Cuello is a

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

archaeological site in northern

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...

. The site is that of a farming village with a long occupational history. It was originally dated to 2000 BC, but these dates have now been corrected and updated to around 1200 BC. Its inhabitants lived in pole-and-thatch houses that were built on top of low plaster-coated platforms. The site contains residential groups clustered around central patios. It also features the remains of a steam bath dating to approximately 900 BC, making it the oldest steam bath found to date in the Maya lowlands. Human burials have been associated with the residential structures; the oldest have no surviving burial relics, but from 900 BC onwards, they were accompanied by offerings of ceramic vessels. According to some sources, ceramics from the earliest phase of the settlement at Cuello already belonged to an established lowland Maya pottery tradition. Other scholars disagree, and consider that the earliest Cuello pottery was of the Swasey type, starting at 1200 BC, with a lack of clear parallels. Although Cuello appears to have been a typical, relatively unimportant rural village in the Preclassic era, it participated in regional trade networks with

obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements such as silicon ...

being imported from the Maya

highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

from 800 BC onwards, and a small amount of

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group ...

arriving in the community a few centuries later.

Location

Cuello is located two miles Yo Creek Road in the Orange Walk District. It sits on the private land of the Cuello Family but permissions are granted to visit the site.

Archaeology

Uncorrected

radiocarbon Carbon-14, C-14, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and c ...

dates from the lowest stratigraphic levels of the site returned dates as far back as 2600 BC, although these were viewed as controversial. The site was investigated in the 1970s and 1980s by archaeologist

Norman Hammond Norman Hammond (born 10 July 1944) is a British archaeologist, academic and Mesoamericanist scholar, noted for his publications and research on the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. Career Hammond was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He held ac ...

. Structure 326 was excavated in 1980 and measures . The walls of the building were made of thin poles tied together with vines. This was then coated in a smoothed layer of clay and finished with a white lime wash. Archaeological investigation has revealed that the

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

of the Preclassic occupants of Cuello consisted of less than 30%

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

, compared with up to 75% for the modern Maya.

White-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

made up over half the meat in their diet, followed by freshwater turtles and domestic dogs, the last of which represents 7% of the animal remains found at the site.

Burials

Two Late Preclassic mass burial areas have been uncovered at Cuello, one of which contained 26 or more males who had been sacrificed. Healed fractures on the bones suggest that they may have been captured warriors. Further evidence of local

warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regu ...

comes from evidence of burnt buildings at the site. A number of elite burials have been excavated at Cuello. The earliest phases of the Middle Classic included both adults and children accompanied by offerings of

and shell ornaments, indicating social differentiation.Estrada-Belli 2011, p.62. High-status burials tended to be associated with specific locations throughout the history of the site. Burial 160 is an elite burial that has been dated to 500–400 BC. It consists of an individual interred in a

cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle Ea ...

, accompanied by two ceramic vessels and ornaments that included tubes fashioned from deer bones and engraved with a mat design that in later times became associated with royalty. There was also the upper portion of a human skull that had been fashioned into a plaque. Due to these distinguishing features of the burial, the excavators concluded that it was that of a Middle Classic ruler of the settlement. The site of this burial remained important in later times, with the residential patio being converted into a ceremonial platform upon which was built a small

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...

temple.

Ceramic chronology

The earliest pottery found in Belize is in the western part of the country, in places like Cahal Pech and

Blackman Eddy Blackman Eddy is a village located on the banks of the Belize River in the Cayo District, Belize.SIB
, S ...

. At the northern sites, the pottery is now believed to have come somewhat later. The earliest Cuello pottery found is of the Swasey type, starting at about 1200 BC. While the known ''Xe ceramics'' of the Pasion River drainage date from the similar time period, there are significant differences between these and the Swasey/Bladen ceramics.Laura Kosakowsky
''The Ceramics of Cuello, Belize''.
Cambridge Univ Press, 1998 - www.academia.edu

Notes

References

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