Rissa Trachman, chair of the Sociology and Anthropology Department, presented at the Belize Archaeology and Anthropology Symposium this summer regarding her research at the ancient Maya site of Dos Hombres in northwestern Belize.
Elon Anthropology Professor Rissa Trachman presented her research at the site of Dos Hombres in northwestern Belize during the Belize Archaeological and Anthropology Symposium this summer .
Trachman’s archaeological investigations at the ancient Maya city of Dos Hombres have been guided by her research interests in ancient Maya social, political and economic organization, based on architecture and material culture remains. Her excavations in the civic ceremonial center of Dos Hombres are providing insight into understanding the architectural expressions of power by the Dos Hombres polity and the role it played in the regional economy.
The current fieldwork efforts are focused in the northern plaza, a very public space that likely was a place of commerce, public ritual and sacred space, and therefore serving as the prime backdrop for publicly legitimizing authority. Newly excavated data, especially architectural exposures as well as material culture deposits, are rich with information about public activities and architectural programming at the ancient city.
As a result, the culmination of her data has begun to elucidate the various social and economic relationships, both individually and collectively, of the ancient Maya at Dos Hombres.