RESILIENCE ON THE RIVER: INTRODUCING THE NEW RIVER ISLAND PROJECT

This paper introduces the New River Island Project (NRIP), which investigates the resilience of a river-based Maya community near Corozal Bay in Northeastern Belize. Data from LiDAR, pedestrian survey, surface collections, and historic documents indicate there was a small population living on the northernmost portion of an island in the New River beginning in the Late-Classic (600-800 AD) and continuing through the Post-Classic (1000-1500 AD) and Spanish colonial (1500-1700 AD) periods, with additional evidence of human activity during the British colonial (1700-1964 AD) and contemporary times. NRIP seeks to illuminate the strategies that the people living in this community used to adapt to ecological, social, and political changes during the Post-Classic period. In forthcoming seasons, under the umbrella of the Aventura Archaeology Project, NRIP will continue systematic pedestrian survey and conduct test excavations of households in the area. Future research by NRIP will determine the extent of Post-Classic occupation at the river island settlement, as well as refine methodologies to target small, low-lying architecture characteristic of Post-Classic households. The results of this work will be used to establish a long-term research project that focuses on the resiliency of this riverine community throughout periods of change during its long-term occupation