ANCIENT MAYA ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE MOUNTAIN PINE RIDGE FOREST RESERVE

The Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve is renowned for its natural beauty, but few ancient Maya archaeological sites have ever been recorded there. The paucity of known monumental centers has resulted in it receiving little archaeological attention and an overall view that it is largely devoid of cultural heritage. Yet, the region has long been regarded as the primary source of vital raw materials for the ancient Maya, such as granitic rock for grinding stones. Contrary to the commonly held view that the reserve is a vacant archaeological landscape, recent research by the Rio Frio Regional Archaeological Project is revealing the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve is a region is rich with a variety of types of archaeological sites, many unique to it. Here we report on the newly documented monumental center of Nohoch Batsó, and the Buffalo Hill Quarries, an industrial-scale multicomponent granitic rock quarry and ground stone implement workshop, the first of its kind ever recorded in the Maya Lowlands