Summary

Description

The northeast tip of the Yucatan Peninsula is a largely unexplored coastline where ancient Maya traders traveled in massive dugout canoes filled with goods from across Mesoamerica. Along this coastline lies the ancient port site of Vista Alegre. The ancient Maya survived and thrived here despite an extraordinarily complex and harsh coastal environment by employing highly specialized subsistence strategies involving perennial access to freshwater, exploitation of marine resources, and cultivation of nich plant species. By bringing together scholars from the fields of archaeology, coastal ecology, geoarchaeology, and hydrogeology, the Costa Escondida Project will explore adaptive subsistence strategies at the human-coastal interface.