Mesoamerica (Geographic Keyword)
1,101-1,125 (2,459 Records)
This is an abstract from the "Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Subterranean" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. From 2008-2010, California State University, Los Angeles, working under the Western Belize Regional Cave Project directed by Jaime Awe, investigated Midnight Terror Cave (MTC) in the Cayo District of Belize. At present, MTC is best known for its large human osteological assemblage of over 10,000 bones, which is well documented in the...
Into the Unknown: The Uaymil Survey Project 1972 - 1976 (2015)
As his first major project following his dissertation research on the Central Acropolis at Tikal, Peter Harrison chose a challenging topic: a site reconnaissance and survey in the recently accessible territory of south-central Quintana Roo. In this paper I will discuss the genesis of the project, the challenges of fieldwork in this at that time remote region, and the results of this reconnaissance and survey. I will place the project in the context of the often tumultuous debates, and new...
Intra-and-inter Regional Variation of Dental Modification and Social Complexity: a Test Case from the Lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca (2015)
Dental modifications are symbolic representations permanently etched into human dentition that can have different cultural interpretations. Often done for aesthetic purposes, these modifications may reflect status, represent social inclusion or exclusion, or display regional variation. Bioarchaeological analysis of skeletons from three sites (Yugüe, Loma Don Genaro, and Río Viejo) from the Lower Río Verde Region of Oaxaca, Mexico (100 CE-800 CE) shows an increase in the frequency of dental...
Intra-Urban Exchange of Teotihuacan: Evidence from Mold-Made Figurines. in Models and Methods In Regional Exchange (1980)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
An Intracoastal Waterway and Port System in Classic Period Northwest Yucatán, Mexico (2015)
Archaeological and historical research along the northwest coast of the Yucatán peninsula during the last half century have led to a preliminary reconstruction of a 200 km-long navigable intracoastal waterway between the Celestun estuary and Dzilám de Bravo during the Classic period. Along this waterway are remains of settlements, ports, and port complexes that supported an extensive trade network that connected northern Yucatan to more distant trade networks to the south, via the coast of...
An Intracoastal Waterway and Trading Port System in Prehispanic Northwest Yucatán, Mexico (2016)
Archaeological and historical research along the northwest coast of the Yucatán peninsula during the last half century have led to a preliminary reconstruction of a 200 km-long navigable intracoastal waterway between the Celestun estuary and Dzilám de Bravo during the Classic period. Along this waterway are remains of settlements, ports, and port complexes that supported an extensive trade network that connected northern Yucatan to more distant trade networks to the south, via the coast of...
Intraregional Variation in the Obsidian Industry of the Eastern Lower Papaloapan Basin of Mexico (2017)
The Tres Zapotes regional systematic survey, conducted from 2014-2016, yielded an obsidian assemblage spanning across the Formative and into a Postclassic occupation. Furthermore, similarities and differences in technology and sources utilized were observed within the RRATZ assemblage, facilitating an examination into the intraregional variation in obsidian artifact production and use. In addition, one unusual artifact type was recovered that may reflect specialized scraping activities and that...
Introducing the Vibrancy of Ruins in Ancient Mesoamerica (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Vibrancy of Ruins: Ruination Studies in Ancient Mesoamerica" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper introduces the session by discussing recent ideas advanced by ruination studies and the material turn, as well as the role of ruins in Mesoamerican communities. Combining concepts from ruination studies and the “New Materialist” perspective helps us to understand ancient communities as formed by assemblages of...
Introduction to Research at Naachtun: Archaeological and Paleoenvironmental Issues (2016)
The maya site of Naachtun is an important regional center of the Classic period, located in northeastern Peten. Founded after the decline of the Preclassic Centers of the Mirador Region, Naachtun is occupied roughly during a millenary until its abandonment (ca. AD 950). This site, settled on the margins of a huge bajo, is a good case study to understand strategies of resources management (water supply, soils, wood, fauna, and shells among others). All are available in its immediate vicinity, but...
Introduction to the 1995 Field Season (1995)
Our Goals are to examine the site of Blue Creek to better understand the political and economic interaction between the Maya of the Coastal Belize Zone and those of the Eastern Peten Zone. In addition, we view the Blue Creek project as an opportunity to undertake a comprehensive, integrated community study.
An Introduction to the Ceramics of Tres Zapotes, Veracruz, Mexico (1943)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Introduction to the Matacanela Archaeological Project: Collapse and Political Reorganization in a Lowland Mesoamerican Society (2015)
The Matacanela Archaeological Project is a two season effort to more fully understand the transformation of lowland Mesoamerican society at the end of the Classic period. Our particular focus is Classic collapse and Postclassic reorganization in the Tuxtla Mountains of the southern Gulf lowlands. Like other lowland regions (e.g., the southern Maya lowlands) that experienced political decentralization, demographic upheaval, environmental, and climatic change, collapse was not complete or...
Introduction: a Prologue To Classic Maya Culture and the Problem of Its Collapse. In: the Classic Maya Collapse (1973)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Introduction: Why Social Archaeology Matters (2016)
Almost 25 years ago, Elizabeth Brumfiel (1992) argued that ecosystems approaches to archaeology hampered our understanding of social change by neglecting the internal dynamics, conflicts, and negotiations that arise from gender, class, and factional affiliations. Rather than adaptive systems, Brumfiel (1992:559) argued that "cultural systems are contingent and negotiated, the composite outcome of strategy, counterstrategy, and the unforeseen consequences of human action." Human agency is now...
Invertebrate Zooarchaeology of Marco Gonzalez, Belize as One Aspect of an Investigation of Trade and Environment (2015)
The zooarchaeological remains associated with ancient coastal communities are an important source of information on how past societies used their natural resources. They reflect people’s interaction with their environment and can yield information on how these interactions affected culture, economy and—not least—the ecology of such areas. The research presented here is an analysis of large invertebrate remains, primarily conch but also other large mollusks found at the ancient Maya site of Marco...
Investigaciones arqueológicas en la Sierra Norte de Oaxaca: El sitio de San Pedro Nexicho (2017)
Recientes hallazgos etnohistóricos sobre San Pedro Nexicho, Santa Catarina Ixtepeji, realizados por científicos de la Fundación Alfredo Harp Helú de Oaxaca, abrieron la posibilidad de excavar el asentamiento Clásico-Postclásico-Colonial Temprano, mismo que representa el primer ejemplo de un sitio serrano del que se obtienen datos de contextos controlados. La problemática de destrucción y saqueo a la que se ha enfrentado por generaciones este sitio, nos permitió explorar tumbas en contextos...
Investigating Ancient Beverages from Cerro Maya, Belize through Chemical Residue Analysis. (2015)
Ceremonial vessels used by the ancient Maya are common archaeological findings, and are thought to have contained beverages made from cacao, maize and other plants of ritual and economic importance. Increasingly, methods of chemical analysis able to detect trace levels of organic compounds are being applied to the investigation of these artifacts. Two whole pottery vessels from the site of Cerro Maya, Belize were selected from the collection at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the...
Investigating Ancient Foodways in the Copan Valley: Macrobotanicals from Late Classic, Terminal Classic, and Postclassic Middens in the Río Amarillo East Pocket (2017)
In this paper, the analysis of macroremain samples from household contexts in the Río Amarillo East Pocket will be discussed. The analysis of these samples is part of a larger project to define the use of the environment by ancient inhabitants of the valley. Following upon the efforts of earlier projects such as PAC I and PAC II, we plan to assess macroremains from a diversity of groups and time periods to illuminate ancient consumption patterns. Hopefully, this data will increase our...
Investigating Landscapes in the Maya Lowlands: Integrating Geospatial and Environmental Sciences to Identify Archaeological Features in Northwestern Belize (2015)
Satellite imagery and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are invaluable noninvasive archaeological tools. The combination of remotely sensed datasets with GIS, geomorphological and ecological factors, and environmental variables associated with known archaeological features can produce a multivariate statistical predictive model. The authors will test the utility of integrating high resolution multispectral satellite imagery, lower resolution multitemporal satellite imagery, georeferenced...
Investigating Seasonality of Fishing, and trade during the Maya Postclassic, with otoliths thin-sections from the inland site of Mayapan. (2017)
This paper will offer preliminary results of fish otolith thin-section growth ring analysis from the Postclassic archaeological site of Mayapan, Yucatan, Mexico. This study offers the first use of otoliths for investigating seasonality of the fish trade in the Yucatan, utilizing perhaps the largest collection of otoliths from an inland site in the Maya world. Data on seasonality, age, and size of several fish species are presented, and discussed in the context of trade ethnohistory, ecology,...
Investigating the Development of Social Inequality through Preclassic-Period Maya Household Ritual (2015)
In this paper we will discuss how ritual activities in both emergent elite and commoner Maya households contributed to the development of social complexity and hierarchy during the Preclassic period at the site of Holtun, Guatemala. Our working hypothesis at the site is that while certain households successfully manipulated traditional ritual practices and symbols related to political and religious authority, all households would have contributed to the cultural milieu in which the dominant...
Investigating the Presence of Neighborhoods in Classic Maya Dispersed Settlement Patterns (2017)
Classic Maya settlement patterns can be characterized as dispersed or ‘low density’. Yet among the dispersed house groups scattered across the landscape, patterns of residential clustering can often be discerned. These settlement clusters likely resulted from an array of different forms of interaction which collectively acted as centripetal forces bringing people together. For this reason, Maya residential clusters probably represent extended corporate groups or neighborhoods. Unlike their...
Investigations at the Site of Dos Hombres and its Hinterlands: A Multiscale Perspective of Ongoing Investigations (2016)
Ongoing investigations at the site of Dos Hombres are being conducted towards a multiscale perspective. Investigations in the hinterlands of Dos Hombres have revealed much about household and community organization there based on architectural, material culture, and water management feature remains. Evidence in the civic ceremonial center of Dos Hombres is being gathered towards a greater understanding of its role economically in the region, its occupation history, and socio-political...
Investigations of a Preclassic E Group at Las Ruinas de Arenal, Belize (2021)
This is an abstract from the "The Preclassic Landscape in the Mopan Valley, Belize" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Mopan Valley Preclassic Project began a multiyear project at Las Ruinas de Arenal as part of a larger regional study of the Preclassic social and political landscape in the upper Belize River valley. New excavations of the site’s E Group complex and associated ball court have shed light on Preclassic ritual behavior at the site....
Investigations of Late Classic Maya Lithic Workshops and Change in Mode of Production (1988)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.