Epiclassic (Other Keyword)
1-25 (32 Records)
This is an abstract from the "The Movement of People and Ideas in Eastern Mesoamerica during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries CE: A Multidisciplinary Approach Part II" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Durante las últimas décadas se han documentado varios conjuntos de restos humanos no reverenciales y altamente procesados en diferentes estados de manipulación dentro el territorio de Mesoamérica. En un principio se les apreció como hechos aislados hasta...
Approaching the Iconography of Epiclassic Censer Ornaments, a Typology from Los Mogotes, Estado de México (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Censers are a subset of Mesoamerican ceramics interpreted as ritual vessels used to burn incense. In ancient central Mexico, censers tend to feature mold made or handmade clay ornaments that were possibly part of iconographically composite vessels. A challenge in their interpretation, however, is that these complex vessels are often found in isolated...
Arqueología y geofísica en Chicoloapan, México: Estudios colaborativos de la vida cotidiana y la organización comunitaria después de Teotihuacan (2024)
This is an abstract from the "2024 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Luis Barba" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Se presenta una investigación colaborativa que examina la organización espacial y dinámica sociopolítica de Chicoloapan, un asentamiento en la Cuenca de México, que creció durante el periodo Epiclásico (550-850 dC), después del declive de Teotihuacan. Este proyecto combina métodos arqueológicos y geofísicos para investigar una...
The Bajio (Guanajuato/Michoacan) during Epiclassic: Cultural Assertion and Macro-regional Interaction (2015)
In the North-Center region of Mexico, the Bajio knew its peak of populating during Epiclassic period. From the Preclassic background of the Chupicuaro Culture, emerges a rich ceramic and architectural tradition. Following the fall of Teotihucan, the Bajio covers itself with extensive networks of sites organized around ceremonial centers where appear frequently sunken patios and I shape ballcourts. The ceramic is nevertheless far from being uniform, denoting a will of cultural assertion for each...
Bellicose Relations between Cacaxtla and Xochicalo in the Epiclassic Period (2015)
Whereas the Epiclassic (AD 600-900) has long been recognized as a period characterized by increased conflict and warfare between the dominant city-states of central Mexico, concrete evidence for actual military actions has been rather limited. Here we discuss epigraphic and iconographic evidence that suggest that two of the major Epiclassic powers, namely Cacaxtla and Xochicalco, were involved in a violent conflict, and that Cacaxtla succeeded in capturing several prominent individuals from...
Cerro de En medio, a Hidden Epiclassic Site in the Northern Frontier of Mesoamerica (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper presents the analysis of the role of violence underlying the settlement pattern at Cerro de En medio, Aguascalientes, Mexico, located in the northern frontier of Mesoamerica. Violence is one of the social forces that shape the decision making involved in selecting a place to settle. This paper focuses on understanding the role of defensibility as a...
Cerro Magoni: A Link Between Epiclassic Tula and the Bajío? (2015)
In recent years, scholars interested in the processes and events involved in the formation of the Toltec state have turned their interest toward links that might have existed between the area immediately surrounding Tula Grande, the civic-ceremonial center of the Toltec state, and sites in the Bajío region to the northwest. Although several material culture affinities have been proposed to demonstrate possible ethnic and economic ties between these areas, investigators have not arrived at a...
The Epiclassic in Oaxaca (600-900 CE) (2015)
The centuries from 600 to 900 CE were unusually dynamic times in prehispanic Oaxaca. In the Valley of Oaxaca, population increased and elite Zapotec culture flourished as city-states formed at Monte Albán, Cerro de la Campana, Macuilxóchitl, Lambityeco and Jalieza, and then suddenly collapsed. Surprising connections with the Maya area appear such as Fine Orange and Plumbate pottery as well as possible iconographic and architectural elements, some of these channeled through Southern Isthmus sites...
Epiclassic in Southern Mesoamerica? Tradition, Innovation, and Reaction in Pacific Guatemala (2015)
The Early Classic ascendancy of Teotihuacan was felt strongly on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala, particularly at Montana and related sites on the coastal plain of Escuintla. The Teotihuacan downfall roughly coincided with the demise of those sites, and the rise of a new dominant center Cotzumalhuapa, around A.D. 650. The process seems to parallel the emergence of Epiclassic centers in highland Mexico, and differs in many respects from the Maya Highlands and Lowlands, where there are fewer...
Estudio comparativo de la cerámica epiclásica de la región de Tula – Cerro Magoni, Tula Chico, y La Mesa (2017)
El presente trabajo se enfoca en un estudio comparativo que se enfoca en los atributos formales de la cerámica proveniente de contextos arqueológicos en tres sitios epiclásicos de la región local de Tula, Hidalgo conocidos como La Mesa, Tula Chico, y el Cerro Magoni. El objetivo del estudio es obtener un primer acercamiento a las pautas de interacción entre los sitios y entender el panorama social que prevalecía en la región local. En este ensayo, consideramos las particularidades del tipo...
Examining Tula Region Ceramic Compositional Analysis (2017)
Chemical characterization of ceramics using Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) in Central Mexico has proven to be an important analytical approach for assessing exchange, especially between sub-regions within the Basin of Mexico and neighboring areas. Recent efforts based upon Epiclassic and Early Postclassic Period decorated ceramics have extended the sampling to the ceremonial centers and settlements of Tula Chico and Tula Grande, the resulting chemical analysis defined a more robust...
The Form and Function of Lineage: Council Houses in Epiclassic Mesoamerica (2015)
The council house (popol nah or nim ja in Maya languages) is found from North Mexico to southern Mesoamerica. With roots in Classic-period architecture and enduring until after the Conquest in some regions, the council house typically was located in central areas of civic-ceremonial centers and featured a rectangular colonnade and built-in benches. In situ glyphs and ethnohistory indicate that lineages used these buildings for ritual-administrative purposes, and perhaps also as dwellings. This...
FROM TULA CHICO TO CHICHEN ITZA: IMPLICATIONS OF THE EPICLASSIC SCULPTURE OF TULA FOR THE NATURE AND TIMING OF TULA-CHICHEN CONTACT (2015)
Although most scholars now reject hypotheses of a Toltec invasion of Yucatan to explain similarities between the art of Tula and Chichen Itza in favor of models involving economic, political, and religious interaction between the two centers, questions remain concerning the nature and timing of this exchange. Some archaeologists and art historians posit a 9th-10th century florescence for "Toltec" Chichen, and argue that since this makes the "Toltec" style in Yucatan older than the Tollan Phase...
Incoherent internationalism: Mayoid elements in the art of South-Central Veracruz (2015)
During the Epiclassic period, several discrete iconographic motifs and technical qualities were adopted by peoples of South-Central Veracruz that have close affinities to art of the greater Maya area. For example, some Rio Blanco modelled-carved bowls mimic the iconography of Tiquisate wares of Escuintla, Guatemala. Nopiloa figurines bare well-known ties to figurines from Campeche, Mexico. Apparently indicating an alternate direction of artistic influence, decorative motifs common on...
Introduction: What Happened after the Fall of Teotihuacan? (2024)
This is an abstract from the "What Happened after the Fall of Teotihuacan?" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The fall of the metropolis of Teotihuacan with the 570 CE great fire in the core of the settlement shook Mesoamerica. Demographic displacements, balkanization into small polities, military competition between sites, were all events of the so-called Epiclassic. This symposium will review data from my interdisciplinary project “The Study of...
Mesoamerican Figurative Plaques: Elites’ Legitimization Strategies during the Epiclassic Period (600 to 900 a.C). (2017)
Few authors have analyzed figurative plaques from Late Classic and Epiclassic contexts even though they are considered as prestigious artefacts and exhibited as prominent pieces in Museum collections all around the world. Several examples from Epiclassic city states of Cacaxtla-Xochitecatl (Tlaxcala) and Xochicalco (Morelos) will be analyzed. Contexts, morphologies and iconographies reveal continuities of socio-political and religious practices with contemporaneous Maya sites. We will propose...
Migration and Interaction in the Epiclassic of the Tula Region: Preliminary Data as Evidenced by Dental Non-Metric Analysis (2017)
Dental non-metric data provide a means for the analysis of genetic affinities and relationships of individuals, and can therefore be used to reconstruct past migration and interaction patterns, both within and between sites. The dental traits of sixteen individuals, along with 21 individual teeth, from Cerro Magoni, an Epiclassic site in the Tula region, were collected in this preliminary analysis. Additionally, 13 individuals from two Xajay sites, El Zethe and Huesamenta, were also assessed....
Obsidian Distribution in Michoacán during the Epiclassic Period (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Crossing Boundaries: Interregional Interactions in Pre-Columbian Times" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the Epiclassic, well known as a transitionary period, some emerging chiefdoms sought control of exchange networks and natural resources like obsidian. Specifically, in Western Mesoamerica, in Michoacán are two obsidian sources that had a local distribution across the Lake Chapala basin, the central mountain...
The Palace Group at Xochicalco, Morelos, México (2017)
Xochicalco is a hilltop site located in the mountain range of the western part of the modern Mexican state of Morelos. Archaeological investigations carried out in the upper part of the site between 1994 and 2009 have provided several breakthroughs in our understanding of one of the most representative sites of the Epiclassic period in Mesoamerica. The site’s major building complex, known as the Acropolis, is situated on the very top of the hill. Covering approximately a hectare, this group...
A Preliminary Study of Epiclassic Human Mobility at Cerro Magoni in Tula, Mexico Using Stable and Radiometric Isotope Analyses (2018)
In this poster, we present preliminary mobility data for ten individuals recovered from the summit of Cerro Magoni, an Epiclassic (ca. AD 600-900) hilltop settlement in Tula, Mexico. For decades it has been hypothesized that the Tula area may have experienced an influx of immigrants from northwestern Mexico during the Epiclassic period, and that these newcomers played an important role in the rise Tula Grande. Results presented here provide an important step forward towards testing the long-held...
The Presence of Teotihuacan’s Iconography at Cacaxtla, Tlaxcala: A Reflection on Its Interpretations (2015)
The archaeological site of Cacaxtla, is located in the southwest of the modern state of Tlaxcala, Mexico. It has been explored uninterruptedly since 1975, and researchers agree that the site had a long occupation, reaching its height by AD 600-900, and being contemporary to other sites like Teotihuacan. Cacaxtla stands out for its mural painting and, in particular, for its iconography that combines many pictorial traditions from different Mesoamerican sites. In particular, Cacaxtla’s art draws...
Reexamining the Chacmool, One More Time (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Movement of People and Ideas in Eastern Mesoamerica during the Ninth and Tenth Centuries CE: A Multidisciplinary Approach Part II" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The striking recumbent stone figure known as a chacmool is a defining feature of the Mesoamerican Terminal Classic and Postclassic, occurring not only at Chichen Itza and Tula, where the largest number of figures is documented, but also in later Mexica...
Refinement of the La Quemada Chronology and its Implications for Inter-polity Interaction along the Northern Frontier of Mesoamerica (2015)
During the Epiclassic period (A.D. 500-900), the northern frontier of Mesoamerica consisted of a regional network of polities focused on large, hilltop centers including the site of La Quemada in the Malpaso Valley of Zacatecas, Mexico. While extensive archaeological research has been conducted at the site, a seriation of the La Quemada-Malpaso Valley Archaeological Project ceramic assemblage remains to be finalized. Establishing the chronology of La Quemada is essential for two reasons: (1) to...
Religion, Ritual, and Ideology in Epiclassic Highland Mexico (2015)
Studies of the visual systems of the major sites of Epiclassic Highland Mexico have tended to focus on their common writing system and similarity in art styles. There is much to be gained from these lines of inquiry, but relatively few works have investigated the shared religious content conveyed in Epiclassic artwork. This paper evaluates preexisting theories concerning Epiclassic pan-Mesoamerican cults and argues that religious and ideological beliefs concerning Flower World, a solar paradise...
Resultados recientes sobre la prospección del Cerro Magoni (2017)
Cerro Magoni es un sitio relativamente desconocido que está ocupando un lugar cada vez más importante en la explicación del origen del Estado tolteca. Crespo y Mastache realizaron los primeros trabajos de prospección a finales del siglo pasado y concluyeron que se trataba de un sitio menor, con una ocupación efímera durante el Epiclásico y una mayor durante los años del esplendor de Tula. Investigaciones más recientes han mostrado que el sitio tiene una extensión mayor a la originalmente...