The formative village of K'axob is located on a low rise in the lowland swamp and riverine setting of northern Belize. In 1992, I initiated a type-variety analysis of Formative period ceramics from the northern Belize site of K'axob. Following the lead of Andrews V (1990), I closely scrutinize the criteria used for the classification of Formative ceramics from northern Belize, especially for the establishment of new types and varieties. The following study, therefore, embodies an attempt to review ceramic analysis in northern Belize. Along with the review, I discuss the debate surrounding the chronological place of Formative remains from northern Belize, including the implications of the Cuello shortened chronology to ceramic classification, and examine the possibility of tracing the origins of Swasey ceramics from Cuello. I describe the ceramics of K'axob, consequently, detailing the chronological sequence of Pulltrouser Swamp, and place the K'axob ceramics within the general cultural background of the Maya Lowlands. Through such rigorous study, the K'axob ceramic evidence yielded information on the life of a small Formative village in northern Belize, as well as the contacts with sites in the Guatemala Highlands, Honduras, and El Salvador, during Formative times. ERRATUM Where referred to in the text, the pottery type 'Society Hall: Society Hall variety' should be read as 'Society Hall Red: Society Hall variety'; and 'Sierra Red: Sierra Red variety' should be read as "Sierra Red: Sierra variety".

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [213]-245).

Zugl.: Hamburg, Univ., Diss., 2010

Texte remanié de: Th. doct.--Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne, 1995. / Bibliogr. p. 137-144.

The goal of this dissertation is to identify the elite and non-elite power relationship between the Three Rivers Region primary center, La Milpa, and the small subsidiary center, Ixno'ha, during the Late Classic (A.D. 600 - 830/850). I analyze the domestic landscapes looking specifically at this relationship and how it reflected political change at the Late Classic beginning and end. The domestic landscape includes two parts: 1) the community patterns of house spatial associations to each other, environmental features, public centers, and infrastructure; 2) the household patterns of ceramic choices and house designs. What I found was that La Milpa and Ixno'ha shared many domestic landscape traits with largely similar Late Classic community and household choices. However, those choices shifted with greater similarity at the Late Classic end than the beginning. So, La Milpa elites showed potential influence over non-elite domestic choices during the late Late Classic. However, that influence was not overwhelming, thus suggesting a weakly centralized regional power structure. Moreover, the domestic landscape changes matched the political shifts only at the beginning of the Late Classic. This disparity suggests that non/elite and elite power regional relationships only partially connect to a regional political system. This research is about understanding hierarchical power relationships not just from the top-down elite view but also the bottom-up perspective, the domestic lives of the overall populations.

Monumental art of the Maya incorporates figural imagery and hieroglyphic texts to document dynastic and mythical history. One particular monument tells us that near the end of April in 752 A.D., Bird Jaguar IV was inaugurated as ruler of the Mayan city now known as Yaxchilan. Investigation of his sculptural programmes reveals a multiplicity of innovative solutions for Bird Jaguar's unparalleled problems in validating a tenuous claim to rulership of Yaxchilan. It appears that in order to compensate for his insufficient genealogical claim, Bird Jaguar fabricated a series of ritual events which proclaimed his political legitimacy. This study examines the intended integration of two parallel systems of communication: the visual and hieroglyphic languages of the Maya. Analysis shows how Bird Jaguar's artists presented symbolic references which manipulated the past history, justified the current history, and established the future political history of Yaxchilan. / Arts, Faculty of / Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Department of / Graduate

Round structures in the Maya area are an architectural form that is not well understood, in part due to the relatively few examples recovered through archaeological excavations. The site of Santa Rita Corozal, Belize offers one of the few examples of an Early Classic Period round structure (Structure 135) in the Maya region, one that is distinctive in its timing and architectural form. This thesis seeks to compare Structure 135 with the patterns of round structures identified in the Preclassic and Terminal/early Postclassic Periods, when there are comparatively more examples and to pinpoint the multiple construction periods evidenced in the excavations to define the changes to the structure over time. Based on this research, Structure 135 at Santa Rita Corozal does not clearly conform to earlier or later patterns of round structures in the Maya region and its use before abandonment and eventual transformation to a rectilinear shape was shorter than previously thought. This research also offers insights into the need for the contextual analysis of ceramics, and the difficulties of assuming context through the use of construction fill, even with a clear cultural formation process.

The quatrefoil is a pan-Mesoamerican symbol with considerable time-depth. For the Maya, use of the symbol peaked during the Classic Period, reaching its highest frequency and largest geographical spread. Consequently, understanding its meaning has the potential to illuminate information about Precolumbian Maya worldview. While there have been several studies that focus on Preclassic Period quatrefoils, a similar study is lacking for Classic Period. Furthermore, the evaluations of the quatrefoil that do exist for the Classic Period are limited, often focusing on a select few examples. This thesis attempts to rectify the gap in extant research through an examination of the quatrefoil motif utilized by the Classic Period Maya. Specifically, the goal of the thesis was to determine whether the current interpretation of the quatrefoil as a cave is and also to investigate how the symbol communicated broader ideas about worldview and ideology. The approach that was utilized focuses on both archaeological and iconographic contexts. As an iconographic symbol, I attempt to understand the quatrefoil through the use of semiotics with particular emphasis on contextualization and analogy. The results of this study suggest that, while there were some patterns related to spatial distribution, the meaning of the quatrefoil motif was dependent on context and had considerable variations. I conclude that the analysis of the symbol, when based on specific usages and contexts, reveals that there is not enough evidence to support the current interpretation of quatrefoil as cave. Rather, the quatrefoil can be more accurately interpreted as a cosmogram that delineated information about how the Maya conceptualized, ordered, and iii accessed space that was appropriated by elites to reinforce and even legitimize political authority

Small anthropomorphic figures, most often referred to as “Charlie Chaplins,” appear in ritual deposits throughout the ancient Maya sites of Belize during the late Preclassic and Early Classic Periods and later, throughout the Petén region of Guatemala. Often these figures appear within similar cache assemblages and are carved from “exotic” materials such as shell or jade. This thesis examines the contexts in which these figures appear and considers the wider implications for commonly held ritual practices throughout the Maya lowlands during the Classic Period and the similarities between “Charlie Chaplin” figures and anthropomorphic figures found in ritual contexts outside of the Maya area.

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