Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2001

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Fradkin, Arlene

Abstract

This study is a spatial analysis conducted in the Main Chamber of Actun Tunichil Muknal, a Terminal Classic Maya ceremonial cave (A.D. 830--950), located in Western Belize. The research examines ancient Maya ritual cave use by analyzing artifact deposition patterns. Using a Geographical Information System (GIS), it provides a methodology for the development of comparative models of spatial organization. The system facilitated data visualization, exploration, and generation. The GIS was instrumental in the analysis of the proximity of artifacts to natural morphological features of the cave. Artifact deposition patterns were correlated with known ritual behavior patterns from the region. Using this method, boundary markers, artifact pathways, and a centrally located symbolic three-stone-hearth feature were identified. This study suggests that, within the cave, the ancient Maya employed a cognitive model of spatial organization similar to that witnessed by ethnographers in other venues, or reported in ethnohistorical texts in rites of foundation.

Extent

226 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2001.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT12851

Format

pdf

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