United Mexican States (Country) (Geographic Keyword)
2,176-2,200 (4,948 Records)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Ancient Maya settlement patterns and density have come into focus thanks to site survey and, more recently, extensive lidar mapping. Settlement density zones suggested by recent investigations in northwest Petén, Guatemala, allow for interpretation of areas of higher and lesser settlement density and the comparison of those groups between sites of...
Imperfect beeswax production in the land of honey—Yucatán, Mexico (2017)
Spanish encomenderos and friars demanded beeswax from their subjects in Yucatán, Mexico, during the early Colonial period. This wax was harvested from beehives infrequently used for wax production in pre-Hispanic times—instead the focus throughout the long history of beekeeping in the region was on honey. In fact, indigenous honeybees, from the genus Melipona, make an impure wax in low quantities, which would have made candle production difficult. These candles were important for Catholic...
The Imperial Stone Sculpture of Tenochtitlan: Changes and Organization (2018)
The rise of the Aztec Mexica Empire is well represented in the archaeological record,especially through the wide spread evidence of stone sculptures in the main Precinct of the imperial capital. In less two hundred year of history, the island became the principal producer of these artifacts. Its workshops created not only numerically more pieces, butalso monumental pieces and sculptures with complex iconography and new discourses. This paper will discuss the problem of using the term "Aztec" to...
Implementation of Pore-Space Surface Descriptors for the Characterization of Taphonomy and Pathological Changes on Temporal Bones (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Tzintzuntzan, Capital of the Tarascan Empire: New Perspectives" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This study describes the techniques developed to obtain a set of 2D/3D surface and volume descriptors from photogrammetry and tomography datasets that evaluate the pore space presented in a collection of temporal bones from Tzintzuntzan, Mexico. These methods could help to distinguish between taphonomy and pathological...
The Implements of the Blade House: The Function and Symbolic Significance of Laurel-Leaf Bifaces from Caves in Central Belize (2021)
This is an abstract from the "The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Indigenous Culture and Beyond" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Large, finely made laurel-leaf chert bifaces have been recovered from the ancient Maya cave sites of Actun Chapat, Actun Tunichil Mucnal, Actun Yaxteel Ahau, and Je’reftheel, which are located in central Belize. By considering these laurel-leaf bifaces from the perspectives of lithic raw material, production techniques,...
Implications for Spinning Thread in a Marketplace at the Classic Maya site of Xunantunich, Belize (2017)
The identification of marketplaces among the Classic Maya has contributed to more complex understandings of their economies, but scholars are still working to determine the fundamentals and variations of Maya marketplace exchange across time and space. Recent investigations at the Classic Maya site of Xunantunich, Belize recovered a small assemblage of spindle whorls from the site’s Lost Plaza, a posited marketplace. This the only example among the Classic Maya to directly connect the activity...
Implications of Integrative Science Approaches for Site Documentation at Bia Ogoi (2018)
Deep in the Washington Territory amongst American expansionism, one of the nation’s most devastating conflicts occurred. On the frigid morning of January 29th 1863, the California Volunteers under the command of Patrick Connor attacked the Shoshone village at Bia Ogoi in response to ongoing hostilities between whites and Native groups, resulting in the death of at least 250 Shoshone and 21 soldiers. Over the course of the past 150 years, extensive landscape modification has occurred from both...
Implications of the Spanish Colonization in the Evolution of Dental Morphological Structure in Maya Populations from Yucatan (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Approaches to Cultural and Biological Complexity in Mexico at the Time of Spanish Conquest" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Dental morphology among the Prehispanic Maya population has been characterized by a certain degree of stability. Isolation-by-distance models do not fit well into Mesoamerican populations, due to a relatively homogeneous dental structure. This was true also in the Yucatan peninsula, despite the...
The importance of updating information. The "Proyecto de Actualización y Digitalización de las Cédulas del Registro Público" (2017)
In 2010 the "Sistema Único de Registro de Monumentos y Zonas Arqueológicos e Históricos" was developed to face the need of having a modern and strong technological support capable to cover the legal, academic and institutional aspects that the Public Registry required as a fundamental area of the Institution. It has the duty to guarantee information for query and monitoring activities about federal and particular monuments involved in the system. Due to the vast universe of information which...
The Importance of Different Ontologies for Heritage Conservation in the Maya Area (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Heritage conservation has as one of its main objectives, the recovery of specific values defined on many occasions by restorers and trained professionals. However, these values might not be the same for everyone. How can restorers incorporate the different ontologies regarding heritage in their conservation treatments and policies? Through a case study of...
The Importance of Large-Scale Collaborative Lidar Research in the Maya Lowlands of Northern Peten (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Since 2009, lidar technology has been revolutionizing lowland Maya archaeology. Lidar data are most effective, however, when collected broadly and studied collaboratively. Recently, the Pacunam Lidar Initiative adopted this approach, uniting seven different research projects to analyze over 2100 km2 of forest cover of the Maya Biosphere Reserve in northern...
An Important Cave Skeletal Assemblage Sees the Light of Day: A Reanalysis of Dos Pilas (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Subterranean" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Petexbatun Regional Cave Survey, operating as a subproject of the Petexbatun Regional Archaeological Project from 1990 – 1993, was the largest Maya cave project ever conducted. Centered at the important site of Dos Pilas in the Department of Petén, Guatemala, the cave survey recovered a large and important human skeletal assemblage...
Importation, Distribution, and Crafting of Obsidian at Formative Etlatongo (2018)
The nature of the utilization of obsidian throughout Mesoamerica has long been a focus of study and topic of debate for many anthropologists. The history of lithic analysis has produced many assumptions and interpretations regarding exchange, use and control of this extremely important material. Obsidian itself, as an imported resource, might have had otherworldly properties that held a special place in the cosmological construction of the world for villagers in the Valley of Oaxaca. The power...
Imported Imperialism: The Impact, Aftermath, and Lasting Political Legacy of Teotihuacan in the Maya Lowlands (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Central Mexico after Teotihuacan: Everyday Life and the (Re)Making of Epiclassic Communities" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The nature of Teotihuacan influence in the Maya Area has been a topic of enduring controversy. A growing corpus of evidence indicates direct political intervention by Teotihuacan across the Maya Lowlands starting in 378 CE facilitated through links with the Mutal Dynasty of Tikal. Emulation was...
Improving Equity, Access, and Professionalism at Archaeological Field Schools through the Prevention and Reduction of Sexual Harassment and Assault (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. Research documents the prevalence of sexual harassment in higher education and archaeological learning and working environments. The harassed generally are those with little power: students, trainees, and early career professionals, particularly women, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC...
In Search of Hot (or Cool) Dates with Larry (2019)
This is an abstract from the "The Art and Archaeology of the West: Papers in Honor of Lawrence L. Loendorf" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Rowe’s research group at Texas A&M University changed their direction about three decades ago when they undertook to develop a method for dating rock paintings. The method is based on the use of plasma-chemical oxidation to gently, at low temperatures, convert to carbon dioxide the organic material that was...
In the Beginning: TVP and TMP -- Reflections on the Classic Teotihuacan Period Survey in the Teotihuacan Valley, 1962-1964 (2019)
This is an abstract from the "The Legacies of The Basin of Mexico: The Ecological Processes in the Evolution of a Civilization, Part 1" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In June 1960, Eric Wolf organized an NSF-sponsored conference of 11 American and Mexican archaeologists held at the University of Chicago to evaluate the status of previous anthropological studies focusing on the Basin of Mexico and to coordinate future research. This led to two...
In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king: Los Guachimontones, Jalisco (2017)
The site of Los Guachimontones was occupied from the late Middle Formative to the end of the Postclassic period. It had a bimodal history of occupation, with the first peak corresponding to the Late Formative period (100 B.C. – A.D. 200) and the second to the Late Postclassic (A.D. 1400-1600). It had an estimated population of 4000-6000 people in the Late Formative, when most of the public architecture was constructed. This makes it a very modest settlement in comparison to other Mesoamerican...
In the Land of the Codex-Style Ceramics: New Insights on Classic Maya Settlement Organization in Northern Petén, Guatemala (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Multidisciplinary Investigations in the Mirador Basin, Guatemala" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Since the archaeologist Michael Coe dubbed "Codex-style" ceramics to a group of polychrome vessels coming from northern Guatemala and southern Campeche, many scholars have given attention to study this pottery produced during the Late Classic period. However, little is still known about the archaeological context of...
In the Many Realms of John Pohl: An Introduction to a Double Symposium (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Bringing the Past to Life, Part 1: Papers in Honor of John M. D. Pohl" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This double symposium brings together a select group of archaeologists, ethnohistorians, museum professionals, and social justice advocates who have either collaborated with John M. D. Pohl directly or took inspiration from his remarkable half-century career. A trailblazer in the study of Mixtec, Nahua, and Zapotec...
In the Path of the Snake: Connecting Myth and Material Culture in the Late Prehistory of Champotón, Campeche (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Tales of the Feathered Serpent: Refining Our Understanding of an Enigmatic Mesoamerican Being" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The personage and deity of Kukulkan/Quetzalcoatl plays a central role in indigenous historical accounts regarding the prehispanic city of Chakanputun (Champotón). However, extensive disturbances resulting from continuous occupation of Champotón from the Preclassic period into modern times has...
In the Realm of Lady Six Sky: The Place of Ikil in the Late-Terminal Classic Itza Landscape (2017)
Due to the proximity, contemporaneity, and some architectural and ceramic similarities with Chichén Itzá and Yaxuna, Ikil provides an important opportunity to understand the political and socioeconomic integration present in the Late-Terminal Classic in the region southwest of Chichén Itzá, as the seat of regional power was transferred from Yaxuná to Chichen Itzá. The Proyecto de Interacción Pólitica del Centro de Yucatán (PIPCY) has been investigating the site of Ikil since 2008. Ikil was...
In the Wake of Collapse: Eastern Mesoamerican Body Modifications and Identities during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries CE (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Movement of People and Ideas in Eastern Mesoamerica during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries CE: A Multidisciplinary Approach Part II" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Most Eastern Mesoamerican populations are known for their remarkable diversity and sophistication in dental works and head shaping procedures during the Classic period. Here, these permanently inscribed body modifications have come to light in thousands...
In Transition: The Collections and Veterans of the VCP (2023)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Pre-Recorded Video Presentation Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. The Veterans Curation Program (VCP) is both a temporary employment program for veterans and an interim repository for archaeological collections while they undergo rehabilitation. During each session, veteran technicians help care for at-risk artifact and associated archival collections from the U....
INAH´s Paleontological Council and Its Role in Preserving the Mexican Heritage (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH by its Spanish initials) is the federal institution dealing with the research, preservation, and protection of the historical, archaeological, and paleontological heritage from México. Although historical and archaeological heritage has already been under care for more than 40 years, it was not until...