Maya Formative phase radiocarbon dates from Belize

Abstract

THE Formative phase of Maya civilisation in Central America, until recently thought to date back no further than ∼ 900 BC, has been extended to at least 2,500 BC by a series of radiocarbon dates from the site of Cuello, Belize, on samples from the 1975 excavations¹. The series included two dates of 1,020–1,050 b.c. (1,250–1,300 BC) from upper levels at the site and one date of 2,050 b.c. (2,600 BC) from a midden overlying the buried land surface. (The convention b.c. for radiocarbon years and BC for calendar years using the bristlecone pine calibration curve is followed here; for the calibration schemes used, see refs 2 and 3.) We report here a further series of 16 dates on samples from the 1976 excavations at Cuello, which confirm the early date for the Maya Formative and which also suggest occupation of the site at an even earlier date, ∼ 3,200 b.c. (4,000 BC).