KULCHA Symposium Presenter, Prof. Elizabeth Graham: Belize's Spanish and British colonial heritage as seen through Tipu and Lamanai

I am an archaeologist, and my work has focused on Maya archaeology in Belize. I received my PhD in Archaeology from Cambridge University. My first fieldwork was with Norman Hammond at Nohmul in 1973. I went on to survey archaeological sites in the Stann Creek District for my PhD research, and then served as Belize's Archaeological Commissioner from 1977 to 1979, during which time we began reconstruction and consolidation work at Xunantunich and Altun Ha. Since then I have carried out investigations at Tipu, Lamanai, and most recently on Ambergris Caye, where we are focusing on human impact on soils.

About the Presentation

Thematic Session: Post-Contact Belize - September 1st, 2021 from 10:15 AM to 11:30 AM (UTC-6:00)

I will be drawing from my archaeological investigations at Tipu and Lamanai, and additionally from my husband David Pendergast's excavations at Lamanai, to connect both the Maya and colonial pasts to Belize's present. Tipu lies on the Macal River, in the Cayo District, and Lamanai at the headwaters of the New River, on the New River Lagoon. Both were centuries-old Maya communities, and both were sites of early Christian or "primitive" churches founded by the Franciscans in the early 16th century. The two communities fared differently, and only Lamanai--known originally as Indian Church--retained integrity until the 20th century when inhabitants were forcibly moved by the British Estate and Produce Company to make way for logging.