Research Year:  2003
Culture:  Maya
Chronology:  Classic to Postclassic
Location:  Petén, Guatemala
Site:  Quexil-Petenxil Basins

Table of Contents

Abstract
Project Summary
Culture Historical Analysis
Table 1.  Summary of AMS Radiocarbon Analysis for the Quexil Islands
Discussion and Conclusion
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Sources Cited

Abstract

The research is a project of excavation and analysis of domestic and civic-ceremonial architecture aimed at understanding how ancient Maya households and communities transformed and reorganized themselves during a time of cultural change from the Late Classic through Postclassic Periods. I excavated the remains of two villages in the Quexil-Petenxil Basins of Petén, Guatemala that preserve evidence of occupational continuity crucial to our understanding of this period of cultural change. Through the funded analysis of Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon samples, I present a significantly improved understanding of the site occupational history that contributes to a direct historical account of the Petén Maya from the Terminal Classic Period, to the rise of the Postclassic Itzá polity and Spanish contact.

Submitted 02/04/2004 by:
Kevin R. Schwarz
Department of Anthropology
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
krschwarz@hotmail.com

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