The Eastern Riverine Corridor During the Late Classic Period

Discussion

While Satal K’an is well situated to take advantage of the portage route between the New River Lagoon and sites further inland, such as San José, the region, in general, is more sparsely populated than previously anticipated. This suggests that the area was not the main portage route into the Petén.

Interestingly, while on survey, John Masson and Ben Thomas, both employees of the PfB, commented on the passage from the New River to the Belize River drainage during the rainy season. Apparently, the waters of Dawson Creek rise to a level that would have allowed canoes to pass from the New River into the Western Lagoon. From this vantage point, boats could follow one of several waterways that drain into the Belize River, including the Southern Lagoon and Black Creek (Figure 3). Additionally, the southernmost point of Spanish Creek, which flows north into the Western Lagoon, lies within two miles of Labouring Creek, another watercourse leading west into the interior of the eastern Petén.

The settlement along the New River Lagoon and the Belize River also suggests that this route was well-travelled. Very few settlements appear south of Lamanai on the shore of the New River Lagoon, while in contrast, several small settlements have been documented along the Southern Lagoon and Spanish Creek. In addition settlement densities along the Belize River rise west of the Belize River and Labouring Creek confluence.

By utilizing this system of interlocking waterways, traders would not need to portage for any great distance in order to reach sites in the interior, especially during the rainy season. Indeed, by following the interlocking watercourses, one could travel by canoe from the coast at Santa Rita to within 15 kms of Caracol: New River to Dawson Creek, Dawson Creek to Western Lagoon, Western Lagoon to Southern Lagoon, Southern Lagoon to Belize River, Belize River to either the Mopán River or the Eastern Branch, both leading to the Vaca Plateau and Caracol (Figure 3).

Importantly, there are indications that Calakmul used this route to establish domination of the eastern trade routes during the Late Classic period. One of the first signs of Calakmul’s presence along this route appears in the texts of Altar 21 from Caracol (Chase and Chase 1989; Grube 1994; Houston 1991). Calakmul is mentioned as the victor in a war waged against Tikal in A.D. 562 (Martin and Grube 2000:90). The prominent reference to this event implies that Caracol was directly involved, perhaps serving as a staging ground for Calakmul. However, we suggest that in order to enter Caracol, Calakmul travelled via the eastern rivers’ interlocking system, rather than the overland course through Tikal-controlled territory.

Other signs of control, or at least access to the eastern river route, are reflected in the architectural influence exerted by Calakmul on sites along the waterways. During the Late Classic period (A.D. 600-800), Structures N10-43 (Pendergast 1981a: Figure 13) and N10-9 at Lamanai (Pendergast 1981a: Figure 5) and Caana at Caracol display an architectural style similar to that of Calakmul, particularly Structure II and Structure IV. This style consists of a large truncated platform with broad central staircases, often interrupted by a parallel row of rooms across the front. In the cases of Structure IV at Calakmul and Caana at Caracol, both are crested by a triadic group, reminiscent of the truncated platforms and triadic groupings constructed during the Late Preclassic.

Additionally, the layout of Group A at Satal K’an; Groups A and B at Caracol; and Group A at Minanha (Iannone 1999:104) all resemble the layout of the Central Plaza at Calakmul. Each of these plazas contains an E-group. A slate stela is erected at the base of the middle, eastern structure in the E-groups of Minanha (Iannone 1999), Caracol (Beetz and Satterthwaite 1981), and Calakmul (Ruppert and Denison 1943). ³   The slate stela at Calakmul is Stela 9, which was dedicated in 9.11.10.0.0. (A.D. 662) (Ruppert and Denison 1943:102). This places Stela 9 within the late reign of Yuknoom the Great. ⁴   The range of dates on this stela (from 9.10.16.0.0 to 9.12.0.0.0) coincides with the greatest extent of Calakmul’s influence. ⁵   An E-group is also found at Naranjo, and may be associated with the conquest of that site by Caracol and Calakmul in A.D. 626 and 631, respectively (Martin and Grube 2000:72). The status of Caracol and Naranjo as close allies of Calakmul was in effect until the early part of the 8^th century and was, doubtless, instrumental in maintaining control of the eastern waterways. ⁶ 

Finally, movement of resources from the Maya Mountains to sites such as Calakmul must have taken place via the eastern river route defined herein. Clearly, the river route that connected Caracol and Calakmul must have been the main avenue of transportation for the large piece of slate (3m x .5m x .15m) used to carve Stela 9, as well as smaller objects, such as the carved mirror-back, also made of slate and recovered from Calakmul (Martin and Grube 2000:104). Slate in the form of mirror backs has been found in burials and caches at Lamanai (Graham 2002:405-409).

The tactical advantage that control of the New River-Belize River route brought to Calakmul cannot be underestimated, as it was integral to trade between the central Petén and the coast. This control forced Tikal to trade with other areas, including the northern lowlands and the Guatemalan highlands, using more costly paths, such as the overland route that passes to the south through Cancuén and to the west via the circuitous Usumacinta route. Even more problematic, Tikal’s control of these southern and western routes was heavily dependent on an amicable relationship with sites in the region, such as Dos Pilas and Cancuén. And when these relationships broke down (Fahsen 2002; Martin and Grube 2000:109), control of these routes also fell into the hands of Calakmul. Therefore, without access to the coast, Tikal was effectively cut off from its major trading partners throughout Mesoamerica and, consequently, from critical supplies such as salt. Calakmul gained the upper hand, at least for a short time.

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