“…The skeletal remains were placed in a prone and extended position with head to the south. As several researchers (Awe 2013;Awe et al 2017a;Freiwald 2011;Freiwald et al 2014;Novotny et al 2018) working in the Belize Valley have noted, this burial orientation is standard for interments in the Belize River Valley, and represents a local tradition that extends from Middle Preclassic times to the Terminal Classic period. Strontium isotope analyses of skeletal remains in western Belize (Freiwald 2011;Freiwald et al 2014;Novotny et al 2018) also suggest that this burial orientation serves as a major diagnostic of graves containing the remains of local Belize Valley individuals.…”
Section: The Dynamic Development Of Xunantunich During the Late Classmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…As several researchers (Awe 2013;Awe et al 2017a;Freiwald 2011;Freiwald et al 2014;Novotny et al 2018) working in the Belize Valley have noted, this burial orientation is standard for interments in the Belize River Valley, and represents a local tradition that extends from Middle Preclassic times to the Terminal Classic period. Strontium isotope analyses of skeletal remains in western Belize (Freiwald 2011;Freiwald et al 2014;Novotny et al 2018) also suggest that this burial orientation serves as a major diagnostic of graves containing the remains of local Belize Valley individuals. The local origins of the Structure A4 individual was further confirmed by strontium, carbon, and oxygen isotope analyses which indicated that the strontium values for the A4 burial were solidly within the range of Belize Valley skeletal populations (Freiwald et al 2014).…”
Section: The Dynamic Development Of Xunantunich During the Late Classmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Strontium isotope analyses of skeletal remains in western Belize (Freiwald 2011; Freiwald et al 2014; Novotny et al 2018) also suggest that this burial orientation serves as a major diagnostic of graves containing the remains of local Belize Valley individuals. The local origins of the Structure A4 individual was further confirmed by strontium, carbon, and oxygen isotope analyses which indicated that the strontium values for the A4 burial were solidly within the range of Belize Valley skeletal populations (Freiwald et al 2014). Given the results of these more recent investigations, we would argue that the local origins of Samal phase elites at Xunantunich, and the presence of ceramics bearing glyphs in a style typical of Naranjo are more consonant with the archaeological correlates that LeCount and Yaeger (2010a:Table 2.2) associate with patron-client or independent ally relationships.…”
Section: The Dynamic Development Of Xunantunich During the Late Classmentioning
Investigations at Xunantunich indicate that this major Belize River Valley site rose rapidly to regional prominence during the Late Classic Hats' Chaak phase (a.d. 670–780). While the social, political, and economic reasons for Xunantunich's relatively late and rapid rise are still not fully understood, it has been suggested that this ascent was a direct result of either a patron-client relationship with, or owing to direct control by, the larger primary center of Naranjo in neighboring Guatemala. In this paper, we evaluate previous arguments for this proposed dynamic relationship between the two sites, and we discuss the political implications of more recently acquired data in our assessment of this relationship.
“…The skeletal remains were placed in a prone and extended position with head to the south. As several researchers (Awe 2013;Awe et al 2017a;Freiwald 2011;Freiwald et al 2014;Novotny et al 2018) working in the Belize Valley have noted, this burial orientation is standard for interments in the Belize River Valley, and represents a local tradition that extends from Middle Preclassic times to the Terminal Classic period. Strontium isotope analyses of skeletal remains in western Belize (Freiwald 2011;Freiwald et al 2014;Novotny et al 2018) also suggest that this burial orientation serves as a major diagnostic of graves containing the remains of local Belize Valley individuals.…”
Section: The Dynamic Development Of Xunantunich During the Late Classmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…As several researchers (Awe 2013;Awe et al 2017a;Freiwald 2011;Freiwald et al 2014;Novotny et al 2018) working in the Belize Valley have noted, this burial orientation is standard for interments in the Belize River Valley, and represents a local tradition that extends from Middle Preclassic times to the Terminal Classic period. Strontium isotope analyses of skeletal remains in western Belize (Freiwald 2011;Freiwald et al 2014;Novotny et al 2018) also suggest that this burial orientation serves as a major diagnostic of graves containing the remains of local Belize Valley individuals. The local origins of the Structure A4 individual was further confirmed by strontium, carbon, and oxygen isotope analyses which indicated that the strontium values for the A4 burial were solidly within the range of Belize Valley skeletal populations (Freiwald et al 2014).…”
Section: The Dynamic Development Of Xunantunich During the Late Classmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Strontium isotope analyses of skeletal remains in western Belize (Freiwald 2011; Freiwald et al 2014; Novotny et al 2018) also suggest that this burial orientation serves as a major diagnostic of graves containing the remains of local Belize Valley individuals. The local origins of the Structure A4 individual was further confirmed by strontium, carbon, and oxygen isotope analyses which indicated that the strontium values for the A4 burial were solidly within the range of Belize Valley skeletal populations (Freiwald et al 2014). Given the results of these more recent investigations, we would argue that the local origins of Samal phase elites at Xunantunich, and the presence of ceramics bearing glyphs in a style typical of Naranjo are more consonant with the archaeological correlates that LeCount and Yaeger (2010a:Table 2.2) associate with patron-client or independent ally relationships.…”
Section: The Dynamic Development Of Xunantunich During the Late Classmentioning
Investigations at Xunantunich indicate that this major Belize River Valley site rose rapidly to regional prominence during the Late Classic Hats' Chaak phase (a.d. 670–780). While the social, political, and economic reasons for Xunantunich's relatively late and rapid rise are still not fully understood, it has been suggested that this ascent was a direct result of either a patron-client relationship with, or owing to direct control by, the larger primary center of Naranjo in neighboring Guatemala. In this paper, we evaluate previous arguments for this proposed dynamic relationship between the two sites, and we discuss the political implications of more recently acquired data in our assessment of this relationship.
“…FIGURE 1.Map of sites surveyed with Classic period seated burials. No interments in seated positions were reported at Altun Ha, Benque Viejo, Blackman Eddy, Cahal Pech, Chan, Esperanza, Floral Park, Holmul, Piedras Negras, Pook's Hill, San Lorenzo (Belize), Tonina, Uaxactun, Xunantunich, Zubin (Adams 1998; Audet 2006; Braswell 1998; Brown et al 1996; Cheetham 2004; Connell 2000; Freiwald 2011; Freiwald, Mixter, and Billstrand 2014; Freiwald, Yaeger et al 2014; Garber et al 2004; Glassman 1995; Helmke 2006; Helmke et al 2001; Iannone 1996; MacKie 1985; McRae 2004; Mitchell 2006; Novotny 2012; Peuramaki-Brown 2009; Piehl 2002, 2006, 2008; Sanchez and Chamberlain 2002; Schubert et al 2001; Schwake 1996; Song 1995; Welsh 1988; Yaeger 2000), or other Belize cave and surface sites (Actun Halal, Actun Nak Beh, Actun Tunichil Muknal, Actun Uayazba Kab, Actun Yaxheel Ahau, Arenal, Cahal Pech, Cahal Uitz Na, Caledonia, Ontario, Pacbitun, Slate Altar Group, and X-Ual-Canil [Schwake 2008]).…”
Section: Excavation Strategies For Seated and Other Complex Burialsmentioning
Bioarchaeologists often are faced with the challenge of managing field excavations and lab analyses of skeletal remains at the same time—along with student and staff training and curation of osteological remains—and cannot be in two places at once. This article presents strategies for the recovery of human remains useful for large projects where multiple burials must be recovered simultaneously, remains are poorly preserved, and complex burial practices such as seated body positions and commingled remains are present. The excavation and curation strategies are presented in the context of the seated burial practice in the Maya region, a funerary tradition that requires detailed documentation of the burial as well as the body in order to understand its meaning. Classic period (AD 250-900) seated burials do not fit a single biological profile; in fact, the taphonomic profile of one seated individual at Actuncan, Belize, suggests a closer relationship to body processing and/or context than to status. Tropical and semitropical environmental conditions also require modified curation procedures, which present ethical challenges as well as physical ones.
“…Freiwald (2011) found that individuals interred in a prone, extended position with south-oriented head were more likely to exhibit radiogenic strontium isotope values consistent with early childhood residence in the Belize River Valley, possibly signifying community identity. Furthermore, research at nearby Xunantunich demonstrated that nearly all individuals buried in an atypical pattern had nonlocal radiogenic strontium values (Freiwald et al 2014).…”
Section: The Maya Elite and Their Burial Practicesmentioning
In this study, we employ multiple lines of evidence to elucidate the use of mortuary ritual by the ruling elite at the ancient Maya site of Cahal Pech, Belize, during the Early Classic and early Late Classic periods (AD 250–630). The interments of multiple individuals in Burial 7 of Structure B1, the central structure of an Eastern Triadic Assemblage or “E-group” style architectural complex, were in a manner not consistent with the greater Belize River Valley, the only multiple individual human burial yet encountered at Cahal Pech. The sequential interments contained a suggestive quantity of high-quality artifacts, further setting them apart from their contemporaries. Among these artifacts were a set of bone rings and a hairpin inscribed with hieroglyphs, some of the few inscriptions ever found at Cahal Pech. We analyzed regional mortuary patterns, radiogenic strontium values, and radiocarbon data to test hypotheses about who these individuals were in life, why they were treated differently in death, and to reconstruct the sequence of events of this complex mortuary deposit. We contend that the mortuary practices in Burial 7 indicate an attempt by the Cahal Pech elite to identify with cities or regions outside the Belize River Valley area.
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