McCafferty, GeoffreyManion, Jessica2016-10-042016-10-0420162016http://hdl.handle.net/11023/3392Examination of mortuary practices at Sonzapote and El Rayo provides an opportunity to understand how people in pre-historic Pacific Nicaragua constructed social memory and identity. Interments located on the side of Mound 14 at Sonzapote are dated to the Sapoá period (800-1250 CE), and are the result of post-abandonment mortuary rituals. The association of the dead with monumental architecture and statuary creates a connection between the present and the past, whether those buried on Mound 14 were related to the original inhabitants, or associated with influxes of migrant populations. El Rayo provides an example of how the living interacted with the dead through secondary interment and commingling, and consists of dedicated cemeteries where memories and identities were constructed. This research examines how interment practices represent the creation of social memory and identity at these sites, and how these people related themselves with their dead, past, present, and future.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.ArchaeologyPacific NicaraguaSocial MemoryMortuary Practicesmaster thesis10.11575/PRISM/27621