Project Details
Description
The proposed project will investigate the political ecology of the ancient Maya city of Aventura, Belize.
Aventura’s heyday was the Terminal Classic to Early Postclassic (ca. 750-1100 CE), a time of large-scale
sociopolitical reorganization known as the Classic Maya “collapse.” The presence of three pocket bajos less
than 0. 2km2 in size, enclosed non-draining karstic depressions likely used for water management and/or
agriculture, in Aventura’s site core may have provided resources that contributed to the city surviving the socalled
collapse. The location of the three pocket bajos in Aventura’s site core suggests that the political elite
at Aventura had access to the resources offered by pocket bajos. Using archaeological survey, I will undertake
the first survey beyond Aventura’s city-center to determine whether the non-elite could have accessed pocket
bajos in settlement areas beyond the site core or were dependent on pocket bajos in the site core. Through this
research I will ask: how was resource management organized in this city? Did status affect access to
resources?
Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 6/27/17 → 8/14/17 |
Funding
- National Geographic Society (HJ-060ER-17)
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