Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 17 of 17
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
Minimum Number Of Individuals: A Methodological Comparison Using Human Remains From Caves Branch Rockshelter In The Cayo District Of Belize, Caitlin Elizabeth Stewart
Minimum Number Of Individuals: A Methodological Comparison Using Human Remains From Caves Branch Rockshelter In The Cayo District Of Belize, Caitlin Elizabeth Stewart
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The analysis of human remains in archaeological contexts is often complicated by the presence of highly fragmented and commingled remains. The standard methods used to help quantify the number of individuals and elements in these contexts are based upon the segmentation of whole bones. The methods provide standardization and are flexible enough to allow for the idiosyncratic nature of each context. However, this results in a lack of transparency, which is necessary to reanalyze the same sample or to compare “like” contexts, as the data collected will vary.
Fluorine Dating Of Human Bone At The Pre-Columbian Maya Cemetery Of Caves Branch Rockshelter, Belize, Morgan Isaacs
Fluorine Dating Of Human Bone At The Pre-Columbian Maya Cemetery Of Caves Branch Rockshelter, Belize, Morgan Isaacs
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This thesis tests the ion-selective electrode fluorine dating method on the remains from the Maya mortuary site Caves Branch Rockshelter (CBR) in Belize. CBR is a cemetery containing at least 400 burials from the late Preclassic to the Postclassic periods. The intensive use and reuse of the site has disturbed the burial matrices, making it difficult to seriate the burials. Fluorine dating analyzes the amount of fluorine that has accumulated in bone over time. In principle, an older burial will contain more fluorine from groundwater than a more recently buried bone; however, this principle must be tested at each site …
Linearly Stressed To Death: Consideration Of Early Childhood Stress As A Main Contributor To The Regional Variability In Classic Maya Mortuary Profiles, Nicholas Billstrand
Linearly Stressed To Death: Consideration Of Early Childhood Stress As A Main Contributor To The Regional Variability In Classic Maya Mortuary Profiles, Nicholas Billstrand
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The Late and Terminal Classic periods were times of great social, economic, and political change in Maya civilization. Scholars have suggested that increasing levels of dietary stress during this time may have been the result of ecological instability, drought, warfare, and significant levels of population movement across the Maya lowlands. All of these processes may have affected human health and left measurable markers of stress in human skeletal material. The burial population recovered from two sites on Ambergris Caye, located near the coast of Belize, have significantly more sub-adult individuals than sites in inland Belize, such as Actuncan, suggesting the …
Evaluation Of An Early Classic Round Structure At Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, Rachael Kangas
Evaluation Of An Early Classic Round Structure At Santa Rita Corozal, Belize, Rachael Kangas
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Round structures in the Maya area are an architectural form that is not well understood, in part due to the relatively few examples recovered through archaeological excavations. The site of Santa Rita Corozal, Belize offers one of the few examples of an Early Classic Period round structure (Structure 135) in the Maya region, one that is distinctive in its timing and architectural form. This thesis seeks to compare Structure 135 with the patterns of round structures identified in the Preclassic and Terminal/early Postclassic Periods, when there are comparatively more examples and to pinpoint the multiple construction periods evidenced in the …
Twentieth Century Maya Worldview, Mackenzie See
Twentieth Century Maya Worldview, Mackenzie See
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Maya Folktales offer insight into how twentieth century Maya worldview is a hybrid of indigenous Maya and European beliefs. Analysis was conducted on twenty-eight Maya folktales from the highlands of Guatemala found in folklore anthologies. Stories like The Spirits of the Dead in folklore anthologies can reveal new perspectives on how the Maya feel about rituals spaces, the fabric that separates the land of the dead from the land of the living, and the importance of showing respect to the dead in one’s community. Other stories, show the connection the Maya feel with their heritage and the connection they feel …
Reevaluating The Late Classic Lu-Bat Glyphic Phrase: The Artist And The Underworld, Patrick Carroll
Reevaluating The Late Classic Lu-Bat Glyphic Phrase: The Artist And The Underworld, Patrick Carroll
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The study of hieroglyphic texts is vital to the interpretation of the ancient Maya and how their worldview contributed to their daily lives. Hieroglyphic decipherment has been an arduous undertaking and a wide variety of the Late Classic Maya writing styles has also been documented. When specific hieroglyphic phrases are not fully understood it has been necessary to utilize other sources of information to help increase the understanding of these texts. The “lubat” glyphic phrase has been utilized in multiple mediums throughout the Late Classic period and is described as an artist’s signature. This artist signature is directly related to …
With The Protection Of The Gods: An Interpretation Of The Protector Figure In Classic Maya Iconography, Tiffany M. Lindley
With The Protection Of The Gods: An Interpretation Of The Protector Figure In Classic Maya Iconography, Tiffany M. Lindley
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Iconography encapsulates the cultural knowledge of a civilization. The ancient Maya of Mesoamerica utilized iconography to express ideological beliefs, as well as political events and histories. An ideology heavily based on the presence of an Otherworld is visible in elaborate Maya iconography. Motifs and themes can be manipulated to convey different meanings based on context. An example of this mutability can be witnessed in the depiction of Otherworld gods. Maya gods were not like Old World pantheons; gods were fluid and could function in multiple roles. Protector gods are an example of the fluidity of Maya deities. Scenes of protector …
The Quadripartite Badge: Narratives Of Power And Resurrection In Maya Iconography, Victoria Ingalls
The Quadripartite Badge: Narratives Of Power And Resurrection In Maya Iconography, Victoria Ingalls
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Ancient Maya iconography primarily depicted elite individuals in idealized states of being and rationalized their power and authority through ideological concepts and otherworld beings. This study aims to reexamine previous assumptions made concerning the Quadripartite Badge. This motif is examined based on iconographic associations and contexts, as well as temporal and spatial distributions. The dataset was created from currently identified examples of the Quadripartite Badge, although only a select group is extensively examined. The spread of this motif is demonstrated through time and its spatial dispersals are noted for their political consequences. Indicating the liminal status of its user, the …
Geographic And Environmental Influence On Maya Settlement Patterns Of The Northwest Yucatan: An Explanation For The Sparsely Settled Western Cenote Zone, Patrick Rohrer
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Most settlement pattern research and GIS analysis of the ancient Maya of the Northern Yucatan have focused on water availability in a dry landscape where cenotes are often the only water source. While water is of paramount importance, permanent settlement secondarily requires farmable soil, a resource often as precious as water in many parts of the Yucatan. The dynamics between these resources reveal areas of ideal settlement and more challenging landscapes for which the Maya developed strategies to overcome environmental conditions. A region of the southwest "Cenote Zone", however, appears to have presented the ancient Maya with insurmountably poor environmental …
Water And The Mountains: Maya Water Mangement At Caracol, Belize, James Crandall
Water And The Mountains: Maya Water Mangement At Caracol, Belize, James Crandall
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Water management techniques in the Southern Maya Lowlands are both regionally diverse and site specific. This thesis examines the water management strategies of the Classic Period Maya at the site of Caracol, Belize. While it is likely that elites at Caracol controlled the redistribution of resources, i.e. craft and agricultural products, it is probable that the production of agricultural resources and the maintenance of water resource acquisition took place on a more local level. In order to test this hypothesis, a sample of five reservoirs were examined through original research -- and situated in conjunction with past settlement studies -- …
Ballcourt Iconography At Caracol, Belize, Patsy Holden
Ballcourt Iconography At Caracol, Belize, Patsy Holden
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
One of the more commonly known aspects of the ancient Maya culture is the ballgame. This ancient ballgame was played by most Mesoamerican cultures on a constructed ballcourt and many major Mesoamerican sites have at least one, if not more than one. Contemporary Mesoamericans still play versions of this ballgame today, but without the use of the ballcourts, questioning the importance and purpose of the ballcourt that is no longer the case today. After over a century of research, scholars have yet to unravel all the cosmological and mythological mysteries of the ballcourt and its purpose to the ancient Maya. …
Discerning Migration In The Archaeological Record: A Case Study At Chichã©N Itzã¡, Andrea Slusser
Discerning Migration In The Archaeological Record: A Case Study At Chichã©N Itzã¡, Andrea Slusser
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Migration, as a theory to explain aspects in the archaeological record, has fallen out of favor in Mesoamerican archaeology, possibly due to a lack of a standard definition or description of migration. Migration as an explanation of change in Maya civilizations has been around since the 1950's and the culture-history era of American archaeology. Since the early 1990's, migration has been treated as a process, one that can be discerned in pre-literate cultures as well as historical ones. Models of the migration process are being developed and tested. One type of migration, elite dominance migration, is a particularly suitable process …
Tools Of A Local Economy: Standardization And Function Among Small Chert Tools From Caracol, Belize, Lucas Martindale Johnson
Tools Of A Local Economy: Standardization And Function Among Small Chert Tools From Caracol, Belize, Lucas Martindale Johnson
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This thesis undertakes detailed analysis of a sample of 229 small chert tools from a single locus at the Maya site of Caracol, Belize. Emphasis is placed on determining the function of these tools and on the nature of their use in the broader Caracol economic system. Analysis sought to determine whether they were used for day-to-day household tasks or for specialized craft activity within the specified household locus and/or if they were prepared for broader distribution at Caracol. By focusing detailed analysis on artifacts from a single locus, greater insight is provided into the impact of household production on …
Maya Eclipses: Modern Data, The Triple Tritos And The Double Tzolkin, William Earl Beck
Maya Eclipses: Modern Data, The Triple Tritos And The Double Tzolkin, William Earl Beck
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The Eclipse Table, on pages 51-58, of the Dresden Codex has long fascinated Maya scholars. Researchers use the mean-value method of 173.3 days to determine nodal passage that is the place where eclipses can occur. These studies rely on Oppolzer's Eclipse Canon and Schram's Moon Phase Tables to verify eclipse occurrences. The newer canons of Jean Meeus and Bao-Lin Liu use decimal accuracy. What would be the effect of modern astronomical data on the previous studies and the Maya Eclipse Table? The study utilizes a general view of eclipses that includes eclipses not visible to the Maya. Lunar eclipses are …
Alternative Epigraphic Interpretations Of The Maya Snake Emblem Glyph, Christopher Tyra Savage
Alternative Epigraphic Interpretations Of The Maya Snake Emblem Glyph, Christopher Tyra Savage
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This thesis seeks to demonstrate that the Maya snake emblem glyph is associated with religious specialists, instead of geographic locations, as emblem glyphs are typically understood to be. The inscriptions and the media on which the snake emblem glyph occurs will be analyzed to determine the role or function of the "Lord of the Snake." Temporal and spatial data has also been collected to aid in understanding the enigmatic glyph. The snake emblem glyph has recently been identified as originating from a broad area containing the sites of El Peru and La Corona in Guatemala, and Dzibanche, Mexico, a departure …
The Emergence Of The Maya Tlaloc: A Late Classic Religious Icon, Amanda Toyie Groff
The Emergence Of The Maya Tlaloc: A Late Classic Religious Icon, Amanda Toyie Groff
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Iconography has the capability to memorialize and guarantee one's place in history; iconography can also provide powerful insight into human culture, and explore social and cultural values in a visual manner. Iconography can incorporate information about group identities, allegiances, religious affiliations, propaganda, and acceptance within both modern and ancient societies. By studying a specific iconographic figure, the Central Mexican god Tlaloc, as a visual representation of a belief or identity, we can glean a greater understanding of the cultural transmission of iconographic symbols. The substantial use of this icon, in both Central Mexico and the Maya region, reveals iconography as …
Ancient Maya Afterlife Iconography: Traveling Between Worlds, Mosley Dianna Wilson
Ancient Maya Afterlife Iconography: Traveling Between Worlds, Mosley Dianna Wilson
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The ancient Maya afterlife is a rich and voluminous topic. Unfortunately, much of the material currently utilized for interpretations about the ancient Maya comes from publications written after contact by the Spanish or from artifacts with no context, likely looted items. Both sources of information can be problematic and can skew interpretations. Cosmological tales documented after the Spanish invasion show evidence of the religious conversion that was underway. Noncontextual artifacts are often altered in order to make them more marketable. An example of an iconographic theme that is incorporated into the surviving media of the ancient Maya, but that is …