No slow dusk: Maya urban development and decline in La Milpa, Belize.

No slow dusk: Maya urban development and decline in La Milpa, Belize. '. . . and each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds' WILFRED OWEN Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, MC (March 18 1893 – November 4 1918) was a British poet and soldier, regarded by many as the leading poet of the First World War. His shocking, realistic war poetry on the horrors of trench and gas warfare was heavily influenced by his friend Anthem for doomed youth Anthem for Doomed Youth is one of the best-known and most popular of Wilfred Owen's poems. It employs the traditional form of an Italian sonnet, but it uses the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet. 1917 La Milpa is a medium-sized Maya city in northwestern Belize.Discovered by the late Sir Eric Thompson in 1938, it has beeninvestigated since 1992 by Boston University (Hammond 1991; Hammond& Bobo 1994; Hammond et al. 1996; Hammond & Tourtellot 1998;Tourtellot et al. 1993; 1994; 1996), research which has elucidated anunusual though not unique developmental trajectory, culminating in anexplosive expansion of population and both monumental and domesticarchitecture in the period AD 750-850. La Milpa is roughly equidistant e��qui��dis��tant?adj.Equally distant.equi��distance n. from the very large cities of Tikaland Calakmul, some 90 km to the southwest and northwest respectively,about 20 km east from the major centre of Rio Azul in northeastGuatemala, and 40 km west of Lamanai, on New River Lagoon in the coastalplain of Belize (see Tourtellot et al. 1993: [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 1OMITTED]), and covers an estimated 78 sq. km. The site core lies 190 mabove sea level on a limestone ridge dissected by ravines, at17[degrees] 50[minutes] 06[seconds] N, 89[degrees] 03[minutes]6[seconds] W (UTM (Unified Threat Management) Refers to a stand-alone appliance or a software package that combines a firewall, antivirus, spam and content filtering as well as intrusion detection. See firewall, antivirus, antispam and IDS. 16Q BQ 2-82-637E, 19-72929N). Monumental architecture,with buildings up to 24 m high and 90 m long, covers some 650x400 m (26hectares), in two areas linked by a sacbe causeway spanning the narrowneck of land between the eastern and western drainages [ILLUSTRATION FORFIGURE 1 OMITTED]. The northern sector includes the Great Plaza (Plaza A), coveringnearly 20,000 sq. m and bordered on the east by three majortemple-pyramids, Structures 1-3. Within it is a fourth pyramid, Str. 10,and two ball-courts, Strs. 6-7 and 11-12, unusually aligned on oppositeaxes (Schultz et al. 1994). Str. 10 faces south towards the 90m-long'palace' Str. 8: their construction as an ensemble seems tohave occurred late in the history of the Great Plaza, partly blockingStr. 3 and access to the raised court behind Str. 9. Strs. 9 and 2 arealso axially aligned across the plaza; like most other structures there,they date in final form to the Late/Terminal Classic period between AD750 and 850, during which numerous and rapid modifications wereinstituted and a number of stelae dedicated (Grube 1994). The lack ofbuildings on the north and northwestern sides of the plaza suggests thatthe final redevelopment remained incomplete when La Milpa was abandoned.Occupation deposits and plaster floors of the Late Preclassic (400 BC-AD250) in almost every excavation to bedrock (Hammond et al. 1996) suggestan initial settlement covering at least 1.5 ha., and looters'trenches into most major buildings show a complex, though modest,construction history in the Early Classic period (AD 250-600). At least four stelae were dedicated in the Early Classic (Grube1994), indicating a claim to rulership by the lords of La Milpa, so thislack of architectural substance is intriguing; part of our objective in1998 was to flesh out the bare bones of the site's Early Classichistory. In 1996 a royal tomb of c. AD 450 was found close to Stela 1and the northwest angle of Str. 1: since symmetrically positioned eliteburials of this period are known from the nearby site of Rio Azul (Adams1990), we sought its putative partner southwest of Str. 1 (Op. A23,A32). Although no tomb was found, we located a line of Early Classiccached offerings in front of the building, coeval co��e��val?adj.Originating or existing during the same period; lasting through the same era.n.One of the same era or period; a contemporary. with its buriedinitial phase. There continued to be a paucity of Early Classic pottery,and also of early Late Classic (Tepeu 1 equivalent) ceramics from LaMilpa in general, indicating that this elite activity took place notonly within a fairly modest community, but in one that rapidly fadedinto insignificance in��sig��nif��i��cance?n.The quality or state of being insignificant.Noun 1. insignificance - the quality of having little or no significanceunimportance - the quality of not being important or worthy of note for at least two centuries. We believe that thisdecline, and the subsequent repopulation repopulation1. introduction of new animals to a farm or part of it after it has been depopulated for health or production reasons.2. the additional growth of normal cells around a tumor that is being destroyed by irradiation. and florescence of La Milpa inthe 8th century, are linked with the wider geopolitics geopolitics,method of political analysis, popular in Central Europe during the first half of the 20th cent., that emphasized the role played by geography in international relations. of the contestbetween Tikal and Calakmul adumbrated by Martin & Grube (1995).Unfortunately there are few monumental texts surviving, with the rulerUkay's Stela 7 of 9.17.10.0.0 (30 November 30 AD 780) having theonly completely legible inscription at La Milpa, but the enormous amountof Late Calssic construction in both the site core and its suburbs makeit second only to Caracol in size among Maya sites in what is nowBelize. Among the buildings of the florescence was Str. 4, a long, lowrange north of Str. 1, studied for the first time in 1998. It wasdecorated with elaborately modelled relief polychrome pol��y��chrome?adj.1. Having many or various colors; polychromatic.2. Made or decorated in many or various colors: polychrome tiles.n. stucco, like thecoeval Strs. 1 and 5, and it is likely that the uninvestigated Strs. 2and 3 also had decorated facades: the eastern side of the Great Plazamust have been a colourfully impressive sight. Evidence that all thesebuildings had been abandoned before AD 900 came from area excavation ofStr. 86, a dwelling incongrously located within the plaza and unlikelyto have been there while it still functioned as a formal space:associated pottery fell within the Tepeu II/III tradition, with no traceof Postclassic types. Two nearby residential groups showed evidence forsome post-urban occupation, however: the Pl. 183 Group yielded a smallside-notched chert chert:see flint. arrowhead of Protohistoric date, and the Pl. 76Group, apparently abandoned unfinished in the 9th century, exhibited newrubble construction over the humus humus(hy`məs), organic matter that has decayed to a relatively stable, amorphous state. It is an important biological constituent of fertile soil. developed on the original walls; aProtohistoric date is arguable. There was also a curious episode ofmonument resetting, apparently around the time of the Spanish conquest(Hammond & Bobo 1994). On the basis of substantial investigation from 1992 to 1998, theGreat Plaza area thus seems to have been initially settled in the LatePre-classic c. 300 BC, had a modest prosperity in the Early Classic, aLate/Terminal Classic apogee, and only intermittent occupationthereafter; to expand this understanding to the hithertolittle-investigated southern sector of the site core, especially themassive southern acropolis acropolis(əkrŏp`əlĭs)[Gr.,=high point of the city], elevated, fortified section of various ancient Greek cities.TheAcropolis of Athens, a hill c.260 ft (80 m) high, with a flat oval top c. south of Plaza C which seems to have been theroyal palace, some 70% of the 1998 operations took place there.Excavations were also carried out in the Pl. 151 Group to the southeast,one of several putative elite residences encircling the acropolis, tocomplement those of 1996 in the Str. 69 Group to the west, which haddemonstrated a complex but unexpected sequence including a deliberatelyburied building with painted floors and walls still standing severalmetres high (Hammond et al. 1996: 87-8). Plazas B and C were known to be of Late/Terminal Classic date withlittle antecedent ANTECEDENT. Something that goes before. In the construction of laws, agreements, and the like, reference is always to be made to the last antecedent; ad proximun antecedens fiat relatio. occupation, although here as elsewhere at La Milpathere is sparse Late Preclassic pottery: further trenches behind the onemajor pyramid in this sector, Str. 21, and careful study of itsarchitecture now lead us to suggest that far from being early, asinitially surmised from its rough external masonry, Str. 21 was nevercompleted, lacking both a stair and a superstructure platform. Justnorth of Plaza B, adjacent to Str. 43, a quarry abandoned with largelimestone blocks prised from the workface and a stockpile ofconstruction material may have been part of this work programme: otherevidence suggests that the entire area between Plazas A and B was in thecourse of redevelopment when La Milpa was abandoned. A similar phenomenon was documented at the southern end of theacropolis: the simpler layout and lower elevation of construction there,compared with the northern courtyards between Strs. 32 and 39, suggestedaccretional development southwards. Study of numerous looters'trenches complemented by several strategically-placed cuts showed threezones of construction: the oldest and most complex centred on the Pl.115 courtyard and bounded on the south by Str. 38; the next, completedbut with a much shorter constructional history, around the Pl. 120 courtsouth to Str. 39; and the latest south to Str. 44. North of Str. 36, Op.B70 demonstrated three major construction phases in the Late/TerminalClassic (the last with a finely preserved masonry drain from thecourtyard through the flanking building to the eastern ravine), as didOp. B73 in the Pl. 115 courtyard floor. Pl. 120 to the south had onephase of flooring, although Str. 39 on its south side was remodelled,suggesting extended use. None of the structures south of Pl. 123 was ever completed,however: Platforms 131 and 130 had rubble fills never retained byfinished walls, Pl. 129 had an incomplete fill, and the flanking areas127 and 128 were natural hillslope with patches of exposed bedrock,enclosed by long rubble walls with a slab core (Strs. 132-134) as theinitial stage of courtyard construction. Within them were lines of verylarge, roughly quarried limestone boulders, the framing for terraces: aquarry hollow at the south end of Area 127 had been partly infilled withrubbish, preserving even the pick marks on the vertical walls. Str. 44proved to be an amorphous bank of rubble, piled over the razed remainsof a building with a red plaster floor and masonry superstructure: thetop of the bank lay on the same elevation as the base of Pl. 130,corroborating the Maya intention to construct a level Pl. 129 betweenthem. The overall scheme, interrupted in mid-execution by the apparentlysudden abandonment of La Milpa, seems to have been to create a grandioseapproach to a new south-facing throne room in Str. 39, with Pls. 129,130, 131 and 123 rising successively northwards, perhaps with flankingbuildings on the completed areas 127 and 128 to the west and east.Corroboration of this come from Op. B81, an axial trench through Str.39, which showed that its original northward orientation, with accessvia a broad stair and terrace from the Pl. 120 courtyard, was reversedby blocking the doorway and constructing a new, south-facing red-paintedbench; it was unfortunately not possible to expose all of this, sowhether it was decorated remains unknown. It seems to have been the last of a succession of 'seats ofpower' on the axis of the the diameter of the sphere which is perpendicular to the plane of the circle.See also: Axis acropolis: three earlier benches werepenetrated by a looters' trench into Str. 38, facing north on tothe Pl. 115 courtyard. They were built one in front of the other, theearliest being painted in plain red specular spec��u��lar?adj.Of, resembling, or produced by a mirror or speculum.specu��lar��ly adv.Adj. 1. haematite pigment, thesecond with a greenish (originally probably Maya Blue) plaster top andred front, and the last with a similar top and front augmented withrelief decoration. Both the second and third benches had false'throne legs', set forward, of tapering trapezoidal elevation(as on the freestanding thrones at Piedras Negras and Palenque) outlinedin blue-green; the upper overhanging cornice cornice(kôr`nĭs), molded or decorated projection that forms the crowning feature at the top of a building wall or other architectural element; specifically, the uppermost of the three principal members of the classic entablature, hence by of each had been rippedoff, and scorch marks on the scar and on the floor below showed thatsomething (probably pom, copal incense) had been burnt as part of thetermination ritual for the final and most elaborate throne. This wasfollowed by infilling of the room with a massive pier resting on thethrones and blocking the doorway, outside which yet further burningritual took place, and which formed the base for an upper roomapparently facing south; at the same time, a south-facing terrace wasbuilt on to the back wall of Str. 38, effectively reversing itsorientation towards the newly built Pl. 120 courtyard and the new throneroom in Str. 39. A striking repetition of this ceremonious cer��e��mo��ni��ous?adj.1. Strictly observant of or devoted to ceremony, ritual, or etiquette; punctilious: "borne on silvery trays by ceremonious world-weary waiters"Financial Times. throne-room constructionand destruction was uncovered in Str. 65, a putative elite residence seton a private courtyard east of the acropolis, with a C-shaped plan ofmain block and flanking wings, approached by a stair and terrace. Thecentral block consisted of two rooms: the floors were painted in deepred specular haematite, the walls in a light red with darker red framingthe doorways and in a dado along the base. The inner doorway wasnarrower than the outer, focussing attention on the polychrome front ofthe bench in the inner room. The bench was 4 m long, 1.4 m deep and 0.65m high [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2 OMITTED]: only the central portion wasvisible from outside, and two relief false legs of modelled stucco wereattached to the front to create the impression of a freestanding throne,painted in blue, light red and deep red specular haematite. Raisedbalusters at each end of the bench had been removed, leaving a scar onthe plaster: one block was found in the room infill, which was clean andtightly packed, without air-spaces or soil, suggesting deliberatedemolition and burial of the axial chambers. The western lateral chamber, on the other hand, seems to havecollapsed naturally after abandonment: two granite metate me��ta��te?n.A stone block with a shallow concave surface, used with a mano for grinding corn or other grains.[American Spanish, from Nahuatl metlatl.] fragmentsfound on its floor, one inverted over a crystalline limestone handstonewith traces of red pigment, the other over a granite mono fragment,together with a pigment-stained handstone of metamorphic rock, may wellhave been used for preparing and polishing the haematite for the floorsand walls. This chamber had its doorway narrowed at some point in itshistory, and although the central range has only a single phase ofconstruction and use, excavations in the Pl. 68 Group, 25 m south,suggest this was an extended period of activity, with deposition of adense mass of pottery (including elaborate polychromes - the first, andso far only, substantial body of such ceramics at La Milpa) arguablydiscarded by the inhabitants of Str. 65, as subfloor fill. The entire history of these detached groups, as for the southernacropolis as a whole, falls within the Late/Terminal Classic period ofthe 8th and early 9th centuries, matching what we know of the majorconstructions around the Great Plaza but lacking the antecedent LatePreclassic and Early Classic occupation of that area, clearly theinitial nucleus of the La Milpa community. Outside the site core, survey and settlement excavations continuedthe research strategy established in 1992 to study that community. Onthe East Transect (ET), extended to 6.5 km in 1996, Gloria Everson(Tulane University) completed testing of 28 randomly-selectedresidential groups, disproving an earlier hypothesis that the huge latepopulation growth at La Milpa (to an estimated 46,000 within a 5-kmradius) was housed in perishable, more transientquarters than usual for the Classic Maya. People lived in houses withplaster floors, and at least footing walls (often with low interiorbenches as well), and some had vaulted roofs; while in one case a latevaulted building appears to rest on an Early Classic platform,everything else was again Late/Terminal Classic, dated by dense middenspacked tightly against exterior house walls and buried under subsequentwall tumble. Clear quantitative distinctions can be drawn between therange of domestic pottery in these suburbs and that used in the elitedwellings of the site core (Kerry Sagebiel pers. comm.) Investigation of the minor centre o f La Milpa East (LME See London Metal Exchange. LMESee London Metal Exchange (LME). ), 3.5 kmeast of Plaza A on the ET, showed that three sides of the third-largestplaza at La Milpa have long range-type structures, in most unusualinter-cardinal positions, with a small 5-m temple mound on the easternside. In front of one corner of this pyramid the plain Stele stele(stē`lē), slab of stone or terra-cotta, usually oblong, set up in a vertical position, for votive or memorial purposes. Upon the slabs were carved inscriptions accompanied by ornamental designs or reliefs of particular significance. 19 waserected, an altar in front, and incensario fragments around itsuggesting Terminal Classic veneration. We are not sure that this minorcentre was residential rather than ceremonial: its formality, largesize, and hilltop siting in view of Plaza A suggest a middle-leveladministrative centre with responsibility for a surrounding area some1.5 km in radius, probably one of several. The 1998 South Transect (ST) extended to 3.8 km south of sitedatum The singular form of data; for example, one datum. It is rarely used, and data, its plural form, is commonly used for both singular and plural. , and for speed was 260 m wide (rather than 500 m as on the NT andmost of the ET), producing 0.66 sq. km of new map: results weregratifyingly grat��i��fy?tr.v. grat��i��fied, grat��i��fy��ing, grat��i��fies1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father.See Synonyms at please.2. similar to those on the other transects, despiteencountering a higher proportion of bajo (swamp) terrain and a morerugged landscape. The ST crossed four ridges, 10-23 m high, with 600 mof seasonally-flooded and snake-infested terrain in the middle, andended short of a large bajo which we suspect defines the southern borderof La Milpa. The 456 mapped ST features include, besides the usual house-sizemounds and basal platforms, smaller platforms, rock piles, terraces andstoney ston��ey?adj.Variant of stony. berms, with the great majority of the non-residential features onthe lower ground. Only 131 (29%) of the features were residences, anextraordinarily low percentage for Maya settlements, but due to the veryhigh numbers of utilitarian features (terraces and berms) rarelyrecorded elsewhere. The percentage of houses varies from 56% on theridge crest at the north end, to 16% at the south end of the transect;assuming 4 persons/house gives the equivalent of 794 people/sq. km, 7%higher than population densities calculated for previously-mapped partsof La Milpa. No excavations were carried out, but we would expect aLate/Terminal Classic date for most or all structures. The most distinctive group is located on a small hill at N2725,with three main structures, the tallest on the east, flanking anisolated, elevated, and open-cornered plaza 3-4 km south of Plaza A,approximately the same distance as LME lies east, although lessarchitecturally impressive. Tourtellot et al. (1998) proposed anexplanation for this spacing based on demographic and administrativeconvenience for a middle level managerial centre. Overall, the 1998 season both confirmed and expanded on ourprevious conclusions about the history of La Milpa: the limits of thecommunity and the tactical use of terrain within it, creating anengineered landscape in pursuit of adequate subsistence and in the faceof rapid Late/Terminal Classic population growth, are now established.The nucleated Late Preclassic community may have spread out slightlymore than we surmised, but in spite of the presence of at least fourEarly Classic stelae (of which only Stele 10 is in situ In place. When something is "in situ," it is in its original location. ) there is stilllittle evidence for architectural aggrandisement Noun 1. aggrandisement - the act of increasing the wealth or prestige or power or scope of something; "the aggrandizement of the king"; "his elevation to cardinal"aggrandizement, elevation , and much for adramatic decline in La Milpa's fortunes in the 6th and 7thcenturies AD. What is certain is that coeval with the resurgence ofTikal after AD 693, La Milpa recovered, and in the 8th century underwentrapid urban development, including the construction of the entiresouthern sector of the site core and the subsequent complex remodellingof the acropolis palaces. One of the principal revelations of the 1998 season is thesuddenness of the end, most dramatically demonstrated at the southernacropolis, where a major public works programme under royal patronagewas abandoned unfinished, but notable also in the incompletion of theStr. 21 pyramid and the north side of the Great Plaza. There was no slowdusk and drawing-down of blinds at La Milpa: the Maya collapse here camequickly, and our current model of it as an extended process will, onceagain, require adjustment. Acknowledgements. Funding was provided by the National GeographicSociety (Grant #6112-98), Boston University, Raymond & BeverlySackler and an anonymous donor. Permission to work at La Milpa wasgranted by the Government of Belize (through John Morris, ArchaeologicalCommissioner) and the landowner, Programme for Belize, which alsoprovided logistic help through Joy Grant and Ramon Pacheco. Apart fromthe authors, survey and excavation work was supervised by Jeremy Bauer,Ryan Mongelluzzo, Ben Thomas and Marc Wolf (Boston University), JasonGonzalez (Southern Illinois University), Julie Kunen (University ofArizona (body, education) University of Arizona - The University was founded in 1885 as a Land Grant institution with a three-fold mission of teaching, research and public service. ) and Kristen Gardella. Pottery was analysed by Kerry Sagebiel(University of Arizona) and Laura Kosakowsky (Boston University), andhuman burials by Julie M. Saul (Lucas County Coroner's Office,Ohio). Site plans were drawn by Jan Morrison and finds by CandidaLonsdale. The field laboratory was directed by Cynthia Pinkston(University of Maryland University of Maryland can refer to: University of Maryland, College Park, a research-extensive and flagship university; when the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to this school ) and the field camp by Helen Warren(Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania State University,main campus at University Park, State College; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1855, opened 1859 as Farmers' High School. ). Much of the work was carried out byundergraduates from Boston University, New York University New York University,mainly in New York City; coeducational; chartered 1831, opened 1832 as the Univ. of the City of New York, renamed 1896. It comprises 13 schools and colleges, maintaining 4 main centers (including the Medical Center) in the city, as well as the , DrewUniversity, Bates College and Oxford University, and by our Belizeanteam from San Felipe Village. We are grateful to our colleagues JennyBacon, Chantal Esquivias, Elizabeth Graham, Gigi Green, Mark Hodges,Sheena Howarth, John Masson, Duncan Pring, Rick Russo, VernonScarborough, George Stuart, Fred Valdez, Jr and Bryan Woodye for theirhelp in various ways. References ADAMS, R.E.W. 1990. Archaeological Research at the Lowland Mayacity of Rio Azul, Latin American Antiquity 1: 23-41. GRUBE, N. 1994. A preliminary report on the monuments andinscriptions of La Milpa, Orange Walk, Belize, (new series) 42: 217-38. HAMMOND, N. 1991 The discovery of La Milpa, Mexicon 13: 46-51. HAMMOND. N. & M.R. BOBO. 1994. Pilgrimage's last mile:late Maya monument veneration at La Milpa. Belize, World Archaeology 26:19-34. HAMMOND, N. & G. TOURTELLOT. 1998. La Milpa: a Classic Mayacity of the eastern lowlands, Proceedings of the 13th UISPP UISPP Union Internationale des Sciences Pr��historiques et Protohistoriques (French: International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences ), Forli 19965(17): 493-8. HAMMOND, N., G. TOURTELLOT, S. DONAGHEY & A CLARKE. 1996.Survey and excavation at La Milpa, Belizo, 1996, Mexicon 18: 86-91. MARTIN, S. & N. GRUBE. 1995 Maya super-states, Archaeology48(6): 41-6 SCHULTZ, K.C, J.J. GONZALEZ & N. HAMMOND. 1994. Classic Mayaballcourts at La Milpa, Belize, Ancient Mesoamerica 5: 45-53. TOURTELLOT, G., A. CLARKE & INI See INI file. . HAMMOND. 1993. Mapping LaMilpa: a Maya city in northwestern Belize, Antiquity 67: 96-108. TOURTELLOT, G., G. EVERSON, L. KOSAKOWSKY & N. HAMMOND. 1998.Suburban administration: minor centers at La Milpa, Belize. Paperpresented in symposium: The social implications of ancient Maya ruralcomplexity, 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology The Society for American Archaeology (SAA) is the largest organization of professional archaeologists of the Americas in the world. The Society was founded in 1934 and today has over 7000 members. ,Seattle (WA). TOURTELLOT. G., J.J. ROSE, N. GRUBE, S. DONAGHEY & N. HAMMOND.1994. More light on La Milpa: Maya settlement archaeology innorthwestern Belize, Mexicon 16: 119-24. TOURTELLOT, G., J.J. ROSE & N. HAMMOND. 1996. Maya settlementsurvey at La Milpa, Belize, 1994, Mexicon 18: 8-11.