Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology, Vol, 18, 2023, pp. 69-78. Copyright © 2023 by the Institute of Archaeology, NICH, Belize. 6 NOBODY PUTS GRANDMA IN THE CORNER: PLACEMAKING AT EARLY CLASSIC CHAN CHICH, BELIZE Anna C. Novotny, Tomás Gallareta Cervera, and Brett A. Houk Mortuary evidence of the Early Classic period (AD 250–600) at the Chan Chich acropolis suggests the consolidation of power by the local ruling elite. Located in the northeastern corner of the Upper Plaza, Burial CC-B20 contained the exceptionally well- preserved remains of an elderly adult female within a stone-lined crypt (Crypt 2; cal AD 257–387). The excellent skeletal preservation allowed a comprehensive osteobiography; cranial modification, stable isotopes, and pathological changes to the vertebrae and long bones tell a story of a long and active life. The Early Classic was a transformational era at the city. During the Preclassic period, the Chan Chich rulers consolidated power by manipulating the built environment to create a political place in the Upper Plaza. In the Early Classic, they constructed a vaulted crypt in the Upper Plaza, partially dismantling a Late Preclassic platform in the process. Crypt 1 contained multiple male individuals and markers of rulership, including spondylus shell earflares and a jade bib-helmet pendant. In contrast, the coeval Burial CCB-20 lacked artifacts, but the construction of the crypt was labor intensive. The interment of the woman in Burial CCB-20 marks a change in the location and body treatment of the ruling lineage interred in this exclusive location. Osteological data are interpreted in concert with contextual information to gain insight into local ideas concerning power and gender, as well as into elite life at Early Classic Chan Chich. Introduction Throughout the ancient Maya realm, the Early Classic saw the transition of political power from lords of the Late Preclassic to the divine kingships of the Classic period. During the Early Classic at Chan Chich, the southernmost city of the Belizean portion of the Three Rivers adaptive region (Figure 1), two elite graves at the site’s central precinct, the Upper Plaza, contained the material insignia of divine kingship. These insignia indicate their attempts to tap into this newly consolidated political model of ideological power (Friedel and Schele 1988; Gallareta Cervera et al. 2017; Houk et al. 2010). A number of individuals were interred in the Upper Plaza over the course of the Early Classic period, including an elderly female, Burial CC-B20. Our main question here is, how did this transitional era, the social context of the early part of the Early Classic, mold the body of the individual interred in Burial CC-B20? To address this question, we present a detailed osteobiography of this elite female. We conclude by contextualizing the osteobiography of Burial CC-B20 within the broader scope of placemaking through mortuary activity in the Upper Plaza during the Early Classic. An osteobiography takes a close look at the skeletal remains of one individual, tracking moments of life history from birth to death, and contextualizes the results within broader culture and historical context. The present study is positioned within embodiment theory, described Figure 1. Map of the Three Rivers adaptive region. by Schrader and Torres-Rouff (2020) as a conduit linking the human body with the social world. Historical approaches see a duality of body/culture in which the two are fundamentally opposed. Embodiment theory proposes that the body is not only an object to study but the subject of culture. There is plasticity and mutability inherent in the human body that culture molds and shapes. Bioarchaeological research is perfectly positioned to implement this theoretical perspective, as the discipline’s prime goal is to answer questions about the past and past lives through the skeletonized body (Schrader and Torres-Rouff 2020).