Republic of El Salvador (Country) (Geographic Keyword)
1,476-1,500 (2,860 Records)
The proliferation of ballcourts at major sites such as El Tajín and Xochicalco during the Late Classic period suggests that the Mesoamerican ballgame and its associated architectural features played a crucial role in the expression of power and identity in the tumultuous centuries that followed the collapse of Teotihuacan. This paper investigates the role of Late Classic ballcourts in fostering, shaping, and manifesting cross-cultural interaction through focus on sites from three different...
Late Classic Ceramic Production and Communities of Practice at Uxbenka, Belize (2017)
Archaeological approaches to ancient Maya communities often assume that spatially distinct architectural groups are tantamount to social groups, but proximity is likely not the only salient organizing principle. Members of prehistoric communities, like modern ones, defined the community in which they belong based on who they choose to interact with, which often lies at the intersection of kin, status, gender, ethic, economic, and spatial affiliations. Employing a communities of practice...
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 Maya Granite Working Community at the Tzib Group, Pacbitun, Belize (2016)
The ancient Maya site of Pacbitun is located between two major ecozones, the Belize River Valley and the Mountain Pine Ridge. Excavations from 2012 to 2015 at the Tzib group in the periphery of Pacbitun first revealed evidence of large scale mano and metate production. Excavations into a large mound, dubbed "Mano Mound" because the surface was covered with mano perform fragments, revealed that it was not only a debris pile, but also the workshop platform as well. Large granite flakes, hammer...
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...
A Late Formative Period Site in Chimborazo Province, Ecuador (2017)
Compared to the coastal areas of Ecuador, the central highlands of Ecuador are not well known archaeologically, especially for the Formative Period. This paper will report on preliminary survey and excavation research carried out in the Chibunga River Valley, to the south of the modern city of Riobamba, during the 2009 and 2012 field seasons. Test excavations were carried out at the site of Collay, located on a mesa at 3100 masl, to obtain a sample of material culture and material for dating....
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...
Late Pleistocene Archaeology in Argentina 47 years later (2017)
In the 1970s Ruth Gruhn and Alan Bryan spent several weeks in Argentina as part of a one-year trip around South America. In those years, Ruth and Alan started to challenge the Clovis-First Model for the peopling of the America, and their visit to South America was instrumental in consolidating their ideas as well as stimulating the research of Late Pleistocene archaeological sites. Subsequent travels to the region, especially the one made by Alan in 1980, contributed to generating the hypothesis...
Late Pleistocene Faunal Utilization: Some Current Thoughts on Paleoindian Diet and Tool Source Selection (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Accumulated evidence regarding the range of prey utilization and tools made from animal remains is rapidly growing and overdue for a summary consideration of Clovis and Pre-Clovis sites in North America. This discussion is heavily weighted with data from Florida sites along the Wakulla and Aucilla Rivers, and the Old Vero Site. Recent proboscidean data from...
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 PRE-COLONIAL CIRCULAR VILLAGES IN THE BRAZILIAN STATE OF ACRE (2017)
The archaeology of Acre has been widely drawing the attention of the scientific community due to the discovery of an ancient civilization building geometric earthworks labeled "geoglyphs". In the course of field surveys realized at the geoglyph sites other types of archaeological sites were documented as well, including sites consisting of small artificial earthen mounds arranged in a circular form. At first, the mound sites were also classified as geoglyphs, but through the recent fieldwork it...
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...
A Latin American choreography: entanglements of solidarity and collaboration for a forensic archaeology (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Weaving Epistemes: Community-Based Research in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A Latin American choreography: entanglements of solidarity and collaboration for a forensic archaeology Latin America was and still is one of the most prominent areas for the development of forensic archaeology and anthropology. It is a common sense between researchers of the field that this latin america perspective started...
Law, private property, and the construction of the family in the archaeological record of colonial Moquegua (2017)
In 1884, Friedrich Engels attributed the development of the nuclear family unit to the rise of the capitalist state and the subsequent emergence of private property in 16th century Europe. In The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, he posited that private property resulted in the restructuring of kinship practices where women gradually lost authority over their own activities, spaces, and their lives, and where the division of labor became gendered and spatialized. In this...
Lawrence C. Todd: Biographical Sketch and Introduction (2023)
This is an abstract from the "A Tribute to the Contributions of Lawrence C. Todd to World Prehistory" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Over the course of a five-decades-long career, Lawrence C. Todd, Professor Emeritus, Colorado State University, has made substantive contributions to the practice and theory of anthropological archaeology and world prehistory, introduced thousands of undergraduate students to the discipline in his classes, and...
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 Isotope Analysis of Bronze Bells from Spanish Colonization Era (2018)
This study focuses on using analytical techniques, such as Multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) and X-ray Florescence (XRF), to determine lead isotope levels of bronze bells from the Spanish colonization era within South Carolina and New Mexico. These values are compared both against one another geographically and against ore isotopic data within regional and possible imported geographic regions. The goal is to both discern whether these bells are locally...
Learning by Example: Exploring the Importance of Case Studies in Learning NAGPRA (2018)
Although the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) has existed for over a generation, educators and professionals continue to discuss the best ways to prepare learners for the complex and contextually specific process of repatriation. Every consultation and every repatriation differs, even when the same tribes and institutions are involved. Because of this, learners can benefit from seeing multiple examples of how NAGPRA is implemented and how different stakeholders...
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...
Leaving Their Mark on the Wall: Determining Sex in Ancient Maya Rock Art (2017)
Handprints and stencils are ubiquitous elements in rock art throughout the world. Numerous well preserved examples have been noted in Maya caves. These elements provide a clue as to the sex of the person whose hand is recorded on the cave wall. Recent studies have shown that sex may be estimated with a high degree of accuracy using anthropometric hand measurements. Sex is estimated by applying a variety of mathematical models based on sexual dimorphism in hand dimensions to direct measurement...
Legacies of Syncretism and Cognition: African and European Religious and Aesthetic Expressions in the Caribbean (2018)
Incipient aspects of syncretic processes among Africans and Europeans had begun on the African continent from the fifteenth century, with a particular reference noted for religious practices. Considering the relatively isolated participation of the two groups within the early interactive sphere of West Africa, as well as the in-situ contexts of the African cultures, some syncretical expressions were evident, yet due to the disproportional ratio of populations, were more subtle on the continent....
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...
"Les Niveaux Céramiques au Honduras" Revisited: The Gulf of Fonseca in Regional Context (2018)
In 1966, Claude Baudez published a first attempt to compare ceramic typologies between different archeological areas of Honduras, published as Les niveaux céramiques au Honduras: une reconsidération de l'évolution culturelle (Baudez 1966). This article encompassed his research in the Gulf of Fonseca, where he spent a field season surveying and excavating sites in 1964-65. Fifty-three years later, this article still constitutes one of the most extensive descriptions of the ceramic assemblage of...
Lesser Antillean Windward Island Rock Art and Prehistoric Cultural Systems (2017)
Two data sets-Jonsson Marquet's proposed chronological framework for rock art of the Windward Islands and Alistair Bright's reconstruction of settlement, socio-political and exchange networks within the same region-provide a context for examining the interrelationships among the material cultural correlates (petroglyphs, settlement types, pottery) of various aspects of the area's, as well as inter-area prehistoric cultural components.