ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the spatial patterning of these relatively short-lived political entities is susceptible to analysis by the use of locational models. The Classic Maya ceremonial centre of Lubaantun lies in the southern part of Belize some 27 km from the Caribbean coast, in the low foothills that begin to rise from the coastal plain towards the Maya mountains to the north-west. The description of ceremonial, religious or residential 'areas' suggests concentrations of Structures whose morphology indicates such functions, but the term 'area' also comprehends the open spaces of Plazas around which the Structures are grouped. Application of this model to the observed data from the ceremonial centre has shown how it is distorted by topographic and historical factors, and the two outer zones might be expected to exhibit a similar degree of distortion. The ethnographic and archaeological information suggests that the exploitation territory of Lubaantun lay north and north-east and south and south-west of the settlement area.
