Community resilience through change
The New River Island Project
The New River Island Project (NRIP) was founded in 2023 in response to community members’ interest in the more recent past.
The boat ride to the New River island.
A Postclassic settlement
Map showing the results of the 2023 NRIP survey with images of artifacts that are typical in Postclassic contexts.
In 2023, NRIP conducted survey research on a river island in the New River 2 km east of Aventura. LiDAR data obtained by AAP showed a small settlement on the island, and NRIP hypothesized that this may be a Postclassic Maya settlement occupied after the depopulation of Aventura. Ethnohistoric documents indicate the presence of an Indigenous Maya village on the banks of the New River in this location at the time of Spanish contact. Motivated by the interest of community members in the more recent past, NRIP ground-truthed the LiDAR and confirmed the presence of Postclassic and colonial artifacts.
With funding from the Society for American Archaeology, NRIP conducted excavations of a Postclassic shrine in 2025. The finding of thousands of fragments of incense burners modeled in a style that originated in northern Yucatan indicates this was an important node in broader regional networks. We are excited to continue working on this fascinating site—stay tuned for updates!
Recording the location of an architectural feature on pedestrian survey using QField.