KULCHA Symposium Presenter, Prof. Fred Valdez: Belize and the Earliest Maya: Archaeological Data and New Interpretations

Fred Valdez is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UT Austin. He serves as Director of the Texas Archeological Research Lab (TARL), and also Directs the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project (PfBAP) in northwest Belize. His research includes investigations of social-political developments among pre-Maya through Postclassic Maya, studies of material culture, and human-environment interplay (specifically concerns of inequity, resilience, and adaptation). He is a recognized national and international scholar with numerous publications and presentations.

About the Presentation

Thematic Group: Ancient Maya Archaeology - September 1st, 2021 from 8:45 AM to 10:00 AM (UTC-6:00)

Archaeological investigations concerning the earliest Maya have been of archaeological interest for many decades. Northern Belize serves as a valuable region for researching and understanding early Maya developments. The ancient Maya site of Colha in northern Belize is a focal point of some early developments beginning in the Archaic period (about 3400 BCE). Natural resources in the region, especially in the chert-bearing zone, attracted people to the region extending back more than 12,000 years ago. Pottery-producing settled Maya villages are in place ca. 1000 BCE in Belize and across the ancient Maya world. Recent studies have identified earlier than Maya occupants in the region that had significant cultural developments, including semi-permanent occupation and horticulture. It seems plausible, perhaps likely by our assessment, that these late Archaic people (or aceramic populations) may have been the earliest Maya communities. Belize’s prehistory is quite significant in Maya (and pre-Maya) studies. Factors of defining communities, aspects of horticulture, and the transition from the Archaic into the Preclassic are reviewed in consideration of - just who were the earliest Maya?