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A major impediment to full reconstruction and characterization of ancient Maya civilization has been a persistent inability to adequately define the scope of ancient settlement. Because Maya ruins were usually located in areas of dense jungle, it was difficult to not only see but also to map and understand both the spatial extent of their ancient cities and the magnitude of their environmental ABSTRACT The use of airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) in western Belize, Central America, has revolutionized our understanding of the spatial dynamics of the ancient Maya. This technology has enabled researchers to successfully demonstrate the large-scale human modifications made to the ancient tropical landscape, providing insight on broader regional settlement. Before the advent of this laser-based technology, heavily forested cover prevented full coverage and documentation of Maya sites. Mayanists could not fully recover or document the extent of ancient occupation and could never be sure how representative their mapped and excavated samples were relative to ancient settlement. Employing LiDAR in tropical and subtropical environments, like that of the Maya, effectively provides ground, as well as forest cover information, leading to a much fuller documentation of the complexities involved in the ancient human-nature interface. Airborne LiDAR was first flown over a 200 km 2 area of the archaeological site of Caracol, Belize, in April 2009. In April and May 2013 an additional 1,057 km 2 were flown with LiDAR, permitting the contextualization of the city of Caracol within its broader region and polity. The use of this technology has transformed our understanding of regional archaeology in the Maya area.El uso de LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) instalado en un avión y sobrevolando el oeste de Belice en América Central, ha revolucionado nuestra comprensión de la din·mica espacial de los antiguos mayas y ha ayudado significativamente a establecer comparaciones con otras civilizaciones tropicales. Esta tecnologÌa ha permitido a investigadores demostrar con éxito las modificaciones humanas a gran escala realizadas en el antiguo paisaje tropical, revelando información sobre los patrones de asentamiento de una amplia región. La densidad y la extensión de la ocupación documentada por el LiDAR tienen implicaciones para los modelos sociales y polÌticos de la época cl·sica maya (550-900 d.C.). Antes de la llegada de esta tecnologÌa basada en l·ser, la densa cubierta forestal impedÌa la cobertura completa y la documentación de los lugares arqueológicos mayas. Mayanistas no podÌan recuperar plenamente o documentar el grado de ocupación antigua y nunca podÌan estar seguros de cu·n representativas eran sus muestras mapeadas y excavadas en relación al antiguo asentamiento. El empleo de LiDAR en ambientes tropicales y subtropicales, como el de los mayas, nos ofrece de manera efectiva información del terreno, tanto como la de la cubierta forestal, lo que lleva a una documentación mucho m·s completa de las complejidades involuc...

Joyce Marcus has recently proposed a "dynamic model" for the ancient Maya state. In doing so she has emphasized the importance of spatiotemporal fluctuations between centralization and decentralization. Although this idea has obtained wide‐ranging support, there has been little consideration of why these oscillations occurred. This article proposes that one of the key factors was the fundamental tension between the institutions of kinship and kingship. Viewed through the lens of Annales, or "French Structural" history, this appears to constitute a classic example of the contradictions between a long‐term structure (kinship) and medium‐term (longship) cycle. [Key words: Maya, sociopolitics, integration, cycling, Annales]

18 different sites within this region. Thus, a large body of archaeological research provides both the temporal and spatial parameters for the varied ancient Maya centers that once occupied this area; importantly, these data can be used to help interpret the collected LiDAR data. The goal of the 2013 LiDAR campaign was to gain information on the distribution of ancient Maya settlement and sites on the landscape and, particularly, to determine how the landscape was used between known centers. The data that were acquired through the 2013 LiDAR campaign have significance for interpreting both the composition and limits of ancient Maya political units. This paper presents the initial results of these new data and suggests a developmental model for ancient Maya polities.

The most archaeologically visible dimension of the Classic Maya Collapse is the abandonment of monumental royal courts. Yet, in some cases, non-elite populations lived for centuries in and around Classic Maya centers without rulers. Processes of abandonment among Classic Maya commoners are detectable and reflect their own ritual and social practices divorced from the ritual performances undertaken by the ruling elite. We study the abandonment context and chronology of three domestic groups from the Contreras Valley, an agricultural community located on the outskirts of the Classic Maya center ofMinanha, Belize. There, several artifact assemblages were deposited at the time of abandonment, representing termination rituals. This study goes beyond the ideological dimension of termination rituals to examine how these ceremonies helped reshape the identity of social groups who were about to abandon their home. We explore how the last inhabitants of a mostly abandoned landscape lived through this process of gradual depopulation. Moreover, we evaluate potential explanations for the archaeological processes behind the occurrence or non-occurrence of termination rituals in different domestic groups.