Maya Monument Veneration at La Milpa, Belize. World Archaeology 26:19–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammond, Norman, and Tourtellot, Gair III 2003 La Milpa. Current World Archaeology 1:36–43.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman, and Tourtellot, Gair III 2004 Out with a Whimper: La Milpa in the Terminal Classic. In The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and Transformation, edited by Demarest, Arthur A., Rice, Prudence M., and Rice, Don S., pp. 288–301. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman, Tourtellot, Gair III, Donaghey, Sara, and Clarke, Amanda 1998 No Slow Dusk: Maya Urban Development and Decline at La Milpa, Belize. Antiquity 72:831–837.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammond, Normand, Tourtellot, Gair III, Everson, Gloria, Sagebiel, Kerry L., Thomas, Ben, and Wolf, Marc 2000 Survey and Excavation at La Milpa, Belize, 1998. Mexicon 22:38–45.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard D. 1991 An Early Maya Text from El Mirador, Guatemala. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing 37:19–32. Center for Maya Research, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard D. 1998 Continuity and Disjunction: Preclassic Antecedents of Classic Maya Architecture. In Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture, edited by Houston, Stephen D., pp. 49–122. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard D. 2001 The First Cities: The Beginnings of Urbanization and State Formation in the Maya Lowlands. In Maya, Divine Kings of the Rainforest, edited by Grube, Nikolai, pp. 51–64. Konemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH.Google Scholar
Houk, Brett A. 2000 Life, the Universe, and Everything: Reevaluating Problematic Deposit 2 from Dos Hombres, Belize. In The 1998 and 1999 Seasons of the Chan Chich Archaeological Project, edited by Houk, Brett A., pp. 141–150. Papers of the Chan Chich Archaeological Project No. 4. Mesoamerican Archaeological Research Laboratory. University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Houk, Brett A. 2010 Overview of the 2009 Season and Report on Investigations of Structure 21. In The 2007–2009 Seasons of the La Milpa Core Project, edited by Houk, Brett A., pp. 77–96. Occasional Papers in Archaeology, No. 3. Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Texas Tech University, Lubbock.Google Scholar
Houk, Brett A., and Smith, Shannon M. 2010 The 2009 Season of Excavations at Structure 27. In The 2007–2009 Seasons of the La Milpa Core Project, edited by Houk, Brett A., pp. 109–122. Occasional Papers in Archaeology, No. 3. Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Texas Tech University, Lubbock.Google Scholar
Houk, Brett A., and Zaro, Gregory 2010 Architectural History and Ritual Planning at La Milpa: A Reconsideration. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 7:95–102.Google Scholar
Houk, Brett A., and Zaro, Gregory 2011 Evidence for Ritual Engineering in the Late/Terminal Classic Site Plan of La Milpa, Belize. Latin American Antiquity 22:178–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Houston, Stephen 2000 Advances in Maya Glyph Studies. Journal of World Prehistory 14:121–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Houston, Stephen 2006 An Example of Preclassic Maya Writing? Science 311:1249–1250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iannone, Gyles 2005 The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Maya Petty Royal Court. Latin American Antiquity 16:26–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi 2003 War, Destruction, and Abandonment. In The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America, edited by Inomata, Takeshi and Webb, Ronald W., pp. 43–60. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Ponciano, Erick, Chinchilla, Oswaldo, Román, Otto, Breuil-Martínez, Véronique, and Santos, Oscar 2004 An Unfinished Temple at the Classic Maya Center of Aguateca, Guatemala. Antiquity 78:798–811.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, and Webb, Ronald W. 2003 Archaeological Studies of Abandonment in Middle America. In The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America, edited by Inomata, Takeshi and Webb, Ronald W., pp. 1–10. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Kosakowsky, Laura J., and Lohse, Jon C. 2003 Investigating Multivariate Ceramic Attributes as Clues to Ancient Maya Social, Economic, and Political Organization in Blue Creek, Northwestern Belize. Ahau Foundation, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
LeCount, Lisa J., Yaeger, Jason, Leventhal, Richard M., and Ashmore, Wendy 2002 Dating the Rise and Fall of Xunantunich, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 13:41–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAnany, Patricia A., and Negrón, Tomás Gallareta 2010 Bellicose Rulers and Climatological Peril? In Questioning Collapse, edited by McAnany, Patricia A. and Yoffee, Norman, pp. 142–175. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
McKee, Brian R., and Sheets, Payson 2003 Volcanic Activity and Abandonment Processes: Cerén and the Zapotitan Valley of El Salvador. In The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America, edited by Inomata, Takeshi and Webb, Ronald W., pp. 61–74. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Martin, Simon, and Grube, Nikolai 1995 Maya Superstates. Archaeology 48:41–46.Google Scholar
Moats, Lindsey R., Beckwith, Walter, and Zaro, Gregory 2012 The 2011 Excavations at Courtyard 100. In The 2011 Season of the La Milpa Core Project, edited by Houk, Brett A., pp. 39–76. Occasional Papers, No. 13. Mesoamerican Archaeological Research Laboratory, The University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Morris, John M., Iannone, Gyles, and Awe, Jaime J. 2007 Terminal Classic Maya of Belize: Key Issues and Questions. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 4:3–12.Google Scholar
Palka, Joel W. 2003 Social Status and Differential Processes of Abandonment at the Classic Maya Center of Dos Pilas, Petén, Guatemala. In The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America, edited by Inomata, Takeshi and Webb, Ronald W., pp. 121–133. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Pendergast, David M. 1990 Engineering Problems in Ancient Maya Architecture: Past, Present, and Future. Environmental Geology and Water Sciences 16:67–73.Google Scholar
Reimer, Paula J., Baillie, Mike G. L., Bard, Edouard, Bayliss, Alex, Beck, J. Warren, Bertrand, Chanda J. H., Blackwell, Paul G., Buck, Caitlin E., Burr, George S., Cutler, Kirsten B., Damon, Paul E., Edwards, R. Lawrence, Fairbanks, Richard G., Friedrich, Michael, Guilderson, Thomas P., Hogg, Alan G., Hughen, Konrad A., Kromer, Bernd, McCormac, Gerry, Manning, Sturt, Ramsey, Christopher Bronk, Reimer, Ron W., Remmele, Sabine, Southon, John R., Stuiver, Minze, Talamo, Sahra, Taylor, F. W., van der Plicht, Johannes, and Weyhenmeyer, Constanze E. 2004 IntCal04 Terrestrial Radiocarbon Age Calibration, 0–26 cal kyr b.p. Radiocarbon 46:1029–1058.Google Scholar
Robichaux, Hubert R. 2000 The Stelea of Rio Azul, Guatemala. In Rio Azul Reports Number 5, the 1987 Season, edited by Adams, Richard E.W., pp. 35–53. University of Texas Center for Archaeological Research, San Antonio.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy A. 1975 Excavations at Seibal, Department of the Peten, Guatemala: The Ceramics. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 13, No. 2. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Sagebiel, Kerry L. 2005 Shifting Allegiances at La Milpa, Belize: a Typological, Chronological, and Formal Analysis of the Ceramics. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.Google Scholar
Saturno, William A., Stuart, David, and Beltrán, Boris 2006 Early Maya Writing at San Bartolo, Guatemala. Science 311:1281–1283.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scarborough, Vernon L., Becher, Matthew E., Baker, Jeffrey L., Harris, Garry, and Valdez, Fred Jr. 1995 Water and Land at the Ancient Maya Community of La Milpa. Latin American Antiquity 6:98–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scarborough, Vernon L., and Gallopin, Gary G. 1991 A Water Storage Adaptation in the Maya Lowlands. Science 251:658–662.Google Scholar
Schultz, Kevan C., Gonzalez, Jason J., and Hammond, Norman 1994 Classic Maya Ballcourts at La Milpa, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 5:45–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharer, Robert, and Traxler, Loa P. 2006 The Ancient Maya. 6 th ed.Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.Google Scholar
Sidrys, Raymond V. 1983 Archaeological Excavations in Northern Belize, Central America. Institute of Archaeology Monograph No. 17. University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Smith, Robert E. 1955 Ceramic Sequence at Uaxactun, Guatemala. 2 vols. Middle American Research Institute, Publication No. 20. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Suhler, Charles, and Freidel, David 2003 The Tale End of Two Cities: Tikal, Yaxuna, and Abandonment Contexts in the Lowland Maya Archaeological Record. In The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America, edited by Inomata, Takeshi and Webb, Ronald W., pp. 135–147. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Lauren A., Hageman, Jon B., Houk, Brett A., Hughbanks, Paul, and Valdez, Fred Jr. 2008 Structure Abandonment and Landscape Transformation: Examples from the Three Rivers Region. In Ruins of the Past: The Use and Perception of Abandoned Structures in the Maya Lowlands, edited by Stanton, Travis W. and Magnoni, Aline, pp. 91–112. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Lauren A., Houk, Brett A., and Valdez, Fred Jr. 2007 The Terminal Classic in the Three Rivers Region. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 4:135–146.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Lauren A., and Sagebiel, Kerry L. 2003 Changing Political Alliances in the Three Rivers Region. In Heterarchy, Political Economy, and the Ancient Maya: The Three Rivers Region of the East-Central Yucatán Peninsula, edited by Scarborough, Vernon L., Valdez, Fred Jr., and Dunning, Nicholas, pp. 25–36. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Lauren A., and Valdez, Fred Jr. 2004 Northwest Belize: A Regional Perspective on Culture History. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 1:185–196.Google Scholar
Sullivan, Lauren A., and Valdez, Fred Jr. 2006 The Late Preclassic to Early Classic Transition in the Three Rivers Region. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology 3:73–83.Google Scholar
Tourtellot, Gair III 1993 More Light on La Milpa Mapping: Interim Report of the 1993 Season. La Milpa Archaeological Project, Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Boston.Google Scholar
Tourtellot, Gair III, Everson, Gloria, and Hammond, Norman 2003 Suburban Organization: Minor Centers at La Milpa, Belize. In Perspectives on Ancient Maya Rural Complexity, edited by Iannone, Gyles and Connell, Samuel V., pp. 95–107. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Monograph No. 49. University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Tourtellot, Gair III, Wolf, Marc, Belli, Francisco Estrada, and Hammond, Norman 2000 Discovery of Two Predicted Ancient Maya Sites in Belize. Antiquity 74:481–482.Google Scholar
Trigger, Bruce G. 1990 Monumental Architecture: A Thermodynamic Explanation of Symbolic Behaviour. World Archaeology 22:119–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valdez, Fred Jr., and Houk, Brett A. 2000 The Chan Chich Ceramic Complexes. In The 1998 and 1999 Seasons of the Chan Chich Archaeological Project, edited by Houk, Brett A., pp. 127–140. Papers of the Chan Chich Archaeological Project, No. 4. Mesoamerican Archaeological Research Laboratory, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Webster, David 1998 Classic Maya Architecture: Implications and Comparisons. In Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture, edited by Houston, Stephen D., pp. 5–47. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Webster, David 2002 The Fall of the Ancient Maya. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Webster, David, Freter, AnnCorinne, and Storey, Rebecca 2004 Dating Copán Culture-History: Implications for the Terminal Classic and the Collapse. In The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and Transformation, edited by Demarest, Arthur A., Rice, Prudence M., and Rice, Don S., pp. 231–259. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Yaeger, Jason, and Hodell, David A. 2008 The Collapse of Maya Civilization: Assessing the Interaction of Culture, Climate, and Environment. In El Niño, Catastrophism, and Culture Change in Ancient America, edited by Sandweiss, Daniel H. and Quilter, Jeffrey, pp. 187–242. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar