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EXPLAINING VARIABILITY IN ON-FLOOR ASSEMBLAGES: THE BEHAVIORAL-CONTEXTUAL METHOD

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2020

Maxime Lamoureux-St-Hilaire Open the ORCID record for Maxime Lamoureux-St-Hilaire [Opens in a new window]  and
Andrew Kent Snetsinger
Maxime Lamoureux-St-Hilaire*
Affiliation:
Anthropology Department, Davidson College, Box 7116, Davidson, North Carolina28035
Andrew Kent Snetsinger
Affiliation:
Past Recovery Archaeological Services, 99C Dufferin Street, Unit 2, PerthOntario, K7H 3A5, Canada
*
E-mail correspondence to: maxlamsh@gmail.com
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Abstract

We present a behavioral-contextual method for studying abandonment-related assemblages in order to ascribe them to a settlement abandonment scenario. Our approach examines the vertical and horizontal architectural contexts of assemblages, along with the nature of reconstructible vessels and other artifacts. This method accounts for gradual, rapid, mundane, and ceremonial abandonment scenarios, and for abandonment with anticipated return. Two advantages of this model are its replicability and its proposition of a shared taxonomy leading away from the concept of problematic deposits. The method is contextualized with two distinct case studies from the southern Maya lowlands: the palace of La Corona, Guatemala and an agricultural household group from greater Minanha, Belize. These dissimilar but contemporary (ca. A.D. 900) contexts revealed complex abandonment-related assemblages, including pre-abandonment middens, de facto and secondary material, and on-floor, exposed offerings. Both case studies are argued to reflect gradual, organized abandonment scenarios, although with significant temporal and behavioral distinctions.

Information

Type
Special Section: Problematic “On-Floor” Deposits in the Terminal Classic Eastern Maya Lowlands: Implications for the Maya Collapse
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , Spring 2020 , pp. 99 - 108
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press, 2020

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References

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