Collective Memory in the Frontiers: A Case Study From the Ancient Maya Center of Minanha, Belize

Abstract

The examination of the internal frontiers between ancient Maya polities is a topic that has received little focused attention. This article explores various topics associated with frontiers and frontier communities, including: (1) how they might be located archaeologically; (2) what their material correlates might be; and, (3) what we might expect in terms of their sociopolitical characteristics. Special attention is paid to the role that collective memory plays in both the definition and reaffirmation of territorial limits and in the production and reproduction of frontier identities. The ancient Maya center of Minanha is used as a case study.

Ancient Maya Regional Settlement and Inter-Site Analysis: The 2013 West-Central Belize LiDAR Survey

“…The second packet of data ran north from the original Caracol survey area to the Belize Valley and was bracketed by the Guatemala-Belize border to the west and the Macal River to the east ( Figure 5). This section was designed to delineate the settlement and terraces that existed in this very hilly region, especially around and between the known sites of Caledonia [44], Camp 6 [45], Caballo [46,47], Ixchel [48], Minanha [49,50], and Arenal [51]. The third section of LiDAR survey was designed to encompass the Belize Valley, running from the border and Xunantunich [52] to the high plateau region east of Pacbitun [53] and from the Maya Mountains in the south to just north of the Belize River.…”

“…Many of these have been reported in the archaeological literature and have undergone excavation (as detailed below); however, the LiDAR also demonstrates that there are other early architectural centers within this part of the Maya Mountains that did not become large settlements. Previous work within the central survey section has included work at Camp 6 [43], Caledonia [42], Ix Chel [48], Minanha [49,50], and Arenal [51]. Following brief work in the 1920s at Camp 6, Caledonia was one of the earliest sites worked in this part of the survey area.…”

“…East of Yaxnoh and north of Ixchel in a north-south valley is what remains of the site labeled by Thompson [45] as Camp 6; the LiDAR indicates that this area has seen modern disturbance. Proceeding even further to the north, the site of Minanha is encountered [49,50] and then the site of Arenal [51], as well as several smaller sites. Thus, in spite of relatively inhospitable terrain, nodal settlements are fairly regularly spaced throughout this section of the Maya Mountains.…”

11 Resilience and Vulnerability in the Maya Hinterlands

“…The second case study we discuss in this chapter derives from Minanha, located in the north Vaca Plateau of west central Belize (Figure ). Minanha represents an archetypal hinterland community, and is a classic example of an “internal frontier,” given its location on both an ecological and cultural “edge”; it lies immediately to the south of the Belize Valley, west of the Mountain Pine Ridge, and equidistant between the heartlands of the powerful, and competing, Naranjo and Caracol polities (Figure ; Iannone , ). In terms of resilience modelling, Minanha's location would have enhanced the ability of its inhabitants to respond to perturbations, because they would have had access to diverse natural and cultural resources.…”

A locally-adaptive model of archaeological potential (LAMAP)

“…Minanha is a small Maya city-state that emerged as a significant micro-regional power in the 8th century AD (Ianonne, 2005(Ianonne, , 2006(Ianonne, , 2010. Investigations so far suggest that Minanha was peripheral to the larger Maya communities nearby for most of its occupancy.…”