Possible Variation in Late Archaic Period Bifaces in Belize: New Finds from the Cayo District of Western Belize

Abstract

Six additional barbed bifaces have been recovered from the Cayo District of Western Belize, bringing the total number of known Late Archaic Lowe and Sawmill points from this part of the country to 12. Not only do these six points provide more evidence for a greater Late Archaic hunter-gatherer presence in this part of the country, but differences in their stems suggest the possibility of more variation in point styles than previously known. Based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of the 12 points from Western Belize and comparisons to others discovered in Northern and Northwestern Belize and the Sibun Gorge of Central Belize, we propose that there may have been three different styles of Lowe points used by Late Archaic food-foragers in Belize. However, two of these three possible Lowe point styles are only represented by a single artifact each, rendering more detailed explanations of sources of stylistic variation difficult. Unlike the Lowe points, the observed differences in the Sawmill point stems are not supported by quantitative data; therefore, there seems to be only one style of stem for these Late Archaic bifaces.

Keywords:

• Late Archaic
• Belize
• hunter-gatherers
• bifaces
• Lowe
• Sawmill

Acknowledgments

Investigations by the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance Project (BVAR) are conducted under the auspices of the Belize Institute of Archaeology (IOA). At the IOA, we are particularly grateful for the assistance of Dr. John Morris, Rafael Guerra, Joyce Tun, Melissa Badillo and Tony Beardal. We also extend our sincere gratitude to Mr. Julian Sherard, Ada Wood, Richard Pollack, Lee McLoughlin, and members of the Cayo Tour Guide Association who provided us with several of the Late Preceramic specimens discussed in this paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

W. James Stemp

W. James Stemp is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Keene State College, Keene, NH. His Ph.D. dissertation (McGill University, 2000) examined chipped stone tool use in the Maya coastal economies of two sites on Ambergris Caye, Belize. His research focuses on lithic use-wear analysis, quantification of use-wear, ritual and symbolic obsidian use, and ancient Maya lithic technology.

Jaime J. Awe

Jaime Awe is the Director of the Belize Institute of Archaeology and a faculty affiliate of the University of Montana. Since completing his Ph.D. at the University of London in 1992, he has conducted extensive archaeological research at several major sites in the Belize River valley, and also at a number of cave sites in central Belize. His research interests include Preceramic occupation in the eastern Maya lowlands, the rise of Maya cultural complexity, and the use of caves by the ancient Maya.