![]() Excavations indicate that terrace construction was heavily influenced by the step-like structure of the limestones making up the Vaca Plateau, suggesting lower labour inputs than had previously been attributed to terracing of this type from elsewhere in the lowlands. This study sought to assess the degree of labour organization involved in the creation of this ancient agricultural landscape by investigating the spatial patterning of terracing and settlement, terrace construction, and the chronological development of a 5 ha area containing several ancient farmsteads. The ruins of this small city-state, located in the rugged north Vaca Plateau of west-central Belize, are surrounded by dense, large-scale, and orderly agricultural terracing. This thesis presents the results of an investigation into the socio-economic and socio-political organization of intensive agricultural production at the ancient Maya centre of Minanha. ![]() Finally, this settlement abandonment study will serve to inquire into ancient Maya rituals and social organization, and into the socio- political dynamics ongoing at Minanha during its last phase of occupation. Additionally, intra- and inter-site comparisons, will allow for a regionally integrated reconstruction of the abandonment scenario for the broader Minanha community. Specifically, this thesis explores the timing of the abandonment for each segment of the Minanha community, as well the differential abandonment processes responsible for the creation of each of the 12 on-floor assemblages excavated at the site. ![]() The research methods include a careful "type-attribute: mode" ceramic analysis, and detailed contextual, architectural observations. The purpose of this research is to study, through a behavioral-contextual approach, the 12 on-floor assemblages that were excavated across the entire social spectrum of the Minanha community, from commoners to royal elites. This thesis explores the abandonment of the ancient Maya site of Minanha, situated in the North Vaca Plateau of west-central Belize. As an avenue of inquiry, exploring the integrative strategies of the Site Core households, from their initial occupations to their abandonment, has clarified the response this commoner community had to both the rise, and the fall of the Minanha city-state. ![]() The material inventory and nature of the Site Core settlement indicate that, throughout its existence, this community was richly textured, inhabited by an array of individuals and families engaged in a range of different economic activities, socio-political relationships, diverse ritual practices, and with differential access to resources. ![]() Three years of housemound excavations in the Site Core of Minanha has generated a robust data set of fine enough resolution to address the many factors that contributed to the social, political, and economic dynamic of, not only this particular settlement, but also, the center as a whole. Over the span of its history, the ancient Maya city-state of Minanha underwent dramatic changes in its political, economic, and social environment, marked by the establishment of a royal court during the Late Classic period (AD 675-810). ![]()
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