The Early/Middle Formative Kanocha Phase (1200-850 B.C.) at Blackman Eddy, Belize
James F. Garber, M. Kathryn Brown, and Christopher J. Hartman

Introduction

The site of Blackman Eddy is located in west-central Belize on a hill overlooking Blackman Eddy village. Relative to other ceremonial centers in the valley, Blackman Eddy is small, but exhibits the full complement of architecture typical of a major ceremonial center (Garber, 1990) (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The final configuration of the site core was attained in the Late Classic Period (Figure 3, shown below). Like other sites in the valley, many of the Blackman Eddy structures have Formative ceramic material within the construction fill. At this point in time however, it would appear that the Middle Formative building activity is restricted to the north end of Plaza B within Structures B1 and B2.

The Southwest Texas State University Belize Valley Archaeological Project (BVAP) has been investigating the site of Blackman Eddy since 1990. Unauthorized bulldozing activity in the mid 1980s cut Structure B1, in half, revealing a profile that illustrated a construction history spanning 2000 years that was initiated towards the end of the Early Formative Period (Figure 4). Continued slumping of the cut threatened the remaining portions of the structure. The Belize Department of Archaeology determined that the damage was too severe to repair and that the best solution was to initiate an intensive excavation program to excavate the remaining portions of the structure to bedrock. The focus of the BVAP project shifted to fully document the construction sequence which provided a unique opportunity to conduct an extensive excavation on a series of Formative constructions.

These excavations have revealed some of the earliest architecture and ceramics in the Maya Lowlands. Structure B1 exhibits a stratigraphic sequence with an initial Formative occupation directly on bedrock, overlain by plaster and masonry platforms of increasing size.

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