Abstract
- The following report presents a summary of the preliminary findings of 2023 archaeological investigations of the San Pedro site, located in the southern portion of Ambergris Caye, Belize. Five trenches were excavated on the Parham Plaza Hotel property in downtown San Pedro Town in May and June 2023. This work was part of an archaeological field school offered by the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) in advance of the sale of the property. Portions of the San Pedro site had been excavated previously in 1991 and 1993 by Drs. David Pendergast and Elizabeth Graham, and in 2017 by Dr. Scott Simmons and archaeology field school students from UNCW. Investigations at the site prior to 2023 found both late precolumbian Maya and middle-late 19th-20th century settlement of San Pedro. Archaeological investigations in 2023 expanded our understanding of the earliest and later inhabitants of what is now San Pedro Town, the largest community on any of Belize’s hundreds of offshore islands. Late Postclassic Period Maya domestic artifacts and features as well as 19th century British and later 20th century domestic features were identified. Investigations in 2023 at the San Pedro site provided additional knowledge and an enhanced understanding of Late Postclassic Period Maya occupation on Ambergris Caye. The San Pedro site is significant because thus far it represents one of the only Maya sites on this or any other of Belize’s many islands that dates to the centuries just prior to and during the very early period of Spanish contact. Preliminary analyses of both artifacts and ecofacts reveal that the Late Postclassic San Pedro Maya enjoyed strong economic and social relationships with other Maya communities on Ambergris Caye, the mainland of northern Belize, and beyond. Likewise, later Caste War refugee settlers enjoyed access to a wide variety of consumer goods and products from various parts of the world. The descendants of many of the first families that arrived in the mid 19th century from Yucatan still live in San Pedro today and are part of a thriving community there.