Specialized Salt Production During the Ancient Maya Classic Period at Two Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize: Chan b’i and Atz’aam Na

ABSTRACT

Underwater excavations at the Classic period (a.d. 300–900) ancient Maya salt works of Chan b’i and Atz’aam Na in Paynes Creek National Park, Belize, reveal activity areas associated with a substantial salt industry for distribution to nearby southern Maya inland sites where this biological requirement was scarce. Wooden architecture and salt making artifacts are abundantly preserved in a peat bog composed of red mangrove. Excavations, screening, and analysis of recovered material at the submerged underwater sites reveal that the artifacts are overwhelmingly briquetage: pottery vessels used to evaporate salty water by heating over fires to make salt. The spatial distribution of briquetage in relation to the interior and exterior of buildings reveals that salt production was occurring indoors. The plethora of briquetage and the scarcity of domestic artifacts indicate that the sites were specialized salt works and not physically attached to households.

KEYWORDS:

• Ancient Maya
• salt production
• craft production
• coastal archaeology
• wooden architecture
• craft specialization

Acknowledgements

The research was carried out under permit from the Belize Institute of Archaeology and supported by the National Science Foundation Grant Number 0513398 and Grant Number 1139178. Additional funding was provided by the Louisiana State University, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Robert C. West fund. We also acknowledge the support of the Department of Social Sciences and the Center for Social Science Research at the University of Texas at Tyler. We thank our field crew Taylor Aucoin, Jessica Harrison, Roberto Rosado, Jaclyn Landry, Mark Robinson, Lyra Spang, and John Young and our host family, Tanya Russ and John Spang. We appreciate the useful comments of the two anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on Contributors

E. Cory Sills (Ph.D. 2013, Louisiana State University) is an Assistant Professor in the Social Science Department, The University of Texas at Tyler. Her research interests include 3D digital imaging, underwater archaeology, sea-level changes, ancient economies, salt production, and ancient Maya wooden architecture.

Heather McKillop (Ph.D. 1987, University of California, Santa Barbara) is the Thomas and Lillian Landrum Alumni Professor in the Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University. Her research interests include 3D digital imaging, underwater archaeology, coastal archaeology, sea-level rise, ancient economies, salt production, and ancient Maya wooden architecture.

ORCID

E. Cory Sills http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1103-6626

Heather McKillop http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0790-6417