Caves and Rockshelters (Other Keyword)
76-100 (188 Records)
This is an abstract from the "The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Indigenous Culture and Beyond" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Large, finely made laurel-leaf chert bifaces have been recovered from the ancient Maya cave sites of Actun Chapat, Actun Tunichil Mucnal, Actun Yaxteel Ahau, and Je’reftheel, which are located in central Belize. By considering these laurel-leaf bifaces from the perspectives of lithic raw material, production techniques,...
Incensarios, Copal, and Speleothems: Interpreting the Function of Chultun 3 at Mul Ch'en Witz (2018)
Chultunes are ubiquitous throughout the southern Maya lowlands, but their function is still under debate. A central problem in the interpretation of these subterranean features is the paucity of artifacts recovered from within them. Within Chultun 3 at Mul Ch’en Witz, an area located within the larger site of La Milpa in northwestern Belize, several artifacts suggesting ritual activity were encountered. These artifacts include an intact vessel, an incensario, burnt jute, fire-affected limestone,...
Indicators of Skeletal Stress in a Small Skeletal Sample Spanning the Holocene in the Maya Mountains of Belize (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Bladen Paleoindian and Archaic archaeological Project (BPAAP) is an ongoing research endeavor focused on excavations from two rock shelters in the Maya Mountains of southern Belize: Maya Hak Cab Pek, and Saki Tzul. Continued use of these rocks shelters from the Late Pleistocene to the collapse of Mayan civilization has resulted in a unique perspective on...
Integrating Portable Spectroscopy into Rock Art Investigations (2018)
Molecular spectroscopy is an information rich technique that is rapid, non-destructive and easy to operate. These qualities combined with a mature market in handheld spectrometers makes molecular spectroscopy an ideal technique for on-site analysis which is suitable for austere environments. This paper will discuss the use of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy to in the Gordian knot project based upon the Californian polychrome rock art site Pleito in order to provide a...
Interpreting Small-Scale, Intra-site Spatial Variation of Finds from the MSA Deposits at Sibudu Cave, South Africa (2018)
Sibudu Cave in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa is a key Middle Stone Age site that provides a high-resolution stratigraphic record of cultural change. The sequence from Sibudu is well-dated and has been the focus of intense geoarchaeological research. This paper examines the spatial distribution of lithic artifacts, faunal remains, worked ochre, burnt materials and botanical finds to see if these distributions provide meaningful information on the changing use of space at the site. The study will...
Introducing "Project Piedemonte": Between the Maloti-Drakensberg and the Great Escarpment in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa (2021)
This is an abstract from the "From Veld to Coast: Diverse Landscape Use by Hunter-Gatherers in Southern Africa from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This new project aims to map mobility patterns and social networks from prehistory to historical times in the western piedmont of the Maloti-Drakensberg, South Africa. It also considers the relationships between archaeological and rock art sites, and how rock art...
An Introduction to Chan Xaan Cave, Cuzamá, Yucatan, Mexico (2021)
This is an abstract from the "The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Indigenous Culture and Beyond" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The "ejidatarios" of Cuzama in Yucatán have developed a community tourist complex on the lands of the ancient hacienda of the same name, where they opened three cenotes. This work presents the first results of a survey carried out in a recently discovered cave and cenote known as Xaan Chan, where there are notable paintings...
Investigating the Spatial Analysis of Chultuneob at Mul Ch’en Witz, Belize (2018)
Mul Ch’en Witz (Hill with Many Caves) was first excavated in the summer of 2017 by the Contested Caves Archaeological Project (CCAP), a subproject of the Three Rivers Archaeological Project (TRAP). The area, located just below the escarpment on which the core architecture of the ancient site of La Milpa, Belize is situated, was chosen for excavation because of the high density of chultunes encountered within a restricted area. The chultunes have similar entrance styles and diameters, and five of...
The Investigation of a Sascabera near the Las Monjas Complex in Chichen Itza (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Studies in Mesoamerican Subterranean Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Some 75 m southwest of the Las Monjas complex at Chichen Itza and just west of Sacbe No. 7, lie a series of eleven sascaberas that are shown schematically on the Carnegie map. While ceiling collapse has undoubtedly occurred in the millennium since their creation, some, such as Sascabera #2, have an extensive enclosed dark zone space. In...
Investigations of Plastered Constructions at Las Cuevas, Belize (2018)
The ancient Maya site of Las Cuevas, in Western Belize features a cave system that runs beneath the main plaza. Investigations by the Las Cuevas Archaeological Reconnaissance project suggest that the site functioned as a Late Classic ritual pilgrimage venue and that the cave was used for large public centrally-organized performances. The cathedral-like cave entrance contains monumental architecture consisting of at least 76 plastered platforms. I hypothesize that the level of managerial...
Just for the Celt of It: Investigations and Discoveries Beneath the Petroglyph Panels of Aktun Kuruxtun, Yucatan (2018)
During 2011 excavations deep beneath the petroglyph panels in Aktun Kuruxtun, Mexico, members of the Central Yucatan Archaeological Cave Project (CYAC) uncovered a small tunnel leading into a previously unknown chamber of the cavern. The discovery came in the final days of the field season, however, and the chamber was too choked with flood sediments to be methodologically investigated. As a result, the passage was reburied. Last summer, CYAC returned to the cave and successfully explored the...
Lithic Analysis of an Early Later Stone Assemblage at Malony’s Kloof, a Rock Shelter in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Temporal organization systems which separate lithic artifacts into designations based on age, geographic area and technology are vital in order to operationalize archaeological information and allow for researchers to make their findings transferable and reproducible. Each Stone Age has characteristics that allow researchers to designate technologies...
Lithic Miniaturization and Behavioral Variability in Southernmost Africa 18–11 kcal. BP (2018)
Lithic miniaturization, the systematic production of small stone artifacts by controlled fracture, was a pervasive feature of late Pleistocene lithic technology. Smaller toolkits enabled humans to exploit raw materials more efficiently, to produce composite tools more effectively, to reduce a wider range of rocks, and to increase mobility by lightening toolkits. These benefits allowed humans to occupy a wider range of ecological niches. Archaeologists working in southern Africa have long...
Lithic Technological Changes from the Paleoindian to the Late Archaic: A Pilot Study (2018)
How do subsistence-related changes impact lithic technology over the course of thousands of years? Three stratified rockshelters in Belize contain evidence of Paleoindian through Classic Maya period occupations. This span of time witnessed the initial hunting and gathering subsistence economy of the Paleoindian period, the introduction of horticulture and increasing reliance on cultivars in the Early Archaic, and the emergence of full-scale agriculture in the Late Archaic. Explaining variations...
A Look at the Formative in Northwestern Colorado: Similarities and Differences in the Cultural Assemblages within the Fremont in the Colorado River Drainage Basin (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent excavations in Northwest Colorado indicate that between 1100 BP and 800 BP, some Fremont structures in the area contained elements similar to sites found throughout the upper Colorado Plateau. Adobe rimmed hearths, grass and cedar in roof construction, and rock slab coverings on roofs are evident in Northwest Colorado and elsewhere. The question is,...
Looking under the Rocks: Geoarchaeological Investigations of Earth Oven Facilities in Various Settings of the Lower Pecos, Texas (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Hot Rocks in Hot Places: Investigating the 10,000-Year Record of Plant Baking across the US-Mexico Borderlands" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The multi-year Ancient Southwest Texas (ASWT) Project at Texas State University has investigated numerous earth oven facilities (more commonly known as burned rock middens or BRMs) in the Lower Pecos of southwest Texas. The investigated prehistoric sites ranged from large,...
Lost Rites of the Ancient Maya: Esoteric Rituals in Caves (2021)
This is an abstract from the "The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Indigenous Culture and Beyond" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Over the past 30 years archaeologists have made large strides in understanding the function and meaning of ancient Maya ritual caves sites. Ethnographic analyses have made major contributions to interpretive efforts and advanced the field in innumerable ways. Throughout Mesoamerica, there have been many long-term sustained...
Meadowcroft Rockshelter 2023: Revisit (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of initiation of excavations at Meadowcroft Rockshelter in southwestern Pennsylvania. Meadowcroft was the first serious challenge to the Clovis-first peopling model that had dominated American archaeological thought for decades. Generations of students have passed through graduate schools since the early excavations...
Means, Motive, and Opportunity: Use of the Sun Pyramid Cave at Teotihuacan Post Termination (2018)
Ceramics and radiocarbon dates indicate that Teotihuacanos ceased using the cave beneath the Sun Pyramid around the middle of the third century CE, at a time when the city was only just entering its "Classic" period florescence. A reverential termination seems quite likely. Evidence also indicates that post termination use of the cave occurred. As there were approximately 1700 years in between cessation of initial use and modern discovery of the cave in 1974, this paper explores the question of...
Micromorphological Investigations of Site Formation History between Layers XVII and XVIII at Middle Paleolithic Rockshelter Crvena Stijena, Montenegro (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Late Middle Paleolithic in the Western Balkans: Results from Recent Excavations at Crvena Stijena, Montenegro" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Rockshelters are subject to many geological processes driven by natural and human agents alike. The sedimentary context that surrounds artifactual data is a vital resource to the scientific exploration of human behavior in the Middle Paleolithic. To connect assemblages and...
Microscopic Fibers and Dental Calculus from Midnight Terror Cave, Belize (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Defining Perishables: The How, What, and Why of Perishables and Their Importance in Understanding the Past" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Midnight Terror Cave human remains collection consists of over 10,000 commingled bone fragments from at least 118 Maya sacrificial victims from the Classic period (250 CE–925 CE). Microscopic examination of dental calculus was carried out on a selection of teeth as part of a...
Middle Mekong Archaeological Project: Overview and New Data (2021)
This is an abstract from the "The Current State of Archaeological Research across Southeast Asia" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Middle Mekong Archaeological Project (MMAP) is a collaborative venture developed between Joyce White and Bounheuang Bouasisenpaseuth and other researchers working to develop an archaeological research program with the Lao Department of Heritage, with a primary focus on the prehistory of the Luang Prabang area. This...
Mirador Mountain, Ritual Landscapes, and the Protohistoric Maya Community at Mensabak, Chiapas, Mexico (2021)
This is an abstract from the "Place-Making in Indigenous Mesoamerican Communities Past and Present" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Mirador Mountain, or Chak Aktun for contemporary Lacandon Maya, dominates the landscape at Lake Mensabak, Chiapas, Mexico. The mountain, which has a natural red stain on its east side, rises from an island. Late Preclassic Maya (ca. 200 BCE–200 CE) created temples, platforms, and plazas on the island Mountain for an...
Monumental Nature and Natural Containers: Caves as Ideal Loci for Ritual Action (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The utilization of subterranean spaces by humans is cross-temporal and cross-regional. In turn, and sometimes simultaneously, caves have been employed around the world as seasonal or permanent shelters, storage rooms, workshops, burial chambers, and as containers for artistic and ritual actions. In southern France, these last endeavors have been the focus of...
Morphological and Chemical Signatures of Chenopodium: Application of Optical and Electron Microscopy to Seeds from Experimental and Archaeological Contexts (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Humans are considered natural seed dispersing agents through the social acts of seed saving and seed sowing. The intentional and unintentional results of these human-plant relationships can lead to the development of genotypic and phenotypic traits that are beneficial to both the plant and to their human influencers. Anthropogenic seed dispersal of wild...