Building High-Resolution Chronologies in the Stann Creek District: A Bayesian Case Study in Alabama's Settlement Zone

Building chronologies in the Stann Creek District using traditional type-variety ceramic seriation methods has long proven challenging. The Stann Creek Regional Archaeology Project (SCRAP) initiated an intensive carbon dating program at the Ancestral Maya town of Alabama to overcome these difficulties. By integrating accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C data with stratigraphic evidence using Bayesian statistical models, we are constructing more precise chronologies for Alabama’s outlying residential groups. This paper explains our methodology in simple terms, discusses the challenges we face using this approach, and illustrates its effectiveness with a case study from one of the largest residential groups at the site. Our findings support a hypothesized construction and population “boom” during the Late and Terminal Classic periods while corroborating earlier survey and surface collection results that hinted at continuous occupation in parts of the settlement zone into the Early Postclassic period. We further reveal new insights into Early Classic activity and document a Late Postclassic reoccupation in the centuries leading
up to Spanish contact. These findings contribute to the volume’s theme, “Sustainable Legacies: Exploring Ancient Maya Environmental Adaptations and Resilience,” by illuminating how the Ancestral Mayas of Alabama adapted to and thrived within
their local landscape throughout the townsite’s history.