Republic of El Salvador (Country) (Geographic Keyword)
251-275 (2,472 Records)
Chronology-building in Maya archaeology has long been dominated by relative ceramic typologies based on excavations conducted in the 1950s, with date ranges temporally grounded by long-count calendar dates and a small number of imprecise radiocarbon dates. Higher-precision chronologies based on more recent methodological innovations in radiocarbon dating, including Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating, Bayesian statistical modeling of radiocarbon dates, and ultrafiltration and XAD...
Bayesian Chronological Modeling Parameters for Establishing Initial East Polynesian Colonization (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Supporting Practical Inquiry: The Past, Present, and Future Contributions of Thomas Dye" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Tom Dye was an early adopter and advocate for the application of Bayesian chronological modeling in Pacific archaeology. Since the 1990s, this chronology-building method has advanced our understanding of key cultural and demographic events through improved and diverse software options, better...
A Bayesian model sensitivity study of non-static diet-collagen isotope fractionations factors used to assess breastfeeding and weaning practices among fisher-gatherers populations, western Cuba (2017)
Reconstructing paleo-diets from bone-collagen isotope values (carbon and nitrogen) requires proper knowledge of diet-collagen isotopic fractionations (∆d13Cdiet-col, ∆d15Ndiet-col). While these isotopic fractionations vary considerably among previous human paleo-diet reconstructions, some more recent studies have successfully employed "non-static" dietary offsets. New research suggests that non-static diet-collagen isotope fractionations is best when attempting to reconstruct paleo-diets of...
A Bayesian Model-Based Comparison of Radiocarbon Chronologies for the Earliest Complex Societies in the Maya Lowlands (2017)
Sedentary agricultural villages, ceramic technology, and evidence for institutionalized socio-economic inequality first appeared in the Maya lowlands during the Preclassic Period (1200 cal BC – cal AD 300). The chronological details of these significant cultural developments between different regions of the lowlands remain unclear in many cases because of an emphasis on local ceramic typologies that are often difficult to correlate. We use a Bayesian framework to model high-resolution AMS 14C...
Bears Ears Archaeological Probability Models (2018)
Currently encompassing over 1,300,000 acres, Bears Ears is notable for abundant cultural resources and is in a renewed spotlight following the 2017 recommendation by the Interior Secretary to reduce its acreage. Archaeological probability models were recently developed for lands within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, Monticello Field Office, which encompasses the Bears Ears National Monument. Regardless of the outcomes of that process, these models were developed to help land...
Beautiful Virgins and Male War Captives: The Role of Sex Attribution in Ancient Maya Human Sacrifice at Midnight Terror Cave, Belize (2017)
The prurient element in the popular notion of the Maya sacrifice of "beautiful virgins" during the first half of the twentieth century (Frost and Arnold 1909; Willard 1926) appears to have made researchers wary of the topic of gender in study of human sacrifice. The interest in human sacrifice arose in the 1990s at the same time as the formulation of the warfare hypothesis for the collapse of Maya civilization (Demerast 1990) so that models of human sacrifice tended to assume that victims were...
The Beginning of a New Epoch: The Transition to Post-dynastic Life in Río Amarillo, Copán Valley, Honduras (2019)
This is an abstract from the "The Pre-Columbian Cultures of Honduras after AD 900" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Contrary to what is reported for post-dynastic Copan, where evidence supports abandonment and reoccupation of the area by a new population, in the Río Amarillo area of the eastern section of the Copan Valley ceramic evidence supports a continual occupation that clearly displays an overlap of types and modes from both Late Classic and...
Beginning of Camelid breeding during the Formative period at the Pacopampa site, Peru. (2017)
Our research on faunal remains from the Pacopampa and the Kuntur wasi sites has shown that Camelid breeding began during the Late Formative period (800 – 500 BC) in the northern highlands of Peru. However, motives for the introduction and usage of these animals remain obscure. We conducted multi-disciplinary analyses of the camelid remains from the Pacopampa site to investigate breeding and utilization patterns of these animals. The Sr and O isotope values from tooth enamel showed that 17 of 18...
Being an Expert Witness in Mexico’s Heritage Management Process: Requirements and Issues (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Archaeological Congress: Multivocal Conversations Furthering the World Archaeological Congress Agenda" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In 2022, the Mexican government introduced a new heritage management process, requiring the participation of expert witnesses to determine the property of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican communities’ knowledge, traditions, intellectual property, and heritage. Mexico’s experience with expert...
Beneath the Blue-Green Trees: Understanding the Built Environment of Yaxox through Lidar Analysis (2017)
The Upper Belize River Valley hosted a high density of ancient Maya settlement from the Early Preclassic Period onward, supported by abundant fertile alluvial floodplains. In addition to the handful of major civic-ceremonial centers spread along the valley, the region also sustained numerous middle-tier administrative, ceremonial, and residential loci. The site of Yaxox, strategically situated at the confluence of the Macal and Mopan rivers, provides an intriguing example of a minor...
The Benefits of Short-Wave Infrared Imagery for Archaeological Landscape Analysis: A Case Study from Easter Island, Chile (2017)
The use of multispectral imagery is particularly effective for studying the archaeological record of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) due to the lack of vegetation and the fact that record is composed of surface distributions of rock features. Flaws (2010) has demonstrated that WorldView-2 multispectral imagery that includes the NIR band can be used to identify "lithic mulch gardens," a key component of prehistoric Rapa Nui subsistence strategies. Recently, the availability of WorldView-3...
The Berkeley Schools of Geography and Andean Studies (2018)
This paper explores the legacy of the "Berkeley School of Andean Studies" and its relations to the eponymous "Berkeley School of Geography." We examine the relationships between the key founding figures of both schools including John H. Rowe and Carl O. Sauer, but also their students, disciples, and other scholars influenced by their seminal research. Through a review of the interactions between members of the two schools, as well as academic genealogies and writings, our paper has three main...
The Best Gifts come in Small Packages? Coring Volcanic Landscapes in New Britain (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Research and CRM Are Not Mutually Exclusive: J. Stephen Athens—Forty Years and Counting" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A volcanic environment built up by characterised and well dated airfall tephras is paradise for landscape archaeology because in any excavation the cultural material is placed accurately in time. Shouldn’t this setting also be ideal for environmental data? With expertise provided by Steve Athens, we...
Between a Rock and a Hard Spot: Museum Collections and Mesoamerican Archaeology (2023)
This is an abstract from the "A Celebration and Critical Assessment of "The Maya Scribe and His World" on its Fiftieth Anniversary" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The changing relationship of US art and natural history museums and other collections-holding institutions and the field of archaeology as anthropology is examined in this presentation. We assess the past 100+ years’ amassing of archaeological objects as cultural curios, aesthetic...
Between farming and hunting: animal explotation in the Zacapu Basin, Michoacán, Mexico (100-1450 AD) (2017)
If the questions of herding or management of wild species have been regularly addressed in Mesoamerican zooarchaeology, cultural development is assumed to be essentially directed by agriculture. Indeed, the presence of only two widely recognised domesticated animals, the dog (Canis familiaris) and the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), would have limited the growth of a more complex agro-pastoralism. However, the importance of non-domesticated animals and their interactions with the agricultural...
Between the puna and the valley: an approximation to local communities-Inca state interactions through road network analysis in Jauja, central Peru (2017)
Research on the Inca occupation in the conquered territories usually addressed the topic from a perspective that has been built on data obtained from state and local sites. The case of Jauja in the central highlands of Peru has not been the exception and much of our current knowledge about the Inca occupation of the region is based on information coming from indigenous settlements and state facilities. This paper proposes an alternative and complementary insight, trying to reach an approach to...
Beyond Leaky Pipelines and Glass Ceilings: Equity Issues on the Academic Track (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Presidential Session: What Is at Stake? The Impacts of Inequity and Harassment on the Practice of Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Achieving equity in academia is framed as a process of shattering glass ceilings, letting everyone climb as high as their abilities allow. The leaky pipeline metaphor relies on a future with enough diversity-in-waiting that some of it will flow to higher ranks. These metaphors...
Beyond Monumentality: Looking Past the Pyramids of Cochasquí, Ecuador (2017)
The northern highland Ecuadorian site of Cochasquí is one of the country’s most respected archaeological resources. Investigations by archaeologists Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño (1910s), Max Uhle (1932), and Udo Oberem (1964-65) had principally focused on this Late Period site’s highly visible quadrangular earthen pyramids, which can reach heights of approximately 20 meters. The archaeological and public fascination with the visibly monumental has long diverted attention away from between and beyond...
Beyond Polychrome and Greenstone: FTIR and SEM-XEDS Analysis of Fine-Grained Remains from Two Ancient Maya Royal Tombs at El Perú-Waka’ (2017)
Ample evidence suggests Classic period Maya royal tombs were intentional arrangements of symbolically-charged objects and offerings. Because of this, critical examination of the entire array of a tomb’s contents is vital. Analysis of polychrome vessels, greenstone jewels, and human remains are certainly essential. Relative to these more well-preserved or spectacular components of a mortuary assemblage, small-scale or fine-grained remains have historically tended to be understudied or overlooked,...
Beyond Repatriation at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (2018)
Congress intended federal repatriation legislation to go beyond removing collections from museums. They hoped that it would lead to new relationships between Native Americans and museums that would recognize the interests of all parties. The Anthropology Department of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History has worked, through its Repatriation Office and other programs, to collaborate with tribes and Alaskan Natives on projects that go beyond repatriation to include initiatives with...
Beyond Subsistence: Food consumption in the military garrison of San Juan de Puerto Rico from the 18th to 19th centuries (2017)
This case study explores how food consumption in the military garrison of San Juan de Puerto Rico played a role in the negotiation of status and identities during the Spanish colonial period. Since defense of the territories was the primary task, the military tended to have priority to the access of exotic foodstuffs, such as wheat products. Nevertheless, Puerto Rico was quickly relegated to the margins of the Spanish Empire and legal ships ceased to arrive in a constant mode. Thus, we want to...
Beyond the Borders: Using 3D Public Archaeology to Democratize the Past at US National Parks (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Public Lands, Public Sites: Research, Engagement, and Collaboration" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. National Parks in the United States contain within their borders a natural and cultural heritage not only significant to all the nation’s inhabitants but also hold importance on a global scale. Although interaction with this heritage within a national park is intended to be direct and physical, this is not always...
Beyond the Holes of Archaeology: Paying Attention to Indigenous Academics, Artists, and Activists (2018)
Archaeology continues to need the infusion of indigenous perspectives, not only to take responsibility for the discipline’s past in colonial contexts, but also to advance its ability to understand human histories – especially indigenous ones – in respectful, innovative, and inclusive ways. This need is particularly strong for those archaeologists who study Native American cultural and community life just before, right into, and well after the onset of European colonialism and for those who are...
Beyond the Points: Sociocultural Complexity Revealed by Non-Hunting Artifacts from Melting Ice Patches in the High Alpine, Greater Yellowstone Area, USA (2018)
The recovery of chipped stone projectile points, bows, dart and arrow foreshafts and shafts, and the remains of prey species—notably bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis)—in direct association with melting Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) ice patches illustrates that hunting was a primary activity for Native Americans at these features. The recovery of other, non-hunting related, types of organic artifacts at ice patches suggests a broader utilization of the alpine environment. Although fewer in number,...
Big Changes in Little Places: An Examination of the Political Strategies of Leaders at Late Postclassic Xaltocan, Mexico (2017)
During the Late Postclassic the Basin of Mexico underwent dramatic political and cultural shifts, chiefly due to the formation and rapid expansion of the Aztec Triple Alliance. Xaltocan was among the many regional centers to be conquered and incorporated into the Aztec state. Historical documents indicate that prolonged conflict ultimately resulted in Xaltocan’s conquest and partial abandonment, thus local leaders were not integrated into the new political framework and were replaced by Mexica...