Pusilha
| Location | Pusilá Abajo, Toledo district,  Belize
|
|---|---|
| Region | Toledo district |
| Coordinates | 16°06′16.65″N 89°14′34.42″W / 16.1046250°N 89.2428944°W |
| History | |
| Founded | 570 AD |
| Abandoned | 798 AD |
| Periods | Early Classic to Post Classic |
| Cultures | Maya |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 2001 to Present |
| Archaeologists |
Geoffery Braswell Pusilha Archaeological Project |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | Classic |
| Responsible body: Belize’s National Institute of Culture and History | |
Geoffery Braswell
Pusilhá is an archaeological site in Belize. The location of this Late Classic Maya urban complex along the east and west flow of trade afford archaeologist a historical view of a secondary Maya site. Continuing excavation has changed the overall picture of Maya social and political relationships between larger and smaller cities. The research conducted at Pusilhá began at the beginning of the 20th century and continues to this day.
The site of Pusilhá is located in the Toledo district of Belize in the town of San Benito Poité. Situated between the Poite and Pusilha rivers that run east and west may have had an impact of why the Maya urban complex was built there. The site is also located favorably between the Caribbean to the south and the Maya Mountains to the east. Pusilhá was also situated in the region for the flow of goods and ideas from the central lowlands and southeastern periphery located in Honduras. With the major Maya urban sites of central lowlands at Caracol and Tikal and the southern lowland site of Copan, Pusilhá was possibly a major transfer point for economic activates in the whole of the lowland region
The initial site survey was conducted in 1927 by archaeologists from the British Museum Expedition to British Honduras that was led by Thomas Joyce. The survey led to the removal of the best preserved stelae from Pusilhá to the British Museum in London. The survey yielded dates and calendrical glyphs that were included in Sylvanus G. Morley’s discussion work The Inscriptions of Petén. Thomas Joyce also conducted an extensive ceramics evaluation in 1929. In the intervening 70 years very little research has been done at Pusilhá. This state of affairs has changed with research and excavations carried out by Geoffrey Braswell and the Pusilha Archaeological Project beginning in 2001. The excavation that has continued to present has exposed three major areas at the center of Pusilhá to archaeological interpretation.
Pusilhá has a series of confirmed occupation date. It is known through ceramic analysis that this site is dateable to the late classic. A stelae found on site indicates a late classic occupation. According to Braswell, the current excavator of the site, “Stela P begins with the initial series date of 9.7.0.0.0 and contains a historical retrospective date of 9.6.17.8.18 (A.D. 570), implying that the kingdom was founded shortly before the beginning of the Late Classic period”. He does state that excavations from surrounding residential areas away from the complexes center seem to indicate an early classic occupation but additional excavation is required to confirm this for the rest of the site. Transitions in ceramics, burials and construction coupled with the usual cessation of inscriptions on stelae indicate continued occupation at Pusilhá through to the post classic. The last official date, which is a calendar round date, occurs at 9.18.7.10.3, or A. D. 798.
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