Boston University provides the home base for both the K'axob Project and the Xibun Archaeological Research Project (XARP). The Principal Investigator for both endeavors is Patricia A. McAnany, a professor in the Department of Archaeology. Field work has been conducted at two locales in Belize under permit from the Belizean government: the archaeological site of K'axob, which is located in northern Belize, and the Sibun River valley of central Belize. A field lab is maintained within Belize, with a second lab at Boston University.

Staffing for field seasons generally is filled by Boston University graduate students as well as undergraduate field-school students. The latter apply to the Belize Program through the Division of International Programs at Boston University. For more information about the graduate students and specialists involved in the research reported upon in this web site, see the Current Research section. For photos of the research teams from each field season, see the K'axob and XARP sections of this web site.

Research at K'axob was conducted over several field seasons (1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1998) and has focused on a series of topics including ancestor veneration, household structure and variability, and wetland agriculture. In addition to support from the Division of International Programs at Boston University and the Ahau Foundation, research at K'axob was supported by a series of National Science Foundation Grants (SBR-9112310, SBR-9522576, SBR-9601206 as well as an NSF Research Supplement and several Research Experience for Undergraduates supplements).

The Xibun Archaeological Research Project commenced with a field season in 1997 and was followed by subsequent seasons in 1999, 2001, and 2003. Supported by the Division of International Programs, the Ahau Foundation, and the National Science Foundation (BCS-0096603), XARP has resulted in the documentation of over 30 archaeological sites in the Sibun Valley, as well as caves adjacent to the valley. Topics addressed by XARP members include the following: the political economy of cacao, settlement hierarchies within the valley, Terminal Classic occupation and links with the Yucatán, ritual use of caves, and the nature of early Spanish-Colonial presence in the valley.

For more information about the two projects, visit the K'axob and XARP sections of this web site. For reports and publications generated by this research, see both the Reports section and the Publications section.