Baking Pot

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Baking Pot
Location
Coordinates 17°12′11″N 89°1′10″W / 17.20306°N 89.01944°W / 17.20306; -89.01944
Country  Belize
Region Cayo District
Nearest town San Ignacio, Belize
History
Culture Maya
Period Preclassic to Postclassic occupation
Excavation and maintenance
Notable archaeologists Oliver Ricketson, Bullard and Bullard, Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnissance Project (current)
Section of stucco frieze with a prominent human face in the centre, surrounded by elaborate decoration.
Maya civilization
History
Preclassic Maya
Classic Maya collapse
Spanish conquest of Yucatán
Spanish conquest of Guatemala
Spanish conquest of Petén

Baking Pot is a Maya archaeological site located in the Belize River Valley on the southern bank of the river, northeast of modern day town of San Ignacio in the Cayo District of Belize; it is 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) downstream from the Barton Ramie archaeological site. Baking Pot is associated with an extensive amount of research into Maya settlements, community-based archaeology, and of agricultural production; the site possesses lithic workshops, and possible evidence of cash-cropping cacao[1][2] as well as a long occupation from the Preclassic through to the Postclassic period.

The site at Baking Pot is unique in that it had a large population during the Terminal Classic while other sites in the Belize River Valley were declining, and occupation continued into the Postclassic whereas major Classic Period sites in the southern lowlands were by then abandoned.[3] This is evidence against a Maya “collapse” as previously thought in favor of change and transition throughout the Maya area. After the Classic period site cores in much of the Belize Valley were abandoned, but at Baking pot “survey and excavation of house mounds and plazuela groups immediately outside the site core suggested that Postclassic occupation there is more substantial and prolonged than in the site core”.[3] The abundance of Tayasal-associated Augustine Red ceramics at Baking Pot, along with the association of these ceramics with a different organizational and settlement pattern suggest that there was an intrusion of people from central Petén during this time.[3][4] Researchers like Aimers favor a gradual abandonment of the site at a much later time period than other sites in the region.

Contents

History [edit]

In the late Preclassic, Baking Pot had a small population with little public architecture. In the Early Classic, the site experienced a construction boom. Two architectural groups were built, with Group A to the north and Group B (containing the largest structure at Baking Pot) to the south. This north-south orientation is similar to nearby Xunantunich.[5] Earlier excavators like Ricketson, Gordon Willey, and Bullard and Bullard describe these groups as Group 1 and Group 2. These major complexes make up the center of Baking Pot and are connected by a causeway (or sacbe). In the Late Classic, the population increased to approximately 3000 people. Toward the end of the Classic period the local elite left and the palace complexes in the city center were abandoned. In the early Postclassic, approximately 1000 people were still living on a portion of the site but rarely used the ceremonial center and there was no new construction. In 2008, the settlement survey was completed with 100% coverage around the center for 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi) (with a 20% sample of all mounds in this area).[6] Much of the site has been destroyed by plowing. Research at the site has focused on the transition from the Classic to Postclassic periods and upon the commoners and their settlement at the site, including where they settled, how they were living and how their way of living and status changed during the reorganization during the transition between periods. During this time most people were living on the east side, but the entire population was apparently concentrated close to the center. Baking Pot covers a 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi) area, but the majority of the mounds are located within 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) of the center. The settlement cluster in the east contains 6 house groups, displaying various levels of status. Much of the people living at Baking Pot were farmers; being close to the Belize River the site has fertile soil in an alluvial valley and is primarily associated with agricultural production.[7]

Excavations [edit]

In the 1920s, A.H. Anderson first recorded this site as a major center and Oliver Ricketson excavated Structure B1.[8] Bullard and Bullard completed major excavations in Structure B1 in the 1930s,[9] as did Gordon Willey in the 1950s. Wiley is best known for his excavations and settlement research at Barton Ramie and for his focus on Maya commoners during a time when most people were only focused on elite.[1] Limited work was done at the site during the 1920s, 1950s, and 1960s until the Belize Valley Archeological Reconnaissance Project started working there in the 1990s, with its work continuing into the 21st century[6] with researchers including Carolyn Audet, Christophe Helmke, Jim Conlan, Julie Hoggarth, Josalyn Ferguson, and Jennifer Piehl. The earlier excavations focused on burials and grave goods, items that would be suited for display in museums, and many burials have been found with elaborate grave goods such as chert eccentrics, polychrome ceramics, jade earspools, evidence of cranial and dental modification, etc. Later investigations have centered around the settlement of Baking Pot.

Group B is adjacent to a Maya ballcourt. In the mid-1990s, Josalyn Ferguson excavated there and found a speleothem as a ballcourt marker in the center.[10] Caves in Maya iconography represented an entrance to the underworld. At Baking Pot, one must pass through the ballcourt after going up the causeway to enter group B. The same is true for group A, and there is another ballcourt off the Belize River. The common pattern is that one must first pass through the ballcourt in order to enter the ceremonial complexes, which is not a typical pattern in the Maya lowlands.[11]

Structure B1 was only used until the early part of the Terminal Classic. Here the inhabitants constructed drains for rainwater to drain into the courtyard. Seasonal streams appeared during the rain season, and the Maya modified them to drain into reservoirs (aguadas). Baking Pot is named after large pots were found by archaeologists that were once used to boil chicle. At the Bedran group nearby, a house group that was excavated, burial grave goods were found including painted ceramic vessels with a primary standard sequence around the top, one of the earliest examples in Belize dated to the Early Classic.[12] These vessels were cacao drinking vessels and were thought to contain a placename: Four Water Place, although this is now reinterpreted as a royal title. There previously was thought to be four aguadas associated with group B, but a fifth was later found. There are no carved monuments at Baking Pot, although several uncarved stelae and uncarved altars have been found. With no glyphs found at the center of Baking Pot we may never know if this is the “Four Water Place” noted on the cacao drinking vessels of the Bedran group was the Mayan name for Baking Pot. The text also named its owners, who were local royalty, a name-pattern that also connects it with Caracol which will be described below.[12]

The Causeway extends south and to the west of Group B and ends at a causeway terminus structure (Mound 190). Here hundreds of broken vessels were found in front of the stairway, possibly from a termination ritual. The Maya would dedicate a structure by offering objects to the structure, they believed these objects had spirits and when a structure was no longer used they would break the vessels to release the spirits (there are exceptions as with dwarf figurines). Mound 190 had deposits with finger bones, an altar, and intact mini ceramic vessels below it with tiny specks of jade. This mound also contains no evidence of ritual activity and is believed to be used for ritual/ceremonial purposes. Secondary human remains were found here at Mound 190 including two skulls that may show evidence of scalping. In Maya iconography of warfare, they held captives by their hair and also depicted them with bleeding fingers as if pieces have been cut off, which may suggest what this structure was used for. Captives here may have been part of a ritual procession from the river, through the ballcourt, and up the causeway to this structure. This is just one interpretation, and there is no archeological evidence for warfare at Baking Pot such as defensive walls, etc. There is evidence of burning in the center but that could have been for other reasons like ritual use of the building.[3] The discovery of finger bones is similar to the finger bowl caches associated with Caracol (and also found at Cahal Pech) and may provide evidence of Caracol control or influence at Baking Pot at the time.[13] Vessel 2 at Baking Pot describes its owner in a similar structure that is found at Caracol as well.[13] Naranjo pottery has also been found here at Baking Pot, and evidence for a push to control the Belize River Valley after the fall of Tikal was described on a monument at Xunantunich. This evidence shows the a tug-of-war present at Baking Pot over Caracol/Naranjo control of the site, since there is evidence that Baking Pot would have been under the control of Caracol or Naranjo during different times.[13]

The northwest area of the site was not inhabited before the Terminal Classic. As the eastern portion of the site developed it filled in and it was occupied during the Terminal and Postclassic. The causeway connecting the groups is made from cobble covered with plaster and is 10 metres (33 ft) wide. The eastern side of Baking Pot shows strong Postclassic occupation. Merchant God figurines and copper bells have been found here.

Structure 209 is nicknamed the “ticketbooth” structure and is attached to the causeway close to Group A. This structure is round, and is a Classic period construction (typically not seen during this period). This structure is believed to be used solely for ritual/ceremonial purposes as no domestic debris has been found.

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Willey, G. R., Bullard, W. R., Glass, J. B., Gifford, J. C., & Elliot, O. (1965). Prehistoric Maya settlements in the Belize Valley. Cambridge, Mass: Peabody Museum.
  2. ^ Audet, Carolyn, and Jaime J. Awe. (2004)What's Cooking at Baking Pot: A Report of the 2001-2003 Field Seasons. In Jaime Awe, John Morris and Sherilyne Jones, Eds., Research Reports in Belezian Archaeology, Vol 1, pp. 49-60.
  3. ^ a b c d Aimers, James J. (2003). Abandonment and Nonabandonment at Baking Pot, Belize. In Takeshi Inomata and Ronald W. Wedd, Eds., The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
  4. ^ Chase, Arlen F. (1986). Time Depth or Vacuum: The 11.3.0.0.0 Correlation and the Lowland Maya Postclassic, in J.A. Sabloff and E.W. Andrews V, Eds., Late Lowland Maya Civilization: Classic to Postclassic, pp. 99-140, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
  5. ^ Awe, Jaime J. (2008) Architectural Manifestations of Power and Prestige: Examples from Classic Period Monumental Architecture at Cahal Pech, Xunantunich and Caracol, Belize. In John Morris, Sherilyne Jones, Jaime Awe, and Christophe Helmke, Eds., Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology Volume 5, pp. 159-174. Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan, Belize.
  6. ^ a b Awe, Jaime J., Julie Hoggarth, and Christophe Helmke. Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Upper Belize River Valley and Their Implications for Models of Low-Density Urbanism.
  7. ^ Hoggarth, Julie A. "Site Tour: Baking Pot, Belize". Lecture sponsored by The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project. Galen University, 18 July 2011.
  8. ^ Ricketson, O. G. (1931). Excavations at Baking Pot, British Honduras. In Contributions to American Archaeology, Vol 1, No. 1, pp. 1-28. Washington, D.C: Carnegie Institute of Washington
  9. ^ Bullard, W. R., & Bullard, M. R. (1965). Late classic finds at Baking Pot, British Honduras. Art and Archaeology Occasional Papers, No. 8. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  10. ^ Ferguson, Josalyn. (1998). “A Marker in Time: The North Ball Court at the Maya Civic Centre of Baking Pot.” The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: Progress Report of the 1997 Field Season, James M. Conlon & Jaime J. Awe, Eds., pp. 17-34. Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London.
  11. ^ Ferguson, Josalyn. (1999). The Ballgame at Baking Pot, Belize: An Analysis of the Ballcourts at a Maya Civic Centre. Ann Arbor, Mich: UMI.
  12. ^ a b Awe, Jaime J. and Christophe G.B. Helmke. (2005). Alive and Kicking in the 3rd to 6th Centuries A.D.: Defining the Early Classic in the Belize River Valley. In Jaime Awe, John Morris, Sherilyne Jones, and Christophe Helmke, Eds., Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology, Vol 2:39-52. Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan, Belize.
  13. ^ a b c Helmke, Christophe and Jaime J. Awe. (2008). Organización Territorial de los Antiguos Mayas de Belice Central: Confluencia de Datos Arqueológicos y Epigráficos. Mayeb 20:65-91. In press Ancient Maya Territorial Organization of Central Belize: Confluence of Archaeological and Epigraphic Data. Acta Mesoamericana.

Further reading [edit]

  • Audet, Carolyn. (2004). Excavations of structure 190, Baking Pot, Belize. In Carolyn Audet and Jaime Awe, Eds., The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: Report on the 2003 Field Season, pp. 35–55. Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan, Belize.
  • Awe, Jaime J. "Early Classic/Late Classic Maya" Lecture sponsored by The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project. Galen University, 17 July 2011.
  • Bullard, W. R., & Bullard, M. R. (1965). Late classic finds at Baking Pot, British Honduras. Art and Archaeology Occasional Papers, No. 8. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • Chase, Diane Z. (2004). Diverse Voices: Toward and Understanding of Belize Valley Archaeology. In James F. Garber, Ed., The Ancient Maya of the Belize Valley: Half a Century of Archaeological Research, pp. 335–348. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
  • Conlon, James F. and Allan F. Moore. (2003). Identifying Urban and Rural Settlement Components: An Examination of Classic Period Plazuela Group Function at the ancient Maya Site of Baking Pot, Belize, in Gyles Iannone and Samuel V. Connell, Eds., Perspectives on ancient Maya rural complexity, pp. 59–70. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.
  • Hoggarth, Julie A. (2009) Settlement and Community Organization in the Classic to Postclassic Transition: Research Methodology and Aims of the 2007 to 2010 Settlement Research at Baking Pot, Belize. In Julie A. Hoggarth and Jaime J. Awe, Eds., The Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: A Report of the 2008 Field Season, pp. 1–25. Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belmopan, Belize.
  • Piehl, J.C. (1997). The Burial Complexes of Baking Pot: Preliminary Report on the 1996 Field Season. In Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project: Progress Report of the 1996 Field Season, edited by Jaime J. Awe and J.M. Conlon. pp. 59–70. Department of Anthropology. Trent University. Peterborough, Ontario.
  • Piehl, Jennifer C. (2004). Performing Identity at an Ancient Maya City: The Archaeology of Houses, Health and Social Differentiation at the Site of Baling Pot, Belize. Ph.D. Dissertation. Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans.
  • Weeks, John M., Hill, Jane A., & Carnegie Institution of Washington. (2006). The Carnegie Maya: The Carnegie Institution of Washington Maya research program, 1913-1957. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.

External links [edit]
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See also: Pre-Columbian era
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