The periodisation of the history of Belize is the division of Belizean, Maya, and Mesoamerican history into named blocks of time, spanning the arrival of Palaeoindians to the present time. The pre-Columbian era is most often periodised by Mayanists, who often employ four or five periods to discuss history prior to the arrival of Spaniards. The Columbian era is most often periodised by historians, and less often by Mayanists, who often employ at least four periods to discuss history up to the present time.
The Columbian era of Belizean history is most often divided into four periods, ie the Spanish, Precolonial, Colonial, and Sovereign, all preceded by a portion of the pre-Columbian Postclassic period extending past 1492. These are most often defined or characterised in terms of distinguishing events occurring between each period, ie events separating one period from another, and less often in terms of distinguishing events, trends, or milestones occurring within each period. Generally, there has been less attention paid to the periodisation of the Columbian era of Belizean history, as opposed to its pre-Columbian era, resulting in broad concordance between the upper and lower bounds employed for each period in scholarly literature.[citation needed]
The Spanish period is most often characterised as the time span prior to the beginning or end of the Tipu rebellion, 6 June 1638 – 31 December 1643 (1638-06-06 – 1643-12-31), or to the latest Tipu reducción in 1 January – 31 December 1708 (1708-01-01 – 1708-12-31).[1][citation needed]
Precolonial
The Precolonial period is most often characterised as the time span running to the date on which the British settlement in the Bay of Honduras was granted a colonial charter, ie 12 February 1862 (1862-02-12), or the date on which these letters patent were proclaimed, ie 12 May 1862 (1862-05-12).[2]
Colonial
The Colonial period is most often characterised as the time span running to the passage of the Belize Act in UK Parliament, the Constitution Act in the Belizean Parliament, or the date on which said acts came into force, known as the day on which Belize gained sovereignty or independence from the UK, ie 21 September 1981 (1981-09-21).[citation needed]
Sovereign
The Sovereign ie Independent period is most often characterised as the time span running to the present.
Table
Defined upper and lower bounds of Columbian periods of Belizean history as per 20th and 21st century literature.[note 1]
No
Name
Sub
Span
Date
Date
Event
Notes
1
Postclassic
Early
Late
from latest Mayan monumental inscription to earliest Spanish contact or completion of Spanish conquest
Pre-Columbian Belizean, Maya, and Mesoamerican history is most often divided into five periods, ie the Palaeoindian, Archaic, Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic. These are most often defined or characterised in terms of distinguishing events or trends occurring within each period, rather than events occurring between each period (ie events separating one period from another).[8] As a result, though the aforementioned sequence is well-established, and despite each period's characterisation being broadly agreed upon, various discordant upper and lower bounds have been employed for each period in scholarly literature, resulting in temporal overlaps and gaps between chronologies. Additionally, the events or trends used to characterise these periods are now known to have occurred at different times in different geographic regions, sub-regions, and settlements, rather than all-at-once across the Maya Region or Mesoamerica.[9] This further adds to the discordance between chronologies employed in scholarly literature, as increasingly localised upper and lower bounds for sub-regional geographic entities are used (in preference to fixed or standardised regional start and end dates).[note 13]
Preceramic
The Preceramic period is most often characterised as the time span prior to the first appearance of ceramics in the relevant geographic region.[citation needed]
Palaeoindian
The Palaeoindian ie Lithic period is most often characterised as the time span during which humans first peopled the Americas.[8] Its start is, furthermore, commonly dated to modern humans' first arrival in the relevant geographic region.[10]
Archaic
The Archaic period is most often characterised as the time span during which non-nomadic farming settlements first appeared in the relevant geographic region.[11]
Preclassic
The Preclassic ie Formative period is most often characterised as the timespan during which socioeconomically complex societies or states first appeared across the relevant geographic region.[12] It was prior thought of as the period which preceded the Classic culmination or florescence of Maya civilisation, ie 'as a precursor to civilisation, but without the attributes of civilisation in its own right.'[13]
Classic
The Classic period is most often characterised as the time span during which the social, economic, political, artistic, and intellectual development of societies or states across the relevant geographic region first peaked or culminated.[14]
Postclassic
The Postclassic is most often characterised as the time span during which societies or states across the relevant geographic region underwent transformation or revival.[15] It was prior thought of as the period which followed the Classic culmination or florescence of Maya civilisation, ie 'as a decline from the Classic peak of civilisation, a time marked by decadence rather than [a Classic-like] era of continued development.'[13]
Though the entire Palaeoindian-to-Postclassic time span is often characterised as pre-Columbian, the Postclassic is most often end dated after 1492.[16]
Table
Defining upper and lower bounds of pre-Columbian periods in 21st century literature.
No
Name
Sub
Span
Date
Date
Event
Notes
1
Preceramic
Palaeoindian
Archaic
from earliest arrival of modern humans to earliest use or production of ceramics
↑Itzimte event in Ebert et al. 2015, p. 342, tab. 1 item no. 29, Long Count date 10.4.1.0.0 converted to Gregorian date using GMT correlation with 584283 constant, as per the online FAMSI calculator. Bacalar event in Chamberlain 1948, p. 234 (dated 'sometime during 1544') and Jones 1989, p. 43 (dated 'at the end of 1544').
↑Bacalar event in Vazquez Barke 2012, pp. 114–115. Reducción event in Jones 1998, pp. 407–408 (dated in or prior to 'early 1708').
↑Column colours match those in graphic timeline above.
↑Spanish Period dated 1544–1648 or 1544–1708, while Precolonial dated 1660s – 1862 (Graham 2011).
↑Spanish Period dated 1544–1648 or 1544–1708, while Precolonial dated 1660s – 1862 (Graham 2011).
↑Though Classic dated 250–900, but 'divided into two temporal sub-periods' ie Early (250–600) and Late (600–900), except that '[b]ridging the Classic and the Postclassic periods is a span of time known to Mayanists as the Terminal Classic' ie 800–1000, and Postclassic dated 900–1521, with Early (900–1250) and Late (1250–1521) sub-periods (McLellan 2020).
↑'Peter Wallace, a Scottish buccaneer [...] may have begun a settlement at the mouth of the Belize River about 1638,' but later 'British buccaneers and logwood cutters settled on the inhospitable coast in the mid-17th century,' and further '[i]n 1798 the British overcame Spain’s final attempt to remove them by force, and Belize became a colony in all but name' (Britannica 2022).
↑'Peter Wallace, a Scottish buccaneer [...] may have begun a settlement at the mouth of the Belize River about 1638,' but later 'British buccaneers and logwood cutters settled on the inhospitable coast in the mid-17th century,' and further '[i]n 1798 the British overcame Spain’s final attempt to remove them by force, and Belize became a colony in all but name' (Britannica 2022).
↑Postclassic dated to 1530, but Spanish Period dated 1544 – 1700, and further split into two unnamed sub-periods dated 1544–1641 and 1641–1700, respectively (Rushton 2014).
↑'Thus, [...] we should always think of [these] chronological boundaries not as fixed dates but as approximations of transitions that actually extended over many decades or even centuries (and varied from region to region)' (Sharer Traxler).
↑Itzimte event in Ebert et al. 2015, p. 342, tab. 1 item no. 29, Long Count date 10.4.1.0.0 converted to Gregorian date using GMT correlation with 584283 constant.
↑Column colours match those in graphic timeline above. Headers used – Pa Palaeoindian / Ar Archaic / E Early / M Middle / L Late / T Terminal / Po Postclassic.
↑End dated 'to the Spanish Conquest in the sixteenth century' (Adams Macleod).
↑'Middle Postclassic' dated 1200–1430, with Late Postclassic dated 1430–1521 (Pearsall 2008).
↑No Terminal Preclassic Period, or said period subsumed into Middle or Late Preclassic (Awe Ebert).
↑Expands Early Classic into 'Early Classic' dated 250–450, and 'Late Classic' dated 450–600, and further expands Late Postclassic into 'Middle Postclassic' dated 1200–1350 or 1250–1350, 'Late Postclassic' dated 1350–1450 or 1350–1492, and 'Terminal Postclassic' dated 1450–1544 or 1492–1544 (Graham 2011).
↑Expands Early Classic into 'Early Classic' dated 250–450, and 'Late Classic' dated 450–600, and further expands Late Postclassic into 'Middle Postclassic' dated 1200–1350 or 1250–1350, 'Late Postclassic' dated 1350–1450 or 1350–1492, and 'Terminal Postclassic' dated 1450–1544 or 1492–1544 (Graham 2011).
↑Archaic Period dated to 900 BC, but Preclassic Period dated from 1200 BC, as 'the 900 B.C. date for the end of a "preceramic" Late Archaic may be too recent for some sites' (Stemp Awe).
↑Archaic Period dated to 900 BC, but Preclassic Period dated from 1200 BC, as 'the 900 B.C. date for the end of a "preceramic" Late Archaic may be too recent for some sites' (Stemp Awe).
↑Preclassic expanded to six sub-periods ie Initial (2000 BC – 1200 BC), Early (1200 BC – 900 BC), Middle (900 BC – 600 BC), Middle-to-Late (ca. 600 BC – 300 BC), Late (300 BC – 1 AD), Terminal (1–250), and Classic-cum-Postclassic sub-periods given as Early (250–600), Late (600–900), Epiclassic-and-Early (750–1200), Middle (1200-1400), Late (1400–1521) .[32]
↑Periods given as Palaeoindian (12000 BC – 7000 BC in section title, but later the period's end is dated to 8000 BC in text), Archaic (7000 BC – 2000 BC), Preclassic (2000 BC – 250 AD, but containing only three sub-periods ie Early [2000 BC – 1000 BC], Middle [1000 – 400 BC], Late [400 BC – 300 AD], with this last sub-period post-dating the containing period's end-date), Classic (250–900, but 'divided into two temporal sub-periods' ie Early [250–600] and Late [600–900], though '[b]ridging the Classic and the Postclassic periods is a span of time known to Mayanists as the Terminal Classic' ie 800–1000), and Postclassic (900–1521, with Early [900–1250] and Late [1250–1521] sub-periods) (McLellan 2020).
↑Periods given as Palaeoindian (12000 BC – 7000 BC in section title, but later the period's end is dated to 8000 BC in text), Archaic (7000 BC – 2000 BC), Preclassic (2000 BC – 250 AD, but containing only three sub-periods ie Early [2000 BC – 1000 BC], Middle [1000 – 400 BC], Late [400 BC – 300 AD], with this last sub-period post-dating the containing period's end-date), Classic (250–900, but 'divided into two temporal sub-periods' ie Early [250–600] and Late [600–900], though '[b]ridging the Classic and the Postclassic periods is a span of time known to Mayanists as the Terminal Classic' ie 800–1000), and Postclassic (900–1521, with Early [900–1250] and Late [1250–1521] sub-periods) (McLellan 2020).
Jones, Grant D. (1989). Maya resistance to Spanish rule: time and history on a colonial frontier. Albuquerque, New Mex.: University of New Mexico Press. ISBN082631161X. OCLC20012099.
Saturno, William A.; Stuart, David; Beltran, Boris (2006). "Early Maya Writing at San Bartolo, Guatemala". Science311 (5765): 1281–1283. doi:10.1126/science.1121745. PMID16400112.
The Ancient Maya (6th ed.). Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. 2006. OCLC57577446.
Stemp, W. James; Awe, Jaime J.; Marcus, Joyce; Helmke, Christophe; Sullivan, Lauren A. (2021). "The Preceramic and Early Ceramic Periods in Belize and the Central Maya Lowlands". Ancient Mesoamerica32 (3): 416–438. doi:10.1017/S0956536121000444.
Vazquez Barke, Gabriela (2016). Los poderes y los hombres (PhD). Mérida, Yuc.: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social.
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