The transition from the Late Archaic to the Late Early Formative period witnessed profound changes in the Maya lowlands. In addition to the establishment of the first settlements and agrarian communities, this critical phase of cultural development heralded the introduction of ceramics, saw changes in lithic technology, gave rise to inter-regional trade and exchange, and witnessed the introduction of a complex symbolic system expressed on portable objects. In this article, we synthesize data collected over the past several decades by various archaeological projects in western Belize to provide an overview of the cultural changes that unfolded during the Late Archaic to Late Early Formative period in the Upper Belize River Valley. We also provide evidence indicating that it was during this critical transitional period that we begin to see the establishment of several cultural traditions that became uniquely lowland Maya.

中文翻译：

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低地玛雅起源：上伯利兹河谷的晚期古代到晚期早期形成的过渡

从古代晚期到早期形成晚期的过渡见证了玛雅低地的深刻变化。除了建立第一批定居点和农业社区之外，这一文化发展的关键阶段预示着陶瓷的引入，见证了石器技术的变化，引发了区域间的贸易和交流，并见证了复杂符号系统的引入表达在便携物品上。在本文中，我们综合了过去几十年在伯利兹西部的各种考古项目收集的数据，以概述上伯利兹河谷在古代晚期至早期形成晚期的文化变化。