Mesoamerica (Geographic Keyword)
2,051-2,075 (2,387 Records)
The recent expansion of community-based approaches to archaeological research signifies a renegotiation of how, and for whom, historical knowledge is produced. This paper reviews the implementation of a community-based archaeological heritage program in the Toledo district of southern Belize. Research conducted by the Aguacate Community Archaeology Project seeks to understand the degree of social, political, and economic integration of ancient Maya households with regional political centers...
Shifting Practices: Materiality and Mortuary Ritual at Early Classic Charco Redondo (2017)
This paper explores the relationships between the people, objects and practices that created an Early Classic communal mortuary space at the site of Charco Redondo in the lower Río Verde Valley of Oaxaca. The Early Classic follows the collapse of the first Rio Viejo polity, and significant differences in mortuary practices may signify a transformation in how power and authority were constituted. While communal internment continued, burials were generally undisturbed by later internments and...
Shifting Tides along the North Coast of Quintana Roo: Recent Research at Conil and Vista Alegre (2015)
In the northern lowlands, there is strong evidence for a coastal Maya presence since at least the Middle Preclassic, and scholars have long discussed how inland-coastal connections served as a catalyst for the development of social complexity. The scope and scale, however, of maritime commerce and interaction was closely linked to the ever-changing political and economic landscape. The work of the Proyecto Costa Escondida at the neighboring port sites of Conil and Vista Alegre highlight the...
Show Me the Data!: Structuring the MayaArch3D Digital Collections for Research Queries in a 3DWebGIS (2015)
Archaeological projects are increasingly acquiring 3D data sets of individual finds, as well as whole cities. The archaeologist receives the model as a 3D PDF, video, point cloud or object file. Views of the model are published in a journal, shown in an exhibition and the pipeline usually ends here. Typically, archaeologists do not use the 3D model for much more than visualization purposes. The MayaArch3D project is building a 3DWebGIS to enable archaeologists to do more with these models –to...
Show me what you have and I’ll tell you who you stick around with: A model of economical-political interaction in the Upper Usumacinta (2015)
Walking, although commonly seen as a simple activity, represents in fact, a very important aspect of the relationship that develops between human groups and the physical environment on which they live. In this way, the nature of this environment will bestow the singularities of the political, social and economic organization of societies. We can approach human mobility through the application of GIS in terms of the estimation of cost of movement. Various algorithms have been developed that allow...
Sierra Red Ceramics, Identity, and Foodways in the Middle and Late Formative Chiapa de Corzo Polity, Chiapas, Mexico. (2016)
Data from a surface survey of 105 sq km in and around the site of Chiapa de Corzo indicate that over the course of the Late Formative, serving vessels of Sierra Red, a style that originated in the Maya Lowlands, were widely adopted across the Chiapa de Corzo polity. At the capital early Sierra Red serving vessels largely conformed to the size of serving vessels from the Maya Lowlands. In the hinterland, however, the Sierra Red vessels people were using had dimensions that conformed more tightly...
The Sierra Sur in 3D: Benefits of Photogrammetry and 3D Printing for Archaeological Research in Remote Regions (2017)
Researchers working in the Sierra Sur region of Oaxaca, Mexico are often documenting sites that have not yet been studied by western scholars. 3D modeling (via photogrammetry) and 3D printing is a quick and low cost way we can begin sharing this new information with other scholars and the public, while simultaneously enhancing the documentation of archaeological landscapes and artifacts. In the 2016 field season of Proyecto Arqueológico de Quiechapa (PAQuie), we pilot tested the use of low cost...
The Sighing, Bleeding, Feasting Soul: Speech Scrolls in Mesoamerica (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Speech scrolls are common elements of Mesoamerican codices and their frequent use and incorporation into a wide array of human and anthropomorphic entities highlights the need for a formal study of these elements of iconography. The use of speech scrolls is not ubiquitous simply because of their function as a marker of speech in service of a larger motif or...
¿Siluetas o excéntricos? (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Ceremonial Lithics of Mesoamerica: New Understandings of Technology, Distribution, and Symbolism of Eccentrics and Ritual Caches in the Maya World and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A partir del estudio del proceso de elaboración de siluetas o excéntricos bifaciales y monofaciales teotihuacanos de las fases Tlamimilolpa y Xolalpan, elaborados en el yacimiento de obsidiana verde de La Sierra de Las Navajas,...
A Simple Fiscal-Demographic Model of the Classic Maya Collapse (2016)
The Classic Maya civilization flourished from approximately 200 A.D. to 800 A.D. in the southern reaches of the Yucatan Peninsula. Population increased throughout the period, accelerating towards the end, finally falling to a small fraction of its former peak level (10% or less) in a relatively short span of time (50-100 years). Even though Maya civilization continued in the northern end of Yucatan Peninsula, the holy kings who had been the protagonists of Classic Maya civilization disappeared...
The Sinkhole as Ch'een: A Closer Look at Ancient Maya Sacred Geography (2015)
During the 2014 field season, the California State University, Los Angeles Cave Research Project focused its investigation on a sinkhole at the site of La Milpa that had been given a cursory examination by the TRAP in 2012. An initial inspection suggested that the feature might well have been considered a ch’een by the ancient Maya. Ch’een is generally translated as cave but the indigenous term includes a large number of earth openings that were recognized as sacred landmarks. Excavations...
Sinking Archaeological Teeth into the Dental Modification Issue: An Examination of Midnight Terror Cave (2015)
Evidence for dental modification practices have been found throughout Mesoamerica since the Early Preclassic Period (Williams and White 2006) and were noted by Diego de Landa in the 16th century. Examples for these practices have been found not only among human remains, but also in iconography and in architecture. Investigations into the aesthetic or ritual purpose for dental modification have yielded a number of possibilities. These possibilities include its use as an indication of social...
The "Sistema 7 Venado", a Little-known Ceremonial Center at Monte Albán, Oaxaca: A Study of Its Architectural and Ritual Implications (2018)
For the past eight years, the French team from the CeRAP (Paris-Sorbonne University and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris) has carried out research at the Mesoamerican site of 7 Venado, which extends over 4 ha lying 400 m south of the South Platform of Monte Albán. Directed by Christian Duverger and Aliénor Letouzé, with the support of the INAH, the project has been able to date the site, whose chronology spans 800 BC to AD 300, and has also studied its spatial...
Sistemas de almacenamiento en un puerto prehispánico: consideraciones generales (2017)
Un sitio con características portuarias, en el cual se da una dinámica de un flujo constante de bienes, personas, información, etc., no sólo necesita captar y distribuir, sino también cerciorarse de la preservación de dichos bienes. En este panorama, los sistemas de almacenamiento son eje fundamental, ya que preservan los bienes hasta el momento en que son requeridos por el usuario final, lo que implica que los sistemas de almacenamiento deben estar organizados y estructurados para coincidir con...
Site Map Validation and Quantifying Linkages between Multispectral and Lidar Remote Sensing for Settlement Pattern Mapping (2017)
Fifteen years of field survey and image processing of commercial satellite optical data have contributed to robust site maps of San Bartolo and Xultun, among other PROSABA sites in northeastern Peten. The recent acquisition of lidar-derived DSM and DTM data through PACUNAM has made new types of analyses possible, including the validation and enhancement of the site maps. We present recent mapping discoveries in the PROSABA region and research into the validation and extrapolation of settlement...
Situating the narrative style and legacy of A Forest of Kings (2015)
In this paper, we situate A Forest of Kings, which combined archaeological and art historical data, within the genre of ethnographic fiction. We consider its waxing and waning throughout time as a popular narrative form and its legacy that continues to this day. A Forest of Kings was conceived and written at a significant moment within the history of ethnographic fiction. While it is strongly grounded in the reflexive and representational practices of the late 1980s and early 90s, A Forest of...
Sketching in the Shadows: Re-illustration of the Olmec Paintings of Oxtotitlán, Mexico (2016)
Re-illustration of the well-known cave paintings at Oxtotitlán, Guerrero, Mexico has revealed important new iconographic details. The use of multispectral imaging, as well as direct observation following recent conservation work, contributed to re-visioning the artworks with increased clarity and accuracy to the originals. This paper will present new renderings of the Olmec-period paintings and summarize observations on artistic practice and iconographic significance that resulted from this...
Small Sacred Spaces: The Results of Investigations into Subterranean Features at N950 and Grupo Agua Lluvia in northwest Belize. (2015)
This paper explores the ways in which the Maya conceptualized subterranean features as sacred landscapes within the Three Rivers Region in northwest Belize. Contemporary archaeological investigations have suggested that large cave systems served as important locations for rituals. The ubiquity of these features to the Maya indicate that these concepts of sacred space may have extended to regions, and sites without naturally forming caves. This research focuses on the utilization of small...
Smoke Signals: Interpretations (2015)
This paper compares expressions of ritualistic concepts that can be found on images on censers and on other artistic creations, including monuments and documents. The research concentrates on Late Preclassic and Early Classic developments in the Guatemala South Coast and Highlands but also uses relevant information from other areas. One of the objectives is to trace continuities and changes in forms of rituals and the manner in which individuals participated in them. It is found that contrasting...
The Smoking of Bones: An Ethnographic Examination of the Maya’s Use of Tobacco and Tobacco Substitutes (2016)
Epigraphic studies have confirmed what Classic period iconography has long shown—the Ancient Maya cultivated and smoked tobacco. Ethnographic studies among various Maya groups have brought to light a wide range of uses for tobacco, from pleasure, to healing, to witchcraft. In this paper I will address several lesser discussed topics related to tobacco. First, I will discuss ethnographic data relating to the use of other plants that are mixed with tobacco to alter its effects or tastes. Second, I...
The Smoking of Bones: An Ethnographic Examination of the Maya’s Use of Tobacco and Tobacco Substitutes (2015)
Epigraphic studies have confirmed what Classic period iconography has long shown—the Ancient Maya cultivated and smoked tobacco. Ethnographic studies among various Maya groups have brought to light a wide range of uses for tobacco, from pleasure, to healing, to witchcraft. In this paper I will address several lesser discussed topics related to tobacco. First, I will discuss ethnographic data relating to the use of other plants that are mixed with tobacco to alter its effects or tastes. Second, I...
The "Snake" Kingdom from the Vantage of Western Belize (2016)
Recent years have seen the evidence from Western Belizean sites—especially Buenavista, Cahal Pech, Caracol, Cuychen, and Xunantunich—beginning to contribute substantially to scholarly understandings of the hegemonic networks underlying Classic Maya politics. Particularly illuminating are a series of seventh-century monuments commissioned by Caracol's king K'an II, which chronicle his polity's shifting fortunes as a client kingdom. While his own father was placed on the throne of Caracol by Wak...
The Social and religious life of a Guatemalan village (1949)
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Social Archaeology and Debating Local Scholars (2016)
How can archaeologists both benefit from interaction with local communities and also debate with local scholars? Engaging with local scholars can sometimes require walking a fine line between imposing foreign values in a colonizing manner and accepting ideas that are either incorrect or that promote oppression and inequality. Theoretically-informed social archaeology can help us engage with local scholars with respect and debate their ideas with the goals of promoting social justice, and without...
The Social Archaeology of Politics (2016)
In this paper, we consider how social archaeology can inform the study of political organization and power, and provide insight into the tumultuous events taking place today. Social archaeology has long made significant contribution towards understanding the conflicts the occur between different classes, ethnicities, and factions. However, social archaeology is equally capable of making important insights into top down processes and address broader topics of state organization and politics....