San Estevan (Maya site)
Encyclopedia
The San Estevan archaeological site is located in northern Belize 1 km from the modern community of San Estevan, Belize
. The site is a Maya civilization
site occupied during the Formative (800 BC- AD 300) and Classic (AD 300 – 900) eras of Mesoamerica
n chronology. San Estevan is located on the New River
half way between the sites of Cerros
and Lamanai
. Beginning in the Late Formative period (300 BC- AD 300), San Estevan was a regional political center .
and Cuello
that Duncan Pring first established the Swazey, Lopez Mamom and Cocos Chicannel phases . In 1989 and 1990, Laura Levi mapped outlying house groups at San Estevan in detail and excavated several domestic structures .
During the late 1990s, much of the monumental architecture in San Estevan's core was bulldozed and a large crater excavated for the underlying limestone marl in order to construct modern roads. Mound XV, at 15 m, is the highest structure remaining at the site and dates to the Late Formative period. This mound was only saved from the bulldozers due to the intervention of the Belize Department of Archaeology in the late 1990s. The damage to San Estevan is unfortunate, but provides remarkable access to the earliest occupation at the site's center. Taking advantage of the easy access to the earliest occupation levels, Robert Rosenswig of the University at Albany – SUNY
began work on the earliest occupation levels at the site in 2002 .
San Estevan, Belize
San Estevan was the first town in the Orange Walk District of the nation of Belize but later became a village due to migration of villagers to other parts of the country during a great epedimic. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 3,847 people...
. The site is a Maya civilization
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
site occupied during the Formative (800 BC- AD 300) and Classic (AD 300 – 900) eras of Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and...
n chronology. San Estevan is located on the New River
New River (Belize)
The New River, also Rio Nuevo, is a river in northern Belize. As the longest river that is entirely confined to Belize, it drains primarily the eastern part of the Orange Walk District during its north-northeasterly course and empties into the Chetumal Bay...
half way between the sites of Cerros
Cerros
Cerros is a Maya archaeological site in northern Belize that reached its apogee during the Mesoamerican Late Preclassic. At its nadir, it held a population of approximately 1,089 people. The site is strategically located on a peninsula at the mouth of the New River where it empties into Chetumal...
and Lamanai
Lamanai
Lamanai is a Mesoamerican archaeological site, and was once a considerably sized city of the Maya civilization, located in the north of Belize, in Orange Walk District...
. Beginning in the Late Formative period (300 BC- AD 300), San Estevan was a regional political center .
Archaeological investigations
William Bullard mapped the civic-ceremonial center of the site in the 1960s where he carried out excavations and restored two Early Classic structures (I and II). During the Corozal Survey Project, Norman Hammond excavated at San Estevan and expanded Bullard's map with several additional plaza groups around the site core . It was the ceramic collections from these excavations at San Estevan along with initial testing at Nohmul, Santa Rita, ColhaColha, Belize
Colha, Belize is a Maya archaeological site located in northern portion of the country, about 52 km. north of Belize City, near the city of Orange Walk. The site is one of the earliest in the Maya region and remains important to the archaeological record of the Maya culture well into the...
and Cuello
Cuello
Cuello is a Maya archaeological site in northern Belize. The site is that of a farming village with a long occupational history stretching back to approximately 1200 BC, during the Middle Preclassic period. Its inhabitants lived in pole-and-thatch houses that were built on top of low plaster-coated...
that Duncan Pring first established the Swazey, Lopez Mamom and Cocos Chicannel phases . In 1989 and 1990, Laura Levi mapped outlying house groups at San Estevan in detail and excavated several domestic structures .
During the late 1990s, much of the monumental architecture in San Estevan's core was bulldozed and a large crater excavated for the underlying limestone marl in order to construct modern roads. Mound XV, at 15 m, is the highest structure remaining at the site and dates to the Late Formative period. This mound was only saved from the bulldozers due to the intervention of the Belize Department of Archaeology in the late 1990s. The damage to San Estevan is unfortunate, but provides remarkable access to the earliest occupation at the site's center. Taking advantage of the easy access to the earliest occupation levels, Robert Rosenswig of the University at Albany – SUNY
University at Albany, SUNY
The State University of New York at Albany, also known as University at Albany, State University of New York, SUNY Albany or simply UAlbany, is a public university located in Albany, Guilderland, and East Greenbush, New York, United States; is the senior campus of the State University of New York ...
began work on the earliest occupation levels at the site in 2002 .