Agricultural Rhythms and Rituals: Ancient Maya Solar Observation in Hinterland Blue Creek, Northwestern Belize

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Agriculture in prehispanic Mesoamerica necessitated not only a wide range of knowledge regarding soil types, fertility, and the growing cycles of different plants, but also the attendant rituals that firmly situated agrarian production into a shared Mesoamerican worldview. Due primarily to archaeological visibility, those attendant rituals have traditionally been investigated within the context of large centers. Recent investigations at the site of Quincunx, a hinterland architectural complex in northwestern Belize of the Maya Lowlands, provide evidence that some rural communities may also have had access to and control over esoteric knowledge involved in agricultural practice in the Late Classic period. Ourfindings are discussed in the context of ethnographic accounts and archaeological data that reveal the deep significance of quincuncial designs in Maya society and Mesoamerican ritual practices.La agricultura en Mesoamdrica prehispdnica no necesitaba solamente el conocimiento de los tipos de suelo, la fertilidad, y los ciclos de crecimiento, sino tambidn los rituales acompaiiados que establecieron la produccic'n agricola en una cosmovisidn comutn entre los mesoamericanos. Principalmente por su visibilidad en el registro arqueolcdgico, las investigaciones sobre esos rituales se han restringuido a los centros mds grandes de los mayas. Investigaciones recientes del sitio de Quincunx, un complejo arquitectdnico en el campo del noroeste de Belice, presentan evidencia que algunas comunidades rurales pudieran tener acceso y control sobre el conocimiento esotdrico con respecto a la agricultura durante el periodo Cldsico Tardio. Parece que era importante en varios niveles la ubicacidn y configuracidn Utnica del complejo de Quincunx a los poblados circundantes. Su plano arquitect6nico de cinco estructuras con infasis en intercardinalidad imita las concepciones del cosmos que existen entre muchas comunidades actuales e hist6ricas de los mayas. Se discuten nuestras conclusiones dentro del contexto de cuentos etnogrdficos y datos arqueol6gicos que revelan el significado profundo de los disefios quincunciales en la sociedad maya. successful, sustained agricultural production in prehispanic Mesoamerica necessitated a wide range of knowledge regarding soil types, fertility, regulation of moisture levels, and the growing cycles and requirements of many subsistence and economic crops. Yet, the component of ancient agricultural behavior that is probably least understood by archaeologists involves the attendant rituals that were deeply embedded in a worldview focused to a very large degree on the cosmos, marking the cyclical passage of time, and defining the role of living people in relation to th...

Cakravala Method

“…The Caracol at Chichen Itza, Mexico, is especially well known as an observatory . A small compound in Belize, aptly dubbed Quincunx for its layout, indicates that rural farmers, too, used architectural assemblages to monitor the sun and the seasons (Zaro & Lohse, 2005). Examples include the serpent shadow that appears at equinox sunset on the north stair of the Castillo, Chichen Itza.…”

Sacred Landscapes and Building Practices at Uci, Kancab, and Ucanha, Yucatan, Mexico

“…Finds from Belize suggest that modest farmers not only understood quincunx symbolism but replicated it in their own deposits and buildings. For example, Robin (2002) excavated a quincunx-shaped cache of cobbles in a modest rural residence at Chan, Belize, while Zaro and Lohse (2005) excavated a nonelite architectural group with a quincunx layout that marks the solstice and zenith passages near Blue Creek, Belize.…”

Evidence for Ritual Engineering in the Late/Terminal Classic Site Plan of La Milpa, Belize

“…Attempts to decipher meaning in Maya sites, features, and structures have been common during the past two decades (e.g., Ashmore 1986Ashmore , 1989Ashmore , 1991Ashmore , 1992Ashmore andSabloff 2002, 2003;Brady 1997;Brady and Ashmore 1999;Chase and Chase 1998;Cheetham 2004;de Montmollin 1989;Dunning et al 1999;Fash 1998;Houk 1996Houk , 2000Houk , 2003Houston 1998;Johnston and Gonlin 1998;Mathews and Garber 2004;Miller 1998;Scarborough 1998;Tourtellot et al 2002;Tourtellot et al 2003;Zaro and Lohse 2005). Many of these investigations are site-planning studies, which examine the deliberate aspects of the arrangement of caches, structures, sites, and landscapes, often with the intent of unraveling their meaning and significance in the context of a broader Maya cosmology.…”