Mesoamerica (Geographic Keyword)
651-675 (2,459 Records)
Research on the site of Kiuic, in the Puuc region of the Yucatán Peninsula, has recovered evidence of a long and continuous period of building activity that dates from approximately 700 B.C. to A.D. 900. The construction sequence of Structure N1065E1025, a nine meter temple-pyramid located at the center of the site, evidences episodic changes that transformed the building from a raised platform in the Middle Preclassic to the center of a royal court in the Late Classic and finally a ceremonial...
Dissertation - Community Identity and Social Practice during the Terminal Classic Period at Actuncan, Belize (2015)
This research examines the relationship between the ways in which urban families engaged local landscapes and the development of shared identities at the prehispanic Maya city of Actuncan, Belize. Such shared identities would have created deep historical ties to specific urbanized spaces, which enabled and constrained political expansion during the Terminal Classic period (ca. A.D. 800–900), a time when the city experienced rapid population growth as surrounding centers declined. This research...
Distribución temporal de la cerámica teotihuacana en el valle intermontano de Maltrata, Veracruz (2015)
Entre Teotihuacán y la Costa del Golfo, bajando el Altiplano Central y el valle Puebla-Tlaxcala, existe un pequeño valle enclavado en la Sierra Madre Oriental, habitado desde el 800 aC hasta la actualidad. Su ubicación geográfica permitió formar parte de una ruta de tránsito, comunicación e intercambio, entrelazando la Costa del Golfo de México y el Altiplano Central, permitiendo la interacción entre grupos olmecas, zapotecos, teotihuacanos, mixteco-poblanos, aztecas y habitantes locales,...
The Distribution of Early Ceremonial Complexes beyond the Maya and Olmec Areas Examined through the Analysis of Low-Resolution Lidar Data (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent work by the Middle Usumacinta Archaeological Project (MUAP) identified over 400 standardized ceremonial complexes within the Maya and Olmec areas dating to the Middle Preclassic period (1050–400 BC). According to this research, the spread and development of these centers likely resulted from intensive interregional interaction. This paper builds on...
Distribution of Organic Residues in a Pottery Vessel from Cerro Maya, Belize (2016)
A reconstructed pottery cooking vessel dating to the Late Preclassic period from the ancient Maya site of Cerro Maya, Belize was sampled for absorbed organic residues. Samples were taken from multiple locations to look for differences in their distribution. Three interior regions –rim, mid-body and base—were sampled along with one from an exterior basal location as a control to evaluate for possible contaminants. Samples were processed using a high pressure liquid extraction technique for...
Diversity and Divergence of Classic Maya Ritual Traditions: A Lexical Perspective on Within-Group Cultural Variation (2016)
To study the Classic Maya is to at once recognize the shared material representations and practices that give coherence to this cultural category as a unit of analysis, as well as to critically examine the diversity and idiosyncrasy of specific cultural traits. Maya hieroglyphic writing, in particular the tradition of inscribing texts and images on carved stone monuments, offers evidence for widespread and mutually intelligible cultural practices that were neither unchanging nor uniform in their...
Diversity of Wetland Form, Historical Ecology, and Human Use in the Maya Lowlands: The View from the Yalahau Wetlands (2015)
Two major freshwater wetland systems of the eastern Maya Lowlands are the riverine-associated wetlands around the New and Hondo Rivers of northern Belize, and the wetlands of the Yalahau region of northern Quintana Roo, Mexico, which are found in karstic depressions associated with the Holbox fracture zone. Both of these wetland systems are linked directly to the freshwater aquifers of the respective regions. In northern Belize the nature and timing of ancient Maya manipulation of the wetlands...
Divine Hands: The Teotihuacan Great Goddess (2016)
Teotihuacan was the painted city. A key iconographic motif in the murals of residential compounds, such as Tetitla, is the Great Goddess, often shown in the act of hand-scattering. A variety of substances such as grain, liquids, and precious, green stones are pictured falling from the Goddess' open palm. The extensive corpus of representations of the goddess' hand-scattering identifies the hand, and in particular the female hand, as a locus for divinity. The suggestion that the agency of the...
Divinos Señores de El Tajín, política e ideología en el Epiclásico local (ca. 800-1100 d.C.) (2016)
Los resultados derivados de nuestras investigaciones en el conjunto arquitectónico del Edificio de las Columnas, el emplazamiento por excelencia de las actividades de la elite en el Epiclásico local, han sido de enorme valor para enfocar de mejor manera el estudio de las características culturales del último florecimiento de la civilización de El Tajín. La ponencia muestra una serie de hallazgos efectuados en el curso de nuestras más recientes excavaciones en un intento por explorar la ideología...
Documentando la Destrucción de Montículos con Detección Remota (2017)
En 1965 Michael Coe opinó que el sur de Veracruz constituía una de las zonas arqueológicas más ricas del mundo, en donde se podía manejar por 11 km en el camino entre Ángel R. Cabada y Lerdo de Tejada "y nunca dejar de ver montículos." A partir de 2014 el proyecto RRATZ ha documentado numerosos asentamientos y elementos arquitectónicos en esta región, La configuración actual de los asentamientos, incluyendo aquellas cuestiones específicas como dimensiones, orientación, número y disposición de...
Documenting Classic Maya Urban Landscapes: Comparing and Integrating the Results of LiDAR and Topographic Survey at El Perú-Waka’, Petén, Guatemala (2017)
Hidden by the dense forest canopy of the Petén, the size, shape and form of Classic Maya cities have remained difficult for archaeologists to document in their entirety. In recent years, however, the application of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technologies have enabled the rapid acquisition of topographic data for large swaths of the Maya lowlands. These previous investigations, primarily in Belize, Mexico, and Honduras, demonstrate, however, that the quality and required steps in...
Does Size Matter? Comparing Cave Size to Degree of Modification Outside their Entrances (2016)
Over the past three years, investigations of over fifty ritual cave sites across the country of Belize by the Las Cuevas Archaeological Reconnaissance Project and the Belize Cave Research Project have yielded surprising findings: at least nine of the caves have modifications or construction directly outside of the entrances. These modifications took place for the first and only time during the Late Classic, a centuries-long period characterized by droughts, overpopulation, the failure of Maya...
Domestic Production and Use of Mold-made Whistles and Figurines in Late Classic Oaxaca, Mexico (2017)
Mold-made ceramic figurines and whistles are a common component of Late Classic assemblages in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, yet little is known about their ceremonial significance or context of use. Our excavation of an elite residential complex at the site of Dainzú-Macuilxóchitl yielded nearly 5,000 fragments of these ritual objects, the majority from midden deposits associated with an open stone platform that likely served as a ceremonial space for the residents. A small ceramic kiln located...
Domesticated Huauhtzontli (Chenopodium berlandieri Moq. ssp nuttalliae [Safford] Wilson & Heiser) in prehispanic and modern México (2017)
Huauhtzontli, a cultivated chenopod widely distributed in the central highlands of Mexico, is generally believed to have been domesticated in prehispanic times. However, neither the timing nor the area of domestication have been clearly established. Morphometric analyses of modern fruits of the central Mexican subspecies of Chenopodium berlandieri and revision of archaeological specimens recovered from various excavations in the region suggest that domesticated fruits were not predominant,...
Don Pablo, Cha Chaak Ceremonies, and Archaeological Interpretation (2015)
Don Pablo Canul, a Yucatec Maya h’men living in the village of Yaxunah, appears in vignettes throughout A Forest of Kings. Participation in ceremonies led by Don Pablo was a regular component of the Yaxuna Archaeological Research Project under the direction of David Freidel, and these experiences provided a strong and vibrant example of 20th century Maya culture in Forest of Kings. Many archaeological projects in Yucatan have collaborated with or employed the services of Maya h’men since the...
Dragons through a Ceramic Lens: Evidence for a North-Central Belize Ceramic (Sub)-Sphere (2015)
As viewed through a ceramic lens, it is becoming evident that North-Central Belize was distinct from surrounding areas. Starting in the Middle Preclassic, the ceramics of the Swasey/Bladen Sphere of North-Central Belize are notably different than those of adjacent areas of the Belize Valley, Peten, and Yucatan. The extent of the Middle Preclassic Swasey/Bladen Sphere is becoming clearer with work at Ka’Kabish and the surrounding area. Similarly, the Terminal Classic/Early Postclassic ceramics...
Dugout Canoe: A Solution for Bulk Transport in Mesoamerica (2024)
This is an abstract from the "What’s Canoe? Recent Research on Dugouts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In a cultural area where geography conspires against ease of exchange, Mesoamerican societies discovered technical answers adapted to their needs. At a time when the exchange of merchandise and goods relied mainly on human transport, some civilizations such as the Olmecs, Mayas, and Mexicas turned to accessible, high-performance waterways....
Dune Settlement in the Wake of Tres Zapotes (2017)
As the Tres Zapotes polity’s economic and political power diminished in the Early Classic, the eastern lower Papaloapan Basin (ELPB) became a political frontier as sites in this contested region strengthened ties to both Classic Veracruz and Central Mexico. It is during this time that a series of near-coastal paleodunes and estuarine lakes see an increase in occupational intensity. The ecological diversity of the dune landscape provides a unique setting to explore how the intersection of...
The Dynamics of an Ancient Hegemony: How the Classic Snake Kingdom Rewrites the Story of lowland Maya Political Organization (2016)
The political organization of the Classic Maya has been a hotly contested topic for many years. Since the 1930s, interpretations have fluctuated between visions of large-scale centralized states and small-scale decentralized polities. However, the recognition of a particular body of data in the inscriptions - statements of royal subordination and allegiance - is giving rise to a new consensus that obviates this this well-worn dichotomy. This introductory paper will set the scene for this...
Dynastic traditions and patterns of ritual variation in Classic Maya writing (2015)
Inscriptions found on Classic Maya monuments largely document important historical events and record the political achievements of named royal individuals. Previous onomastic studies of these king lists identify striking patterns in naming conventions which may mark ethnic boundaries as well as signal important attributes or transitions in the life history of Classic Maya rulers. This study investigates the hypothesis that divergent dynastic traditions existed during the Classic period based...
Dzibanché Stuccos: Arqueomagnetism Dating and Manufature Tecniques. (2015)
The archeological site of Dzibanché, Quintana Roo, has polychromed stucco remains that seems to date to the Middle Classic when the Kaan dinasty ruled at Dzibanché. The aim of this investigation was to determine the composition of the stucco and the painting (petrography, SEM-EDS, XRD) and date them.The antiferromagnetic hematite in paintings contains remanent magnetization (PiRM). Magnetic record could date them if changes in direction and intensity of the geomagnetic field have been well...
E-Groups and the Origins of Ancient Maya Exchange (2016)
Many communities in the Maya Lowlands began when residents banded together to create E-Groups by leveling bedrock, paving over large plazas, and building modest pyramidal architecture. This presentation traces the spread of E-Groups after 700 BC as a product of two trends: the replication of a primordial place characterized by solar movement and a central living mountain, and the social and commercial gathering of peoples to exchange goods and ideas on a regular basis. The people producing and...
A ear of corn of jade from Arroyo Pesquero, sacred offering (2015)
There are many objects in olmec-style with iconography in public and private collections outside of Mexico attributed to the archaeological site of Arroyo Pesquero, a remarkable site known for its beautiful offerings on hard stones (jade, serpentine) especially masks, has been the subject of few campaigns of archaeological research in 1969 a short stay for the Archaeologist Manuel Torres and in recent years by the Arroyo Pesquero Archaeological Project directed by Carl Wendt, in that project, in...
Early agrarian societies in the Basin of Mexico: Challenges and Perspectives (2015)
Over the past three decades, there have been very few studies of the earliest agrarian communities in the Basin of Mexico in comparison with other periods. In this paper, we introduce the symposium with an evaluation of the state of knowledge concerning preceramic, archaic communities up to the Formative period in the Basin of Mexico, with particular emphasis on the dearth of information available concerning paleoenvironment and subsistence. We review some of the recent investigations in the...
The Early Ceramic History of Cahal Pech: Implications for Local Identity and for the Rise of Regionalism in the Maya Lowlands (2016)
Ongoing ceramic analysis at Cahal Pech have allowed for a more complete understanding of the Cunil Ceramic Complex that was originally defined by Awe in 1992. These data provide important information on the early inhabitants of the site and reflect the formation of new political strategies and identities. The innovation of ceramic manufacture and the display of specific symbols suggest that a rising elite was firmly in place by around 1000 B.C. in the Belize Valley. Recent finds suggest that...