About
18
Publications
5,009
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
324
Citations
Introduction
Skills and Expertise
Current institution
Publications
Publications (18)
This report gives an account of the first field season of the Suchilapan Archaeological Project, which was carried out from May to July 2024 in the municipality of Jesús Carranza in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. The project is directed by Dr. Jessica MacLellan of Wake Forest University and is authorized by the Archaeological Council of the Institu...
This study examines the carbon (δ 13 C), oxygen (δ 18 O), and strontium (87 Sr/ 86 Sr) isotopes from the dental enamel of 63 animals and compares these data to the carbon signatures from 21 humans from the Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala. Comparing both domestic dogs and non-domestic species over a history spanning two millennia, we find that subsis...
During the Middle Preclassic period (c. 1000–350 BCE), the people of the Maya lowlands transitioned from a mobile horticulturalist to sedentary farming lifestyle, exemplified by permanent houses arranged around patios and rebuilt over generations. Early evidence of this change has been found in northern Belize, in the Belize Valley, and at Ceibal,...
We examine Late and Terminal Classic (c. 600–950 CE) Maya ceramic figurine whistles from Ceibal, Guatemala, as materials of socialization. The figurines are mold-made and represent repeating characters, including humans, animals, and supernaturals. Based on mortuary and other contextual evidence, we argue that they were used for household performan...
Low, open, circular platforms were built in residential areas at sites across the Maya lowlands during the Preclassic period (c. 1000 BCE – 300 CE). These structures were probably used for ritual performances, such as dances. Here, we describe three examples excavated at Ceibal, Guatemala. We argue that round structures were used in supra-household...
The Ceibal-Petexbatún Archaeological Project has built long-standing relationships in the area around Ceibal, Guatemala, particularly in the Q’eqchi’ Maya village of Las Pozas. Both Q’eqchi’ and ladino (non-indigenous) people in the region face serious, systemic problems, including a loss of access to land and an absence of economic opportunities....
It is well known that the development of the ancient Maya civilization had significant and long-lasting impacts on the environment. This study assesses a large collection of faunal remains (>35,000 specimens) recovered over a span of several kilometers in and around the archaeological site of Ceibal, Guatemala, in order to determine whether the com...
In Chapter 4, Melissa Burham and colleagues examine urban growth, monumentality, and local community formation during the Late Preclassic period at Ceibal, Guatemala. Rather than focusing on the monumental epicenter of the site, the authors turn to the small communities that grew around the site core, each anchored by a minor-temple complex. Though...
While Maya public rituals are often assumed to have developed from domestic practices, caches at Ceibal in Guatemala demonstrate the concurrent emergence of distinct domestic and public rituals. During the Middle Preclassic period (c. 1000-350 BC), caches in domestic areas were associated with construction phases-deposited on floors or within const...
The site of Ceibal was founded around the beginning of sedentary life in the Maya lowlands. Excavations at the Karinel Group within the site reveal domestic structures and ritual deposits dating to the Middle Preclassic, Late Preclassic, and Terminal Preclassic periods (c. 1000 BC–AD 300). The results complement data from Ceibal's Central Plaza and...
This article examines Preclassic Maya ritual practices and craft production by means of a study of ritual deposits containing obsidian artifacts dated mostly to the late Middle Preclassic period (700–350 B.C.) at Ceibal, Guatemala. New ritual practices developed at Ceibal during this period, possibly through political interactions and negotiation i...
Excavations in large platforms in the center of Ceibal revealed extensive early Middle Preclassic constructions. They consisted of extensive clay platforms that supported low basal structural platforms. Although the function of the earliest platform, Sulul, during the Real-Xe 1 and 2 phases (950–775 b.c. ) is not clear, the one built during the Rea...
Significance
Tracing political change through refined chronologies is a critical step for the study of social dynamics. Whereas coarse chronologies can give an impression of gradual change, better temporal control may reveal multiple episodes of rapid disruption comprised in that span. Precise dating through radiocarbon determinations and ceramic s...
There exists a significant theoretical imbalance in the archaeological study of domestic and public domains. Although the domestic has been an important focus of theoretical discussion, there is not an adequate archaeological theory on the public, and the study of the public is often confused with that of elite strategies. We believe that this theo...
Significance
The results of our research at the lowland Maya site of Ceibal add to the growing archaeological understanding that the transition to sedentism did not necessarily occur simultaneously across different social groups within a region and that monumental constructions did not always postdate fully established sedentism. Whereas sedentary...
