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"Brings novel, synthetic insight to understanding a region that was a hub of waterborne trade and an important locus of production for some of the Maya’s most valued crops."--Cynthia Robin, author of Everyday Life Matters: Maya Farmers at Chan "This one of a kind volume shows us how important this region was to the ancient Maya with detailed and vivid descriptions of sociopolitical and economic organization and their relation to the unique landscape and geography of Chetumal Bay."--Laura J. Kosakowsky, author of Preclassic Maya Pottery at Cuello, Belize

Chetumal Bay is central to discussions of ancient Maya politics, warfare, economy, exchange and communication because of its unique location. Although the ancient Maya invested prodigious amounts of labor in the construction of road systems called sacbeob for communication and trade, recent archaeological discoveries around Chetumal Bay in both Belize and Mexico reveal an economic alternative to these roads: an extensive network of riverine and maritime waterways.

Focusing on sites ringing the bay such as Cerro Maya, Oxtankah, and Santa Rita Corozal, the contributors to this volume explore how the bay and its feeder rivers affected all aspects of Maya culture from settlement, food production, and the production and use of special goods to political relationships and social organization. Besides being a nexus for long distance exchange in valuable materials such as jade and obsidian, the region was recognized for its high quality agricultural produce, including cacao, achiote, vanilla, local fruits, honey, and salt, and for its rich marine environment. The Maya living on the fringes of the bay perceived the entire region as a single resource procurement zone. Waterborne trade brought the world to them, providing a wider horizon than would have been available to inland cities dependent only on Maya roads for news of the world. The research reveals that trade relations played a central role in the organization of human social life on Chetumal Bay.


Contributors: James Aimers | Timothy Beach | Clifford Brown | Beverly A. Chiarulli | Lisa G. Duffy | Dori Farthing | David A. Freidel | Elizabeth Graham | Thomas Guderjan | Elizabeth Haussner | Linda Howie | Samantha Krause | Javier López Camacho | Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach | Marc D. Marino | Lucas R. Martindale Johnson | Heather McKillop | Nathan J. Meissner | Emiliano Ricardo Melgar Tísoc | Susan Milbrath | Satoru Murata | Maxine Oland | Terry Powis | Kathryn Reese-Taylor | Robin Robertson | Luis A. Torres Díaz | Araceli Vázquez Villegas | Debra S. Walker

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
  2. pp. i-vi
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vi-viii
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  1. List of Figures
  2. pp. ix-xii
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  1. List of Tables
  2. pp. xiii-xiv
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  1. Foreword
  2. pp. xv-xvi
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  1. Preface
  2. pp. xvii-xx
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. xxi-xxiv
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  1. PART I . CHETUMAL BAY LANDSCAPES
  1. 1. Ancient Maya Life on the Fringes of Chetumal Bay: An Introduction
  2. Debra S. Walker
  3. pp. 3-32
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  1. 2. The First Settlers on Chetumal Bay
  2. Kathryn Reese-Taylor
  3. pp. 33-55
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  1. 3. Life and Afterlife at Cerro Maya, Belize
  2. Debra S. Walker
  3. pp. 56-75
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  1. 4. Noh Kah: An Archaeological Site in Extreme Southeastern Quintana Roo
  2. Javier López Camacho, Araceli Vázquez Villegas, and Luis A. Torres Díaz
  3. pp. 76-91
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  1. 5. Visualizing Maya Agriculture along the Rio Hondo: A Remote Sensing Approach
  2. Thomas Guderjan, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, Timothy Beach, Samantha Krause, and Clifford Brown
  3. pp. 92-106
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  1. 6. Chetumal Bay in the Fifteenth to Seventeenth Centuries
  2. Maxine Oland
  3. pp. 107-122
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  1. PART II . CHETUMAL BAY CERAMICS
  1. 7. Red Wares, Zapatista, Drinking Vessels, Colonists, and Exchange at Cerro Maya
  2. Robin Robertson
  3. pp. 125-148
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  1. 8. An Expedient Pottery Technology and Its Implications for Ancient Maya Trade and Interaction
  2. James Aimers, Elizabeth Haussner, Dori Farthing, and Satoru Murata
  3. pp. 149-161
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  1. 9. Sitting on the Dock of the Bay: Ceramic Connections between Lamanai and the Chetumal Bay Area over More than Two Millennia
  2. Linda Howie, Terry G. Powis, and Elizabeth Graham
  3. pp. 162-185
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  1. 10. Regional Expressions of the Postclassic Effigy Censer System in the Chetumal Bay Area
  2. Susan Milbrath and Debra S. Walker
  3. pp. 186-214
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  1. PART III. OTHER CHETUMAL BAY INDUSTRIES
  1. 11. Shell Materials from Oxtankah, Quintana Roo
  2. Emiliano Ricardo Melgar Tísoc
  3. pp. 217-232
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  1. 12. Stone Tools and Trade on the Southern End of Chetumal Bay
  2. Beverly A. Chiarulli
  3. pp. 233-250
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  1. 13. Postclassic Tool Production at Santa Rita Corozal: Implications for Domestic Craft Production and Regional Exchange in Flaked Stone
  2. Marc D. Marino, Lucas R. Martindale Johnson, and Nathan J. Meissner
  3. pp. 251-263
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  1. 14. Economic Implications of Mano and Metate Use at Cerro Maya, Belize
  2. Lisa G. Duffy
  3. pp. 264-276
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  1. PART IV. CHETUMAL BAY IN PERSPECTIVE
  1. 15. Coastal Economies: Comparing Northern and Southern Belize
  2. Heather McKillop
  3. pp. 279-291
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  1. 16. Maya at the Edge of the World: Thoughts on Chetumal Bay
  2. David A. Freidel
  3. pp. 292-298
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  1. References
  2. pp. 299-336
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  1. List of Contributors
  2. pp. 337-342
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 343-355
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