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Recent investigations of Postclassic Period (A.C. 1050-1528) Maya communities along the Freshwater Creek drainage in northern Belize reveal important trends in the development, organization, and economic activities of a political center and three smaller settlements. The Freshwater Creek drainage is likely to have formed an avenue of communication and transport that facilitated the economic integration of these settlements along this waterway. Research at these sites suggests that from A.C. 1050 to 1528, the NE Belize region was home to a number of small settlements and political centers that were actively engaged in local commodity production for local and more distant exchange with maritime traders operating along the Caribbean coast. Evidence of Colonial period Maya occupations along the shores of Freshwater Creek lagoons is also observed, suggesting that Postclassic sites continued to be occupied into the 17th century in this area. Preliminary analysis suggests that Colonial period local economy at these sites was substantially affected by Spanish efforts to subdue and control this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compares the cultural transformations of the Mayan society in the postclassic community of Languna de On, Belize. Details on Laguna de On; Research history of Languna; Information on the architecture and settlement of the Mayan society.

Abstract: Excavations and regional reconnaissance survey in Mesoamerica's tropical Maya lowlands of northeastern Belize document the association of a distinctive orange soil horizon with patinated stone tools dating to the Archaic period (8000–3500 cal BP). Archaic period deposits of this type were found along the Freshwater Creek drainage and on small islands associated with this riverine system. Stone tool assemblages (n = 778) from these sites indicate a spatial separation of tool use and resharpening at island versus shore sites at Progresso Lagoon and Laguna de On and expand the range of stone tool types reported from the Archaic period in the region. Starch grains (n = 81) were recovered from seven of these stone tools (two unifaces, four bifaces, and a hammer stone) and indicate that preceramic peoples in northern Belize used these implements to harvest or process maize along with several other domesticated plants species. The presence of starch from chili pepper, manioc, and taxa of the bean and squash families is also documented on a number of the same tools. These data are consistent with paleoecological studies in the region suggesting an extended period of horticultural activity in the Maya region prior to the adoption of ceramics and settled village life that occurred after ∼3000 cal BP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Maya osteological and mortuary patterns reveal regional social organization. • 24 Terminal Classic (AD 800–1000) & 54 Postclassic (AD 1000–1500) period burials. • Osteological metric and non-metric evidence of population continuity. • Mortuary evidence of status differences between two Postclassic period communities. • Cemeteries established for the first time during the Postclassic period. We explore Maya social organization after the Classic-period "collapse" using mortuary and osteological patterns. Our data consist of 78 burials from the Freshwater Creek drainage of northern Belize: 24 dating to the Terminal Classic period (AD 800–1000) and 54 to the Postclassic period (AD 1000–1500). These mortuary data allow us to infer continuity in the populations occupying a single river drainage between these periods. During the Postclassic, a greater diversity of grave inclusions interred with individuals at Caye Coco are consistent with the higher status of some of its residents who had greater access to wealth items and more elaborate domestic architecture compared to inhabitants of the smaller settlement of Laguna de On island. These grave inclusion results are consistent with cross-cultural patterns defined by the Saxe/Binford hypothesis that social organization can be inferred from mortuary patterns. A new development in Postclassic burial customs in our study region was the establishment of formal cemeteries. Consistent with the Saxe/Goldstein hypothesis, we interpret this change as the increased importance of local, lineage-based authority after large, Classic-period kingdoms had dissolved. Considering mortuary and osteological patterns together allows for a fuller understanding of Postclassic Maya social organization than either type of data would alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]