The Bioarchaeology of Individuals

5. Mortuary Evidence for Maya Political Resistance and Religious Syncretism in Colonial Belize

68 5  d   Mortuary Evidence for Maya Political Resistance and Religious Syncretism in Colonial Belize Gabriel D. Wrobel Individual Profile Site: Chau Hiix Location: Western Lagoon, northern Belize Cultural Affiliation: Maya, Colonial era Date: A.D. 1520–1660, based on Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) of long bone fragments. Features: CHE70-3-80-99 (Burial 137) and CHE70-3-125-99 (Burial 149) Location of Graves: Structure 2, southeast corner of Plaza A Burial and Grave Type: Single primary inhumations, on back and extended, hands on hips Associated Materials: Partial ceramic vessel covering face and unidentified copper item with B137; jade bead, metate fragment, and unidentified copper item with B149 Preservation and Completeness: Very good preservation; crania and some long bones reconstructed Age at Death and Basis of Estimate: Young adults, based on dental attrition and tooth eruption Sex and Basis of Determination: Males, based on pelvic and cranial morphology and long bone robusticity Conditions Observed: Skeletal lesions indicative of anemia and nonspecific infection Specialized Analysis: AMS dating and stable carbon isotope analysis of long bone fragments for dietary reconstruction Excavated: 1999, directed by K. Anne Pyburn, Indiana University, Bloomington Archaeological Report: Wrobel 2000, Andres and Pyburn 2003 Current Disposition: At Indiana University, Bloomington, on loan from the Belize Institute of Archaeology Mortuary Evidence for Maya Political Resistance in Colonial Belize · 69 Excavations at the Classic period Maya site of Chau Hiix, located in northern Belize, uncovered two Historic (ca. A.D. 1520–1660) burials within a palace structure. Both individuals were young males, and an analysis of their dental morphology shows them to be Maya. At the time of the interments, Chau Hiix had been abandoned for approximately 400 years, and Spaniards had firmly established themselves in Central America. The treatment and context of the burials show a form of syncretism in which the mortuary treatment reflects both Maya and Christian conventions. Selective use of elements of both cultural traditions is also evident at the nearby settlements of Lamanai and Tipu, where visita missions were established by Franciscans in the sixteenth century and churches continued to be used for burial even after the Spanish were no longer in control. In his discussion of the Colonial Maya of Belize, Jones (1989: 16) states, “the Mayas used the frontier to hide both people and ideas and to maintain an underground of spirited resistance, even while transforming their own society to incorporate aspects of Spanish government and religion.” Graham (1991) also stresses that the relationship of the Maya communities in Belize to the Spanish was characterized by fluctuation between cooperation and resistance, and that the form of Christianity taken by the Maya similarly reflected assimilation—on the Maya’s own terms. The two Historic period burials from Chau Hiix reflect this dual relationship. The burial position and grave goods situate these mortuary features within the Colonial system, while their placement in an abandoned building that had also been used for burial by the Prehispanic Maya denotes resistance through the maintenance of selected Maya traditions. The skeletal biology of these individuals is consistent with the biological patterns of Prehispanic Colonial Lowland Maya, and when considered with the associated archaeological data, the osteobiographies reveal the impacts of biological and cultural disruptions typical of this period. Chau Hiix Chau Hiix is located in northern Belize approximately equidistant from the larger sites of Lamanai and Altun Ha (figure 5.1). Most archaeological research at Chau Hiix addresses the ancient community’s role in the political economy of the region. Perhaps because of its location next to fertile swampy agricultural land and relatively easy access to an important riverine trade route, Chau Hiix maintained a vibrant population through the Early Postclassic period from A.D. 900 to 1200 (table 5.1), in contrast to other nearby communities that succumbed to the collapse and were abandoned at some point in the ninth century A.D. Figure 5.1. The southeastern frontier of Colonial Yucatan showing the location of Chau Hiix and other Colonial Maya sites. (Modified from Jones 1989, map 2, xvi–xvii. Inset of the Maya region courtesy of The Electronic Atlas of Ancient Maya Sites ©2008 Clifford T. Brown and Walter R. T. Witschey, http://mayagis.smv.org/.) Table 5.1. Chronology of Maya in northern Belize as seen from Lamanai Time period Present–1981 Independence Economic and cultural orientation changes to greater involvement with North and Spanish America; greater participation in global economy 1964...