Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Archaeological Research in the Central Yucatan

Brandeis University, Waltham MA

Investigators

Abstract

With National Science Foundation support and under the direction of Dr. Javier Urcid, Mr. Donald Slater will build on his past field reconnaissance in the Central Yucatan, Mexico, to map and excavate a series of caves utilized by prehistoric Maya peoples. The work will shed light on a poorly understood aspect of Maya culture and will increase understanding of the mechanisms used by this traditional society to bind together large numbers of individuals into functioning social units. During fieldwork in 2009 and 2010, Mr. Slater and colleagues identified over 70 previously unrecorded caves in the region - virtually all of which exhibit signs of ancient ritual activity including the presence of petroglyphs, offerings, and sacrificial implements dating from 500 BC to 1600 AD. Under the current award he will map and excavate eight of those caves. The research seeks to develop a better understanding of the concepts of sacred landscape and cosmology among the ancient Maya, and how such notions were used by the elite class for the production and maintenance of social and religious power. Caves held a significant role in ancient Maya ideology and cosmology as early as the Late Pleistocene (c. 10,000 BC). In the Maya belief system caves were viewed as the underworld, the point of emergence during creation, the locus of rain production, and the abode of powerful deities and ancestors. Thus, caves would have been viewed as places of potent spiritual energy and would have been ceremonially utilized by the ruling class. Mr. Slater's research will test two hypotheses concerning the ritual use of space. First, he will examine the notion that the elite class had the ability to control access to caves both within the core of settlements and in hinterland areas. Secondly, Slater postulates that naturally diverse areas within caves were used for diverse forms of ritual. He will compare and contrast artifact assemblages and non-portable culture materials (e.g. petroglyphs) from caves located within settlements versus those outside, as well as from spaces located within caves, particularly open areas such as mouths versus constricted dark alcoves. This analysis will serve to develop a better understanding of the reach of elite control over hinterland areas, while simultaneously leading to greater insight into the differential use of ritual space based on both natural cave properties and culturally constructed notions of their importance. In addition to contributions to the field of anthropology, the project will have impact in terms of education. Mr. Slater has served as an educator at Phillips Academy since 2002 and has used his research as a pedagogical tool in both classroom and field settings with students from high school age to the graduate level. The project has and will continue to train workers in skills that render them marketable to future projects, and to empower locals by offering them a scientific education that complements traditional knowledge of their Maya heritage.