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Contextualizing the Glyphic Texts of Tipan Chen Uitz, Cayo District, Belize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Christopher R. Andres ,
Christophe Helmke ,
Shawn G. Morton ,
Gabriel D. Wrobel  and
Jason J. González
Christopher R. Andres
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University, 655 Auditorium Drive, East Lansing, MI 48824
Christophe Helmke
Affiliation:
Institute of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Karen Blixens Vej 4, DK-2300 , Copenhagen S, Denmark
Shawn G. Morton
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. N.W., Calgary, Alberta, CanadaT2N 1N4
Gabriel D. Wrobel
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University, 655 Auditorium Drive, East Lansing, MI 48824
Jason J. González
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, 250A Baldwin Hall, Jackson St., Athens, GA 30602-1619
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Abstract

The 2011 investigations of the Caves Branch Archaeological Survey at the large and recently documented Maya site of Tipan Chen Uitz resulted in the discovery of the site's first monument with a glyphic inscription. Prior to this discovery, the site's glyphic corpus was limited to a small collection of texts rendered on fragmentary ceramics. In this paper, we describe these sherds as well as the monument (Monument 1), report on their archaeological contexts, provide an epigraphic analysis of the texts, and consider these written sources relative to our growing understanding of Tipan and its place in the ancient political landscape. The discovery of Monument 1 is important, for it stands to contribute to sociopolitical reconstructions in this part of the central Maya Lowlands and has significant implications for the possible presence of other, as yet undiscovered, Late Classic period (A.D. 550-830) monuments at Tipan.

Resumen

Resumen

Las investigaciones de la temporada de 2011 del proyecto Prospección Arqueológica del Caves Branch en el sitio grande — y recientemente documentado—de Tipan Chen Uitz resultaron en el descubrimiento del primer monumento del sitio con una inscriptión glífica. Previamente, el corpus glifico del sitio estaba restringido a una pequeña colección de textos fragmentarios realizados sobre cerámica. En este artículo describimos estos tiestos, el monumento (Monumento l),y sus contextos arqueológicos. Proporcionamos un análisis epigráfico de los textos y consideramos estas fuentes escritas relativas a nuestro entendimiento creciente de Tipan y su lugar en el panorama político prehispánico, El descubrimiento del Monumento 1 es un hallazgo importante, pues contribuye de manera reveladora a las reconstrucciones sociopoh'ticas en esta parte de las tierras bajas may as centrales y tiene implicaciones significativas para la posible presencia de otros monumentos del período Clísico Tardío (550-830 d.C.) en Tipan.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 46 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2014

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