The region under study, designated as the Three Rivers region, is approximately two thousand square kilometers in area and trapezoidal in shape. The sites of La Honradez, Aguada Cancuen, Blue Creek, and San Jose are near the comers of the trapezoid (Figures 15.1 and 15.2). This region has been subdivided into western (Guatemala) and eastern (Belize) zones for analytical purposes. The largest western zone sites are Rio Azul, Kinal, and La Honradez. La Milpa is the largest eastern center. Currently, Emblem Glyphs are known for Rio Azul (Stuart 1986; Houston 1986) and La Milpa (Grube 1994c). and a possible Dos Hombres (eastern zone) Emblem Glyph has been found on a polychrome plate fragment from that site.
Three rivers, the Rfo Azul (Blue Creek in Belize), the Rio Bravo, and Booth’s, three escarpments in the eastern zone, and the Bajo de Azucar and the Rfo Azul floodplain form the major topographic features of the region (Figure 15.2). More than eighty sites have been found in the region to date. These sites range in size from single house mounds and single groups of house mounds to a twenty-five-courtyard-sized eastern site (La Milpa) and Rfo Azul, at thirty-nine courtyards in the west.
Research in the area prior to 1992 includes: Adams and Gatling 1964; Adams and Jones 1981; the Rfo Azul Project, Adams 1990a; and Guderjan’s surveys in the eastern zone (1991). Research actually began in 1959 with the Sun Oil survey
15.1 General map of the southern and central Maya lowlands with major sites mentioned in the text noted. The outlines are those delimiting the hypothetical Classic regional states of Calakmul, Tikal, and the Chenes. Some centers of Rio Bee Region are now thought to have been incorporated into the Calakmul Regional State, while other centers may have formed independent city-states. (After Adams and Jones, 1981.)
15.2 Map of the Three Rivers region with major sites and settlement pattern transect survey lines noted. (After Robichaux, 1995.)
In which the gravity and seismic survey teams were instructed by John Gatling, resident geologist, to record all archaeological sites encountered. The survey lines were cut on a one-kilometer grid for a zone of about 300 square kilometers. Two major sites, Rio Azul and Kinal, were reported, as well as twenty-seven other sites.
The Rio Azul Project was a site-specific project that had as its general focus the reconstruction of the functional structure of the city partly by means of being able to assign each of the 729 buildings a function. Changes through time were also a concern. The Rio Azul Project completed five field seasons between 1983 and 1987.
From 1990 to 1991, work in the western sector was pursued by the Ixcanrio Regional Project. The objectives of this project were to reconstruct the economic, social, and political infrastructures supporting Rio Azul and Kinal. After 1991 the security problems of working in that part of Guatemala became too great, and we took advantage of an opportunity to move into the adjacent part of Belize. We based our initial five years of work on a detailed twenty-year plan (Adams 1990b) designed to study the regional aspects of Maya culture in our area. It now appears that the long-range plan will be fulfilled certainly in the Belize zone and perhaps in the Guatemalan zone in the future.
The major western sites of La Honradez and Xultun (just beyond the boundaries of our region) have only been mapped (von Euw 1978; von Euw and Graham 1984). What is known of their culture history is derived from dates and texts on their stelae.
Present research includes and is partly summarized by Houk (1996), Houk and Robichaux (1996), Robichaux (1995), Scarborough (1994), Tourtellot and Rose (1993), Tourtellot et al. (1993), and Valdez et al. (1997). Results of the NASA-JPL Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar Survey (AIRSAR) of 1990 have also been utilized. Our work in Belize is in a zone of about 600 square kilometers but takes account of work going on outside the boundaries of our permit zone. The Programme for Belize Archaeological Project includes several investigations: regional survey, intensive settlement pattern survey transects (Hubert Robichaux, Paul Hughbanks, Jon Lohse, Jon Hageman), water management studies (Vernon Scarborough), and soil studies (Nicholas Dunning). This study also considers work at three large sites by colleagues Norman Hammond and Gair Tourtellot (La Milpa), Thomas Guderjan (Blue Creek), and Brett Houk and Hubert Robichaux (Chan Chich). Other work by collaborating scholars has been taken into account. Dr. Richardson B. Gill improved our population history charts immeasurably by logarithmic presentation. The National Geographic Society, National Endowment for the Humanities, The Friends of R(o Azul, The National Science Foundation, The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas at San Antonio, and other entities and private individuals have supported our work. We thank them all.
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