Latin American Antiquity· 2026Q1
Lidar and the Landscape of Inequality: Comparing Household Wealth at Two Late Classic Maya Sites in Northwestern Belize
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- 2026year
Short summary
Lidar data reveals extreme residential wealth inequality at two Late Classic Maya sites in Belize, with Gini coefficients indicating significant disparities in household wealth.
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Key points
- Lidar and GIS analysis was used to measure residential group area and volume at two Late Classic Maya sites in Belize.
- Both Chan Chich and Ayiin Winik displayed high Gini coefficients, indicating extreme residential wealth disparities.
- Findings suggest a regional trend of high inequality in well-connected Maya heartland sites compared to other subregions.
- The study highlights variability in residential wealth inequality across the Maya Lowlands.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract Many Classic Maya cities display aspects of wealth inequality, including monumental architecture, prestige goods economies, and differences in residential units. I evaluate wealth inequality at two Late Classic (AD 600–810) cities in northwestern Belize: Chan Chich and Ayiin Winik. Using legacy data and lidar data in GIS, I measured the area and volume of residential groups and calculated a Gini coefficient for each site. I found that both Chan Chich and Ayiin Winik had high Gini scores, reflecting extreme residential disparities. These findings largely parallel those of previous studies at other sites, alluding to regional trends in inequality in which sites in the well-connected and centralized Maya heartland of the broader Petén tend to have higher Gini coefficients than sites located in other subregions of the Maya world. My findings highlight variability in residential wealth inequality across the Maya Lowlands.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Latin American Antiquity, 2026 · DOI ↗
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