Mesoamerica (Geographic Keyword)
926-950 (2,459 Records)
This is an abstract from the "Regimes of the Ancient Maya" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Regal palaces, found in the epicenter of great many polities, were a defining element for most Classic Maya political regimes. While they varied in size and shape, all regal palaces seem to have anchored two essential dimensions of Classic Maya politics: the household of royal families and the administrative-ceremonial cores of regimes. In this paper, we take...
Functional Flesh: A Consideration of Bodily Loci in Classic Maya Bloodletting Practices (2016)
Bloodletting is generally accepted as a pan-mesoamerican practice, varying both in ideology and process. The Classic Maya drew blood from two specific areas: men most commonly let blood from their genitals while women more often let blood from their tongue or cheeks. Previous research into the choice of oral and genital perforation for nonpermanent piercing includes little investigated functional qualities, which may have been a key factor for locus choice. I argue that the functionality of...
Further Discussion of Oaxaca Archeology (1958)
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Fuzzy Numbers or Publishable Data? An intra-instrument test of pXRF Calibration Techniques on obsidian from Highland Mexico (2016)
Archaeological applications of portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (pXRF) have increased over the last decade due to the instruments' low cost, ease of operation, and decreased analysis time. Obsidian provenance studies utilizing pXRF are now a common approach to answering questions regarding resource access and/or trade relationships in many regions and sub-disciplines of archaeology. Despite this increased popularity, the validity and accuracy of this device and the results derived from...
Games and foodstuffs at Chichen Itza: Relating patolli and starch grains at Structure 2D6 (2015)
Strucuture 2D6 is a gallery-patio type building situated within Chichen Itza’s site core right north of the Temple of the Warriors and the Temple of the Big Tables. Its gallery was excavated in 2009 and discoveries included a C-shaped bench following the buildings walls with just one exception – an altar right next to the passage that leads to the patio – as well as several column caches and a possible sacrificial stone. The removal of roof debris also freed up a well-preserved stucco floor that...
Garden Soils: Assessing the Viability of Soil Phosphate Analysis in the Archaeological Identification of Ancient Maya Kitchen Gardens (2016)
The study of ancient Maya intensive, intra-site agricultural systems has gained new interest in recent years as a valuable way of interpreting numerous aspects of the ancient Maya’s daily life. However, ancient kitchen gardens, specifically, are usually difficult to identify by traditional archaeological techniques because of their lack of architectural structures and other identifying features. To compensate for this, Phosphate analyses are being used to positively identify kitchen gardens that...
Gardens of the Maya (2016)
Houselot gardens are defined as cultivated spaces adjacent to households used to grow flowers, herbs, vegetables, and fruits. Gardens function as a primary source of many food items including staples, condiments, medicines, and spices; they provide many non-food items such as dyes, construction materials, or ornamentals; and also often provide food to sell in markets. Crops grown in houselot gardens encompass primary and secondary crops as well as those grown for both individual household use...
Gathered for the Feast: Community and Polity Ceremony in the Lower Río Verde Valley (2016)
Among Payson Sheets’ many contributions to archaeological method and theory is a long-term commitment to examining the actions and relationships of commoners. Taking inspiration from his work at Cerén on community ceremony, in this paper we examine collective ceremonial practices at two Terminal Formative period (C.E. 100 – 250) sites in the lower Río Verde valley of Pacific coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. The site of Yugüe, like Cerén, was a small site that was located only four kilometers away from a...
Gender and Obsidian Economy in Mesoamerica (2017)
Obsidian tool production in Mesoamerica has been considered primarily the work of men. It is important to examine the roles that women might have had in obsidian crafting. This paper uses results from a study of an obsidian assemblage from an unusual burial excavated at Puerto Escondido, Honduras, to explore the implications of women possibly being involved in stone tool production. In this burial one person was laid out on a bench, wearing an obsidian mirror, in a below-ground chamber, that was...
Gender Ideologies in Zapatista Maya Murals and Postclassic Mural Programs from the Eastern Maya Seaboard (2015)
Zapatista murals focusing on the autonomy of Maya women and their connections with the earth have strong ties to prehispanic iconographic programs that emphasize the role of female supernaturals and ancestors in nourishing and sustaining the cosmos. This presentation examines ideologies of the Zapatista movement, particularly those related to gender, as represented in the artwork associated with the movement, and draws comparisons to ideologies represented in mural programs such as those from...
General Discussion: Use of gold and copper: Human Figures (1887)
This 1887 book on Chirqui looks at the various uses of gold, copper, and bronze among the inhabitants. This selection concentrates on the use of gold and copper in the production of human figurines. This selection also includes the contextual information found in the introduction or "general discussion" section of the book that was written in 1887 by the author.
General Taphonomy and Diagenesis of a Submerged Pleistocene Skeleton from the Cenote of Hoyo Negro, Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico: Preliminary Results (2015)
This paper examines the macroscopic taphonomy and the diagenesis of a partially lifted preceramic skeleton of a female juvenile (called "Naia"), dated approximately between 13,000 and 12,000 yrs. AP. Naia was recovered at 41 meters below sea level in a submerged karstic cave. Despite the good general preservation of Naia’s remains, the bone segments are brittle, showing changes attributable to time, weathering, changing salinity and micro-organisms. The external bone layer is only loosely...
Genomics and Archaeological Survey: Elucidating Ancient Mesoamerican Human-Plant Interactions (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Regional and Intensive Site Survey: Case Studies from Mesoamerica" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeogenetics, a term coined by Colin Renfrew in 2000, is a relatively new line of inquiry into the archaeological past. Archaeogenetic techniques use ancient DNA and genomic sequencing to reveal population-level data that may be used to elucidate processes central to archaeological research, such as group migrations...
Geoarchaeological and environmental studies in the Basin of Mexico (2015)
Environmental studies associated with prehispanic settlements in the Basin of Mexico were originally focussed on studies of agricultural potential and productivity, based on ethnographic assessments of essentially modern conditions. However, archaeologists were limited in their access to techniques developed in earth and biological sciences. Niederberger's research at Zohapilco in the southern Basin represents one of the earliest "geoarchaeological" approaches in which a concerted effort to...
Geoarchaeological Methods for Sediment Samples from Northwestern Belize (2015)
The Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area (RBCMA) is an area comprised of over 260,000 acres of protected land, which is owned and managed by Programme for Belize (PfB), an entirely Belizean conservation organization. This area is ideal for geoarchaeological research that encompasses human-environment relationships by analyzing sediments. This poster will present methods and results on preliminary geoarchaeological techniques completed on sediments at the University of Texas at Austin in...
Geoarchaeology at La Milpa, Belize: An Ancient Maya Community and Its Temple (2016)
This paper discusses the preliminary results of geochemical and micromorphological analysis of sediments at Structure 3, a monumental temple structure at the site of La Milpa, northwest Belize. This analysis forms part of a project that aims to examine the impact of a community in shaping the functions of monumental architecture. Artifact and architectural evidence gathered at Structure 3 have indicated that the Late Classic period (550-850 CE) constituted a time of intense access and use of the...
A geoarcheological study of the ancient quarries of Río Bec (Campeche, México) (2015)
The stone buildings of the Río Bec archaeological zone are a testament to the emergence of a new architectural tradition in the central Maya lowlands during the second half of the first millennium of our era. To understand this new architecture and the ways it has been conceived, a recent investigation has been carried out on the technological process involved in its production. Since construction practices can hardly be appreciated without considering the materials used by the builders, this...
Geochemical Analysis of Construction Materials in the Cave at Las Cuevas, Belize: An Intrasite Analysis (2015)
The entrance chamber of the Cave at Las Cuevas, Belize prominently features many platforms, staircases, and terraces. To date 72 platforms, seven staircases, and two sets of terraces have been mapped and recorded. Geochemical analyses of the plastered surfaces were conducted in situ and in the lab in order to understand the technology used to create the platforms within the cave. Geochemical analyses were conducted in situ using portable XRF (pXRF) and additional samples were collected for...
Geochemical Analysis of Maya Commoner Houses and the Spaces in Between at Actuncan, Belize (2016)
This research considers commoner activity patterns by investigating the results of a geochemical analysis of 500+ samples from earthen surfaces at Actuncan, a prehispanic Maya city located in western Belize. Samples derive from Terminal Classic surfaces of commoner houses as well as the open spaces surrounding them. Archaeological research has often focused on areas that contain visible architecture, since those regions are most easily recognizable as places that contained ancient activity,...
Geographic Origins of Child Sacrifices: Radiogenic Strontium Isotope Analyses from Midnight Terror Cave, Belize (2016)
Midnight Terror Cave, located in the Cayo district in Belize, has produced the largest skeletal assemblage reported from a Maya cave. Large-scale modification of the cave for public gatherings indicates that the space was used ritualistically; most of the individuals recovered are believed to be human sacrifices. The assemblage size permitted us to select a relatively large sample of permanent lower first molars from juveniles for radiogenic strontium isotope analyses. Juveniles were the only...
Geographical isotopes, migration and the Tlajinga District of Teotihuacan (2016)
The Tlajinga district was a possible southern entrance for visitors to the city of Teotihuacan. It was also a locus of craft specialization, especially of San Martin Orange ceramics in the later periods, yet was a cluster of common status neighborhoods. The Tlajinga 33 compound (33:S3W1) was extensively excavated 30 years ago, and recent excavations in two other compounds located along the southern Street of the Dead by the Tlajinga Teotihuacan Archaeological Project (PATT), have added to our...
Geomorphic and isotopic indicators of anthropogenic change from Holocene-length alluvial deposits in the Rio Blanco watershed (2017)
Recent geoarchaeological investigations in southern Belize have focused on the Paleoindian to Archaic site of Tzib’te Yux located in the Rio Blanco watershed and dating between 3000-12500 BP as well as adjacent river terraces. Landscape-level vegetation changes are apparent within the area in the form of forest clearance by 5000 BP. Evidence of pedogenesis derived from four years of excavations and sedimentation rates established through modeling and high-precision 14C AMS dating have produced...
The Geophysical Investigations at the Tzib Group in Pacbitun, Belize (2016)
The archaeological site of Pacbitun is one of the ancient sites that was inhabited by the Maya for approximately two thousand years. It is located in the west central side of Belize, near the town of San Antonio. Exploration of the surveyed areas revealed a smaller archaeological site in 2011 known as the Tzib Group, also known as “Mano Mound” due to the significant amounts of mano fragments found on the surface. In the 2014 summer season, geophysical data was collected using an instrument...
The Geopolitical Implications of Sub-flow Variation within the Zaragoza-Oyameles Obsidian Source (2017)
Chemical analysis of obsidian is a useful proxy for studying the control of obsidian goods exchange and the presence of pre-Hispanic geopolitical boundaries. Recent studies on obsidian sourcing show that during the Late Postclassic period (A.D. 1250-1519), regional altepemeh imported obsidian from several sources within highland Mesoamerica. Analysis of data suggests that no single political entity fully controlled the distribution of obsidian goods from a particular source, suggesting that...
The Geopolitics of Conquest: The Mixtón War and the Caxcan Diaspora (2015)
The chronicler Tello describes the Caxcans as rústicos mexicanos who accompanied the Mexica on their march south from Aztlan in the 1100s, but to the Spanish, they became known as the gente belicosa, fierce fighters who did not accept the terms of their conquest, and who ultimately led the Mixtón War of 1541-42. The discussion focuses on the results of the Spanish encounters with the Caxcans and the ways in which these interactions informed the military and political strategies pursued by the...