RAISING THE “BAAR” THROUGH IMPROVED METHOD AND THEORY: REINVIGORATING REGIONAL RESEARCH ON ARCHAIC OCCUPATIONS IN NORTHERN BELIZE

Abstract

Although much research has explored the transition to early village life in the Maya Lowlands, comparatively less attention has focused on the ~6000-year period of Archaic occupation in the region. Initiatives like the Belize Archaic Archaeological Reconnaissance (BAAR) Project were ground-breaking forty years ago, and firmly established an Archaic presence in northern Belize. While the interpretations and lithic chronological sequences developed by the BAAR are problematic, the published results are still widely cited and support a growing body of new research on this period. Today, most BAAR sites fall within the boundaries of our project, the Belize River East Archaeology (BREA) Project, and we have recently reinvigorated regional research on the Archaic period in this area. Here we describe our work re-identifying and accurately geolocating some of the key Archaic sites established by the BAAR, and field strategies implemented to mitigate issues of stratigraphic sequencing and temporal anchoring. Hindsight and improved technological methods have helped us develop a multipronged, systematic surface and subsurface strategy for detecting, recording, and interpreting Archaic occupational scatters. Centered on the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, our project resumes research on the successful and sustainable Archaic adaptations that preceded the earliest Maya in northern Belize.