Location

        The field school takes place at the site of Chawak But’o’ob, in the Programme for Belize Conservation and Management Area (PfBCMA),

Map of the PfBCMA

a 650 square kilometer subtropical forest preserve in the Orange Walk District of northwestern Belize operated by a private, non-profit organization.  The PfBCMA and surrounding region has not been occupied since the collapse of Classic Maya civilization around A.D. 850.   Because of this, participants in the field school will be carrying out research in an unusually “pristine” forest environment surrounded by creatures, such as howler monkeys and toucans, that have not previously seen humans.

The recently discovered site of Chawak But’o’ob, which is about a kilometer long and half a kilometer wide, is situated on a 65 meter- (approximately 200 foot- tall) forested escarpment overlooking the Rio Bravo flood plain.  Because of its elevated location, the inhabitants of this ancient town could have also looked down on the urban center of Dos Hombres some 2 kilometers distant.  Ridges and deep natural drainages cross-cut the site and add to the dramatic character of the landscape. 

In 2007, we will be carrying out most of our investigations in three areas in the southern half of the site. Mapping and excavation will be carried out on the top edge and face of the escarpment.

The Site 

       Chawak But’o’ob (Yucatec Maya for “long land” or “long terraces”) is an unusual and beautiful relic Maya community from the Classic period (A.D. 250 – 850).  This ancient town is in the distant outskirts of the Prehispanic city of Dos Hombres.  Chawak But’o’ob is today covered by subtropical forest, although in ancient times it probably appeared like a modern suburb, with trees around homes and interspersed between buildings. 

        The site is named for the numerous terraces that cross much of the terrain of this ancient community.  These terraces take varied forms, and are found in close association with other ancient constructions -- household patios, reservoirs, dams, artificial channels, and more than 300 stone and earthen platforms that once supported perishable houses.  These platforms date exclusively to in the last century or so of the Classic period, when Maya culture was reaching its apogee, in terms of population size, architectural sophistication, and political complexity.  It is also the time when Maya culture was facing a series of crises, which eventually overwhelmed it.  Archaeologists are still trying to reconstruct this final century of Classic Maya civilization to understand what happened to this culture.  Our investigations at Chawak But’o’ob are providing insight into this dramatic period of time.

Draft map of Chawak But'o'ob with occupation groups shaded

The site consists of seven occupation groups of between 15 and 80 structures apiece.  These closely situated groups are distributed across the site, at the edge of the flood plain, on the face of the escarpment, and at the escarpment’s upper edge.  The fact that most of these buildings are dispersed across the terrain as individual platforms and not elements within larger patio groups is unusual for a Classic-period Maya site.   Also unusual is the tremendous density of habitation here, which is at an urban level, even though the site lacks the monumental public architecture, such as temple buildings, that are found in Maya cities.

Our research at Chawak But’o’ob is shedding new light on the degree of complexity and sophistication of Maya commoner settlement. This site, which is among the few Maya sites in a wetland environment to be thoroughly investigated, is helping researchers understand heavy Maya utilization of environments, such as wetlands and escarpments, that modern westerners see as undesirable.  In addition to its striking escarpment location, the site is known for several remarkable traits, which are currently under investigation:

·        very high population density for a suburban or rural pre-industrial site (perhaps 1000 people on half a square kilometer when the site was at its peak)

·        a ritual ball court (unusually situated at the southern limit of the site)  

·        complex water control architecture (dams, channels, basins, reservoirs, cross-channel terraces, and linear water direction features) of the type not previously observed outside of Maya cities

·        agricultural-style terraces covered with ancient remains of housing (not previously seen in the Maya area)

·        extensive modifications to the ancient natural landscape

·        a complex subsistence system, which probably included flood plain farming and managed forestry.