Abstract

Prior to fieldwork in the early 1980s, the Archaic period (ca. 8,000 – 1,000 BCE ) in Belize was essentially unknown. Given the ephemeral nature of hunter-gatherer sites in the lowland tropics and archaeologists’ focus on the large monumental centres of the Maya civilization, this is not entirely surprising. Nevertheless, recent research over the last two decades has identified numerous Archaic period occupations that have revealed a complex, but very much incomplete, picture of life during this time. This presentation summarizes our current understanding of the Archaic period in Belize and highlights some of the remarkable discoveries related to innovations in lithic technology, early domestication of maize and other subsistence practices, socio-economic relationships, and landscape use. New discoveries challenge old ideas; therefore, some areas of “controversy” will also be mentioned.