While people have been living on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula for more than 10,000 years, three millennia ago they started settling down on smaller bits of the landscape, eventually committing to redefining “home” as a more permanent location. The presentation outlines some of the fascinating new evidence for these initial settlements documented during the Early Middle Preclassic (EMPC) period (1000–600 BCE). In this relatively short 400-year period, newly established communities maintained regional connections, and invented shared lifeways that have endured for millennia, into what we call today “Maya” culture.

Dr. Debra Walker is a Registered Professional Archaeologist specializing in ancient Maya lifestyles and pottery analysis. Currently she is a courtesy research curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History (Gainesville, FL).