Central America (Geographic Keyword)
176-200 (246 Records)
The objective of this research is to understand human adaptation and survival in a tropical forest environment that was buried through time by six volcanic eruptions. Through the use of remote sensing and GIS technology an ancient footpath network has been discovered that connects villages, cemeteries, springs, and other cultural features upon a forested landscape. A combination of aerial and satellite data was used to locate archeological features invisible to the human eye. This information...
Preliminary Findings at the Quebrada de Oro Ruins: Shining New Light on a Classic Maya Site We Thought We Knew (2017)
The Quebrada de Oro Ruins comprise the remains of one of four known Classic Maya centers located in Bladen Branch region of the Maya Mountains of southern Belize. Initially recorded in the 1970s, the site has not garnered much attention by archaeologists due to its remoteness. However, this has not deterred cartographers from noting it as a significant landmark or archaeologists from asserting that it played an important role in ancient times. This contrasts with the views of the few...
Preliminary Interpretations of the Reduction Technology and Distribution of Obsidian Cores at Caracol, Belize: Learning to Reconsider Maya "Eccentrics" and Social Relations of Ritual Objects. (2015)
To the uninitiated, Maya "eccentrics" are vague archaeological labels applied to flaked obsidian objects placed in ritual caches during the Classic Period (AD 250-800). Although an unclear label of humanoid, deity, animal-like, or other shaped objects, lithics analysts have tried to define eccentrics based on technological attributes enabling comparisons between contexts, sites, and regions. Those studies that reconstruct a complex chaîne opératoire demonstrate many eccentrics had a dynamic...
A Preliminary Isotopic Investigation into Ancient Maya Fish Trade (2016)
The ancient coastal Maya fished for food and trade to the heavily populated cities that lay many miles inland. At these inland cities, marine fish were an elite and symbolic product often included in burials and caches. Although the use of marine resources in both coastal and inland Maya communities has been well documented, actual fishing and trading practices are poorly understood. This paper explores the potential of using stable isotope analysis to answer questions related to the use and...
Preliminary Petrographic Analysis of Ceramics from the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Panama (2015)
Petrographic analysis of ceramic sherds can elucidate manufacturing techniques and exchange systems. We present the first mineralogical assessment via thin-section petrography of archeological ceramics collected from the Bocas del Toro province on the Caribbean coast of Panama. Examined sherds include surface finds collected from archaeological sites on Bastimentos Island and at Cerro Brujo on the mainland, and excavated samples from Sitio Drago, Isla Colon. Thin-section petrography of the...
The Production and Exchange of Early Postclassic Elite Wares in the Eastern Maya Lowlands (2015)
This paper investigates the role played by Marco Gonzalez in the production and exchange of elite wares, as represented by the Zakpah ceramics, during the Early Postclassic period. Located in Ambergris Caye off the coast of northern Belize, Marco Gonzalez was occupied continuously throughout the Classic to Postclassic transition, with strong Early Postclassic (ca. AD950/1000–1200/1250) evidence yielding one of the largest Zakpah ceramic assemblages alongside Lamanai. By using various...
Production and Intensification in Hinterland Communities (2017)
This study investigates the nature and intensity of ancient Maya household economies in northwestern Belize. The primary focus will be centered on investigative ways in which settlement pattern data offers insight to understanding production systems in hinterland communities. The preliminary patterned relationship that emerged among settlement features and land resources allowed for the interpretation of land management strategies and production systems implemented in different environment zones...
The Provenance and Technology of Paynes Creek Salt Works Pottery and Briquetage (2017)
The pottery recovered from Late Classic Maya salt works sites can reveal important information about both the production and distribution of this highly valued trade item. Determination of the geographic origin of the serving vessels and storage jars recovered from salt works, for example, provides direct evidence of trade connections to other areas, as well as the geographic extent of the exchange networks through which salt was distributed. From local perspective, the technological...
Proyecto Gran Canal: El patrimonio caribeño nicaraguense (cultural y arqueológico) en peligro. (2015)
Este tema estará referido a la preocupación de algunos investigadores, arqueólogos y antropólogos, nacionales y extranjeros, que trabajamos en la región caribeña de Nicaragua por las implicancias que tendrá la construcción del canal interoceánico en el caribe. Siendo que el área geográfica que se verá afectada posee en la actualidad un patrimonio vivo (comunidades originarias y étnicas) asentado en Punta de Aguila, lugar donde se pretende la construcción del principal puerto que dará inicio al...
Pueblos, Palenques, and Dual Organization in Sixteenth Century Costa Rica (2015)
Contact era Spanish descriptions from central Costa Rica through western Panama offer compelling evidence that many indigenous settlements throughout the region were arranged as two spatially discrete parts, implying that these societies were similarly organized as two social groups. Documentary sources further indicate that there were at least three regionally distinct spatial arrangements of villages. Spatial patterns of settlements recorded in these documents closely resemble those identified...
The Quest for Gold: An Examination of Socioeconomic Exchange and Autonomy in the Parita River Valley, Panama (2015)
Through the Parita Archaeological Research Project (PARP), we have investigated socioeconomic change in Central Region of Panama using several different scales of analysis. More specifically, we examined the relationship between episodes of social change and the following factors: sociopolitical organization, craft specialization and economic interdependence, and control and manipulation of trade goods, subsistence resources and ritual space. Despite the presence of some long-distance trade...
Quintessential Queen of Kaanul: K’abel of Waka’ in the age of empire. (2017)
Classic Maya civilization witnessed the reigns of many great queens, but the greatest in the southern lowlands was Kaloomte’ K’abel of Waka’. She presided over the routes of conquest in western Peten during the seventh century wars of Yuknoom Ch’een the Great. During her lifetime she and her consort King K’inich Bahlam turned the power of the ancient Wite’ Naah Fire Shrine, it’s Moon Goddess, its Death God Akan, and its other gods to the conquest and subjugation of Tikal. She and her city knew...
Rapid Survey, Salvage, and Mapping Using Drones in an Ancient Maya Landscape: New Settlement Revealed at the Crossroads of Saturday Creek, Belize (2015)
Saturday Creek is a sizeable Maya site center with an elite residence, three large pyramids, and two ballcourts. While much of the site core is in bush, most of the surrounding area has been cleared for agriculture. While the clearing makes for good visibility, the hinterland settlement has been subject to extensive bulldozing, repeated plowing, and removal of stone over the years, obscuring the smaller mounds and making it difficult to discern them on the ground. In less than two days, we flew...
(Re)Creating Monumental Space: The everyday use of plaza space at Aventura, Belize from the Terminal Classic to Late Postclassic (2017)
During the comprehensive survey of the Maya city of Aventura, Belize, the Aventura Archaeology Project (AAP) identified 29 structures located within the confines of the site’s largest monumental plaza, the A Plaza. While Maya plazas tend to be open places for ritual performance and/or market exchange, the structures in Aventura’s A Plaza, constructed with "seemingly" no regard to the orientation and layout of the site’s other monumental architecture, suggests the possibility of an alternative...
The Rebirth Of The Maize God: Contextualizing Burial 37 From El Perú-Waka’ (2015)
At the core of the ancient Maya site of El Perú-Waka’, Petén, Guatemala, an elaborate burial was discovered inside Structure M12-32 dated to around AD 600. The burial contained human remains of a ruler, who probably belonged to the centipede dynasty, known in the past as Wak. The diversity of artifacts placed with the ruler, including a greenstone mosaic, pyrite mirror, and an alabaster vessel, suggest not only that this person was wealthy, but also asserts the important influence of El Perú...
Reconsidering "sites," "features," and "landscapes" in the Maya Lowlands with remote sensing and ground-based survey (2017)
Etic distinctions between "sites" and "landscape features" and the limits of pedestrian survey have long influenced how scholars in the Maya lowlands model social and political dynamics of the region. The adoption of remote sensing technologies, particularly LiDAR, has improved our ability to identify anthropogenic features over wider areas. Yet remote sensing data collection remains centered on known "sites" and data serving to further expand the mapped boundaries of ancient "cities,"...
Records of Holocene Biomass Burning, Environmental Change, and Human Occupation in the Southern Maya Lowlands (2015)
Fire was arguably the primary tool used by the Maya to alter the landscape and extract resources. Opening of forest for agriculture, building, and extraction/production of construction material necessitated burning. While we understand the fundamental role of fire in Maya land use, there are very few records of prehispanic biomass burning from the Maya lowlands. Consequently, a limited understanding exists of natural fire regimes and patterns of anthropogenic burning in the tropical seasonally...
Refining Architectural Classifications of Preclassic Monumentality at Early Xunantunich, Belize (2017)
The site of Early Xunantunich in Belize provides us with a rare opportunity to conduct large scale investigations of Preclassic architecture due to its lack of Classic Period overburden. Since 2008, ongoing excavations at the site have yielded a wealth of information regarding Preclassic activities in the area. However, recent investigations of a monumental flat-topped platform at the site have illuminated issues with the ways in which we describe and classify these early structures. In this...
Regional Diversity and Population Migration of the Classic Maya: Stable Isotope Analysis of Individuals from the Holmul Region, Guatemala (2017)
Stable isotope analysis is a productive tool for understanding the migratory histories of past populations in various regions of the world, including the ancient Maya. This paper presents the strontium and oxygen isotopic ratio values of dental enamel samples as compared to the geographical location of burial to address questions of regional identity, population migration, and social complexity of the Maya at the archaeological site of Holmul and the nearby centers of La Suficaya, K’o, Cival,...
Resignification: Public Ritual and Changing Cultural Landscapes at Actuncan, Belize (2015)
Across the Maya Lowlands, dedication ritual served a vital role in endowing public and household spaces with meaning and function. Through ritual, structures acquired the soul-force, or k’ulel, necessary to sustain activity within their walls. However, many structures lived (at least) two ritual lives: one associated with their original intended function, and a second following the abandonment of their initial use. We argue that through ritual resignification the original meanings of public...
Rethinking Ceramics as Evidence of Regional Interaction (2016)
In Central America, recent research crosses national boundaries that once divided archaeological analyses, including by identifying historically related ceramics with regionalized names. This paper argues for using contemporary concepts that do not tie us to the culture historical approach, with its equivalences of a people, a material culture, a language, and an identity, to fully understand emerging data. Culture history worked as a preliminary step to clarify relations in areas like...
Retos de la conservación arqueológica: Una vista desde Copan (2015)
Varios proyectos en marcha de capacitación e intervención están contribuyendo a la creación de un programa de conservación de campo sostenible para la arqueología de Copan. La construcción de un nuevo laboratorio para la conservación de la escultura y oportunidades para participar en talleres para personal local están ayudando a reforzar la misión del Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia y las ONG en el resguardo y conservación de este Sitio de Patrimonio Mundial. En este esta...
A revised chronology of the southeastern Maya area: An evaluation of new and existing radiocarbon dates from the Preclassic to Postclassic period (2017)
The establishment and refinement of chronology is a critical issue in archaeological practice worldwide. In the archaeology of the southern Maya area, Inomata et al. (2014) have currently proposed a new revised chronology for Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala, especially for the Preclassic period, using several calibrated radiocarbon dates and Bayesian statistics. They also highlight a new interpretation of the social process in southern Maya area. However, the data set for the southeastern Maya area,...
Revisiting Bird Jaguar and the Sajal of the Yaxchilan Kingdom (2015)
In "A Forest of Kings," Linda Schele and David Freidel painted a vivid picture of the lives and relationships of kings, queens and courtiers expressed in images and texts from the Yaxchilan kingdom during the 7th and 8th centuries AD. In the 25 years since that volume’s publication, refinements in epigraphic readings and archaeological research in the rural hinterlands surrounding Yaxchilan and neighboring capitals have greatly enriched our understanding of the political world of the Western...
Ritualized Shatter: An Introduction of Obsidian to La Mipla, Belize (2015)
California State University, Los Angeles Archaeological Field Program in Central America conducted an investigation of a sinkhole containing a small grotto at the ancient Maya site of La Milpa, Belize in 2014. Excavation discovered that a rubble-cored platform had been built around the feature, formalizing the space and suggesting that it had functioned as a sacred landmark. During the excavations, a fairly dense concentration of sherds was encountered along with three dozen fragments of...