Intermediate Area (Other Keyword)

51-75 (124 Records)

It Was Not Always the Frontier: Multicultural Interaction between Isthmo-Colombian and Mesoamerican Peoples in Central Costa Rica (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Francisco Corrales-Ulloa. Yajaira Núñez-Cortés.

This is an abstract from the "Postclassic Mesoamerica: The View from the Southern Frontier" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Evidence for interregional exchange between Central Costa Rica and Greater Nicoya dates back to AD 300, and lasted until the arrival of Europeans in the sixteenth century. Previous scholarship postulates that these regions were located in a changing boundary between Mesoamerican and Isthmo-Colombian peoples. While this may be...


It's Complicated: Making Sense of Material Monoculture in Multicultural Societies (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Carrie Dennett.

Ethnohistoric and colonial documents typically focus on detailing a socioeconomic and political landscape dominated by Chorotega and Nicarao groups for contact-period Pacific Nicaragua. Yet these texts simultaneously indicate that other groups living in isolated communities or urban barrios were also commonplace and included Maribios, Mazatec, Chondal, Matagalpans, Sumo-Ulwa, and possibly Lenca and/or Maya-speaking peoples, among others. As archaeologists, we are aware—many of us dutifully...


Jama-Coaque Ceramic Traits in Coastal Colima, West Mexico?: A view from the Jama Valley, Coastal Ecuador (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only James Zeidler.

This is an abstract from the "Coastal Connections: Pacific Coastal Links from Mexico to Ecuador" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In spite of a long tradition of scholarship dedicated to the theme of prehispanic maritime contacts between the Pacific coastal areas of Ecuador and Mesoamerica, most arguments for these contacts have been based on a wide variety of trait comparisons between ill-defined cultural sequences in the respective contact zones,...


Just a Matter of Time: Preliminary Ceramic Chronology Building in Central Nicaragua (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Natalia Donner. Alexander Geurds.

This is an abstract from the "Reconstructing the Political Organization of Pre-Columbian Nicaragua" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The archaeology of central Nicaragua offers a challenging arena for the deconstruction of traditional ceramic chronology discourses in Southern Central America. The ‘anthropology of techniques’ approach and ethnoarchaeological research have determined that the most stable steps in ceramic manufacture are connected to...


Landscape Archaeology and Plant Use in Northern Durango, Mexico (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Bridget M. Zavala. Gerardo Aldair Garcia Ortega.

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 results paleoethnobotanical and architectural analyses at two prehispanic sites in northern Durango, Mexico. The sites, Corral de Piedra (PAS017) and Los Berros (PAS023), were recently excavated as part of the Proyecto Arqueológico Sextín" which seeks to build a "deep chronology" in the Sextín valley located at the frontier between the...


Landscapes, Architecture, and Settlement Patterns: Reflections on the Territorial Expansion of the Mantenos (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Valentina Martinez. Andres Garzon.

This is an abstract from the "Recent Innovations in Ecuadorian Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Considering Smith’s (2007) comparative approach to ancient urban planning, this paper suggests that starting circa 1200 CE the Manteño engaged in a process of increased growth and expansion that led to a shared, standardized settlement strategy across an environmentally diverse area. This shared settlement strategy reflects a complex process...


The Lasting Legacy of Larry Loendorf at Legend Rock (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Julie Francis.

This is an abstract from the "The Art and Archaeology of the West: Papers in Honor of Lawrence L. Loendorf" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. For over 30 years, Larry Loendorf has spurred rock art research throughout Wyoming and Montana. No where have his contributions been more important and deeply felt than at the Legend Rock State Petroglyphs site (48HO4) in Wyoming. Through encouraging the use of standard archaeological methodology at rock art...


Local Origins, Distant Connections: Exploring Prehispanic Macaw Exchange through Radiogenic Strontium Isotope Analysis at Paquimé, Chihuahua, Mexico (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Christopher Schwartz. Andrew Somerville.

The prehispanic settlement of Paquimé (ca. 1200-1450 CE) lay at the intersection of traditionally-defined "Mesoamerican" and "U.S. Southwest and Northwest Mexico" (SW/NW) macro-regions in northern Chihuahua, Mexico. Extensive evidence of exchange with distant communities exists at the site, including remains of over 300 scarlet macaws; brilliantly plumed birds whose natural habitat is located at least 1000 km southeast in the humid lowlands of Mexico. Archaeological and historical records...


Long-Distance Contacts along the Coast of Greater Chiriquí (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Francisco Corrales-Ulloa.

This is an abstract from the "Coastal Connections: Pacific Coastal Links from Mexico to Ecuador" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The location of the Greater Chiriquí archeological region in southern Central America and the available and valuable resources in it (gold, coastal resources) were favorable for the emergence of a complex society that interacted with long-distance contacts for the acquisition of exotic goods. I highlight several places...


Long-Distance Interaction in Central Nicaragua: An Archaeological View on Local Practices and Globalizing Postclassic Trends (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Alexander Geurds. Natalia R. Donner.

This is an abstract from the "Postclassic Mesoamerica: The View from the Southern Frontier" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeological work on Greater Nicoya modeled perceived Postclassic changes in material culture by invoking foreign incursions and population displacement. At the eastern edges of Greater Nicoya, however, small-scale communities navigated the increasing flow of Mesoamerican cultural features through a social dynamic of active...


Los que viven donde sopla el verdadero viento: Bahía Tepoca, Sonora, Archaeology of the Coast in the Gulf of California (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only César Villalobos.

This is an abstract from the "Transcending Boundaries and Exploring Pasts: Current Archaeological Investigations of the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The archaeology of the middle coast of the Gulf of California offers an opportunity to document and investigate processes of human mobility that highlight a deep relationship between humans, sea and desert. The area defined as Bahía Tepoca confirms a cultural significance...


Mapping of Ancient Managua, Nicaragua using GIS (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Justin Lowry. Skelly Skolnick. Adam Benfer.

This is an abstract from the "Reconstructing the Political Organization of Pre-Columbian Nicaragua" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Settlement patterns within Central America can lead to a better understanding of the political and social complexity of the region. Although this method has been extensively used across archaeological regions, Nicaraguan archaeology can benefit from this settlement analysis because of the inclusion of a GIS-based...


Materials Preparation and Procurement at Cochasquí as Indicators of Social Organization (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only William Pratt.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Excavations at earthen pyramid sites in northern Ecuador have documented the presence of unique circular baked-earth floors atop the pyramids which have been interpreted to be a marker of the especially sacred nature of the structure. Yet little is known about the process by which these floors are produced and fired or the societies that built them. Recent...


The Mexican Pantheon in Postclassic Pacific Nicaragua (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Sharisse McCafferty. Geoffrey McCafferty.

This is an abstract from the "Postclassic Mesoamerica: The View from the Southern Frontier" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Colonial sources describe interaction between central Mexican groups and Central American cultures, including possible migration and colonization, during the Postclassic period (900–1520 CE). Linguistic and art historical evidence has been used to support and reify this connection. A 20-plus year archaeological program by the...


The Mixteca-Puebla International Style as a Mesoamerican Marker in Postclassic Greater Nicoya: A Reevaluation (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Larry Steinbrenner.

This is an abstract from the "Postclassic Mesoamerica: The View from the Southern Frontier" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The beautiful polychrome ceramics of Pacific Nicaragua’s Sapoá period (800–1300 CE) have long been touted as the southernmost manifestation of the Mixteca-Puebla phenomenon in lower Central America. Traditionally, these ceramics have been treated as de facto cultural markers of two independent migrant groups of Mesoamerican...


Mobility and Pre-Columbian Censers (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Lorelei Platz.

Mobility, as it relates to censers, can be discussed on both large and small scales; it includes the movement of iconographic concepts, the physical objects, and the material or organics burned inside the censer. Censers styles fluctuate across pre-Columbian time due to a wide variety of reasons, though the purpose remains the same, which is to burn incense. The singular function of censers makes it an exemplary artefact class for the discussion of mobility across geographical and cultural...


Modeling Hazard Risk, Vulnerability, Recovery, and Adaptation in Tilarán-Arenal, Costa Rica: An Integrative Approach to Disaster Studies (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Rachel Egan.

The Tilarán -Arenal region of Costa Rica is one of the most volcanically active regions in the world. Despite the inherent hazard, people have occupied this region since the Paleo-Indian period (7000 B.C.). Numerous studies have explored volcanic eruptions as forcing mechanism that lead to culture; however, starting with the advent of sedentary villages during the Tronodora phase (2000-500 B.C.) until the arrival of Spanish in the 16th century, people maintained relatively small-scale,...


Modeling Mobility in Inland Waters (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Adam Benfer.

This is an abstract from the "Modeling Mobility across Waterbodies" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. While rivers, lakes, lagoons, and estuaries were commonly navigated in prehistory, the only well-established methods for modeling aquatic human movement are restricted to the open sea. A small handful of researchers have proposed methods and/or attempted to simulate travel in rivers and lakes, but these methods have not been consolidated into a...


A Monte Carlo Approach to Estimating Plausible Ceramic Similarity Values from Fabric Characterizations (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Andrea Torvinen. Matthew A. Peeples.

This is an abstract from the "Scaling Potting Networks: Recent Contributions from Ceramic Petrography " session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Ceramic characterization studies often depend on estimates of similarities and differences in assemblages drawn from relatively small samples to address questions regarding a range of social patterns and processes. In most cases, such characterizations do not consider uncertainty due to sampling error nor do they...


Mortuary Feasting at Sitio Drago, Panama and Elsewhere in Lower Central America (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Thomas Wake. Lana Martin. Tomas Mendizabal.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The archaeological materials recovered from a central burial mound at Sitio Drago, Panama are diverse and include many well-preserved vertebrate and invertebrate faunal remains. I examine these materials in context with the artifacts recovered in direct association with four coral slab tombs located at the heart of the site and then compare the observed...


Mounds, Mounding, and Polychrome Pottery in the Late Prehispanic Tonto Basin (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Katherine Dungan.

This is an abstract from the "Why Platform Mounds? Part 2: Regional Comparisons and Tribal Histories" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Both platform mounds and Roosevelt Red Ware (or Salado Polychrome) pottery have been interpreted as tied to religious practice in the late prehispanic southern Southwest, although the relationship between the two traditions is still debated. In the mid-14th-century (Gila phase) Tonto Basin, settlement included not...


Mountaintops of Chilla, El Oro (Ecuador) (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Josefina Vasquez Pazmino.

This is an abstract from the "Living Landscapes: Disaster, Memory, and Change in Dynamic Environments " session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The oral tradition of the Chilla landscape distinguishes two main stories: the first one portrays the apparition of the Virgin Mary, and the second one narrates the Mayan origins of its inhabitants. However, Chilla is in El Oro province, where a monumental pyramid and other neighboring sites correspond to the...


Natural Disasters and the Avoidance of Complexity: Arenal Villages in Comparative Context (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Payson Sheets.

This is an abstract from the "Advances and New Perspectives in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Small sedentary villages were established by about 4,000 years ago in the Arenal area of Costa Rica. The egalitarian nature of internal organization continued until the Spanish conquest, with no evidence of significant inequality developing, socially, economically, religiously, or politically. However, they were subjected to...


Neotropical Cervids Dietary Traits as a High-Resolution Tool to Understand Past Human Subsistence Strategies (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only María Martínez-Polanco. Florent Rivals.

This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances in Zooarchaeological Methods" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Cervids in Neotropics played a vital role in precolumbian subsistence strategies. The study of deer remains from archaeological sites, particularly their teeth, as biomarkers offers information about their behavior, environment, feeding preferences, and important events in their life history and by extension to the human groups that could...


New Insights into Honduran Archaeology from the Recovery and Reanalysis of an Antique Lidar Dataset (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Juan Fernandez Diaz. Anna Cohen. Christopher T. Fisher. Ramesh Shrestha. Alicia M. Gonzalez.

In response to the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the US Geological Survey conducted an extensive survey of 15 modern cities in Honduras. This 2000 survey was carried out by the Bureau of Economic Geology of the University of Texas, and the resultant data were used to generate flood risk maps. The survey also produced the first lidar data collection of a Maya site; however, in the early 2000s, lidar algorithms were not capable of performing the same tasks as today. The...