Cultural Heritage Center

Engaged archaeology, like other forms of research, is replete with contradictions. Over the last several years, members of the Punta Laguna Archaeology Project-a community-based endeavor in Yucatan, Mexico-have encountered and sought to address several paradoxical questions. Do attempts to mitigate certain forms of inequality unintentionally sustain other forms of inequality? Can the production of capital alleviate rather than exacerbate unequal social relationships? And, can Western social theories be marshalled to advocate for and increase Maya and other Indigenous perspectives in archaeology? This article examines these contradictory questions and analyzes them as potential sources of dialectical change. To conclude, the article suggests three new foci for engaged archaeology: intersectionality, control, and authoritative speech.

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Photography has been a particularly important though often under-theorized aspect of archaeological research. Although seemingly simple representations, photographs are simultaneously objective and subjective, truthful and creative. This article considers the contradictory nature of photography generally and the specific relationship between photography and archaeology. It then looks at the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico and examines how individuals have photographed ancient Maya sites, architecture and artifacts from the mid nineteenth century to the present. Initially used to support diffusionist theories of Maya origins, photography was later understood as a neutral and scientific way to record the Maya past. More recently, it has been used to share power more equitably with local communities and to make archaeology a more inclusive and relevant endeavour. Indeed, several have demonstrated that photography is a useful tool for engaged archaeology. This article argues that the reverse is also true: insights from engaged archaeology are useful tools for archaeological photography generally. By making photographic choices explicit and by including people and other aspects of the contemporary world in their photographs, scholars can emphasize that archaeology is a decisively human and necessarily political endeavour, and that archaeological sites and artifacts are dynamic and efficacious parts of the contemporary world.

This article presents a preliminary, revised life history of Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico, and considers in detail the site's relationship to nearby communities. More specifically, this article presents the results of a type-variety analysis of the cumulative palimpsest of ceramics excavated at the site between 2017 and 2022. Unlike initial studies conducted in the 1980s, the current study suggests that Maya peoples occupied Punta Laguna continuously or recurringly from 600/300 B.C. through A.D. 1500/1550. Punta Laguna is therefore usefully understood as a persistent place. By offering a composite life history of Punta Laguna, this article aims to augment current understandings of the complex social, political, and economic landscape of the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula. It also considers the utility of archaeological studies of persistent places to scholarship on urban sustainability and suggests that research investigating the connections between early occupation and site longevity may prove a fruitful avenue of study. Finally, this article argues that investigations of persistent places may provide a counterweight to the more common focus on collapse and thereby offer a more comprehensive understanding of the Maya past-one that emphasizes the vitality of the Maya present. Resumen Este artículo presenta una inicial revisión de la historia de vida en Punta Laguna, Yucatán, México, y considera la relación del sitio con comunidades cercanas. Más específicamente, este artículo presenta los resultados de un análisis de tipo-variedad del acumulado palimpsesto de cerámica excavado del sitio entre 2017 y 2022. Diferente a otros estudios conducidos en los 1980s, este estudio sugiere que los antiguos Mayas ocuparon Punta Laguna continuamente desde 600/300 a.C. a 1500/1550 d.C. Sostenemos que Punta Laguna es más útilmente entendido como un lugar persistente. Ofreciendo una historia revisada de Punta Laguna, este artículo propone aumentar el entendimiento del complejo escenario social, político, y económico de la península oriental de Yucatán. El artículo también reconsidera la utilidad de estudios arqueológicos de lugares persistentes a los estudios de sostenibilidad urbano y sugiere que estudios investigando las conexiones entre ocupaciones tempranas y la longevidad de sitios pueden ser caminos beneficiosos. Finalmente, sostenemos que las investigaciones de lugares persistentes pueden ser un contrapeso al enfoque más común de derrumbe, y ofrece un entendimiento más comprensivo del pasado Maya, uno que acentúa la vitalidad del presente Maya.

Paleoclimate studies suggest that droughts between ca. 800 and 1100 CE coincided with, and perhaps caused, the Classic Maya “collapse.”  Oxygen isotope data from sediment cores recovered from Lake Punta Laguna reveal exceptionally dry periods during that interval.  We present data from the archaeological site surrounding Lake Punta Laguna, which are critical for exploring the relation between paleoclimate and society in the Maya area.  The site includes more than 200 mounds and was occupied continuously or recurrently from the Middle Preclassic (600 – 300 BCE) through the Postclassic period (1100/1200 – 1500/1550 CE).  Rather than suggesting a correlation between drought and “collapse,” we argue that the persistence of ancient Maya peoples at Punta Laguna suggests societal resilience in the face of high rainfall variability.