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== Preclassic Period Colha ==
== Preclassic Period Colha ==
There are three generally recognized phases in Preclassic Period (900 B.C. – A.D. 250) Colha. These are: 1. Middle Preclassic (900-400 B.C.), 2. Late Preclassic (400 B.C. – A.D. 100), and 3. Protoclassic (A.D. 100-250)<ref>Buttles, Palma J. 2002. Material and Meaning: A Contextual Examination of Select Portable Material Culture from Colha, Belize. Dissertation for University of Texas at Austin</ref>.During this period a general pattern of development in evident at the site through evidence of increasing complexity, socially, culturally and economically<ref>Scarborough, Vernon L. 1986. Civic and Residential Settlement at a Late Preclassic Maya Center. Journal of Field Archaeology. Vol 13: 155-175.</ref>.Despite evidence of periodic utilization in the Preceramic (Formative) Period through pollen analysis at nearby Cobweb Swamp<ref>Jones, John G. 1994. Pollen Evidence from Early Settlement and Agriculture in Northern Belize. Palynology. Vol. 18; 205-211</ref>, the first evidence of settled Maya through architectural means at Colha comes in the Early to Middle Preclassic Period<ref>Potter, Daniel R.; Hester, Thomas R.; Black, Stephen L.; and Valdez, Fred (Jr.). 1984. Relationships Between Early Preclassic and Early Middle Preclassic Phases in Northern Belize: A Comment on "Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads". American Antiquity. 49(3): 628-631.</ref>.
There are three generally recognized phases in Preclassic Period (900 B.C. – A.D. 250) Colha. These are: 1. Middle Preclassic (900-400 B.C.), 2. Late Preclassic (400 B.C. – A.D. 100), and 3. Protoclassic (A.D. 100-250)<ref>Buttles, Palma J. 2002. Material and Meaning: A Contextual Examination of Select Portable Material Culture from Colha, Belize. Dissertation for University of Texas at Austin</ref>.During this period a general pattern of development is evident at the site through evidence of increasing complexity, socially, culturally and economically<ref>Scarborough, Vernon L. 1986. Civic and Residential Settlement at a Late Preclassic Maya Center. Journal of Field Archaeology. Vol 13: 155-175.</ref>.Despite evidence of periodic utilization in the Preceramic (Formative) Period through [[pollen analysis]] at nearby Cobweb Swamp<ref>Jones, John G. 1994. Pollen Evidence from Early Settlement and Agriculture in Northern Belize. Palynology. Vol. 18; 205-211</ref> and debitage from [[lithic]] utilization around the site as far back as the [[Paleolithic]]<ref>Shafer, Harry J. and Hester, Thomas J. 1991. Lithic Craft Specialization and Product Distribution at the Maya Site of Colha. World Archaeology. 23(1): 79-97.</ref>, the first evidence of settled Maya through architectural means at Colha comes in the Early to Middle Preclassic Period<ref>Potter, Daniel R.; Hester, Thomas R.; Black, Stephen L.; and Valdez, Fred (Jr.). 1984. Relationships Between Early Preclassic and Early Middle Preclassic Phases in Northern Belize: A Comment on "Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads". American Antiquity. 49(3): 628-631.</ref>.
=== Middle Preclassic Colha ===
=== Middle Preclassic Colha ===



Revision as of 18:19, 18 November 2011

Colha, Belize

Colha, Belize is a Maya archaeological site located in northern portion of the country, about 52 km. north of Belize City. The site is one of the earliest in the Maya region and remains important to the archaeological record of the Maya culture well into the Postclassic Period. According to Palma Buttles, “Archaeological evidence from Colha allows for the interpretation occupation from the Early Preceramic (3400-1900B.C.) to Middle Postclassic (A.D. 1150-1300) with population peaks occurring in the Late Preclassic (400B.C.- A.D. 100) and again in the Late Classic ( A.D. 600-850)”[1].These peaks in population are directly related to the presence of stone tool workshops at the site. Colha’s proximity to an important source of high quality chert that is found in the Tertiary limestone of the region[2] and well traveled trade routes was utilized by the inhabitants to develop a niche in the Maya trade market that may have extended to the Greater Antilles[3]. During the Late Preclassic and Lata Classic periods, Colha served as a primary supplier of worked stone tools for the region. It has been estimated that the 36 workshops at Colha porduced nearly 4 million chert and obsidian tools and eccentrics that were dispersed throughout Mesoamerica during the Maya era[4][5]. This made it an important player in the trade of essential good throughout the area. 

Archaeological History

Formative Period

Preclassic Period Colha

There are three generally recognized phases in Preclassic Period (900 B.C. – A.D. 250) Colha. These are: 1. Middle Preclassic (900-400 B.C.), 2. Late Preclassic (400 B.C. – A.D. 100), and 3. Protoclassic (A.D. 100-250)[6].During this period a general pattern of development is evident at the site through evidence of increasing complexity, socially, culturally and economically[7].Despite evidence of periodic utilization in the Preceramic (Formative) Period through pollen analysis at nearby Cobweb Swamp[8] and debitage from lithic utilization around the site as far back as the Paleolithic[9], the first evidence of settled Maya through architectural means at Colha comes in the Early to Middle Preclassic Period[10].

Middle Preclassic Colha

Classic Period

Postclassic Period

References

  1. ^ Buttles, Palma J. 2002. Material and Meaning: A Contextual Examination of Select Portable Material Culture from Colha, Belize. Dissertation for University of Texas at Austin.
  2. ^ Jones, John G. 1994. Pollen Evidence from Early Settlement and Agriculture in Northern Belize. Palynology. Vol. 18; 205-211
  3. ^ Wilson, Samuel M.; Iceland, Harry B.; Hester, Thomas R. 1998. Preceramic Connections Between Yucatan and the Caribbean. Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 9(4): 342-352.
  4. ^ Brown DO, Dreiss ML, and Hughes RE. 2004. Preclassic Obsidian Procurement and Utilization at the Maya Site of Colha, Belize. Latin American Antiquity 15(2):222-240
  5. ^ Santone L. 1997. Transport Costs, Consumer Demand, and Patterns of Intraregional Exchange: A Perspective on Commodity Production and Distribution from Northern Belize. Latin American Antiquity 8(1):71-88.
  6. ^ Buttles, Palma J. 2002. Material and Meaning: A Contextual Examination of Select Portable Material Culture from Colha, Belize. Dissertation for University of Texas at Austin
  7. ^ Scarborough, Vernon L. 1986. Civic and Residential Settlement at a Late Preclassic Maya Center. Journal of Field Archaeology. Vol 13: 155-175.
  8. ^ Jones, John G. 1994. Pollen Evidence from Early Settlement and Agriculture in Northern Belize. Palynology. Vol. 18; 205-211
  9. ^ Shafer, Harry J. and Hester, Thomas J. 1991. Lithic Craft Specialization and Product Distribution at the Maya Site of Colha. World Archaeology. 23(1): 79-97.
  10. ^ Potter, Daniel R.; Hester, Thomas R.; Black, Stephen L.; and Valdez, Fred (Jr.). 1984. Relationships Between Early Preclassic and Early Middle Preclassic Phases in Northern Belize: A Comment on "Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads". American Antiquity. 49(3): 628-631.