Jayi Na is an underwater archaeological site dating back to the early Classic Maya period (250-600 AD) that focused on the production of salt for local use, or perhaps local production for downstream trade. I was there.
The Mayan diet focused primarily on corn, beans, squash, and other plant foods lacking in salt, and individual meals were supplemented with manufactured salt.
Field research at Payne’s Creek Salt Works in southern Belize shows that coastal Maya households produced surplus salt during the Classic period (250-900 CE) and built dedicated salt kitchens and separate dwellings. It turned out that it was under construction.
Professor Heather McKillop and Dr. Elizabeth Sills from Louisiana State University said: “Most of the salt works along the coast of Belize date back to the Late Classic period (AD 650-800), which corresponds to the period of population growth in the southern Maya lowlands.” said. Graduated from the University of Texas.
“These include the Northern River Lagoon, Wits Ca Aquar, Marco Gonzalez Salt Works, and others at Ambergris Cay, Moho Cay, Corson Point, Placencia Lagoon, and Paynes Creek Salt Works. Includes location.
“Large-scale salt production appears to have ended by the late Classic period (800-900 CE), and perhaps even earlier at Marco Gonzalez, when much of the southern Maya lowland abandoned, and there was a marked increase in trade around the peninsula, including exotic pottery such as fine orange, plumbate, Yucatan slate, and other pottery, particularly evident from Marco Gonzalez and Wild Cane Cay.
In 2023, archaeologists discovered the ruins of a new saltworks called J.E.N., but strangely, while it lacked the broken pots commonly found in other saltworks, it did contain some pottery. fragments were found.
“These were similar to fragments from an island site near Wild Cane Cay that I had previously excavated,” Professor McKillop said.
“So I suggested to Dr. Sills that he re-examine the remains of the J.E.N. pillars and underwater artifacts.”
The artifacts the researchers found contrasted with those from other nearby underwater sites, which included imported pottery, obsidian, and high-quality chert or flint.
“At first, I was confused by this. However, radiocarbon dating of the post discovered at J.I.N. revealed an early classical date of 250 to 600 A.D., and the mystery was solved.” Professor MacKillop said.
It turns out that J-E-Na is much older than other underwater ruins.
Through the findings, the scientists learned that J.E.N. developed as a local enterprise, without the connections to external trade that developed in the Late Classic period. At the time, the inland Maya population was at its peak in demand for salt, a basic biological element. Inland cities are running out of essential goods.
J.E.N.A. began as a small salt works through connections with the nearby community of Wild Cane Cay, which also produced salt in the early Classic period.
The abundance of fish bones preserved in the anaerobic deposits of Wild Cane Cay suggests that salt was made there to salt fish for later consumption or trade.
“Characteristic large bowls with curved walls and necked urns with fluted spouts were associated with early classical pole-and-thatched salt cookhouses, while later “Vessel supports and trade goods characteristic of salt-making sites were absent,” the authors write.
“These anthropogenic differences allow us to account for technological changes in coastal salt production and expansion of trade networks due to increased demand for inland salt during the Late Classic.”
“Despite the challenges of archeology at shallow underwater sites, research at J.E.N.A. shows that preserved wooden structures can be accurately dated and traced back to ancient commodity production (in this case salt) practices. This highlights the value of excavations in sub-seafloor mangrove peat providing context.”
of findings appear in the diary ancient.
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Heather McKillop and E. Corey Sills. The earliest ancient Mayan salt production in southern Belize: excavations at J.E.N. ancientpublished on November 6, 2024. doi: 10.15184/aqy.2024.186
Source: www.sci.news
