Maya Archaeology in Belize

Dr. Jaime Awe

PAHS Lecture Series: Dr. Jaime Awe will present highlights of the NAU Xunantunich Archaeology and Conservation Project 2015-2019.

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Maya Archaeology in Belize: Highlights of the NAU Xunantunich Archaeology and Conservation Project 2015-2019.

By Jaime J. Awe, Northern Arizona University, Dept. of Anthropology, Flagstaff.

The upper Belize River Valley, which is located along the border with Guatemala, contains some of the largest archaeological sites in the country of Belize. One of these ancient cities, known as Xunantunich, has been the focus of sporadic archaeological attention since the late 19th century.  In spite of this long history of archaeological attention, few monumental buildings in the site’s epicentre had ever been intensively excavated.  In an effort to address this omission, and to develop the site for its tourism potential, the Belize Government initiated a four-year program of excavation and conservation at Xunantunich between 2000 and 2004.  The project, which was directed by Jaime Awe, successfully excavated and conserved six of the major structures in the site core. It also conserved a fragile stucco frieze on the large palace complex known as the Castillo, located fragments of three carved monuments, and discovered one of the first elite tombs at the site.  Because of the success of the four-year project, Awe returned to the site in 2015 to begin another multi-year program of excavation and conservation.  Known as the Xunantunich Archaeology and Conservation Project, this second project has had two major goals. The first goal is to continue conserving the monumental architecture of the center in an effort to further develop the site for tourism purposes.  The second goal is to acquire data that will further our understanding of the role of Xunantunich in the political landscape of the Late Classic period (650 – 850 A.D.) Belize River Valley. This presentation highlights the results of our ongoing research and conservation program at Xunantunich.

Jaime Awe is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Northern Arizona University, member Emeritus of the Belize Institute of Archaeology, and Director of the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project. He received his Bachelor’s Degree with Honours, and a Master’s Degree in Anthropology at Trent University in Ontario, Canada, and his Ph.D. from the Institute of Archaeology at the University of London.  Between 2003 and 2014, he served as the first Director of the Belize Institute of Archaeology where he was responsible for managing the archaeological heritage of his home country Belize. During his extensive professional career, he directed conservation efforts at several of the major archaeological sites in Belize, and his research has focused on questions that span from the Paleo-Indian period to the time of European conquest in the 16th Century. More recently, his research has addressed questions related to the rise of cultural complexity in western Belize, and on human responses to environmental stress during the decline of Maya civilization.

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