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Abstract
The Archaic period has not been as widely studied in Mesoamerica as it has been in other parts of the Americas. This problem stems from intractable issues such as low archaeological visibility and high post-depositional disturbance. And, while existing Archaic data from northern Belize indicates that foraging groups practiced diverse adaptations, little theoretical effort has been dedicated toward developing frames of reference for understanding the coupled human-landscape interactions ongoing during this period. Here, we outline a multi-method approach for situating hunter-gatherer-fisher-emergent horticultural land use behaviors, including comparative ethnographic data, extant archaeological information, and geospatial modeling. We set out a series of assumptions and expected material correlates for the archaeological record and develop a site suitability model for heuristically exploring existing data, as well as for predicting areas of high archaeological potential for future work. In this way, we are answering the call for more intensive, regional studies that take a holistic approach to understanding foraging practices at multiple scales. The site suitability model described here can be used as an effective way to conduct research remotely during times of travel restrictions and is widely applicable to a range of study areas both in and outside of Mesoamerica.
Department
Anthropology
Publication Date
2-28-2024
Journal Title
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Marieka Brouwer Burg, Eleanor Harrison-Buck, Modeling Archaic land use and mobility in north-central Belize, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, Volume 74, 2024, 101583, ISSN 0278-4165, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2024.101583.
Rights
© 2024 The Author(s).
Comments
This is an open access article published by Elsevier BV in Journal of Anthropological Archaeology in 2024, available online: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2024.101583