Living Room Lecture: Ancient Maya Archaeology of the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve, Belize

Lecture from 11/10/2022. The Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve in central Belize is a unique landscape in the Maya lowlands. It is largely defined by a series of granitic upwellings that produce nutrient leached soils that are poor for farming, but the region is bordered by cave-filled limestone hills. Because of the poor soils, the ancient Maya were thought to have never lived there, but it was the source of many important economic resources, especially granite for making grinding stones. Research in 1928 demonstrated that the ancient Maya used at least some of the caves for ritual purposes, but where the participants came from remains unknown. In 2018, Dr. Jon Spenard initiated his Rio Frio Regional Archaeological Project (RiFRAP) to address that question. Either the caves were long-distance pilgrimage destinations, or there were here-to-fore yet undocumented Maya sites in the region. The answer is the latter. In this talk, Spenard presents on the recently documented ancient Maya site of Nohoch Batsó and the nearby Buffalo Hill quarries, a multi-component granitic rock quarry and ground stone tool manufactory. For upcoming events visit https://sandiegoarchaeology.org/​​ About the San Diego Archaeological Center The San Diego Archaeological Center is a nonprofit museum, education, and research facility where visitors can learn the story of how people have lived in San Diego County for the past 10,000 years. Located in San Pasqual Valley, it is the only local organization dedicated to the collection, study, curation, and exhibition of San Diego County’s archaeological artifacts. Note: The views and opinions expressed in this video are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the San Diego Archaeological Center.