Tzibte Yux Explained
Tzibte Yux, Tzib Te Yux, or Tzib'te Yux, is a Preceramic rock shelter and archaeological site in the Rio Blanco National Park, Toledo, Belize. It is thought to have been occupied by Palaeoindian settlers during 10500 BC6500 BC.
Description
Tzibte Yux is a rockshelter measuring some 121feet long and 14.8feet wide at its widest point. Its entrance, protected by a silicified limestone and conglomerate overhang, sits some 26abbr=onNaNabbr=on above Blue Creek during the dry season, though this decreases to less than 6abbr=onNaNabbr=on during the wet season. Its floor is relatively flat and composed of sediments, predominantly jute snail shells deposited by former pre-Columbian inhabitants.
Fishtail- and Lowe-style stemmed bifacial points have been recovered from Tzibte Yux, the former dated 10450 cal BC10085 cal BC, the latter 8275 cal BC6650 cal BC. Human remains have also been recovered from the rock shelter.
Study
Tzibte Yux was discovered by the Uxbenka Archaeological Project in 2009. Subsequently, nine blocks or units, ie Units 19, covering some 194abbr=onNaNabbr=on of the rock shelter's floor, were excavated to a mean depth of some 2.5 ft (0.75 m) during 20122015. A piece of charcoal found at the bottom of a red clay layer in Unit 1, some 23 in (58 cm) below the floor's surface, was dated to 10571 cal BC10526 cal BC. Most material in other units produced dates within 10500 cal BC6500 cal BC, though Unit 7 yielded a later date of 890 cal AD975 cal AD at 18.5 in (47 cm) below surface.
References
- Book: Braswell. Geoffrey E.. 3,000 Years of War and Peace in the Maya Lowlands: Identity, Politics, and Violence. 2022. Routledge. London. 10.4324/9781351268004. 9781351268004. 246542762.
- Dennehy. Timothy J.. 2021. PhD. From Foragers to Farmers in Tropical Forests: How Paleoindian and Archaic Peoples in Southern Belize Adapted Their Lithics, Mobility, and Subsistence to a Changing Holocene Climate. Arizona State University. .
- Book: Houk. Brett A.. Arroyo. Barbara. Powis. Terry G.. Approaches to Monumental Landscapes of the Ancient Maya: A Legacy of Human Occupation. Maya studies. 2019. University Press of Florida. Gainesville, Fl.. subscription. 1137019195. 9780813057347.
- Lohse. Jon C.. 13 January 2020. Early Holocene Cultural Diversity in Central America: Comment on Prufer et al. (2019) "Linking Late Paleoindian Stone Tool Technologies and Populations in North, Central and South America". Lithic Technology. 45. 2. 59–67. 10.1080/01977261.2020.1713609. 245125311.
- Meredith. Clayton. 2014. MA. Analysis of Small Cave Sites Related to the Uxbenka Polity: Application of FT-IR Techniques in the Study of Ritual Practice. Idaho State University.
- Prufer. Keith M.. 1 August 2018. Preceramic Cultural History in Southern Belize and its Environmental Context. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology. 15. 241–251. 2079-1038.
- Prufer. Keith M.. Alsgaard. Asia V.. Robinson. Mark. Meredith. Clayton R.. Culleton. Brendan J.. Dennehy. Timothy. Magee. Shelby. Huckell. Bruce B.. Stemp. W. James. Awe. Jaime J.. Capriles. Jose M.. Kennett. Douglas J.. 18 July 2019. Linking late paleoindian stone tool technologies and populations in North, Central and South America. PLOS ONE. 14. 7. 1-20 of article no. e0219812. 10.1371/journal.pone.0219812. free. 31318917. 6638942. 2019PLoSO..1419812P.
- Prufer. Keith M.. Meredith. Clayton R.. Alsgaard. Asia V.. Dennehy. Timothy. Kennett. Douglas. 1 January 2017. The Paleoindian Chronology of Tzib Te Yux Rockshelter in the Rio Blanco Valley of Southern Belize. Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology. 14. 321–326. 2079-1038.
- Prufer. Keith M.. Robinson. Mark. Kennett. Douglas J.. 14 December 2021. Terminal Pleistocene Through Middle Holocene Occupations in Southeastern Mesoamerica: Linking Ecology and Culture in the Context of Neotropical Foragers and Early Farmers. Ancient Mesoamerica. 32. 3. 439–460. 10.1017/S0956536121000195. 245125309.
- Stemp. W. James. Awe. Jaime J.. Marcus. Joyce. Helmke. Christophe. Sullivan. Lauren A.. 14 December 2021. The Preceramic and Early Ceramic Periods in Belize and the Central Maya Lowlands. Ancient Mesoamerica. 32. 3. 416–438. 10.1017/S0956536121000444. 245125311. free.
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