Research Year:  2003
Culture:  Maya
Chronology:  Post Classic
Location:  Cozumel, México
Site:  Buena Vista

Table of Contents

Abstract
Introduction
Project Goals
Research Design and Methods
Preliminary Results
Microenvironmental Zones
Main Transects
Transects Limiting Quadrants
Selected Areas
Soil Profiles
Summary and Conclusion
Acknowledgments
List of Figures
Sources Cited

Abstract

The Buena Vista Archaeological Project is a study of postclassic Maya settlement patterns and land use on the island of Cozumel, México. Field work carried out in the site during the months of June–August 2003 was sponsored by the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc., (FAMSI). Previous archaeological research in Buena Vista had focused in a central area of seven hectares and reported the existence of an extensive wall system and platforms at the site which was interpreted as a storage center for exchange and resupply transactions. In this interpretation, the platforms supported perishable structures used to store trade commodities, and the wall system was built to protect these trade goods from possible pirate attacks (Sabloff and Rathje 1975, Freidel and Sabloff 1984). However, the nature and extension of the wall system around the central area had not been investigated in detail. The research objectives of this project were to analyze the Buena Vista settlement pattern following a settlement ecology model (Stone 1996, Killion 1992), which seeks to understand the relationship between population and agricultural practices in an ecological setting. The project followed a program of surface survey and mapping of the wall system, related structures, and natural features located in an area of 4 km² around the center of the site. Preliminary results of this study presented in this report show how the Buena Vista settlement pattern seems to be that of an agrarian settlement totally adapted to its ecological setting and not a trade/storage center as previously thought.

Submitted 03/05/2004 by:
Adolfo Iván Batún Alpuche, Ph.D. candidate
University of Florida
batun@ufl.edu

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