Cultural change on a temporal and spatial frontier: Ceramics of the Terminal Classic to Postclassic transition in the Upper Belize River Valley
Description
This dissertation is an analysis of Maya ceramics from the Maya 'collapse' (ca. A.D. 800 to 1250) from the Upper Belize River Valley of western Belize. Ceramic assemblages were compared across space and through time in terms of overall assemblage diversity and the style of individual artifacts Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic ceramics were found to be more common at sites of varying sizes than is currently recognized. Monumental architecture was used sparsely in the Terminal Classic-Early Postclassic, but differences in the architectural context of the ceramic samples were not clearly correlated with differences in the number of forms or types present. Similarly, the proportions of elaborate ceramics did not vary substantially between sites. Ceramic assemblage diversity did not increase markedly, suggesting substantial production continuity between the Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic in the Belize Valley Stylistically, however, there are significant changes. Locally-produced ceramics showed hybridization with the styles of adjacent areas rather than the replacement of local styles by foreign ones. Imports were generally rare at all sites in the valley, but due to a shifting of power to the north in the Terminal Classic-Early Postclassic, imports and imitations of Peten ceramics were more common in earlier contexts, whereas Yucatan-influenced types were found in the later ones The ceramics of the Belize Valley suggest that the area experienced subsistence and cuisine changes in the Terminal Classic-Early Postclassic similar to those in other regions (especially the Peten). Vessels were smaller and lighter and new forms (e.g., griddles, chile graters, net sinkers) were introduced. Religious and ideological changes linked to increasing influence from Central Mexico, the Gulf Coast, and Yucatan are discussed. The survival of Belize Valley sites into the Postclassic may have been related to trade and specialized agricultural production, especially the production of cacao. The abandonment of monumental architecture at the end of the Classic and the style and distribution of ritual ceramics and finewares suggest that the Terminal Classic-Early Postclassic was a time of reduced sociopolitical complexity in the Belize Valley, but the period does not represent the collapse of Maya civilization more generally