Mesoamerica (Geographic Keyword)
51-75 (2,387 Records)
Caves are prominent earth openings in Maya sites that are widely recognized as being important sacred landmarks. There is a wide range of earth openings at sites, however, that are rarely recognized as possible landmarks and this can impact the interpretation of associated artifacts. Investigation of the La Milpa Sinkhole (RB-25-A5) is a case in point. Investigation in 2012 classified the feature as a trash pit. The recovery of large quantities of what were thought to be chert flakes led to the...
Analysis of Marine Sediment by Chemical Signatures to Discover Evidence of Ancient Maya Activities at Site 74, Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This poster examines multi-element chemical analysis on sediment at the underwater Site 74 in Paynes Creek Salt Works, Belize. Site 74 was once an ancient Maya salt work. Due to sea-level rise, sea water and mangrove peat now cover the site. Sediment from the site was exported under permit to the Louisiana State University Laboratory for inductively coupled...
Analysis of Marine Sediment of Ancient Maya Saltworks in Paynes Creek National Park, Southern Belize. (2017)
In this paper we present the results of archaeological research at two Classic period Maya salt works currently submerged in a shallow salt-water lagoon in Paynes Creek National Park, Southern Belize. These two contexts are part of the more than 100 locations so far identified in the area where salt was produced by boiling brine over fires near wooden structures. Through the study of marine sediment recovered at excavations from sites 24 and 35, we were able to document environmental and...
Analysis of microbotanical remains from dental calculus: a new approach for ancient diet studies. (2017)
Paleodiet analysis from individuals found inside the Great Temple ritual deposits have been succesfully conducted by analyzing carbon and nitrogen isotopes, with the aim of distinguishing between marine and terrestrial diets. Recently, we incorporated microbotanical analysis of dental calculus to these studies in order to search for plants remains, with the goal of having a broad picture of ancient diet and paramasticatory use of the oral cavity. For this purpose we selected individuals with...
An Analysis of Obsidian Consumption in the Postclassic Coatlan del Rio Valley (2018)
This poster presents a technological analysis of obsidian artifacts from two Aztec-period surface collections in the Coatlan del Rio Valley, located in what is now the modern state of Morelos, Mexico. The deposits are from residential terraces collected in 4 x 4 m units. Designs on ceramics collected with the lithics indicate primary occupation after 1400 CE. This study has two primary objectives: first, we technologically classify the artifacts in the collections; second, we evaluate whether...
An Analysis of the Factors that Impact Accuracy During the Acquisition of Archaeological Geospatial Data Through the Use of GPS Units (2015)
In recent decades, archaeology has seen an increase in the use of geospatial technology. This paper weighs the factors that impact the accuracy of the acquisition of geospatial data in the field and seeks to establish a system to determine the ideal times for data collection through the use of GPS units. Control points were established both domestically, within the United States, and in northwestern Belize. Each point was input into a database in which we recorded a set of factors including;...
The Analytical Nexus: Multi-Technique Approaches to Ceramic Composition (2015)
Archaeologists have employed many different approaches to characterize the composition of ceramic pastes, but until recently only a minority of studies have used multiple analytical techniques to examine the same sample. An "analytical technique" is used here to mean a single perspective that characterizes an aspect of a ceramic paste. Since humans created pottery using different processes and recipes, it follows that each perspective teaches us about a unique aspect of the potter's behavior...
Analyzing Ancient Maya Settlement Patterns through the Geochemical Analysis of Obsidian Artifacts in Southern Belize. (2016)
This poster examines the distribution of obsidian across space and time among two Classic Period Maya centers, Uxbenká and Ix Kuku’il, located in the southern foothills of the Maya Mountains, Belize, Central America. Data from portable x-ray florescence analyses at Uxbenká suggests that neither the period of occupation, distance of a settlement group to the site core, nor the social status of group residents impacted the availability of obsidian source-group material, suggesting Uxbenká...
Ancestors, Agency, and Formation Processes: Interpreting Problematical "Smash and Trash Deposits" at Ka’Kabish, Belize (2017)
Maya archaeologists commonly discover "smash-and-trash" deposits, collections consisting of large quantities of broken sherds, lithics, faunal materials, and other remains, in varying contexts on Maya sites. Interpretations of these deposits vary from simple trash or midden deposits, to remains of feasting, to termination and other rituals. These interpretations are often strongly influenced by the theoretical and analytical approaches taken by the excavators. At Ka’Kabish, Belize, a series of...
Ancient American Art at the Saint Louis Art Museum (2016)
In 2013, the Saint Louis Art Museum presented the first major re-installation of its collection of art of the ancient Americas in nearly thirty years. This paper will present some observations on the challenges presented by a collection largely defined by a single donor, Morton D. May. May's donations coincided with the high water mark of collecting so-called "primitive" art in the 1950s and 60s. But there is also a history of collecting and displaying pre-Columbian art in Saint Louis before...
ANCIENT CACAO GROVES IN YUCATAN: A PALYNOLOGICAL APPROACH (2017)
Cacao had a transcendental role in the life of prehistoric people of Mesoamerica, becoming part of their economic, ideological and social system. Due to the morphological and environmental characteristics necessary for the growth of cacao tree, the main producers were concentrated in places like southern Mexico and Central America. However, written sources of the first colonizers in Yucatan disclose that the indigenous nobility of that time had at their disposal cacao orchards in different...
Ancient Clay Mine at Yo' K'at, Yucatan (1977)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Ancient DNA from Campeche, Mexico, Reveals a Socially Segregated Population in the First Two Centuries after Hispanic Contact (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Increasing the Accessibility of Ancient DNA within Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The colonial period in Mexico was an unprecedented time when previously disparate populations began living together under Hispanic leadership and Catholic faith, often unwillingly. Immediately after the conquest, Spanish colonists established urban strongholds, often bringing African slaves and servants with them. In these...
Ancient DNA in archaeological bone tools from La Ventilla, Teotihuacan: sex determination and genetic structure. (2016)
La Ventilla is a household from Teotihuacan, a great city whose people lived during Classic Period (1-700 AC) reaching a vast demographic grow. Farmers and merchants were residents of La Ventilla. Archaeological evidence has showed commercial, political and service interchanges with Teotihuacan spreading to all Mexico. We analyzed population diversity and genetic distance between La Ventilla and 11 ancient groups from Mexico. Materials from bone tools set were processed yielding ancient DNA; the...
Ancient Greenstone Mosaic Masks from the Central Maya Lowlands of Guatemala: A Contextual and Technological Study (2017)
To date, nine greenstone mosaic masks (GMM), recovered in eight royal and one elite interment, have been found in association with other grave goods belonging to ancient Maya individuals from Tikal, El Zotz, and El Perú-Waka’. Nearly 1,000 tesserae compose these nine GMM, however to date it is unknown what the mosaic masks originally looked like as these were found unassembled. Nonetheless, prior to carrying out preliminary reintegration and restoration projects, a manufacturing study was deemed...
Ancient Impacts on a Modern Environment: Soil Management and Intensive Agriculture in a Pre-Columbium Urban Context (2016)
This paper investigates the relationship between soil enrichment and ancient urban environments. I will measure the degree to which ancient settlement density and modern agricultural potential correlate. At the Postclassic Maya center of Mayapan, a spatial concentration of black, midden-like soils have been identified by local farmers. Results of systematic soil transect samples tested for physical and chemical properties reveal agricultural potential. Soils from the urban center were compared...
Ancient Maya (1946)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Ancient Maya Agricultural Techniques: Investigations of Possible Terracing at the Site of Actuncan, Belize (2017)
Recent studies on ancient Maya agriculture address differences in farming methods used within the Maya area, and the implications these differences have for larger issues within Maya studies. Excavations conducted during the Actuncan Archaeological Project 2015/2016 field seasons examined GPR anomalies in the Northern Neighborhood region of the Actuncan, Belize site; the proposed poster will discuss evidence of terracing obtained from these excavations, including how these probable terraces were...
The Ancient Maya and the Evolution of Urban Society (1975)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Ancient Maya Animal Use at El Mirador: Subsistence, ceremony, exchange and environmental resiliency (2017)
El Mirador (Peten, Guatemala) is among the largest Preclassic settlements in the Maya lowlands. The site has attracted attention due to its size and antiquity, but also for its location within a region containing few permanent or perennial water sources. This study presents a preliminary analysis of the site’s faunal remains to assess diet, ritual, habitat use and exchange. Comparison of the El Mirador data with other Preclassic faunal assemblages allows us to assess the degree to which animal...
Ancient Maya Craft Specialization in the Belize Valley (2016)
Archaeological investigations during the last 20 years in Western Belize has recorded considerable evidence of craft specialization in this lowland Maya sub-region. Much of this information, however, has never been synthesized, thus providing us with a foggy lens through which to view the complexity of craft production, distribution and interaction at the intra- and inter-regional level. In an effort to address this situation, this paper examines different types of craft specialization in the...
Ancient Maya Elite Political-Economic Practices at La Milpa North, Northwestern Belize (2015)
Archaeological research has increasingly revealed the role of elite labor and influence in ancient Maya political economies. Rising awareness of the complexity of ancient Maya socioeconomic organization and attention to households as loci of production has led to new understandings of the structures and practices of production within elite households and the position of elite individuals in relations of production that extend beyond their households. Status-enhancing material goods of elite...
Ancient Maya lithic craft specialization at Colha, Belize (2015)
Beginning in the Middle Preclassic, the rise of small centers in the agricultural area of Northern Belize gave impetus to the intensive manufacture of stone tools at Colha. Craft specialization, mass production and export of stone tools and symbols were deeply entrenched by Late Preclassic times. Examples will be provided on the use of certain tool forms in agriculture and construction through out the region. Additionally, some artifacts were made mainly for caches, lithic symbols, and...
Ancient Maya Plant Use In the Mopan River Valley, Belize (2016)
The Mopan River valley was home to a number of pre-Hispanic Maya polities, including both political centers and rural communities. The forests and plant products grown in the region played crucial roles in the lifeways of these Maya, providing food, fuel, construction materials, and medicine. This paper presents preliminary results from the analysis of macrobotanical remains recovered through flotation by the Mopan Valley Archaeological Project and Mopan Valley Preclassic Project. These plant...
Ancient Maya Salt Making Activities as Revealed Through Underwater Excavations and Sediment Chemistry, Paynes Creek National Park, Belize (2017)
Underwater excavations at Early Classic Chan b’i (A.D. 300-600) and Late Classic Atz’aam Na (A.D. 600-900) ancient Maya salt works in Paynes Creek National Park, Belize, reveal activity areas associated with a substantial salt industry for distribution to the southern Maya inland inhabitants. At these sites, wooden architecture and salt making artifacts are abundantly preserved in a peat bog composed of red mangrove. We describe the excavation methods at this shallow, submerged underwater site,...