A Shell Gorget from Feature 384-2 at Buenavista del Cayo, Belize
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A Shell Gorget from Feature 384-2 at Buenavista del Cayo, Belize. / Yaeger, Jason; Helmke, Christophe; Brown, M. Kathryn; Zender, Marc; Cap, Bernadette; Freiwald, Carolyn.
In: Mexicon, Vol. 45, No. 2, 2023, p. 30-41.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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T1 - A Shell Gorget from Feature 384-2 at Buenavista del Cayo, Belize
AU - Yaeger, Jason
AU - Helmke, Christophe
AU - Brown, M. Kathryn
AU - Zender, Marc
AU - Cap, Bernadette
AU - Freiwald, Carolyn
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - In 2014, a marine shell gorget was discovered in an elaborate, Early Classic crypt burial at Buenavista del Cayo, Belize. We present a de- tailed analysis of the gorget’s text and imagery. The short, incised inscription provides a new gloss for k’an as ‘shell gorget or pendant’ and identifies the gorget’s owner as the ajaw of the ‘dotted-ko place,’ which we read as Kom-kom. The carved iconography depicts the downward-facing profile of a deified ancestor, similar to those on Tikal Stelae 29 and 31. These data suggest that Buenavista del Cayo was ruled by an ajaw by at least ca. AD 450, and that the site was within the Komkom polity, possibly its capital. More broadly, the gorget supports the model that the Mopan Valley was ruled by a series of sequential political capitals. A comparative analysis of similar gorgets permits us to suggest that these objects were instrumental in the founding or re-founding of Early Classic royal lines with links to Teotihuacan, whether they were direct or mediated through polities with stronger ties, like Tikal.
AB - In 2014, a marine shell gorget was discovered in an elaborate, Early Classic crypt burial at Buenavista del Cayo, Belize. We present a de- tailed analysis of the gorget’s text and imagery. The short, incised inscription provides a new gloss for k’an as ‘shell gorget or pendant’ and identifies the gorget’s owner as the ajaw of the ‘dotted-ko place,’ which we read as Kom-kom. The carved iconography depicts the downward-facing profile of a deified ancestor, similar to those on Tikal Stelae 29 and 31. These data suggest that Buenavista del Cayo was ruled by an ajaw by at least ca. AD 450, and that the site was within the Komkom polity, possibly its capital. More broadly, the gorget supports the model that the Mopan Valley was ruled by a series of sequential political capitals. A comparative analysis of similar gorgets permits us to suggest that these objects were instrumental in the founding or re-founding of Early Classic royal lines with links to Teotihuacan, whether they were direct or mediated through polities with stronger ties, like Tikal.
M3 - Journal article
VL - 45
SP - 30
EP - 41
JO - Mexicon
JF - Mexicon
SN - 0720-5988
IS - 2
ER -
ID: 346267219