About This Project

The late colonial period in Belize is one of the country's least studied periods of history from an archaeological standpoint, yet it represents a fascinating case study in cultural contact. Two sites in the Belize Estates Archaeological Survey Team's (BEAST) permit area may help us learn more about this intriguing period of history. Are late colonial period artifacts and features preserved at two sites in the jungles of northwestern Belize?

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What is the context of this research?

These proof of concept investigations, if successful, will be part of a larger collaborative project that will investigate four late colonial sites--one Maya, one British, and two ex-Confederate--in two separate permit areas.

In the late 1880s, a corner of the former heartland of the ancient Maya that had been abandoned for over 1,000 years, became the arena for contact between Maya people fleeing the Caste War in Mexico, British loggers and their workers, and a handful of ex-Confederates who had moved to Belize at the end of the American Civil War.

Almost everything that is known about this period of cultural contact is the colonial retelling of events, and those accounts are likely biased. Missing from the narrative are the experiences of the Maya and the ex-Confederates.

What is the significance of this project?

Using a combination of archival work and archaeological testing, BEAST will determine if the data we need to answer questions about cultural interaction between the Maya, the British, and the ex-Confederates are preserved at two of the four sites to be investigated by the larger, collaborative project.

If we can locate intact features, architecture, or artifacts dating to the late 1800s at Qualm Hill, a British logging camp that was on the western frontier of England's colonial reach, and at Kaxil Uinic, a Maya village settled in the 1880s, then we can begin to formulate important questions about the level and nature of interaction between these very different groups of people with radically divergent backgrounds and expectations.

What are the goals of the project?

The first step in our research will be to research records on file at the Belize Archives, Yalbac Ranch, and Gallon Jug Ranch for information on the two sites. The results will inform our expectations regarding site size, site occupation sequence, and probable locations of deposits related to the time period in question.

Step two will be to conduct archaeological survey, mapping, and testing at the two sites. The sites are in forested areas and will require some vegetation clearing of undergrowth. We will establish 25-x-25-meter grids across the sites and systematically inspect the surface for artifacts and architectural features. Metal detectors will aid in identifying historic material. We will employ shallow strip trenches in areas where artifacts concentrations or architecture is found.