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Finds in Belize document Late Classic Maya salt making and canoe transport

Heather McKillop

PNAS

2005;102;5630-5634; originally published online Apr 4, 2005;

doi:10.1073/pnas.0408486102

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Finds in Belize document Late Classic Maya salt

making and canoe transport

Heather McKillop*

Deptartment of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, 227 Howe-Russell Geoscience Building, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-4105

Edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, and approved March 9, 2005

(received for review November 18, 2004)

How did people in preIndustrial ancient civilizations produce and

distribute bulk items, such as salt, needed for everyday use by their

large urban populations? This report focuses on the ancient Maya

who obtained quantities of salt at cities in the interior of the

Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala in an area

where salt is scarce. I report the discovery of 41 Late Classic Maya

saltworks ( anno Domini 600 –900) in Punta Ycacos Lagoon on the

south coast of Belize, including one with the ﬁrst-known ancient

Maya canoe paddle. The discoveries add important empirical in-

formation for evaluating the extent of surplus salt production and

river transport during the height of Late Classic civilization in the

southern Maya lowlands. The discovery of the saltworks indicates

that there was extensive production and distribution of goods and

resources outside the cities in the interior of the Yucatan. The

discovery of a wooden canoe paddle from one of the Punta Ycacos

saltworks, Ka’k’ Naab’, ties the production of salt to its inland

transport by rivers and documents the importance of canoe trade

between the coast and the interior during the Late Classic. Archae-

ological discovery of multiple saltworks on the Belizean coast

represents surplus production of salt destined largely for the

inland Peten Maya during their Late Classic peak, underscoring the

importance of non-state-controlled workshop production in pre-

Industrial societies.

artifacts included the fragmentary remains of jars and bowls used

to boil seawater to produce loose salt or salt cakes. One of the

vessel supports was embedded at an angle in a clay base

indicating the positioning of the vessel supports. Excavations at

the Stingray Lagoon saltworks revealed a large fire hearth of

charcoal, along with salt-making pots. Measurements of pottery

indicated the salt pots were standardized in their dimensions,

suggesting the mass production of salt. The previous study also

shows variability among the four saltworks, suggesting that there

were distinct work groups. However, with only four saltworks,

the extent of production along the coast and its potential impact

for supplying the Maya at the interior cities were undetermined.

Was there enough salt produced by the boiling method along

the coast of Belize to satisfy the inland demand for this basic

daily necessity during the Late Classic? The boiling method was

a common method of making salt historically and ethnograph-

ically worldwide (4, 5). Salt was produced by the same method

elsewhere along the Belize coast at Northern River Lagoon,

Ambergris Cay, Kakalche, and Placencia (3, 6–9). The Belize

coast was closer to the Late Classic area of Maya civilization in

the southern Maya lowlands than the salt f lats on the northern

coast of the Yucatan, where salt was produced by solar evapo-

ration (6, 10). If the Belize coast supplied salt for the Late Classic

inland Maya, then there was bulk transport from the coast to the

interior, arguably by boat from the coast along rivers to the

interior of the Yucatan.

Sixteenth century Spanish explorers to Central America dis-

rupted ancient Maya canoe trade and travel that had endured for

more than a millennium (Fig. 1). This travel included sea trade

around the Yucatan (11–13) but also shorter-distance travel

along inland waterways in Belize, Mexico, and Guatemala,

supplying the Maya in the interior at large urban cities with

marine resources (8, 14, 15). Settlement of offshore islands

underscores ancient Maya familiarity with boats and sea travel.

Boats were necessary for transportation to island sites located off

the coasts of Belize and the Yucatan, including near-shore

islands, such as Isla Cerritos, Wild Cane Cay, Moho Cay, and

Frenchman’s Cay (14–17), islands located farther from the

mainland, such as Ambergris Cay, and Cozumel (8, 13), sites

ancient Maya

canoe trade workshop production

saltworks in Punta Ycacos Lagoon on the south coast of

Belize adds a new dimension to our understanding of economies

in ancient civilizations. The research shows that there was

extensive production outside urban areas and beyond the control

of the dynastic royal Maya leaders in those cities. Entrepreneurs

in southern Belize located saltworks near the natural resource,

the sea. They produced a surplus for trade in response to the

needs of urban consumers in the interior of the Yucatan

peninsula where salt, a basic biological necessity, was scarce.

Activities at the saltworks focused on the production of salt by

workers who lived at nearby coastal settlements. Production was

beyond the control of the Late Classic Maya state at cities in the

interior of the Yucatan. Bulk inland transport of salt along rivers

by canoe is supported by the discovery of a full-sized wooden

canoe paddle at K’ak’ Naab’, one of the Punta Ycacos saltworks.

This type of production contrasts to the workshops attached

to royal courts at Maya cities, where elite goods were produced

for the dynastic Maya leaders and other elites (1). The saltworks

also are distinct from the cottage industry style of household

workshops at Colha, where stone tools were mass-produced for

trade (2). Colha and the Punta Ycacos saltworks were located

outside urban areas near natural resources used in workshop

production and reveal the extent of non-state-controlled pro-

duction in the ancient Maya and other civilizations.

km offshore on the Belize barrier reef, such as Hunting Cay, and

sites on atolls beyond the reef.

Although no full-size wooden canoes have been recovered

from ancient Maya sites, there are artistic depictions of ancient

Maya canoes, including fisher folk paddling canoes shown on a

mural from Chichen Itza (18) and mythical figures paddling

canoes that are incised on bones from a burial from Tikal (19).

In addition, there are miniature models of boats from Altun Ha,

Moho Cay, and from two saltworks in Punta Ycacos Lagoon (3,

15, 20). Together with the settlement of offshore islands, various

canoe-related artifacts from the Maya region indicate that the

ancient Maya traveled by canoe. However, this evidence does not

Background

Saltworks previously discovered in Punta Ycacos Lagoon, a large

salt water lagoon in Paynes Creek National Park, Belize, were

marked by the presence of artifacts on the seaf loor (3). The salt

This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS ofﬁce.

*E-mail: hmckill@lsu.edu.

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T he discovery of 41 Late Classic ( anno Domini 600–900) Maya

red mangroves ( Rhizophora mangle ). The actual rise in sea level

is recorded by Holocene deposits of mangrove peat up to 9 m

deep that accumulated as seas rose within the Belize barrier reef

inshore lagoon (3, 22–24). Sediment coring below the f loor of

Punta Ycacos Lagoon in 2004 indicates mangrove peat extends

to at least 4.3 m deep, the maximum extent of the coring

instrument. The peat is overlain by 10–30 cm of loose silt.

The land-based archaeological technique of pedestrian survey

was used to search for sites in the lagoon, with a team of four

persons walking or snorkeling on f lotation devices at arm’s

length back and forth across the lagoon, looking for artifacts on

the sea f loor. Snorkeling improved visibility of the seaf loor

because the bottom silt was not disturbed. Sites were identified

by the presence of pottery. The location of underwater sites was

recorded with a global positioning system. A transit was set up

in the lagoon at a datum marked by a 4-ft (1 ft

0.3 m) length

2.54 cm) polyvinyl chloride pipe to begin

mapping the distribution of remains at discovered sites.

Results

New Sites. Forty-one new sites were found during the underwater

survey in Punta Ycacos Lagoon, bringing the total number of

underwater sites in the lagoon to 45, which were all engaged in

some aspect of salt production. The sites were identified by

concentrations of potsherds on the seaf loor. Twenty-three of the

sites were embedded in mangrove peat in the eastern arm of the

lagoon. The remaining sites were in the loose silt overlying

the peat elsewhere in the lagoon. The peat in the eastern arm of

the lagoon provided a matrix for the preservation of wood,

including wooden buildings, a paddle, and other wooden objects,

along with the pottery.

Fig. 1. Map of theMaya area showing sites mentioned in the text. (Courtesy

of Mary Lee Eggart.)

Wooden Buildings. Wooden structures associated with salt pro-

duction at 23 sites provide insight into the infrastructure for the

production and distribution of salt in the Late Classic. Previous

salt production in Punta Ycacos and elsewhere on the Belizean

coast appeared to be an outdoor activity. Moreover, the ephem-

eral remains of potsherds hidden underwater in the modern

landscape suggested that salt production was quite limited in

extent, which was clearly not the case. The wooden buildings

indicate that there was substantial infrastructure associated with

salt production and a durable presence in the ancient world. The

discovery of the Punta Ycacos wooden structures is a compelling

reason to search for ancient sites in environmental conditions

that preserve wood and other perishable materials, given that,

before this discovery, no ancient wooden buildings had been

found in the Maya area.

The wooden architecture at the Paynes Creek sites is defined

by wooden posts, beams, and other construction wood. Several

posts were excavated to verify their cultural nature and to take

wood samples for radiocarbon dating and wood species identi-

fication. The excavated posts were straight and up to a meter in

length, with a sharpened end placed into the ground. Post

diameters ranged from 20 to 30 cm. The posts were fresh in

appearance, retaining the original light brown color of the wood,

although waterlogged. The posts were driven into the mangrove

peat, which provided an anaerobic and slightly acidic (pH 5)

matrix for the preservation of wood.

The largest structure is at Chak Sak Ha Nal, where 112 wooden

posts define the exterior walls of a rectangular wooden building

measuring

address the question of whether goods were transported by canoe

to inland cities or over land by human porters.

Research Questions

With only four saltworks in Punta Ycacos Lagoon and other

saltworks farther north along the coast of Belize, the extent of

salt production on the coast of Belize was unknown, so that it was

unclear whether or not they could have supplied enough salt for

the interior cities at the height of Late Classic civilization. The

organization of production was geared toward the mass produc-

tion of salt (3), but the extent of production in terms of the

number of saltworks was unknown. A systematic search of Punta

Ycacos Lagoon was initiated in 2004 to locate additional salt-

works and, thus, to evaluate the extent of salt production on the

coast of Belize and the potential for surplus production for trade

inland to supply the salt needs at Late Classic cities in the interior

of the Yucatan. Still, the question of how bulk quantities of salt

were transported from the coast to interior cities remained.

Methods of the 2004 Survey

The 2004 systematic underwater survey of Punta Ycacos Lagoon

began in the eastern arm of the lagoon, where water is a

maximum of 1 m in depth. Previous fieldwork on the south coast

of Belize revealed inundated terrestrial sites on the coast, on

offshore cays (islands), and in shallow coastal waters (3, 21). Late

Classic Maya sites were inundated by a sea-level rise, leaving the

modern landscape a typical mangrove ecosystem dominated by

12 m. Inside the structure, there are 31 posts

forming interior rooms and other construction wood, including

beams and other horizontally placed wood whose arrangement

remains to be mapped. Late Classic pottery sherds, including

salt-making artifacts, are abundant inside the structure but not

beyond, which indicates that the structure was used in some

aspect of salt production, storage, or transportation. Other sites

have walls demarcated by lines of posts, isolated posts, and other

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of 0.5-inch (1 in

Fig. 2. Photograph of paddle from K’ak’ Naab’, Belize. ( Inset ) Close-up view of paddle blade.

construction wood, along with abundant salt-making artifacts.

Detailed mapping of the wooden structure and associated

pottery at Chak Sak Ha Nal and the other saltworks will

elucidate the size, layout, and variability of the wooden struc-

tures and the patterning of artifacts used in salt production.

have been produced by a chert adze recovered from the site. The

upper edge of the blade f lares at a 90-degree angle to the shaft.

The blade extends 8 cm from the shaft on one side, but only 2

cm on the other side. The blade of the paddle is rounded at the

tip. A raised area on one side of the blade, 1.40 cm high,

continues the shape of the shaft.

The paddle was carved from a species of Manilkara , probably

Manilkara sapote in the family Sapotaceae. Although water-

logged, the wood is fresh in appearance, preserving the original

light brown color of the wood. Sapotaceae wood also was

identified fromLate Classic midden deposits at the nearby island

community of Wild Cane Cay (25). A wooden spear from Actun

Polbilche cave, Belize, was made from M. sapote (26). Although

M. sapote is better known for its sap that provided chicle for

chewing gum, the wood is a durable hardwood. Deciduous

hardwoods do not grow in the mangrove ecosystem surrounding

the lagoon or on the adjacent pine savanna (27). However, they

form the rainforest south of Punta Ycacos Lagoon, along Deep

River.

Radiocarbon dating and analysis of associated ceramics date

Belize salt production and canoe travel to the height of Late

Classic Maya civilization, when the demand for salt was greatest

in the interior cities of the Peten. A radiocarbon date of 1,300

Salt-Making Artifacts. Pottery used in salt production dominates

the ceramics, which resemble ceramics from the previous study

(3). These ceramics includes potsherds from bowls and jars used

to boil seawater in pots over fires and solid clay cylinders used

to support the pots over fires. Most of the clay cylinders were

fragmentary, with two complete cylinders measuring 32 and 33

cm in length, respectively, indicating the height vessels were

placed above a fire. Clearly, with 45 saltworks, an infrastructure

including wooden structures, and the potential for discovery of

additional saltworks in areas of the lagoon not yet surveyed, salt

production was indeed extensive.

K’ak’ Naab’ Paddle. The recovery of a wooden canoe paddle from

the K’ak’ Naab’ site ties the production of salt in Paynes Creek

to its transportation by canoe. In the absence of any ancient

Maya wooden canoes, the paddle represents previously unchar-

acterized primary evidence of prehistoric Maya boat travel and

navigation. The K’ak’ Naab’ site has a wooden structure con-

taining salt-making artifacts, with the paddle nearby. Potsherds

extend over an area of 10 15 m and are embedded in the

mangrove peat. The paddle blade protruded from the mangrove

peat into the overlying silt. The edge of the paddle blade in the

silt was worm-eaten, but the remainder of the paddle was

undamaged. Eight wooden posts found in the preliminary survey

at K’ak’ Naab’ are similar in diameter (20–30 cm) and fresh in

appearance, like posts at other sites in the lagoon.

Similar in shape to paddles shown in artistic depictions

elsewhere in the Maya area (18, 19), the K’ak’ Naab’ paddle

shows the actual size of paddles used by the Late Classic Maya:

Carved from a single piece of wood, the paddle is 1.43 m long,

with a round shaft that is 5 cm in diameter (Fig. 2). The grip is

rounded and smooth, with f laking scars visible, such as could

40 B.P. (sample no. Beta-192705, Beta Analytic, Miami) from a

sample of the grip end of the paddle concurs with the age of the

associated ceramics from K’ak’ Naab’. The radiocarbon age of

the paddle, corrected by 13C 12C, with a 2 sigma calibration is

calculated at anno Domini (A.D.) 680–880. A radiocarbon date

of 1300

60 B.P. (sample no. Beta-192704, Beta Analytic,

Miami) from a wooden post at the nearby Sak Nuk Naj saltworks

corroborates the Late Classic age. The radiocarbon age of the

post, corrected by 13C 12C, with a 2 sigma calibration is

calculated at A.D. 670–960. Both dates are within the range of

the calibrated radiocarbon date of A.D. 670–870 (2 sigma;

sample no. Beta-69869, Beta Analytic, Miami) from the Stingray

Lagoon site (Fig. 1), which is located in the larger western arm

of the lagoon (3). The radiocarbon dates fit with the Late Classic

age of the ceramics. No earlier or later ancient Maya sites or

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McKillop

Fig. 3. Classic Maya paddles depicted on incised bone from Burial 116 in Temple 1 from Tikal. (Courtesy of Mary Lee Eggart.)

historic sites were discovered. There is no evidence of modern

settlement or use of the shallow eastern arm of the lagoon.

fires, as indicated by the abundant broken salt-making pottery

vessels inside the structures.

The discovery of the K’ak’ Naab’ paddle ties the production of

salt to its transport in canoes. The paddle is new evidence about

the size and technology of Late Classic Maya canoe paddles and

the first primary evidence of water-borne navigation of the

ancient Maya, corroborated by artistic depictions (18, 19, 28).

Radiocarbon dates and ceramics link the paddle and Late

Classic salt-making sites together in time, which helps make the

case that bulked surplus was produced for transport. The abun-

dance of salt-making artifacts and the lack of domestic refuse,

burials, and food remains, in contrast to their common recovery

at settlements on the coast, indicates that the saltworks were

places where salt was produced for use elsewhere. The extent of

Late Classic coastal salt production occurred when there was the

greatest demand for salt at inland cities. The coastal saltworks

were abandoned at the same time as the collapse of the Late

Classic civilization in the southern Maya lowlands and the

abandonment of the inland cities. Settlement continued on the

coast, where salt making was associated with part of household

production at Wild Cane Cay and Frenchman’s Cay, island

trading ports near Punta Ycacos Lagoon.

Several lines of evidence link this surplus salt and the Peten

interior. The presence of unit-stamped pottery (with impressed

decorations on vessel shoulders) and clay figurine whistles from

inland sites at the Paynes Creek saltworks reinforces the signif-

icance of the coastal–inland trade of salt and other commodities

at the height of the Classic Maya civilization. The distribution of

unit-stamped pottery extends from the south coast of Belize to

cities in the interior of Belize and the adjacent Peten of

Guatemala, notably Lubaantun, Pusilha, Seibal, and Altar de

Sacrificios (3). In addition to salt, other resources produced on

the Belize coast include a variety of marine resources in demand

by the inland dynastic Maya, including stingray spines used in

ritual bloodletting, conch shells used as horns (principally queen

conch, Strombus gigas , and Turbinella angulata ), and seafood

(fishes, manatee, and sea turtle), all found at inland cities (3, 14

20, 21). Cacao is grown extensively today on the mainland coast,

with a cacao bean from Frenchman’s Cay indicating its local use

and trade in antiquity. The Late Classic Maya at inland cities also

imported goods and resources from more distant areas, notably

obsidian, a common import to the Late Classic trading port of

Wild Cane Cay off the coast of Punta Ycacos Lagoon (21).

Examples from Art and Ethnohistory. The K’ak’ Naab’ paddle

corroborates the shape of paddles shown in ancient Maya art,

which is different frommodern Maya and other paddles. Artistic

depictions show paddles and their use in canoes, with most

images showing sacred activities, such as the ancient Maya

Paddler Gods’ role in delivering the maize god from the pri-

mordial sea at the moment of the creation of the world. Pictorial

depictions incised on bones from Late Classic Burial 116 in

Temple 1 at Tikal (19) show the Stingray Paddler god and the

Jaguar Paddler god paddling a canoe (Fig. 3). Like the K’ak’

Naab’ paddle, their paddles have a straight handle without an

expanded grip. The blades are straight along the upper side,

rounded at the sides and at the tip. The scene indicates that

Classic Maya held paddles by the shaft, with one hand near the

top and the other hand above the blade. Other artistic depictions

of canoeists paddling are known from Piedras Negras, recording

a Yaxchilan emissary’s trip downstream to attend a ruler’s

accession to the throne (28). Similar paddles are depicted in

a scene on a painted mural dated to the Postclassic at Chichen

Itza (18).

The virtual identity of the artistic depictions of paddles with

the shape of the K’ak’ Naab’ paddle suggests that artistic

representations of canoes in the same images show the accurate

shape of canoes used by the ancient Maya. Miniature models of

boats, similar in shape to the pictorial depictions, have been

recovered from several Classic Maya sites, including canoes

carved from manatee rib bone from Altun Ha and Moho Cay

(15, 20), and examples in clay from Orlando’s Jewfish and

Stingray Lagoon, previously investigated saltworks in the west-

ern arm of Punta Ycacos Lagoon (3).

Implications. The association of the wood structures with abun-

dant salt-making debris is evidence for some kind of storage

facility or production infrastructure. Pottery at the site indicates

that salt was produced by boiling seawater in pots over fires.

Indeed, salt-making may have taken place indoors, as occurs

ethnographically at the modern highland Maya community of

Sacapulas, Guatemala, located at a salt spring (5). The Paynes

Creek wooden buildings were used in the production, storage,

and distribution of salt, made by boiling seawater in pots over

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