MERCHANTS AND THEIR WARES: LESSONS IN RESILIENCE FROM THE 2023–24 EXCAVATIONS AT MARCO GONZALEZ

After a nine-year hiatus, research at Marco Gonzalez resumed in 2023, when we focused on two structures in the community centre. Dating suggests initial construction towards the end of the Late Classic (AD 750–800). The structures are characterized by terraced, stone-faced platforms that once supported perishable superstructures. Excavations continued in 2024 and expanded to include several of the site’s peripheral buildings. Marco Gonzalez is remarkable for the numerous individuals buried beneath the floors of the perishable buildings which the platforms supported. The burials provide valuable evidence for the life experience of individuals through skeletal indicators of health, diet, cultural modifications, and activity patterns. Mortuary data point to a well-connected population made wealthy by engaging in local and circum-peninsular trade; in some cases, grave inclusions with individuals suggest specific social identities. Earlier levels comprise the remains of industrial-scale salt production and include polychrome ceramics and other exotic material that suggest connections to powerful inland polities.