5 Defining Community in the Upper Belize River Valley during the Late Classic Period: A Micro-regional Bioarchaeological Approach

Abstract

For the ancient Maya, mortuary practices offer crucial insight into how communities created and reproduced themselves. For example, most individuals local to the Belize River Valley are interred in a prone position, with head to the south. My research questions whether other rituals involving the deceased body, including body positioning and interaction with human remains through tomb re-entry (i.e., skull removal, interment of multiple individuals in one grave), could indicate affiliation to local or imagined communities. Comparing two Belize River Valley sites, Chan and Zubin, I found similar types of interaction that may indicate participation in a regional imagined community.