Ceremonial Precinct Research Articles

Excavations at Nohmul, Belize, 1985

The third season of investigations, undertaken in 1985, at the Maya ceremonial center and community of Nohmul, northern Belize, included major excavations in the East Group of the ceremonial precinct and the probing of drained-field complexes in the surrounding wetlands, reported here, together with mapping and test-excavation of the settlement area. Further evidence of a major timber building of ca. A.C. 200–300 on top of the “acropolis” was found, with associated green obsidian of central Mexican origin. The acropolis had then been abandoned until recolonization ca. A.C. 800 by domestic settlement.Three major buildings excavated in the East Group included a “range” (or long) multidoored “ palace” structure, a pyramid, and a ballcourt. All three proved to date to the Terminal Classic/Early Postclassic period of A.C. 800–1000 in their final form, although the first two involved the adaptation of abandoned structures several centuries old as part of their construction. The ballcourt proved to overlie densely-packed perishable structures of the period A.C. 700–900 and to be of very late date. A detailed understanding of both the early (A.C. 200–400) and late (A.C. 800–1000) periods of major activity in the core of Nohmul is now possible.Two zones of drained fields in the Rio Hondo wetlands were tested: both channelized fields abutting the mainland and raised fields in the swamps were found, all dating to the period A.C. 700–1000, coeval with the second florescence of Nohmul and its reoccupation by people with a non-local architectural tradition.

Excavation and Survey at Nohmul, Belize, 1983

Abstract The second season of investigations, in 1983, at the Maya ceremonial center and community of Nohmul, northern Belize, included mapping, test excavations in the settlement, and major excavations in the ceremonial precinct. Following developmental maxima in the Late Formative and Late Classic periods, a mosaic pattern of alternating large and small residential groups, with some areas free of mounds but yielding evidence of habitation, reached its extant form in the Terminal Classic. The surrounding wetlands contain large areas of raised/channeled fields, of dates uncertain at present, with an interesting variety of layouts. The major constructions in the East Group of the ceremonial precinct, including a massive “acropolis” and a large adjacent plaza, proved to date to the Terminal Formative, ca. 200–300 A.C. Following 800 A.C. the plaza was subdivided by the construction of several buildings of Yucatecan architectural inspiration; these buildings exhibit the same exotic features seen in residentia...

Lamanai, Belize: Summary of Excavation Results, 1974–1980

AbstractExcavations at the ancient Maya center of Lamanai, Belize, were begun in 1974 and are expected to continue through 1983. Selected because the presence of a 16th-century Spanish church indicated occupation in late pre-Conquest times, the site is now known to have been occupied continuously for more than two millennia. Excavations have revealed the presence of late Pre-Classic (300 B.C. or earlier) ceremonial and residential construction north of the central ceremonial precinct. The precinct itself, which is laid out in strip form along the western shore of New River Lagoon, has yielded extensive evidence of ceremonial activity, including a 33 m. high structure that is the largest securely dated Pre-Classic building in the Maya Area.While the site center was largely abandoned by the end of the Late Classic (9th–10th centuries A.C.), major ceremonial construction was still being undertaken at that time in its southern part, the area which became the focus of a rich Post-Classic development. Post-Clas...