Small-Town Maya Archaeology in Belize: 10 Years of Community-Engaged Research at the Alabama Townsite
Dr. Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown and Dr. Shawn Morton
Initiated in 2014, over the past decade, members of the Stann Creek Regional Archaeology Project (SCRAP)—professionals, students, and volunteers alike—have dedicated themselves to exploring the small but regionally significant Alabama Townsite in East-Central Belize. Where many projects focus on large and long-inhabited sites, Alabama may appear an unlikely focus for protracted archaeological research. In this talk, we’ll explore what insights we have gained on the broad spectrum of life for the ancestral Mayas, and how sites like Alabama find new life as a focus for local vernacular heritage.
Dr. Meaghan Peuramaki-Brown
is an Associate Professor and professional archaeologist in the Anthropology Program at Athabasca University (Alberta, Canada).
Dr. Shawn Morton
is the Instructor of Anthropology and a professional archaeologist at Northwestern Polytechnic (Alberta, Canada).
They are co-directors of the Stann Creek Regional Archaeology Project or SCRAP in Belize (www.scraparchaeology.com) and the Old Bezanson Archaeology Project in Canada. Their research interests focus primarily on processes of settlement development, placemaking, and identity in identified frontier regions of the distant and recent past. Follow them on social media @scraparky and @obaparky on Facebook and Instagram.