Mesoamerica (Geographic Keyword)
2,226-2,250 (2,387 Records)
For the past two decades, considerable archaeological attention in the Maya area has been paid to ritual cave practices and absorbed residue analysis of pottery, yet these two areas of research have not intersected. In this paper, we discuss the results of the kinds of liquid residues identified in monochrome and unslipped pottery vessels from caves around the site of Pacbitun in west central Belize, where extensive research in Classic Maya elite behavior has taken place. While we know the elite...
Tomography and Photography Studies of Funerary Urns from South Central Michoacán México (2018)
This poster presents the results of the application of computational methods to classified archaeological deposits contained within cinerary urns. The method uses morphological properties and textural parameters to create quantitative descriptors that can be related to archaeological interpretations of the objects. The Pre-Columbian cinerary urns were discovered in the municipality of Huetamo, Michoacan, Mexico. The method uses information obtained from a Computed Tomography scan of each urn...
Toward a Comparative Approach: Postclassic (AD 900-1521) Ceramics from the Pátzcuaro and Zacapu Basins, Michoacán, Mexico (2015)
Research on the Purépecha Empire (AD 1350-1521) in western Mexico has traditionally focused on elite activities after imperial formation. Consequently, there is limited information about the mechanisms for imperial development and changes in internal social, political, and economic structures that must have occurred in pre-imperial contexts. Study of artifact production is particularly important for understanding political reorganization strategies because producers and consumers may have been...
Towards a Wave-of-Advance Model for Predicting the Spread of Prismatic Blade Technology in Mesoamerica (2018)
The diffusion and spread of material culture is a cornerstone of archaeological research, particularly understanding the variables which dictate the structure of dispersal. Recent evolutionary approaches have sought to address technological spread through mathematical modeling. One model, the reaction-diffusion model, suggests diffusion occurs at the population scale as a wave-of-dispersal. While previous researchers demonstrated the efficacy of this approach regarding the peopling of a...
Tracing mortuary trends at Cahal Pech using Stable Isotope data (2016)
Recent research focusing on environmental change in the Belize River Valley during the Classic period provides clear evidence for deteriorating conditions during the Late Classic period. These findings help explain shifts in socio-political and religious systems, as well as fluctuations in population distributions of the Late Classic and Terminal Classic Maya. Some archaeological research suggests complete abandonment of ceremonial sites occupied by the Maya elite. Mortuary practices can be used...
Tracing Pathways of Power, Identity, and Landscape at Río Amarillo, Copan Valley, Honduras (2017)
During the Late Classic period, the ancient community of Río Amarillo was actively engaged in the politics of the city of Copan, whether willingly or not. Some have suggested that the fertile bajos of the Río Amarillo East Pocket may have produced food for the city to its west, ameliorating shortages that could have arisen due to its rising population. Archaeological research conducted by the Proyecto Arqueológico Río Amarillo, Copan (PARAC) since 2011 has recovered information regarding both...
Tracing the Emergence of Maya Lordship at Secondary Centers of the Copan Polity: An Examination of Residential Differentiation and Access at Centers in the Cucuyagua and El Paraiso Valleys (2017)
In this paper we contend that Copan fundamentally transformed the political structures and social institutions of centers in outlying areas as it expanded and integrated these regions. Evidence from our areas of study, the Cucuyagua and El Paraiso valleys, suggest that these regions had long lived autocthonous populations prior to Copan’s expansion into these regions in the Late Classic period. Using evidence from other non-Maya sites in Western and Central Honduras we contend that while varied...
Tracing the Footsteps of the Mapa Tradition in the Central Mexican Highlands (2015)
More than four decades ago H.B. Nicholson compared the so-called Palace Stone from Xochicalco to a page in a Late Postclassic or Early Colonial manuscript. Showing numerous calendrical dates and toponymic signs connected by a path marked by footprints the monument readily recalls the mapa tradition that is so well documented in the central Mexican highlands at the time of the Spanish conquest. In this paper we explore the Epiclassic evidence of this tradition, discussing not only central...
Tracking Luxury Craft Production across Mayapán's Physical and Social Landscapes (2015)
Considering luxury production activities in Mayapán's urban landscape reveals new data regarding a complex and diverse economic system. We explore the evidence for luxury production activities at households attached to elite palaces at this Postclassic Maya capital city. Surplus crafting at Mayapán varied according to scale, intensity, and the value of surplus items. Crafting of valuables such as effigy censers, figurines, copper objects, and stucco sculptures, was more closely supervised (or...
Tradición regional e impacto cultural foráneo: Los logros y tareas a través de las tres temporadas de campo por el Proyecto Arqueológico Estero Rabón (2016)
El sitio arqueológico de Estero Rabón, conocido como un centro secundario de la primera capital olmeca San Lorenzo, se encuentra a unos 12 km hacia el oeste de dicha capital. Según los estudios realizados en esta región y el sitio mismo, el sitio tuvo muy larga ocupación humana a partir de pre olmeca hasta el Clásico Tardío/Terminal llamado la fase Villa Alta. Sin embargo, no existió un proyecto sistemático a través de la excavación arqueológica. Por ello, no habíamos sabido los detalles del...
Traditions and Transformations in the Southwestern Maya Highlands: Ceramic and Settlement Evidence from the Southwest Lake Atitlan Basin, Solola, Guatemala (2016)
Following an intensive socialization campaign, the Lake Atitlan Archaeological Project (PALA) conducted systematic surface collections for over 50 properties within the municipios of San Pedro and San Juan La Laguna in the southwestern Lake Atitlan Basin. These investigations identified more than 30 archaeological sites including three large population centers with monumental architecture, a large number of smaller ritual and domestic sites, and several individual rock art locations. Test...
Transformaciones e historia entre Michoacán y Guanajuato a partir de las plantas hidroeléctricas en el siglo XX (2015)
Se presenta una síntesis del uso del agua en la Cuenca del Lerma en su paso por el Bajío, en particular en donde se unen Michoacán y Guanajuato, así como su transformación en energía eléctrica. A partir de un repaso histórico, se toman en cuenta las obras realizadas para generar electricidad y sus transformaciones más significativas en relación con el paisaje que las alberga. Asimismo, se discute el cambio tecnológico implicado y el del paisaje que conllevó el uso social de la electricidad en la...
Transformations within an Ancestor Shrine: New Discoveries from Group D - Xunantunich, Belize (2017)
The concept of transformation is expressed by innumerable cultures and has been explored by archaeologists across the globe. The ritual act is often represented in Maya iconography as rulers and religious practitioners exhibiting their power through the ability to change into their animal uays. However, like individuals, spaces can undergo a process of ritual transformation. This paper examines the subject of transformation and how it is demonstrated through imagery and space within a Classic...
Transforming the body: fire in mortuary practices in ancient Michoacán, Mexico (2015)
Ethnohistoric sources from prehispanic Michoacán highlight the symbolic importance of fire for the Postclassic Tarascan state. The fact that Curicaueri, the principal Tarascan god, was a fire god and that cremation was used during the warriors’ and ruling elite’s funerary rites, emphasizes its symbolic and social importance. In this presentation, I will examine the different roles played by fire in ritual transformations of the human body. I will consider the ethnohistoric sources as well as the...
Transisthmian Ties: Epi-Olmec and Izapan Interaction (2015)
Beginning with Matthew Stirling, who in 1943 opined that "Izapa appears to be much more closely related to the earth-mound sites of southern Veracruz … than it does with sites in the Maya area," scholars have postulated ties of varying strength between Late Formative polities on either side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Ceramic similarities have been noted between southern Chiapas and the Gulf Coast, but discussion of Late Formative transisthmian interaction has focused primarily on sculptural...
The Transition between Epiclassic to Early Postclassic in Western Mexico. Processes involved in the Sayula Basin (Jalisco). (2015)
The transition between Epiclassic and Postclassic period in Western Mexico it has been linked to the Aztatlan Tradition. The Sayula basin offer a great opportunity to explore the processes involved, the cultural assimilation and interaction between two contemporary major cultural components: one system with strongly local identity related to a major social structure part of the Epiclassics sites like Ixtepete, La Higuerita, Los Altos de Jalisco and furthermore like La Quemada (Zac). The other...
The Transition to Home Living in Middle America (2015)
In Middle America the transition from the Archaic to Early Formative period (ca. 2000-1400 BC) was marked by the first use of pottery and the construction of durable dwelling clustered in small hamlets or villages. These markers of year-round dwelling in one place represent a major transition in Early Formative times to neolithic lifeways and presumably lifeworlds. I review the evidence of the earliest houses known from highland and lowland regions of Middle America, with an emphasis on the...
A Transparent 3D Model of Temple 18 at Copán for Visualization and Research (2015)
The development of a clear approach to creating highly "transparent" (effectively displaying the argument behind a reconstruction) 3D models for visualization and research in archaeology is an ongoing process. The goal of this presentation is to address this problem with a use-case example of a 3D model of Structure 10L-18 (Temple 18, ca. AD 800) on the acropolis at Copán in Honduras. How can data be structured and applied to this 3D model in order to provide a user with a clear understanding of...
Trends in late Holocene Climate Change in Central Mexico (2015)
Lakes in central Mexico are ideal sites for the study of late Holocene climatic trends. These lakes have high sedimentation rates and their sediments are rich in pollen, diatoms and other biological remains that allow reconstructions of past environmental, ecological and climatic changes. In these lakes, precipitation, concentrated during the summer months, is frequently more important than temperature as a long-term environmental control; however, both variables are connected by climatic...
Tribe Versus Chiefdom in Lower Central America (1985)
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.
Tribute from the Underworld: The Historical Ecology of the Maya Postclassic Fish Trade with Otoliths from Mayapán and Caye Coco (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Preliminary results are presented for the analysis of fish otoliths from the Maya Postclassic sites of Mayapán in Mexico, and Caye Coco in Belize. Fish otoliths are used investigate seasonality of fish harvest for the inland fish trade, and to contrast the diversity, trophic levels, and population structure of fish between both the archaeology sites, and...
Trono olmeca de Estero Rabón (2017)
En el sitio arqueológico Estero Rabón, se encontró un fragmento superior de trono olmeca en 1996. Actualmente está resguardado en el pueblo que asienta encima del sitio pero también se había olvidado en la comunidad académica. A través del Proyecto Arqueológico Estero Rabón, este trono fue analizado detalladamente para reconstruir la imagen total de él, ya que actualmente se ha perdido parte inferior del trono. En el inicio de este estudio se pensó que tenía una imagen parecida al trono de otro...
Truncated Initial Series from Xcalumkin (1983)
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.
Tula 2014: Reexamining Ball Court 2 through Cross-Cultural Comparisons with the Yucatan (2015)
The Proyecto de Investigación, Conservación y Mantenimiento para la Zona Arqueológica de Tula 2014, directed by Dr. Robert Cobean focused on the restoration of Ball Court 2. Today, the three major ceremonial centers exposed at Tula are the Palacio Quemado, Pyramid B and Pyramid C; these structures form an L-shape that faces the Adoratorio situated in the center of the plaza. The positioning and architectural dimensions of Ball Court 2 in Tula’s main precinct are almost exact with the largest...
Tunnel Vision: Results from the 2018 Investigations of Structure A7 at Xunantunich, Belize (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Despite nearly a century of archaeological investigation, the ceremonial center of Xunantunich, Belize has yielded little insight on the center’s earliest occupants and the architectural growth of the site through time. Previous research indicated that Xunantunich was initially settled as a small village during the Preclassic period (~1000 BC-AD 250), with...