Institute of Institute of ArchaeologyArchaeology

Belize is a country blessed with a diversity of peoples and cultures that have come together to form a nation.

Tikal Site Core

Calakmul site core

Copan site core

Palenque site core

Altun Ha, Belize

Structure B4

Altun Ha Site Map

The Jade Head Kinich Ahau.

High Temple at Lamanai (Late Preclassic)

The Hunchback, Lamanai, Belize

Caracol site core

Twenty-five Years of Research at Caracol, Belize:

Department of Archaeology Belize

1984: Second Preliminary Trip to Caracol

1985: Initial Camp at Caracol

1988: Caracol Access Road

there is no “i” in “archaeology”

1983

2007

Caana

19921986

“the” Late Classic royal residence

Caana

2004

K’aan II

jaguar throne

top of Caracol Stela 20

Caracol Ballcourt Marker 3

A.D. 798A.D. 330

Dynastic FoundingA.D. 400

9.18.8.3.9 9 Muluc 7 Muan[-] 1.3.19.11.5 8.14.8.10.4 10 Kan 7 Kankin

B2 ISIG for the month K’ayabA3 9 pi-ki, (bolon pik) “9Bak’tun”B3 18 WINIK-HAAB’ “18 K’atunA4 9 HAAB’, “9 Tun”B4 5 WINAL-la, “5 WinalB5 9 K’IN-ni, “9 K’in”C1 6 Muluk 8 [Tzolkin day]D1 2 K’AN-a-si “2 K’ayab” [month]C2 CHUM-la ti-AJAW-le (chumlaj ti ajawlel) “he was seated into kingshipD2 K’IN-ni-chi (k’inich) “sun-faced”C3 JOY-K’AWIIL-li (Joy K’awil)D3 K’UHUL-K’AN-tu-ma-ki, (k’uhul k’antu maak) “divine man from Caracol” [this is the Caracol emblem]C4 u-TZ’AK-aj, “it was changed” [D N Introductory Glyph]D4 11 (K’in) 12 WINAL-ya “11 days and 12 winal”C5 u-ti-ya (uhtiiy) “it had happened”D5 i-u-ti (I-uht) “and then it came to pass”C6 10 Ajaw [Tzolkin day]D6 8 SAK-SIHOM (8Sak) [month name]E2 u K’AL TUUN-ni (u k’al tuun) “he binds the stone”E3 ti-LAM-wa (ti lamaw) “for the half [K’atun]”F3 14 (K’in) 10 Winal-ji “14 days and 10 winal”E4 2 HAAB’-ya “and two years”F4 u-ti-ya (uhtiiy) “it had happened”D5 i-u-ti (i uht) “and then it came to pass……..”

Free Translation of Caracol Ball Court B MarkerClause 1: On the 12th of December, AD 799, K’inich Joy K’Awil sat into kingship.Clause 2: The stacking of 251 days had come to pass and then the 19th August (AD 800 happened) it is the ‘stone-binding’ at the ‘half-period ending’Clause 3: Two years and 214 days had come to pass, and then (the 24th of January AD798 or

7th of March AD 803) it happened…

Lord Water K’aan II

9.5.19.1.2A.D. 553accession

9.9.4.16.2.A.D. 618accession

Caracol Altar 21“Star-War” at Tikal in A.D. 562

Naranjo

Caracol

Tikal

Polity Size and Warfare- 60 kilometer rule for territoriality- using modern theory in a past context- seeing prosperity and cohesion in the population

Caracol:the “edge city”

Ritual Items in Residences: Late Classic caches

“face caches”

“finger caches”

Caana, Caracol

Caana from AirCARACOL, BELIZE

2004

1986

Temple of the Wooden Lintel

Establishment of A Group at onset of the 8th Cycle(ca AD 70)

The A Group Architectural Complex

Caracol Group A

The SouthernBelizeRegion

(Leventhal 1991)

Xnaheb

Nim li Punit, Str. 7(West Side)

During Initial Liberation & Final Consolidation

Structure 8 Construction StagesStage 1

Stage 2Stage 5

Nim li Punit, Structures 7 and 8

Acropolis-Style Palace, Lubaantun

Stucco Mask Structure N9-56

Lamanai

Before and Before and after after

conservationconservation

GroupCARACOL Barrio North Group before consolidation

CARACOL Group after excavation and consolidation.

Inspection of Looting, Mound Destruction and Archaeological Impact Assessments

Belize Valley Maya Cahal Pech

Cahal Pech Hill

1988

2012

Excavation in Str.A4 revealed a child burial cut into a bench. Ceramic vessels in the grave were similar to vessels found in a Terminal Classic tomb in Plaza H.

Str. A3

Str. A2

Worked along with the contractor & use the excavator but just going down roughly 10-15cm at a time.

Belize

9 bowls lip to lip position “Hewlett Bank Unslipped”

Distribution of Cultural remains on Burns Ave

Actun Tunichil Muknal

Cave of the Stone Sepulcher

Actun Tunichil Muknal

Caves

Caves Branch

East Frieze, Str. A6,Xunantunich

Cada periodo de 13 baktunes se considera un gran ciclo, el más importante, equivale

a 5,128 años solares. El actual ciclo de 13 baktunes

termina el día 21 de diciembre del año 2,012

Kin = 1 díaUinal = 20 días (20 kin)Tun = 360 días (18 uinales)Katun = 7,200 días (20 tun)Baktun = 144,000 días (20 katun)

The 2012 Industry

2012 As ProphecyThe 2012 Industr

2012: Predictability & Control

2012: Ideology

Socio-Ecological Cycles:Degeneration vs Progress

The Past?

The Future?

Contemporary Issues

Sustainability

• “…the use of environment and resources to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs... Sustainability is a process, rather than an end-product…” (Berkes et al. 2003:2-4);

• “achieved in a long-term trial and error process and maintained by constant adjustment” (Winiwater 2003:93).

Resilience

• “the capacity of a system to absorb disturbance; to undergo change and still retain essentially the same function, structure, and feedbacks” (Walker and Salt 2006:32).

• given archaeology’s “insight[s] into tens of thousands of years of human activities in all parts of the globe, [it] is a tantalizing source of information on human-environmental relations” (Redman 1999:3-4).

We need to craft detailed, integrated histories for specific coupled socio-ecological systems

Key Issue: Communities are Internally segmented

Key Issue: Historical Contingency

Integrated History and future Of People on Earth (IHOPE)

•IHOPE-MAYA• (1) T’isil and Yalahau; •(2) Sayil and the Puuc; •(3) Calakmul and Campeche; •(4) Tikal and East-Central Peten; •(5) La Milpa and Northern Belize; •(6) Caracol and the Vaca Plateau; •(7) Palenque and Sierra de Chiapas foothills; •8) Seibal and the Rio Pasion •(9) Uxbenka and the Toledo foothills; •(10) Chichen Itza and Yucatan.

2012 As An Opportunity

CONTEMPORARY, UNSUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN THE VACA PLATEAU

Caracol: epicenter and surrounding settlement

GRB

Structures/Groupsarchaeologically investigated atCaracol, Belize

(144 Discreet Groups)

Caracol Str. B20A.D. 537

S.D. C1H-3

Caracol Str. B20A.D. 537

- more than 100,000people at A.D. 650

- prosperity at the sitedue to successful warfare

- Tikal, A.D. 562- Naranjo, A.D. 631

- causeways integrate thesettlement

- thousands of kilometersof stone terraces were constructed to maximizethe agricultural potentialof the landscape

1. Laser fires 1000s of pulses per second at the target. - Photons reflect off the target and return to the receiver. - Based on speed of light, the distance from the sensor to the target is calculated.

2. GPS records aircraft latitude, longitude, and altitude.3. Inertial navigation unit records the aircraft’s orientation (roll, pitch,

and yaw).4. On-board computer converts locations of target surfaces into 3-

dimensional data called point clouds.

LiDAR

(Light Detection And Ranging)

Mexico

Gua

tem

a la

Belize

CaribbeanSea

Total Passes – 122Total Length – 1587 kmSwath Width – 519.9 mTotal Swath Area – 199.7 km2

Flying Height – 800 mTotal Flight Time – 13.7 hrsScan Frequency – 40 HzScan Angle – +/- 21⁰

2.38 billion laser pulses were fired yielding 4.28 billion measurements~20 shots/m2; vertical accuracy 5-30 cmCost for flights and processing - $171.1 K or $855/km2

April 26-30, 2009

LiDAR-based Mapping Efforts at Caracol, Belize

Detection of Maya StructuresDetection of Maya Structures

CaracolEpicenter

100 m100 m

2D LiDAR

Caana

Caana

“2.5D” LiDAR Photograph

2000

2003

2009

-11 new causeways-5 new “formal” termini- massive terracing

Caracol CausewaysCaracol Causeways

1 km

100 mCaracolEpicenter

Cahal PichikTerminus

Hatzcap CeelTerminus

Thompson 1931

Morris 2004Cahal Pichik

Hatzcap Ceel

Detection of Maya Structures: Detection of Maya Structures: Retiro TerminusRetiro Terminus

100 m100 m

market

marketreservoirs

residentialgroups

terracingroadway

PuchitukTerminus

Caracol, Belizecourtesy of:Adrian S.Z. Chase

Caracol constructedreservoirs visuallyidentified throughLiDAR

ANGKORCARACOL

after Evans and Pottier

Comparing Scale and Urban Development

Alphawood Foundation grant: $360,295.LiDAR Acquisition in Western Belize:Answering Socio-Political Questions in Maya Archaeology. A.F. Chase, D.Z. Chase, J. Awe, J.F. Weishampel, G. Iannone, H. Moyes, J. Yaeger, and M.K. Brown.

Caracol DEM = 200 sq km

A. Upper Vaca Plateau355 sq km

B. Eastern Vaca Plateau195 sq km

C. Belize Valley500 sq km

2013 Belize LiDAR Campaign

The VanishingCanopy:the missing 12%

Deforestationand Illegal Logging …….