Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Ancient Maya Ideology and the Human Body: Materializing Power among Mid-Level Leaders in the Belize River Valley, Belize

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

Under the guidance of Dr. Jane E. Buikstra, Anna Novotny will analyze human archaeological remains of the ancient Maya from the Belize River Valley in northwestern Belize. Ms. Novotny's research will use bioarchaeological methods in a novel approach to investigating leadership strategies of non-royal Maya who lived there between 800 BC and 1000AD. During this period the Belize River Valley (BRV) was home to productive agricultural communities and river trade routes from inland cities to the coast. Archaeological remains from the BRV comprise the largest potential data set on ancient Maya commoners. Because the BRV was never politically unified, it is an excellent place to study leadership strategies of a variety of non-royal leaders. The 2000-year span of BRV occupation also provides a unique opportunity to assess how social institutions in complex societies change over time. Ceremony is recognized as a leadership tool and source of power in ancient societies, and exploring ceremony at all hierarchical levels is crucial to thoroughly understanding the dynamics of social complexity. This project will assess the degree to which leaders at Maya commoner communities used politically powerful rituals that involved deceased individuals of their lineage. To accomplish this Ms. Novotny will investigate the graves of the ancestors of mid-level leaders to assess which ancestors were chosen for veneration, noting whether leaders were biologically related to each other and other community members, whether leaders were born and raised in the BRV, and whether their bodies were later chosen for public, post-burial rituals. The project will investigate remains from the Late Preclassic through Late Classic periods (800 BC - 1000 A.D.). Documenting how non-royal leaders within the Belize Valley controlled ritual knowledge to create power has direct implications for refining global models of social complexity and sociopolitical power. This project will integrate and disseminate bioarchaeological data sets from the BRV that have never been formally compared and/or disseminated. All literature and datasets compiled by this project will be ingested into to the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) at Arizona State University so they will be available for public use. A published monograph as well as presentations at both American and Belizean archaeological conferences will also aid in data dissemination. In addition, the project will foster research collaboration between the United States and Belizean archaeologists and students. Ms. Novotny will contribute to the science education of Belizean and American undergraduates by training them in bioarchaeological research methods as part of the Belize River Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance field school. Funds are allocated for curation of archaeological materials from the BRV so this large collection of ancient Maya remains can be preserved for future studies. Curated material will be made available at Belize Institute of Archaeology facilities.