Class Year

2025

Document Type

Student Research Paper

Date of Creation

Spring 2025

Department 1

Anthropology

Abstract

This paper explores Maya secondary burials with a particular focus of the exhumed burial of SubOp Ax at Courtyard B-1, Chan Chich, Belize. Drawing on an array of archaeological sources, it examines a series of case studies throughout the Maya region and beyond of secondary burials, symbolic mortuary practices, and instances of ancestor veneration. The partial exhumation of SubOp Ax, with the crypt only containing a leg bone, is interpreted as a deliberate act of ancestral remembrance during the Terminal Classic collapse. This is done through a comparative analysis of case studies from Caracol, Naachtun, K’axob, Tikal, and Mitla. Understanding these sites, and the burials within them, provides a framework for comprehending the burial in SubOp Ax. These acts reflect how broader Maya mortuary practices exemplify embodied links between memory, physical space, and social identity.

Comments

Funded by the 2024 Kolbe Research Fellowship and written for ANTH 400: Capstone in Anthropology

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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