Preclassic Period in Belize facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Preclassic Period

2000 BC – 250 AD
Preceded by	Preceramic Period
Including	Early (to 1000 BC) Middle (to 400 BC) Late (to 100 AD) Terminal (to 250 AD)
Followed by	Classic Period
Monarch	Yax Ehb Xook (first of Tikal) Foliated Jaguar (second of Tikal) Animal Headdress (third of Tikal)

The Preclassic Period (also called the Formative Period) was an important time in the history of Belize, the Maya civilization, and Mesoamerica. It began around 2000 BC when the Maya started making pottery. It ended in 250 AD when the Maya began carving important messages onto large stone monuments called stelae. This period saw many big changes, like people settling down in one place and farming more.

Where the Maya Lived

During the time before Christopher Columbus arrived (the pre-Columbian era), Belize was part of a larger area called Mesoamerica. This area is often divided into different cultural regions. One of these is the Mayan region.

The Mayan region itself is split into three main parts: the Mayan Lowlands, Highlands, and Pacific areas. Belize was entirely within the Mayan Lowlands. This Lowlands area is further divided into northern, central, and southern sections. Most of Belize is in the Central Lowlands, while the southern part is in the Southern Lowlands.

Climate Changes

Scientists think that a global drying event, meaning less rain, might have happened between 1200 BC and 900 BC. This change in climate may have encouraged people in the Mayan region to start making pottery, building big structures, and farming more.

Who Lived There

The original homeland of the people who spoke the ancient Mayan language, called Proto-Mayans, is thought to be in Guatemala. However, we don't know exactly how they spread out from there to other parts of Mesoamerica. It's believed that only their descendants, the later Mayans, moved to new areas.

When the first Mayan settlers arrived in the Lowlands, they likely lived alongside other groups who were already there. These groups included people like the Palaeoindians. In central and southern Belize, stone tools disappeared around 1900 BC. This might mean that Mayan settlers either replaced or moved out the earlier Palaeoindian people. But in northern Belize, it seems both groups lived together for a while.

Amazing Maya Technology

Pottery

It's not fully clear if the first pottery styles in Belize and the surrounding Lowlands were brought in from other places or if the people there invented them. Some think they were local inventions. Others believe some early pottery, like the Cunil and Jenney Creek styles, came from people speaking Mixe-Zoquean languages in Honduras.

By the Middle Preclassic period, as more people lived and interacted, pottery styles became more similar across the region. The first widely used pottery style was Mamon, known for its red bowls. This style appeared around 600 BC.

The earliest pottery in Belize, before the Mamon style, dates back to at least 1000 BC. These early pottery pieces have been found at sites like Cuello and Cahal Pech. When people started living in permanent villages, they began making finely crafted pottery. This included tecomates (round pots) and non-useful items like figurines and ocarinas (small musical instruments). These special items suggest that society was becoming more complex. They were likely used in important events like feasts and burials.

Stone Tools

People continued to use stone tools from earlier times into the Preclassic period. At a site called Colha, people made and shared many types of stone tools. These included drills, large blades, and axes. These tools were used throughout northern and central Belize.

The way these tools were made suggests that people produced them at home, alongside other daily tasks. The creation of axes and adzes (another type of axe) shows that there was a greater need for tools to clear land and maintain farms.

Special Goods

Archaeologists have found shell beads and other decorations from the Preclassic period in northern and central Belize. These include sites like Colha and Blackman Eddy. Since similar items have been found far inland, like at Tikal in Guatemala, it's thought that some of these items from Belize were traded over long distances.

During the Preclassic, people also started using greenstone and obsidian (a type of volcanic glass) for tools and special religious items. They also made cotton textiles. Greenstone tools and beads have been found all over the country. The first obsidian tools appeared around 1000 BC. This obsidian likely came from the Guatemalan Highlands.

Evidence shows that cotton was present in northern and central Belize by 2200 BC. Spindle whorls (used for spinning thread) and bone needles from this time have been found. This means people were making cotton cloth.

The appearance of these special goods, especially in offerings or hidden stashes, often suggests that society was becoming more complex. It also shows that some people were gaining more power and wealth.

How They Lived: Economy

Farming

Evidence from plants shows that during the Preclassic, people were clearing more forests and developing milpas, which are farms using the slash-and-burn method. The main crops grown were maize (corn), cassava, beans, chili peppers, calabash, and squash.

As farming became more important, people started changing the land beyond just clearing forests. They built canals, raised fields, and terraces to help with farming. These structures first appeared in northern Belize around 1000 BC.

Trading

Settlements in Belize and the surrounding Lowlands traded goods over long distances. They used rivers or land routes. They especially traded tools and special items made from unique materials like marine shells, greenstone, and obsidian.

For example, the site of Cahal Pech started bringing in special goods from outside the Lowlands as early as 1200 BC. These included obsidian from the Highlands and shells from coastal areas. Northern Belize, especially Colha, traded stone tools over shorter distances within the Lowlands.

Their Language

The very first form of all Mayan languages is called proto-Mayan. Experts have studied its history, sounds, and grammar in great detail. It's thought that proto-Mayan was in close contact with another ancient language called proto-Mije-Sokean. This is because later Mayan languages have words that came from proto-Mije-Sokean.

Scientists have tried to figure out when proto-Mayan split into different Mayan languages. One method, called glottochronology, suggested it happened around 2200 BC. However, this method is not used much anymore. Newer studies have given very different dates, from as early as 6600 BC to as late as 209 BC.

How Society Changed

Culture

The Preclassic period was a time when society in Belize and the surrounding Lowlands became more complex. This included how people lived, how they organized themselves, and their beliefs. For example, people made and traded special, non-useful items like pottery, shells, greenstone, and obsidian. These were used in more organized rituals, like feasts and burials.

Archaeologists have found grave goods (items buried with the dead) in early burials. These were often pottery and shell items. The first burials were simple pits under homes. Later, people were buried in public places like round buildings or platforms.

It's hard to know all the details about how society became more complex in the Early to Middle Preclassic. But we can learn a lot from buildings, burials, and the items people left behind. Special homes, dating to around 900 BC, have been found at Cahal Pech. At Cuello, burials of children from 900 BC to 600 BC contained special items like pottery, shells, and greenstone.

Wealthier graves started appearing by the end of the Middle Preclassic. For instance, graves at Cahal Pech had jade, stone plaques, drilled animal teeth, and pottery figurines. This suggests that some people, perhaps leaders, gained more power. They might have used special symbols to show their connection to sacred beliefs. They also likely paid for the building of ceremonial places, traded special goods, and held public rituals. This led to a society where some people had more wealth and status than others. At Blackman Eddy, a large pile of shells and fancy pottery suggests that people held big feasting events.

Food and Meals

Maize (corn) was a main food in Belize and the Lowlands by the start of the Preclassic. People likely boiled and treated it with lime to make nixtamal, which is like hominy. But Preclassic Mayan settlers didn't just eat farmed foods. They also hunted animals and gathered wild plants. These included fruits like craboo, hogplum, guava, and soursop. They also ate cassava, sweet potato, and cacao. For meat, they hunted deer, dogs, peccary, armadillo, rabbits, turtles, birds, and fish. They also ate molluscs like snails.

Compared to earlier times, Preclassic Mayan meals in the Lowlands focused less on large hunted animals. Instead, they ate more smaller mammals, like dogs, and marine molluscs, like snails.

Important Maya Sites

During the Preclassic, people moved away from living in rock shelters and started building permanent settlements. Their homes and ceremonial buildings were generally simple in design. Archaeologists have found evidence of houses made with poles and thatch roofs. They also found clay-lined fireplaces and low stone walls. As time went on, people invested more in their living and ceremonial spaces, showing increasing social and ceremonial complexity.

Public and ceremonial buildings at sites like Cerros, Colha, Cuello, Lamanai, and Nohmul have been dated to the Preclassic period.

Timeline of Key Events

How We Know All This

The first people to study Mayan sites in Belize were not professional archaeologists. One of the earliest was George Henderson in 1809. Later, Thomas Gann began digging at sites in 1894. His work led to the first laws to protect ancient sites in Belize. However, serious archaeological research didn't really take off until the 1920s and 1930s, with groups like the British Museum getting involved.

Important studies on Preclassic pottery in Belize began in the 1970s. Pottery found at sites like Cuello has helped us understand a lot about early pottery in northern Belize. Pottery from Colha is also very important because this site was active even before the Preclassic period.