Settlement Change, Urbanism, and Human and Environment Interaction at Lamanai and Ka’kabish: Two Precolumbian Maya sites in Northern Belize

Description

At Lamanai and Ka’kabish, two Precolumbian Maya centres in north-western Belize, archaeologists have researched the environment, architecture, and long-term occupation of the civic-ceremonial centres. The sites’ rural or hinterland populations, however, which were presumably critical to the support of the centres, have not been studied. These populations are key to an understanding of the sites’ long histories, which survived the Maya collapse (AD 600-900), flourished during the transition to the Postclassic period (AD 900-1500), and continued to be a focus of settlement in the Spanish Colonial period (AD 1521-1708). By reconstructing the spatial and temporal dynamics of Ka’kabish, Lamanai, and the inter-site settlement zone, and comparing them to environmental evidence from pollen cores collected in the New River Lagoon, this study sheds much-needed light on the processes that promoted the continuity in evidence in this region. Of Related Interest Acknowledgements Contents Glossary of Terms Abstract Introduction 1: Maya History and the sites of Lamanai and Ka’kabish 1.1 Overview of Maya History 1.1.1 Paleoindian Period (12,000 BC to 7000 BC) 1.1.2 Archaic Period (7000 BC to 2000 BC) 1.1.3 Preclassic Period (2000 BC to AD 250) 1.1.4 Classic Period (AD 250 to 900) 1.1.5 Postclassic Period (AD 900 to 1521) 1.1.6 Spanish Colonial Period (AD 1521 to 1708) 1.2 The Precolumbian Maya at Lamanai 1.2.1 Archaeological History 1.2.2 Location and Composition 1.3 The Precolumbian Maya at Ka’kabish 1.4 Summary 1.3.1 Archaeological History 1.3.2 Location and Composition 2: Settlement Patterns and Maya Urbanism 2.1 Settlement Patterns 2.1.1 A Definition of Settlement Patterns 2.1.2 Settlement Patterns and the Colonial Past 2.1.3 The Advent of Archaeology in the New World 2.1.4 Towards a Systematic Approach 2.1.5 Post-1960s and Settlement Systems 2.1.6 Settlement Patterns and Contemporary Studies 2.2 Maya Urbanism 2.2.1 Definitions of Urbanism 2.2.2 Population, Density, and Urbanism 2.2.3 Low-Density and Peri-urban Settlements in the Past 2.2.4 The Sustainable and Resilient City 2.2.5 Current Theories and the Archaeological Record 2.3 Summary 3: Human and Environment Interaction, Landscape Modification, and Spatial Organisation of the Precolumbian Maya 3.1 The Built Environment 3.1.1 A Comparison of the Size and Scale of Two Ancient Cities 3.1.2 Spatial Organization and the “Mayacene” 3.1.3 Urban Heat Islands, Lime Production, and Green Cities 3.2 Landscape Modifications and the Precolumbian Maya 3.2.1 Water Retention Systems and Landscape Transformation 3.2.2 Terraces and Agricultural Intensification 3.2.3 Land Clearance, Deforestation, and Soil Erosion 3.3 The Precolumbian Maya and the Contemporary World 3.3.1 Deforestation and Soil Erosion in the Current Era 3.3.2 Human Niche Construction 3.4 Summary 4: Methods: Analysing and Recording Precolumbian Maya Settlement 4.1 Lamanai and Ka’kabish: Re-analysis of Existing Data 4.1.1 Interpreting Temporal Dynamics at Lamanai 4.1.2 Interpreting Temporal Dynamics at Ka’Kabish 4.2 The Inter-site Settlement Zone: Surface Survey 4.2.1 Archaeological History of the Settlement Zone 4.2.1.1 The Maya Research Project Survey 4.2.1.2 The Spring Mapping Project Survey 4.2.2 Survey and Mapping Techniques 4.2.3 Field Conditions 4.2.4 Ceramic Assemblages 4.2.5 Lithic Assemblages 4.3 Geomorphology and Landscape Ecology 4.4 Presentation and Arrangement of Data 4.4.1 Designation of the Settlement Zone 4.4.2 A Heuristic Device 4.4.3 Sherd Density 4.4.4 Relative-Risk Surfaces 4.5 Methodological Justification and Limitations 4.5.1 Methodological Justification 4.5.2 Methodological Limitations 4.6 Summary 5: The Civic-Ceremonial Centres of Lamanai and Ka’kabish 5.1 The Chronology at Lamanai 5.1.1 Evidence from the Middle Preclassic to Early Classic periods 5.1.2 Evidence from the Late Classic to Late Postclassic periods 5.2 The Temporal Dynamics at Lamanai 5.3 The Chronology at Ka’kabish 5.3.1 Evidence from the Middle Preclassic to Late Postclassic Periods 5.4 The Temporal Dynamics at Ka’kabish 5.5 Summary 6: The Inter-site Settlement Zone and its Artefacts 6.1 Spacial Distribution of the Structures 6.1.1 Settlement Zone A 6.1.2 Settlement Zone B 6.1.3 Settlement Zone C 6.1.4 Settlement Zone D 6.1.5 Settlement Zone E 6.1.6 Settlement Zone F 6.2 Ceramic Assemblage 6.2.1 Type: Variety 6.2.2 Density and Distribution of Sherds 6.2.2.1 Settlement Zone A 6.2.2.2 Settlement Zone B 6.2.2.3 Settlement Zone C 6.2.2.4 Settlement Zone D 6.2.2.5 Settlement Zone E 6.2.2.6 Settlement Zone F 6.3 Lithic Assembalge 6.4 Temporal Dynamics of the Settlement Zone 6.4.1 Settlement Zone A 6.4.2 Settlement Zone B 6.4.3 Settlement Zone C 6.4.4 Settlement Zone D 6.4.5 Settlement Zone E 6.4.6 Settlement Zone F 6.5 Summary 7: Human and Environmental Dynamics in the Region 7.1 Environmental Setting of the Study 7.2 Evidence of Environmental Change 7.2.1 Environmental Change and the New River Lagoon 7.2.2 History of Vegetation Change 7.2.3 Agroforestry and the Exploitation of Pine 7.3 Settlement Dynamics and the Changing Environment 7.3.1 Settlement Dynamics in the Study Zone 7.3.2 Human/Environment Interaction at Ka’kabish, Lamanai, and the Inter-Site Settlement Zone 7.3.3 The Environment and the Maya 7.4 Summary 8: Lamanai, Ka’kabish, the Inter-site Settlement Zone, and the Greater Region of Northern Belize 8.1 Major Sites within 25 km of Lamanai 8.1.1 Greater Lamanai Region 8.1.1.1 Chau Hiix 8.1.1.2 El Pozito 8.1.2 Dynamics of Sites within 25 km 8.2 Major Sites Between 25-50 km from Lamanai 8.2.1 Three Rivers Region 8.2.1.1 La Milpa 8.2.1.2 Blue Creek 8.2.1.3 Dos Hombres 8.2.2 Northern Belize Region 8.2.2.1 Nohmul 8.2.2.2 San Estevan 8.2.2.3 Cuello 8.2.3 Eastern Coastal Region 8.2.3.1 Altun Ha 8.2.3.2 Colha 8.2.4 Southern Hondo-Nuevo Region 8.2.4.1 San Jose 8.2.5 Dynamics of Sites within 50 km 8.3 Comparison with the Wider Maya World 8.4 Summary 9: The Invisible Maya, Low-density Urbanism, Sustainability, and Settlement 9.1 The Invisible Maya, Low-density Urbanism, and Urban Scaling 9.2 Urban Traditions, Sustainability, Caracol, and Chunchucmil 9.3 Political Disintegration, Market Forces, and Managed Cities 9.4 Migration, Developmental History, and Settlement 9.5 Summary Reference Appendix A: Chronology of Structures at Lamanai Appendix B: Designation, Size, Location, Spatial Distribution, and Chronology, of the Inter-site Settlement Zone Appendix C: Lithic Data from the Inter-site Settlement Zone