I presented the preliminary microremains analysis from dental calculus from Actun Kabul, Belize at the Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meetings in New Orleans, LA and at the 2024 Belize Archaeology Symposium in San Ignacio, Belize.
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Dental calculus is the mineralized plaque or tartar on a tooth’s surface. Calculus is formed and fossilized during life, which means that food and medicine can be caught in the matrix. Because calculus fossilizes during life, researchers can decalcify calculus and analyze the microbotanicals, proteins, and aDNA trapped inside. Microbotanical analysis was conducted on multiple individuals from the site of Actun Kabul, Belize, which was compared to the dietary isotopic data that was previously collected from these individuals. While the isotopic data provides information on the ratios of C3 to C4 plants and of terrestrial to marine proteins, microbotanicals provide a more nuanced view of what food and medicine an individual had access to and utilized. Because there are few microbotanical studies of DC in the Maya region, the goal of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of this method, as well as discuss its applicability in Mesoamerican research. Future work will include the proteomic findings from the same individuals.
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Marco Gonzalez, Belize
I have presented Marco Gonzalez research and updates from the field at the 2022 and 2024 Graduate Students in Anthropology Symposium in East Lansing, MI, as well as at the 2023 Graduate Student Conference on Latin America and the Caribbean in East Lansing, MI.
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The Marco Gonzalez Archaeological Program (MGAP) ran for the first time in the summer of 2023 after years of delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Marco Gonzalez is an archaeological site on Ambergris Caye, Belize, and was a trading hub for the ancient Maya. The excavations at Marco Gonzalez will (and have) provided new insights into the lived experiences of Maya coastal populations.
The 2023 field school ran for four weeks and consisted of students from Michigan as well as Belize. This season focused on two structures, Structure 14 and Structure 18, focusing on pre-existing research questions from previous excavations. This season incorporated the use of photogrammetry and 3D modeling as a documentation method. Presentations that I have given have focused on the unit that I supervised in Structure 14, which included evidence for extensive trade and exchange networks at the site, industrial-scale salt-processing, Maya Dark Earths, and a cache of what resembled grave goods without an associated individual. |
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Chalillo Dam salvage collection
I have presented the information from the Chalillo Dam salvage collection at the Society for American Archaeology 87th Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, as well as at the 2022 Belize Archaeology Symposium in San Ignacio, Belize.
A survey in the Upper Macal River Valley of Belize prior to the building of the Chalillo Dam identified multiple Maya sites, and the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance (BVAR) were able to perform salvage excavations in the area in 2003 and 2004. These excavations were an attempt to rescue as much archaeological information about these ancient communities as possible before their inundation. Time constraints forced the BVAR team to focus their excavations on eastern structures. Eastern structures were chosen because these structures were typically utilized as mortuary shrines and thus provide a wealth of data for interpreting the biosocial context of these sites. Several burials with skeletal remains of varying preservation were excavated and exhumed. This presentation offered an overview of mortuary data from the sites of Garapata, Ramonal, Bejuco, Peligroso, and Bajo de Lago, along with the results of preliminary inventory and paleopathological analysis of recovered skeletal remains.