UNDERSTANDING LATE PRECLASSIC MAYA POLITICS: PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE TRIADIC GROUP AT ACTUNCAN, BELIZE

Abstract

For the Maya, the Late Preclassic period was a time of growth and consolidation; populations boomed and a common set of cultural ideas spread across the Maya Lowlands. This process is evident in the widespread presence of Chicanel Horizon ceramics, the dispersal of a unified Late Preclassic figural style found on mural and carved monuments, and the construction of a common set of architectural forms including canonical Triadic Groups. In the lower Mopan River Valley, the adoption of these ideas is evident in the rapid growth of the major center of Actuncan, Belize, which contains each of these cultural forms. This presentation reports on several years of preliminary research by the Actuncan Archaeological Project into the site’s triadic temple group. The authors have undertaken original documentation of the site's extensive looters’ tunnels and trenches, two seasons of original excavations, and archival work to recover original notes and drawings from research by James McGovern under the auspices of the Xunantunich Archaeological Project during the 1990s. Drawing on these data, we present initial interpretations of the sequence of construction of Structure 4, the largest and central pyramid of Actuncan’s Triadic Group. This includes evidence for eleven major construction phases, which are described in detail. We contextualize these findings by explaining our observations of regional trends in Triadic Group construction, which drive our ongoing research.