The past as a constituent of the present: Social waters and posthumanism at Cara Blanca, Belize

Cara Blanca is a system of natural pools in central Belize accessed by bodies (human and non-) for millennia, both for physical and spiritual sustenance. Most prominently, the pools are home to ancient Maya ceremonial architecture and ritual remains that emerged and were accessed by Maya during a period of prolonged and severe droughts in the Terminal Classic period (800-900 CE). Almost 27,000 years earlier, the pools were visited by extinct giant ground sloths also in search of reprieve from drought. I examine archaeological and paleoecological materials from Cara Blanca in the Terminal Classic period (800-900 CE) and paleontological material from 27,000 years ago to show that water was essential in the formation of human and non-human relations at the Cara Blanca pools. This dissertation examines, through a framework of posthumanism, the ways in which the shifting climate has impacted the context of Cara Blanca throughout millennia. I focus on the role of water in maintaining an integrated landscape through these climate shifts and show that water was the integrating force in the construction of the Cara Blanca space during the Terminal Classic period of Maya occupation, as well as pre- and post- Maya occupation. The repositioning of water as a primary force in this analysis situates water as active and energetic, allowing for an expanded notion of who or what warrants justice. This reconceptualization of past landscapes as still unfolding in the present has the potential to influence the development of today’s conservation policy.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Anthropology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2020

Author dc:creator

• Larmon, Jean T.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Lucero, Lisa J.
• Pauketat, Timothy
• Ambrose, Stanley
• Carter, Alison

• Belize, Maya, Archaeology, Conservation, Posthumanism, New Materialism

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2019 Jean Larmon

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/106233

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/106233