NEW RESEARCH ON HOUSEHOLD POTTERY FROM AVENTURA, BELIZE

This chapter presents new findings on ceramics recovered from the ancient Maya community of Aventura in Corozal District, northern Belize. Excavated between 2015 and 2022 by the Aventura Archaeology Project, research revealed a resilient long-term adaptation to pocket bajo agriculture. Sufficient pottery samples from dated contexts revealed six ceramic complexes which are defined here for the first time. Aventura potters followed Peten and Belize Valley styles in earlier periods, but by the Late Classic period they were aligned stylistically with potters to the north, diverging substantially from the Peten ceramic sphere. By the seventh century, Aventura was the largest community in Corozal District, anchoring a substantial coastal-inland trading network. Some significant ceramic types from this innovative era, such as Buyuk Striated, and the newly defined Cordia group, are described. By the Postclassic period, most residents had moved on, either north to Santa Rita Corozal, or into smaller settlements on the periphery, however, a small number stayed in the site core, which remained a sacred locale based on the large number of effigy censer fragments found at the base of the main pyramid.