Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Archaeology at Chanlacan: An Early Colonial Maya Community in Northern Belize

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Under the supervision of Dr. Cynthia Robin, Maxine Oland will complete the collection of archaeological data for her dissertation research from the 16th-17th century Maya community of Chanlacan. Residents of Chanlacan experienced Spanish colonialism at the boundary between the conquered and unconquered Maya world, on the shores of Progresso Lagoon, in northern Belize. The site is known from Colonial Spanish documents for its role in the early Maya resistance movement against Spanish authority. Through a household and community study Oland will address Chanlacan's interactions with both Spanish and Maya neighbors, and will seek to understand the effectiveness of both Spanish authority and Maya resistance at the community. It is the goal of this project to examine the Maya perspective on the colonial experience at Chanlacan. By excavating and mapping households, this project will address the lived material realities of residents of Chanlacan, who faced pressures from both Spanish and unconquered Maya groups. The everyday items and foods people used in their houses, the types of goods they produced for trade or tribute, and the way people placed and organized their households can help explain the nature of interaction between Chanlacan and its neighbors, and the effectiveness of colonial authority and local resistance. This project will first seek to map all households within the Colonial period community, and will then divide the households into three size groups. One household from each size group will be fully excavated to expose the various economic and ritual activities that took place within the households. Households will be compared with one another in order to examine the different strategies that native individuals and groups at Chanlacan used to negotiate the colonial experience. These household excavations are significant cross-culturally because the Maya of Belize are one of many native groups around the world that transitioned to life at the edge of European colonialism.This dissertation research will impact the nation of Belize, specifically the modern residents around Progresso Lagoon, as well as the larger academic community. The Belize government has encouraged Colonial period archaeology, because this epoch is so poorly documented there historically. Residents of Progresso also have interests in the archaeology in hopes of encouraging tourism and local historical pride. As in past years, excavators will present an exhibition of artifacts from the project research, and give a series of lectures in Spanish for Progresso residents. In addition to paid field laborers, the excavation team will offer to train local high school volunteers in archaeological field methods and research. The project will also present results in the form of an annually published archaeological report to the government of Belize. These reports are kept in an archive at the Department of Archaeology in Belmopan, Belize, and copies will be distributed to local libraries and town officials near Progresso Lagoon. Academically, results will be disseminated in Oland's dissertation and in subsequent book and journal publications that result from it. Initial results will be presented to colleagues at the national archaeology meetings in 2004. Furthermore, this project will provide field experience and training to Oland and several graduate and undergraduate student volunteers.