Ancient Maya Ceramic Economy in the Belize River Valley Region: Petrographic analyses

Ancient Maya ceramic economy during the Late to Terminal Classic Period (800-900 A.D.) is the focus of this book. The author employed ceramic thin section petrology, raw materials sourcing, and contextual archaeological analyses and samples from a variety of excavated sites in the Belize River Valley region were included: Pacbitun, Cahal Pech, Baking Pot, El Pilar, Xunantunich, Blackman Eddy, Floral Park, and Ontario Village. Standardized petrofabric descriptions enabled the definition of distribution spheres for the ceramics and the study uses intersite comparison of distributional patterning to explore issues such as the scale, integration and disposition of the ceramic economy. A number of economic models were used heuristically to examine the possible meaning of the distributional patterning observed.