Mesoamerica (Geographic Keyword)
1,226-1,250 (2,459 Records)
Uxbenká, an Early Classic to Late Classic period Maya polity, is the most extensively excavated site in southern Belize. Recent ceramic analyses have succeeded in refining our understanding of the extent and duration of occupation at Uxbenká as well as its position in regional interaction spheres. Like other sites in the Maya Lowlands, we know very little about household ceramic production due to the lack of workshops and tools, probable seasonal production resulting in low volumes of finished...
Late Classic Maya Bone Tool Production and Use at Ucanal, Guatemala (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances in Zooarchaeological Methods" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Bone tool workshops are rare in Mesoamerica, but both finished products and debitage suggest that human bones (includes images) were used alongside whitetail deer, turkey, and other species to produce tools such as needles and awls, as well as ornaments. The debris of Late Classic bone production was recovered from the Maya site of Ucanal,...
Late Classic to Terminal Classic Maya Transitions: Modeling from NW Belize (2016)
The Late Classic (AD 600-800) to Terminal Classic (AD 800-900) of NW Belize reveals a change in material culture, settlements, and social-political manifestations. Detailed here are some of the changes observed for the transition from the Late Classic to the Terminal Classic. Changes in material culture are described as are apparent choices in settlement locales between the two temporal phases. The interplay between material culture, settlements, and social-political organization are posited...
Late Formative Obsidian Procurement in Xochitecatl-Cacaxtla (2017)
This study inquires into the obsidian commercial networks of Late Formative in the site of Xochitecatl-Cacaxtla employing an analysis of pXRF on 102 pieces of obsidian artifacts. In addition, we performed a technological approach of the material recovered from ceremonial and domestic contexts in order to know in which stage of the process did it arrive. With this, we intent to know how each source was represented throughout the site, revealing the internal maneuvers used by two different...
Late Formative Through Early Classic Occupation History in Eastern Soconusco (2017)
Deposits in the mangrove zone south of Izapa have abundant debris from salt and ceramic production, consistent with pyro-industrial specialization based on fuel wood and other resources. These archaeological deposits are also relatively intact, and thus they offer the opportunity to test hypotheses about demographic trends derived from more chronologically ambiguous deposits of the coastal plain and piedmont. A regional demographic bottleneck has been suggested for the Early Classic, when survey...
A Late Holocene Environmental Reconstruction from a Wetland in the Northern Holmul Region: Preliminary Results from Laguna Ek’Naab, Peten, Guatemala (2015)
Environmental change, caused by either human activity or climate variability, has been posited as a contributing factor in causing widespread demographic shifts in the southern Maya lowlands at the end of the Preclassic and Classic periods. Here we present preliminary results of analyses examining environmental change during and after the period of Pre-Columbian Maya settlement. Environmental reconstructions are based on a multi-proxy approach, including pollen, macroscopic charcoal, stable...
The Late Pleistocene Fauna of Hoyo Negro (2015)
The fauna from Hoyo Negro Cenote preserves a diverse fauna represented by a large amount of bones from both human and animals. To date eleven species of extinct and extant animals have been identified. Extinct animals include the highland gomphothere (Cuvieronius tropicalis), two species of giant ground sloth (the Shasta ground sloth Nothrotheriops shastensis and a previously unknown member of the Megalonychidae), and the sabertooth cat (Smilodon fatalis). Modern species, include taxa that...
Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene Archaeozoology and Paleontology at the Basin of Mexico: A Reappraisal 40 Years after Early Views (2019)
This is an abstract from the "The Legacies of The Basin of Mexico: The Ecological Processes in the Evolution of a Civilization, Part 2" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Back in 1970s, a great effort was undertaken to synthethize the knowledge of human and environmental relationships in the Basin of Mexico, which could be extended to at least 24,000 years BP. Since then, further studies were warranted after initial results and research has been...
Late Preclassic Maya Agriculture and Wild Plant Utilization at Cerros, Northern Belize (1982)
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.
Late to Terminal Classic Changes in Architecture and Caching Patterns at Structure N10-15 in the N10[3] Palace Group at Lamanai, Belize (2017)
The Maya site of Lamanai in northern Belize exemplifies one of the longer occupation spans in the Maya Lowlands—continuously inhabited from the Preclassic (ca. 1500 B.C.) through the Spanish and British colonial periods (post A.D. 1540). The N10[3] architectural group (Ottawa), located in the Central Precinct of Lamanai, has been interpreted as a palace group of significance due to its lengthy occupation span and its location adjacent to two important ceremonial plaza groups. During the Late to...
Late to Terminal Classic Period Obsidian Exchange and Regional Interaction in the Belize Valley (2015)
The ancient Maya employed a diverse set of economic strategies to access raw materials and finished products. In the Belize Valley, long-distance exchange of obsidian integrated sites into larger local and regional economic systems during the Classic period. We present the results of geochemical sourcing of obsidian artifacts using portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) from Late Classic to Terminal Classic period (ca. AD 600-900/1000) contexts at the sites of Cahal Pech, Baking Pot, and Lower Dover...
Latin America’s New White Elephant: Museums and Exhibits of Pre-Hispanic Material Culture in the Post-Industrial City. (2016)
The “Bilbao effect,” or “Guggenheim effect” as it is also known, posits that spectacular architecture designed by star architects can help renew a city’s cultural sector and turn around a languishing economy. Many world museums in post-industrial cities have tried, with varying degrees of success, to reproduce the model implemented in Bilbao. In this talk we will explore how a focus on “wow-factor” architecture has transformed museums in Latin America, and in particular how this approach has...
Lead (Pb) Isotope Analysis as a Means of Tracking Animal Migration and Trade in Mesoamerica (2017)
This study examines the first use of lead (Pb) isotope analysis as a means of tracking animal movement and exchange in the Maya area. Strontium and oxygen isotope ratios have been previously used to track animal and human movements archaeologically in Mesoamerica. Lead has been used to track movement and exchange in other parts of the world, and its application to Mesoamerican archaeology holds great potential for refining sourcing strategies. This study identifies local and non-local fauna at...
Lead and strontium isotopes to source ceramics in ancient Mexico (2016)
Recent study showed that lead isotope analysis constitutes an efficient tool to discriminate between ceramics from different origins and can be used to trace pottery provenance in the Eastern Mediterranean (Renson et al. 2011 [Archaeometry 53] 37-57, Renson et al. [Archaeometry] in press). We are now applying this approach to Olmec-style pottery from Mexico. In this study, we analyzed lead and strontium isotopes of fragments from various Olmec-style ceramic wares excavated at San Lorenzo,...
Learning from the past about the present and for the future (2015)
This paper argues that we would massively increase the value of our archaeological understanding of the past for the present if we cast it differently. Rather than use a reductionist, 'ex-post' approach (which explains the present by invoking the past, looking for origins), we should be using an "ex ante" approach that looks at the emergence of change, allowing us to learn from the past about the present and for the future. The paper first briefly summarizes some of the difficulties encountered...
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...
The Legacy of a Tlamatini: H.B. Nicholson's Mesoamerican Archive (2017)
H.B. Nicholson was considered the Tlamatini of Aztec studies. He was also known as a warm and generous professor who dedicated his life to the study of Mesoamerican cultures. His legacy is highlighted by his remarkable collection of articles, books, photographs, and slides acquired over more than five decades. After his death in 2007, Nicholson’s family donated his entire private collection of books, articles, slides, and photographs to the University of California, Los Angeles. Five years ago,...
Legal premises involved in the archaeological registry (2017)
The paper we present reveals the legal basis of the Mexican cultural heritage public registry and the consequences of the relation it sustain with it´s statements and academic interests involved in the description of archaeological materials. Accordingly, the real work begins of typology, chronology and cultural classification, associated with the sites and related archaeological materials, as well as, its preservation status. All this information is stored, organized and published, in a...
Leporids and Landscapes: Stable Isotope Ratios of Rabbit and Hare Bones Reflect Local Environmental Conditions at Modern and Archaeological Sites (2015)
This study investigates the utility of stable isotope analysis (δ13C apatite, δ18O apatite, δ13C collagen and δ15N collagen) of leporid (rabbit and hare) bones to monitor the environmental conditions in which the animals lived. Since leporids were one of the most commonly consumed vertebrates in the pre-Hispanic New World, their skeletal remains are frequently found at archaeological sites. The relatively small home ranges and short lifespans of leporids, moreover, make them an ideal species to...
Lessons That Can’t Be Taught: Applying Anthropology in Honduras and Beyond (2019)
This is an abstract from the "I Love Sherds and Parasites: A Festschrift in Honor of Pat Urban and Ed Schortman" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. After participating in the Kenyon-Honduras Program as a volunteer in the spring of 2004, I decided to apply to Master’s programs in anthropology, and I used the word "applied" to describe my experience in Honduras. Pat gently pointed out that their research was not technically "applied archaeology," since...
Level Forms Terrace O8 (2015)
This pdf file contains all of the level forms for Terrace O8, which were excavated in January of 2015.
Level Forms Terrace S19 (2010)
This .pdf file contains all of the level forms for the excavations conducted on Terrace S19, on Cerro Danush in Oaxaca, Mexico. Excavations took place between August and November of 2009. The first two pages show the grid system and the level forms are organized by northing and easting. Please see the project report for 2010 for more information.
Level Forms Terrace S25 (2015)
This .pdf file contains the level forms for the 2m x 2m units excavated on Terrace S25 of Cerro Danush in Oaxaca Mexico. This fieldwork was conducted between January of 2015 and June of 2015. The first page contains the grid system used to determine the unit northing and easting. For more information, please see the Project Report for 2015.
Leveraging Power: Stonecarvers and Architectural Sculpture Production in the Copan Region (2017)
The abundance and diversity of monumental art, architecture and hieroglyphic texts at sites outside the Principal Group in the Copan Valley, and into the hinterlands, illuminate the timing and intent of regal investiture of authority in elites considered important to the stability of the kingdom. The consistent use of two imagery programs in architecture, and the linking of one of those programs with textual confirmation of membership in the royal court, reveal two strategies for leveraging the...
Liberty on the periphery: How Actuncan, Belize escaped the Classic Maya collapse (for a time) (2015)
In recent years, scholars working in the Classic period Maya periphery questioned traditional narratives of the 9th century Maya collapse by pointing to settlements along the periphery of the lowlands that appear to have maintained relative cultural and demographic stability. However, this generalization obscures dramatic sociopolitical changes these communities implemented to remain successful through the collapse. In this paper, I argue that populations on the periphery relied on a locally...