Maya salt works of Paynes Creek
Salinas mayas de Paynes Creek
- Date
- c. 300-900 · confidence medium
- Place
- Punta Ycacos Lagoon, Toledo, Belize
- Credited to
- Classic Maya communities on the Belize coast; studied by Heather McKillop
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
In coastal lagoons of southern Belize more than a hundred Maya salt-production sites have been identified, with wooden structures preserved underwater and in sediment where brine was boiled. They show that coastal salt was produced at an industrial scale to supply the interior.
The sites have been known from surveys since the 1980s and from recent underwater excavations (from about 2004 on); the dating extends through the whole Classic period.
What it led to
- salt trade by canoe to the interior and Maya cities
- underwater archaeology of preserved wood
- a reappraisal of the coast's role in the Maya economy