Republic of Guatemala (Country) (Geographic Keyword)
2,476-2,500 (2,898 Records)
This is an abstract from the "2019 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of M. Steven Shackley" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. After c. 50 years of research using a diverse range of geochemical techniques, patterns of movement for obsidian in the Pacific region, dating from the Pleistocene up to the historic period, have been documented comprehensively. Although there are eight high quality obsidian sources, by far the largest quantity of...
The Sounds and Colors of Power: The Sacred Metallurgical Technology of Ancient West Mexico (2002)
This is a groundbreaking analysis of the relationship between culture and technology. Dorothy Hosler, an archaeologist, metallurgist, and anthropologist, shows how the methods of materials science, augmented by archaeological and other sources of data, can be used to illuminate historical puzzles such as the origins of the unique metallurgy developed in West Mexico between the seventh and sixteenth centuries. Hosler traces the roots of this technology to Central and South America and...
Sounds in context. Musical instruments from Teotihuacan. (2017)
In this paper we present the advances in the organological, acoustic and contextual analysis of musical instruments excavated by Dr. Linda Manzanilla in the sectors of Teopancazco, Oztoyahualco, Tunnels and Xalla, all of them located in the archaeological site of Teotihuacan. These instruments were part of a complex system of sound communication that often accompanied the rituals and daily activities. We propose some interpretations on the use of certain instruments and their relationship with...
The Soundscape inside the Ancient Ceren Sweat Bath (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Heat, Steam, and Health: The Archaeology of the Mesoamerican Pib Naah (Sweat Baths)" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ancient Ceren sweat bath was a communal facility of notable sophistication, especially for a commoner village. Household 2 supported its functioning with ollas full of water, pine kindling, and presumably structural maintenance. Loma Caldera’s phreatomagmatic eruption phases, with lava bombs, caused...
Soundscapes and Visionscapes: Investigating Ancient Maya Cities with GIS and 3D Modeling (2018)
Researchers have been applying Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to examine the roles of visibility and movement in archaeological landscapes around the world. However, few studies have investigated the role sound potentially played in structuring experience in ancient cities. To begin to fill this gap, this paper builds on our initial investigations to develop new geospatial and virtual reality (VR) methods to examine ancient acoustics. For the ancient Maya, sight and sound worked in...
Sourcing Obsidian in the Central Mesoamerican Region Using XRF Analysis (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Obsidian tools and flakes are commonly examined in sourcing studies in areas with abundant volcanogenic deposits. Obsidian provenance research in the central Mesoamerican region has shown extensive networks of obsidian trade during the Formative and Classic periods. In this study, we used portable XRF to analyze a previously unstudied collection of over...
Sourcing Preceramic obsidian from Las Estacas, Morelos, and Yuzanu 36, Oaxaca (2018)
Understanding of long-distance exchange during the Mesoamerican Preceramic suffers from a limited range of materials whose source locations can be determined relative to later periods. Obsidian is one of the few materials that can provide evidence for long-distance exchange through geochemical analysis, although relatively few sourcing studies have been carried out on Preceramic obsidian. In this paper, we report recent pXRF results from obsidian recovered at two Preceramic sites: Las Estacas,...
The South Gap Site: A 9,000-Year-Old Submerged Hunting Site in Lake Huron with Far Reaching Connections (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Liquid Landscapes: Recent Developments in Submerged Landscape Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The South Gap site is at a depth of 105 feet beneath Lake Huron on a submerged landscape referred to as the Alpena Amberly Ridge (AAR). Once exposed as dry land between 11,000 and 8000 cal BP, the AAR provided a causeway for migrating animals, such as caribou, to cross the Lake Huron basin. The landform also...
The Southern Deseado Massif (Patagonia, Argentina): Spatial Knowledge and Changes in its Use from the Pleistocene-Holocene Transition to the Late Holocene (2017)
The semiarid Southern Deseado Massif (SDM) is highly variable in geology, geomorphology and the spatial and temporal availability of water. To the south it transitions into open lowlands and basaltic plateaus dissected by canyons that extend to the Chico River. The La Gruta 1 rock shelter in the extreme south of the SDM has provided the oldest evidence of human logistic occupation in the area, with ages between ca. 12,800 and 12,000 cal yrBP, when conditions were wetter than today. Human use...
Southern Patagonia:coastal versus interior human migration (2017)
In spite of the ca. 14,000 Cal BP or more at 41º S, the oldest human occupations in southern Chile below 52º S are not easy to explain as a result of a Pacific coastal migration. The oldest Late Pleistocene occupations recorded at Ultima Esperanza and Tierra del Fuego are all focused on the exploitation of terrestrial resources and have ties with sites located in the eastern steppes, such as Fell Cave, Piedra Museo or Cerro Tres Tetas. The oldest maritime oriented human occupations of the...
Space is the place: integrating context through GIS and geophysical surveys at Santa Cruz de Tuti, Peru (2017)
The reducción of Santa Cruz de Tuti (AKA Espinar de Tuti) in the Colca Valley is a complex archaeological site in the high Andes with occupational phases representing the Inka, colonial, and republican periods. Multiple geophysical instrument surveys conducted during planning phases, as well as concurrently with a large-scale excavation program in 2016, provided critical information on site use and depositional environment. Spatial, pattern and visual analyses reveal how domestic, public, and...
Spanish Empire Dynamics, Early Globalization, and Copper Production in Early Colonial Mexico (1522–1648) (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Technological Transitions in Prehispanic and Colonial Metallurgy: Recent and Ongoing Research at the Archaeological Site of Jicalán Viejo, in Central Michoacán, West Mexico" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. When the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mesoamerica, they found a well-developed metallurgical tradition based on copper and copper-based alloys. With an increasing demand for copper and an almost complete lack of...
Spatial Analysis in Pre-Columbian Nicaragua (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 presents the result of a systematic spatial analysis of lithic and ceramic artifacts and how ratios thereof change over time in order to assess the applicability of the social-risk model originally proposed by Manuel Antonio Román Lacayo (2013) in explaining patterns of population aggregation observed during the Sapoá period (800-1350 CE) in...
A Spatial Analysis of Excavated Mortuary Features from La Playa, Sonora, Mexico (SON F:10:3) (2024)
This is an abstract from the "13,000 Years of Adaptation in the Sonoran Desert at La Playa, Sonora" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Covering an area of nearly 10 km2, La Playa (SON F:10:3) is one of the most important archaeological sites in northwest Mexico. Significantly, La Playa has one of the most extensive Early Agricultural period deposits in the Southwest United States/Northwest Mexico. It is also being impacted by severe sheet erosion that...
Spatial Analysis of Geoglyphs in the Sihuas Valley, Peru (2017)
Geoglyphs are large features frequently created by removing rocks and surface dirt in order to create a large scale designs. Although often studied in isolation, much can be learned from the position of geoglyphs relative to other features on the landscape. As part of the Quilcapampa Archaeological Project, a reconnaissance survey guided by remotely sensed imagery was performed in order to document and map geoglyph iconography found on the pampa of the Sihuas Valley, Peru. To date, over 100...
Spatial Analysis of Surface Locality 5 at Fin del Mundo, Sonora, Mexico (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Paleoindian presence south of the modern geo-political US-Mexico border is relatively poorly understood when compared to that of the rest of North America. A notable exception to this gap in knowledge surrounds the work at Fin del Mundo in Sonora, Mexico. This northern Mexican site is the subject of extensive survey and excavation, revealing the only known...
Spatial Analysis of the Preserved Wooden Architectural Remains of Eight Late Classic Maya Salt Works in Punta Ycacos Lagoon, Toledo District, Belize (2017)
In 2005, eight Late Classic Maya sites with the remains of wooden posts were found beneath the surface of Punta Ycacos Lagoon in southern Belize. The presence of briquetage on the surface and embedded among the clusters of wooden architectural features implies association with salt production activity. This research employed a rigorous field survey, combined with mapping, sampling, and building a GIS. Detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of wooden posts was conducted to determine if...
Spatial Association between Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Ahu and Freshwater Sources (2017)
The famous ahu and moai monuments of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) are features associated with multiple relatively small-scale communities distributed around the island. These communities are marked archaeologically by repeated sets of domestic architectural classes surrounding ceremonial features (i.e., ahu and moai) that potentially served to functionally integrate local populations. Described in this fashion, this settlement pattern offers the potential to explain the substantial...
The Spatial Distribution of Pleistocene Archaeological Sites and Paleoenvironmental Records across North America (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Research into the timing and process of human migration to North America at the end of the Pleistocene relies heavily on accurate paleoenvironmental reconstruction to understand habitable locations at the time. However, Pleistocene-aged archaeological sites in North America are rare, and specific paleoenvironmental information for these sites is often...
Spatial Roles in Cacaxtla: A Delineation from the Study of Its Architecture (2017)
The archaeological site of Cacaxtla, in the central highlands of Mexico, had its heyday during the Mesoamerican Epiclassic period. Its architectural characteristics define it as a place for residential and government activities, in contrast with the neighboring hill Xochitecatl, where constructions typify ritual purposes. Excavations were not accompanied by scientific studies of materials for the understanding of functions of rooms, porches, and courtyards that make up the site. Therefore, it is...
Spatiotemporal Analysis of Regional and Sub-regional Dog Size Data in Pre-Columbian North America (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Frontiers in Animal Management: Unconventional Species, New Methods, and Understudied Regions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent genetic research (Lethlohair et al. 2018) showed that dogs were introduced into North America over as many as four migration events. The first two were by Native Americans and the third and fourth by Europeans. In light of these findings, our research seeks to describe and explain the...
Spirit Possession in the Chesapeake (2018)
Proletarian drug foods north of the Caribbean in the Chesapeake area include spirits. Spirits include bourbon. Spirits include those of the dead, as well as the Holy Ghost. This paper attempts to introduce the concept of altered states of consciousness produced by both kinds of spirits. Can these be called proletariat drug foods? The purpose of this paper is to ask whether spirits of either kind so dull the senses that an acute perception of reality escapes the exploited or merely produces the...
Spondylus Shells in Pre-Columbian Copan: Their Religious and Economic Significance (2018)
This work offers a brief discussion on the importance of Spondylus princeps and Spondylus calcifer in the ceremonial, and economic life of ancient Copan. Archaeological contexts at the site indicate that the uses of Spondylus, either as non-worked valves, or finished artifacts was restricted to a small high-status sphere of Copan society. Additionally, contextual data indicate that the Spondylus was used in a least three ritual activities: as offering in burials; caches; and canceling of...
Spondylus, Mounds and Pyramids: An Approach to Social Changes in the Northern Andes of Ecuador during the Late Period (2017)
During the Pre-Columbian period, the northern Andes hosted an intense cultural interaction that led to the emergence of chiefdoms with diverse forms of political administration, power strategies, and economic integration. For the northern Andes of Ecuador, the archaeological research typically assumes a gradual development of the Cara people during the Late Period between 600 and 1525 AD. New archaeological evidence of social and natural events suggests a transitional stage between 900 and 1200...
The Spurious Claim of “Human Sacrifice” (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Misinformation and Misrepresentation Part 2: Reconsidering “Human Sacrifice,” Religion, Slavery, Modernity, and Other European-Derived Concepts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Almost without question, “human sacrifice” is held as a legitimate concept by archaeologists—and the public. The concept is widely employed to explain aspects of Mesoamerican behavior. In this presentation, I argue that human sacrifice was never...