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Land Tenure Systems at the Ancient Maya Site of Actuncan, Belize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2019

Lisa J. LeCount Open the ORCID record for Lisa J. LeCount [Opens in a new window] ,
Chester P. Walker ,
John H. Blitz  and
Ted C. Nelson
Lisa J. LeCount*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 19 ten Hoor Hall, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Chester P. Walker
Affiliation:
Archaeo-Geophysical Associates, LLC, 5209 Acacia Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814, USA
John H. Blitz
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 19 ten Hoor Hall, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Ted C. Nelson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 19 ten Hoor Hall, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
*
(llecount@ua.edu, corresponding author)
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Abstract

A common property regime was established at the founding of the Maya site of Actuncan, Belize, in the Terminal Preclassic period (175 BC–AD 300), which governed access to land until the Terminal Classic period (AD 780–1000). This interpretation is based on urban settlement patterns documented through household excavation and remote-sensing programs. Excavations of all visible patio-focused groups in the urban core provided data to reconstruct residential histories, and a 60,621 m2 gradiometer survey resulted in a magnetic gradient map that was used to document buried constructions. Twenty ground-truth testpits correlated types of magnetic signatures to buried patio-focused groups and smaller constructions, including walled plots in agricultural field systems that were later exposed more fully through large-scale excavations. Combined, these methods provided data to reconstruct four correlates of land tenure systems: (1) the spatial proximity of residential units to land and resources, (2) diachronic changes in community settlement patterns, (3) land subdivision and improvements, and (4) public goods. Spatial analyses documented that houselots did not cluster through time, but instead became gradually improved, lending evidence to suggest the transgenerational inheritance of property rights in the Late and Terminal Classic periods.

Presentamos evidencia de un régimen de propiedad común, que se estableció en la fundación del sitio Maya de Actuncan, Belice, en el periodo Preclásico terminal (175 aC. – 300 dC), el cual fijó el valor de la tierra hasta el periodo Clásico terminal (780–1000 dC.). Esta interpretación se basa en patrones de asentamiento urbano documentados a través de excavaciones de viviendas y programas de percepción remota. Las excavaciones de los grupos de patios visibles en el centro urbano otorgan datos que permiten reconstruir la historia de las residencias. Igualmente, una medición de gradiómetro de 60.621 m2 proporciona un mapa de gradiente magnético utilizado para documentar construcciones enterradas. A través de veinte sondeos se correlacionan los tipos de firmas magnéticas con grupos de patios enterrados y otras construcciones pequeñas, incluyendo parcelas amuralladas en sistemas de campos agrícolas. Estos métodos proporcionan datos para reconstruir los sistemas de tenencia de tierra, incluyendo 1) proximidad espacial de las unidades residenciales a la tierra y a los recursos, 2) cambios diacrónicos en los patrones de asentamiento de la comunidad, 3) subdivisión de la tierra y su mejoramiento y 4) bienes públicos. El análisis espacial documenta que los lotes no se agruparon a través del tiempo, sino que se mejoraron, lo que permite sugerir la herencia transgeneracional de los derechos de la propiedad en los periodos Clásico tardío y terminal.

Keywords

Mayaland tenuresettlement patternsremote sensinghousehold archaeologyMayatenencia de tierrapatrón de asentamientoteledetecciónarqueología del hogar
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , June 2019 , pp. 245 - 265
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by the Society for American Archaeology 

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