PILGRIMAGES LAST MILE - LATE MAYA MONUMENT VENERATION AT LA-MILPA, BELIZE

Pilgrimage over short distances and as the result of social stress is a well-documented phenomenon. The movement of Classic Maya (AD 250-900 ) stone monuments at the site of La Milpa, in Belize, includes the res etting of fragments no longer carrying a coherent message, suggesting that this occurred during the Postclassic period after the abandonment of La Milpa, and that it was carried out by pilgrims who also deposit ed incense-burners in front of some monuments. The dating of these to c. AD 1500-1650 suggests a response to the Spanish conquest of the May a lowlands, perhaps in the form of a revitalization movement appealing to ancestral forces for aid.