SV (ISO Country Code) (Geographic Keyword)
1-25 (31 Records)
This project is part of a collection of photographs taken by the late Bill Sanders of the various sites that he worked at and visited between 1960-1969. These sites include Maquixco, Tenayuca, Cholula, Xochicalco, El Arbolilo, Zacatenco, Ticoman, Cuicuilco, Cuanalan, Tezoyuca, Teotihuacan, Cerro Malinalco, Cerro Gordo, Tula, Texcotzingo, Tolman Quarry, Malinalco, Coatlinchan, Xometla, Tizatlon, Tenochtitlan, Chinampa, Huasteca, Lake Texcoco, Piedras Negras, Tikal, Uaxactun, Xpuhil, Copan,...
Anthropogenically driven decline and extinction of Sapotaceae on Nuku Hiva (Marquesas Islands, East Polynesia) (2015)
The native forests of the central and eastern Pacific Islands were extensively modified by Polynesian settlers, but our understanding of these processes are generalised. In the first large study of anthropogenic forest change in the Marquesas Islands, the identification of two members of the Sapotaceae family in archaeological charcoal assemblages was notable. Plants from this taxonomic group are poorly represented in Eastern Polynesia today, and the findings of Planchonella and another species...
The Archaeology of Highland Chiriqui, Panama -- Documents, Images, and Datasets
Archaeology is defined by its grounding in material objects; without contextual elements of space and place, however, material culture is devoid of much of its meaning and archaeological information. This article focuses upon pre-Columbian objects – including gold, ceramics, and stone artefacts - from a small, localized area of the Chiriquí region of western Panamá in the context of the volcanic landscape. The discussion is intended as a provocative introduction to the archaeology of highland...
Bioarchaeological analysis of an ancient Maya ancestral context at Cahal Pech, San Ignacio, Belize (2015)
Interaction of the living with the bones of the deceased is a tradition practiced in various forms throughout ancient and modern Mesoamerica. Among the ancient Maya the manipulation of the deceased body is associated with powerful ancestral rituals likely carried out to reinforce and legitimate sociopolitical power. Structures placed on the eastern perimeter of plaza groups often contain multiple inhumations and are interpreted as ancestral locations. Structure B1 at Cahal Pech, located within...
Bridging the Gaps: Integrating Archaeology and History in Oaxaca, Mexico (2015)
Bridging the Gaps: Integrating Archaeology and History in Oaxaca, Mexico does just that: it bridges the gap between archaeology and history of the Precolumbian, Colonial, and Republican eras of the state of Oaxaca, Mexico, a cultural area encompassing several of the longest-enduring literate societies in the world. Fourteen case studies from an interdisciplinary group of archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnohistorians, and art historians consciously compare and contrast changes and...
Building a Community: Late Classic and Postclassic Residential Structures at Rio Amarillo, Copan, Honduras (2015)
Rio Amarillo, an ancient town, rests 20 km east of the great Maya city of Copan in Honduras. In the last four years residences from the Late Classic and Postclassic period have been excavated at the site. Investigations of the residential buildings from Río Amarillo have allowed us to better understand the influences and allegiances of the inhabitants of this community resting on the margins of the Maya world. The architecture of the structures reflects ties to both Copan and to areas in the...
Central American and West Indian Archaeology: Being an Inroduction to the Archaeology of the States of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the West Indies (1916)
This resource contains the entire 343 page book published in 1916 by T.A.Joyce. There are a number of illustration and two Maps of the area and archaeological findings that were known at the time. The cover is not shown but the PDF contains all if the inside pages (including front piece that is a color illustration of a Pottery Figure from Panama; Talamancan that at the time was housed in the Museum of Archaeology at Cambridge UK) and illustrations.
Cerro Jazmin and its changing regional context: building upon regional survey data (2015)
Current work at the Mixtec urban site of Cerro Jazmín stems from a regional survey of the Central Mixteca Alta led by Stephen Kowalewski. As we refine Cerro Jazmin’s chronology and know more about its history of occupation, we are building upon and sometimes correcting initial understandings of the site gained from that regional survey. We are able to contextualize the new information in relation to the entire Nochixtlan Valley and nearby areas thanks to the work and perspective offered by...
Cosmology, Calendars and Horizon-Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica (2015)
Cosmology, Calendars, and Horizon-Based Astronomy in Ancient Mesoamerica is an interdisciplinary tour de force that establishes the critical role astronomy played in the religious and civic lives of the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica. Providing extraordinary examples of how Precolumbian peoples merged ideas about the cosmos with those concerning calendar and astronomy, the volume showcases the value of detailed examinations of astronomical data for understanding ancient cultures. The volume...
El Chayal
Photos 2863-2881
Fashioning Meaning through Ceramic Candeleros in the Terminal Classic Naco Valley, Northwestern Honduras (2015)
Candeleros are simply made ceramic artifacts that consist of one or more cylindrical chambers that are usually circularly arranged and often show signs of burning. These objects are found widely across Mesoamerica though they are rare in most locales. The 100 km2 Naco Valley in northwestern Honduras diverges from this pattern in that: candeleros are frequently found in Terminal Classic (800-1000 CE) assemblages here; they vary in size from items containing a single chamber to others with upwards...
The Gilded Age in Eastern Yucatán, Mexico: the Age of Betrayal or the Rise of the Middle Class? (2015)
The social transformations produced by rapid industrialization and expansion of henequen production in the late nineteenth century in western Yucatan were not what happened in Maya-speaking communities further to the east. The Gilded Age in eastern Yucatan was attenuated because communities suffered the protracted aftershocks of the Caste War of Yucatan (1847-1901), which may have repressed wealth disparities instead of heightening them. In this paper, I examine the archaeology of haciendas and...
The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context: Case Studies in Residence and Vulnerability (2014)
In The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context, contributors reject the popularized link between societal collapse and drought in Maya civilization, arguing that a series of periodic "collapses," including the infamous Terminal Classic collapse (AD 750), were caused not solely by climate change-related droughts but by a combination of other social, political, and environmental factors. New and senior scholars of archaeology and environmental science explore the timing and intensity of droughts...
THE JEWELERS OF THE PALACE CRAFTING FOR THE GODS: THE LAPIDARY OBJECTS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE IMPERIAL TECHNOLOGICAL STYLE (2015)
After the defeat of Azcapotzalco in AD 1428, the rulers of Tenochtitlan employed different strategies to recreate and reinforce their identity during the Triple Alliance. One of them was the regional request of master artisans, called tolteca, for working at the Aztec capital. Some of these craftsmen and their workshops were located inside the palaces of the tlatoque. Among them were the jewelers that crafted sacred objects for the gods and prestige goods for the elites. The technological...
Kukulkcan's Realm: Urban Life at Ancient Mayapan (2014)
Kukulcan's Realm chronicles the fabric of socioeconomic relationships and religious practice that bound the Postclassic Maya city of Mayapán's urban residents together for nearly three centuries. Presenting results of ten years of household archaeology at the city, including field research and laboratory analysis, the book discusses the social, political, economic, and ideological makeup of this complex urban center. Masson and Peraza Lope's detailed overview provides evidence of a vibrant...
Las Limas
Photos 2653-2666
Learning heritage while teaching archaeology at Tahcabo, Yucatán: archaeologists’ perspectives on the opportunities and risks of local community engagement (2015)
While a great deal of archaeological research in the Maya area has been conducted with the interests of the academic community and tourism industry in mind, there are fewer examples of archaeology conducted with the needs of local "publics" foregrounded. We propose greater dialogue between archaeologists and the people who live near (and within) places where archaeologists conduct research, and consider the dissemination of archaeological information to communities involved in archaeological...
Maya Daykeeping: Three Calendars from Highland Guatemala (2009)
In Maya Daykeeping, three divinatory calendars from highland Guatemala - examples of a Mayan literary tradition that includes the Popul Vuh, Annals of the Cakchiquels, and the Titles of the Lords of Totonicapan - dating to 1685, 1722, and 1855, are transcribed in K'iche or Kaqchikel side-by-side with English translations. Calendars such as these continue to be the basis for prognostication, determining everything from the time for planting and harvest to foreshadowing illness and death. Good,...
Note on the Aboriginal Races of the North-Western Provinces of South America (1884)
This 1884 article by White refers to a strip of country about 600 miles in length and 250 miles in width on the west of the pacific ocean. The author describes his interpretation of the cultures and provides regional/locational differences. He also describes past and present burial rituals and techniques.
Obsidian Reflections: Symbolic Dimensions of Obsidian in Mesoamerica (2014)
Departing from the political economy perspective taken by the vast majority of volumes devoted to Mesoamerican obsidian, Obsidian Reflections is an examination of obsidian's sociocultural dimensions—particularly in regard to Mesoamerican world view, religion, and belief systems. Exploring the materiality of this volcanic glass rather than only its functionality, this book considers the interplay among people, obsidian, and meaning and how these relationships shaped patterns of procurement,...
A Prehistory of South America: Ancient Cultural Diversity on the Least Known Continent (2014)
A Prehistory of South America is an overview of the ancient and historic native cultures of the entire continent of South America based on the most recent archaeological investigations. This accessible, clearly written text is designed to engage undergraduate and beginning graduate students in anthropology. For more than 12,000 years, South American cultures ranged from mobile hunters and gatherers to rulers and residents of colossal cities. In the process, native South American societies...
Putting Archaeobotany Under the Microscope: A Case Study for Increased Use of Starch-Grain and Residue Analyses on the North Coast of Peru (2015)
Due to the arid environment and subsequent excellent preservation on the north coast of Peru, evidence obtained from macrobotanical remains here has been the primary sources of information on plant use. However, despite the richness of the macrobotanical record, the combination of arid conditions and the nature of many plants, such as potatoes and beans – which are consumed in their entirety – macrobotanical remains can only tell us so much. In this paper, we discuss some methodological issues...
Putting Archaeobotany Under the Microscope: A Case Study for Increased Use of Starch-Grain and Residue Analyses on the North Coast of Peru
Due to the arid environment and subsequent excellent preservation on the north coast of Peru, evidence obtained from macrobotanical remains here has been the primary sources of information on plant use. However, despite the richness of the macrobotanical record, the combination of arid conditions and the nature of many plants, such as potatoes and beans – which are consumed in their entirety – macrobotanical remains can only tell us so much. In this paper, we discuss some methodological issues...
Report of 2011 research at the Ceren site, El Salvador
The 2011 research at Ceren, El Salvador, focused on agriculture about 100 m south of the village architecture, and encountered surprising variation in maize and manioc cultivation. The serendipitous discovery of a Sacbe (ancient Maya roadway) was surprising and intriguing, as it is much wider and more formal than needed for purely practical-economic purposes.
Research on a Dog Burial from Rio Muerto, Peru (2015)
This poster presentation examines the place of the dog in the ancient Andean society of Tiwanaku. The mummified remains of a small dog were recovered from a domestic context at the Rio Muerto site, located in the Osmore River drainage of far southern Peru. Although dog burials in Peru are not unusual, they appear mostly in high-status contexts in art and in mortuary practice. Offerings of young camelids and dogs have been found buried beneath floors and entryways of houses at Rio Muerto M43 and...