Actuncan site
Actuncan was an ancient Mayan urban center located in the Mopan River valley in western Belize near the present-day Guatemalan border. The site sits on a ridge on the western banks of Mopan River, a tributary river to the Belize River. The site was first settled in the Middle Preclassic period around 1000 BC. During its approximate 2000 year occupation history, Actuncan, along with surrounding Mayan sites, experienced a large change in political power during the Terminal Classic period. This change in power led the urban centers to restructure their own political institutions, as well as their spiritual relationship and ritual practices, or face having their centers collapse. While many centers did fail, Actuncan was successful in its ability to effectively restructure their way of life by changing their practices and physically changing their surroundings to address those changes.
Although minor explorations occurred at Actuncan in the early 20th century, James McGovern conducted the first systematic excavations in the early 1990s. McGovern mapped the 14-hectare site and determined that Actuncan was divided into two distinct parts: Actuncan North and Actuncan South. Actuncan North appears to have been the main residential and everyday living area, while Actuncan South was a spiritual center that contained a temple complex. Since 2001, the Actuncan Archaeological Project has completed several excavation missions and projects to identify social, political, and environmental changes through time at the site and in the region.
History
The earliest evidence of occupation at Actuncan comes from the Terminal Early Preclassic, but it appears that Actuncan was first settled in the Middle Preclassic period. Before becoming a kingship and a low-density urban center, the site was a Late Preclassic village.Kingship
The original Late Preclassic village was buried when the site came under the rule of divine leadership in order to construct the monumental architecture studied today. This large project reflects the first shift of political power at Actuncan, as it likely required the authority to convince and persuade residents to allow it, and bring in workers from surrounding areas in the river valley to build the monumental structures, since Actuncan appeared to have a relatively low number of residents. This massive construction project allowed the rulers to structure the site's urban plan in a way that emphasized Mayan spiritual, cosmological practices in order to strengthen the legitimacy of their divine rule.Royal polity
During the Early Classic and Late Classic periods, Actuncan fell under the control of two nearby sites—Buenavista del Cayo and then to Xunantunich. During its time as a polity of these two centers, there is little evidence of any major construction projects, though there is evidence to suggest that residents still inhabited Actuncan's households. Though now a secondary center, it was still under the rule of divine, royal leadership.End of divine rule
In the early part of the Terminal Classic period, the divine leadership at Xunantunich began to weaken as its polities began to break ritual practices and declare independence. At the same time, many people in the river valley began to move away, meaning less labor was available for Xunantunich to maintain its control and infrastructure. This led to the eventual abandonment of Xunantunich. While many sites collapsed as residents chose to leave, due to the long time residents of Actuncan and the strong community ties, many residents at Actuncan chose to stay and establish their own local government. The new political power at Actuncan consisted of long-established households acting as a council and shifted away from divine rule. During this time civic construction and a change in ritual activity at Actuncan took place to reflect this change in sociopolitical structure.Site layout
Actuncan can be split into two separate areas: Actuncan North and Actuncan South. These areas both sit on adjacent hills that are divided by a ravine and connected by a single road, or sacbe. During the Late to Terminal Preclassic periods, the main configuration of Actuncan was established with modifications occurring afterwards. Its main configuration was likely determined to strengthen the political and social connection to the spiritual aspect of divine rule, while the modifications afterwards reflect a move away from divine leadership to a separation between political and spiritual power.Actuncan North
Actuncan North is much larger than Actuncan South. It served as the main residential, social, economic, and political center. Actuncan North is where everyday life and activities occurred. This site consisted of five plazas surrounded by many monumental buildings sitting on top of raised platforms serving as houses, a palace, a ball court, and an E-Group, as well as interstitial spaces between these buildings that were likely used for a variety of activities. An E-Group is a common Mayan monumental structure that likely served as an early ritual location before the development of larger, more elaborate triadic temples. At Actuncan, this structure likely went on to function as an administrative building and a community gathering place. While most structures within Actuncan North relate to residential and administrative functions, during its time under divine rule, some of the structures acted as spaces for rulers to hold meetings and support their political power and their bureaucracy.Actuncan South
Actuncan South acted as the main spiritual and ritual section of Actuncan. It consists of a single plaza containing a triadic pyramidal shrine complex. This triadic temple contains the site's tallest structure—a 27m tall pyramid. This triadic temple complexes likely served as a place for the community to gather for the ritual display led by the divine leaders meant to tie their authority to cosmology and the supernatural. The facade of some of the structures within Actuncan South were adorned with decorative masks made of stucco. These masks usually relate to Mayan creation and rebirth myths, further highlighting the divine rulers' relation and power obtained from cosmological forces.Actuncan North and South's connection
During the time of divine rule at Actuncan, the North and South sections had a layout that helped to facilitate the connection between the spiritual and political power of the rulers. Both sections were connected by a large pathways that likely supported ritual processions. The layout of Actuncan places the main political administrative center and palace in Actuncan North directly facing and opposing Actuncan South's main triadic temple complex. In a procession heading south from Actuncan North to Actuncan South, the procession would pass through the ball court, which acted as a sort of portal from the human to the supernatural world, further highlighting the connection between the civic duty and divine rule of the ruler.During the shift away from divine rule during the Terminal Classic period, the Actuncan residents decided to separate divine and political power. This switch was reflected by the physical modification to structures that reflected that connection. At this time, some new monumental architecture was constructed, such as a new administrative and political buildings with communal patio-spaces. Another new building also arose in Actuncan South that blocked the main entrance to the plaza and separated Actuncan South from the sacbe connecting Actuncan North, creating a physical divide between Actuncan North and South representative of the divide the new political institution and the religious one. Many existing structures were either renovated and reconverted to serve other functions, or actively dismantled for construction materials, such as the E-Group and the past main administrative building and palace for the divine leadership. This dismantling of past divine rule structures likely symbolized the change in political power and the end of divine leadership.
Excavations and interpretations
The Actuncan Archaeological Project has held several excavations since 2001 with a focus on understanding the shift from a kingship to state-level society. The Actuncan Archaeological Project was directed by Dr. Lisa LeCount from 2001 to 2023 and is currently directed by Dr. David Mixter. In addition to establishing Actuncan's architectural history and urban settlement, project members have documented variation in household economics and social status, changes in elite and non-elite household production through time, the distribution of artifacts and features to reveal the nature of ancient land tenure, and the relationship between Actuncan's noble residents and royalty at Xunantunich through excavations at the site's palace.Methods and analyses at the site include remote sensing to find buried site features, soil chemical composition to identify activity areas, human osteological analyses to recognize differences in diet, burial practices, ancestor veneration, and immigration status, stone tool raw materials sourcing to document external exchange links, and pottery form and function to detect noble food preparation and storage.
In the 2010 field project, emphasis was placed on studying the organizational changes that occurred within the household as a result of a shift in power and the actions of rulers, while most excavations focused on changes in monumental architecture. Long-established families would likely be more resistant to giving up power and resources to the ruler, while new, up-and-coming families would likely side with leaders in order to gain power and resources for themselves. Therefore, during the development of a state-level society, one could expect to see the disruption in the growth and the subsequent breaking-up of large households, while the new households would expand and grow at a rate that is quicker than expected.