Mesoamerica (Other Keyword)
26-50 (93 Records)
Many reconstructions of Precolumbian Maya economies are based on a centralized model of exchange, in which major capitals acted as import and export hubs and centers of production, while royal courts provided some form of management for long-distance trade networks. Research in the Western Maya Lowlands, and particularly the Usumacinta River Valley, suggests that although during the Classic period (AD 250 – 810) powerful dynastic centers like Piedras Negras, Yaxchilan and their neighbors...
The Development of the Feathered Serpent in Mesoamerica and the American Southwest (2016)
Mesoamerican and Southwestern researchers debate the origins, meanings, and influence of the feathered serpent. Some believe that the Southwestern horned serpent is derived from the Mesoamerican feathered serpent, while others believe the Southwestern serpent tradition developed largely independently from other regional traditions. Those contending that Southwestern and Mesoamerican serpents are connected rely on similar meanings of the serpents, such as its association with rain and fertility,...
Digging into the Mesoamerican history in the Huastec region (2015)
The Huastec, in pre-Hispanic times, always has been considered as a cultural area within Mesoamerica, improperly researchers have taken this as a dogma, which makes that the general use of the concept damages the comprehension of what really happened. By this assertions, over a "Huastec culture", the understanding of this rich multi-cultural region, is complicated. The opinions derived from linguistics, ethnohistory, archaeology and anthropology become difficulties that shape the region into...
E-Groups and the Origins of Ancient Maya Exchange (2016)
Many communities in the Maya Lowlands began when residents banded together to create E-Groups by leveling bedrock, paving over large plazas, and building modest pyramidal architecture. This presentation traces the spread of E-Groups after 700 BC as a product of two trends: the replication of a primordial place characterized by solar movement and a central living mountain, and the social and commercial gathering of peoples to exchange goods and ideas on a regular basis. The people producing and...
Early Ceramics, Human Mobility, And Interaction: Original Developments Of The Pacific Coast In Connection With South America (2016)
Various cultural parallels have been mentioned in the past about the connections between two important regions in the Americas: South America and Mesoamerica. The nature of how this contact took place was a research question that has interested many but is still unanswered. This paper will address the question using information from archaeological fieldwork carried out at sites on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. Additional information will come from the “invisible” records including...
Earth Offerings as Sacrifice in Formative Period Coastal Oaxaca (2016)
This paper considers the relationship between sacrifice and the people, practices, and objects assembled on later Formative period public buildings in the lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca. Excavations in public buildings at numerous sites in the region have found evidence for ceremonial practices including the emplacement of earth offerings, the interment of human bodies in cemeteries, and ritual feasting. The objects emplaced in public buildings as offerings included ceramic vessels, greenstone,...
El Triangulo del Sur: Izapa, Takalik Abaj, and El Ujuxte (2015)
The Pacific Coast borderlands of Chiapas and Guatemala were home to at least three major urban centers in the Late Preclassic Period: Izapa, Takalik Abaj, and El Ujuxte. How these sites were related to one another through intellectual exchanges and commerce tells us a great deal about the nature of urbanism in Mesomamerica during the Late Preclassic Period. These three sites were part of a broader southern "City-State Culture" that included Kaminaljuyu, Chalchuapa, and other early urban...
Entanglement of Memories in Mesoamerica and Applications in the Palenque Region (2016)
As social archaeologists, we have long affirmed the fluidity of social structures, yet we continue to experience proactive interference from the political economy lessons long embedded in our memory. Through the review of social memory applications in Mesoamerica, this paper discusses how the battle between the individual and the social approaches to memory fall victim to our current entanglements of memory. Building from this review, I will consider how incorporating applications of ArcGIS and...
ering the Past: Analysis and Interpretation of a Terminal Classic Deposit at the Cahal Pech Terminus Group (2016)
The Terminal Classic (AD 750-900/1000) Maya "collapse" remains one of the least understood and most debated aspects in Maya archaeology. One characteristic feature of Terminal Classic contexts in the Belize Valley are large surficial ceramic deposits and are located in the corners of plazas, in front of stairs, and in the doorways of public architecture. These types of terminal deposits have been attributed to numerous activities including termination rituals, feasting events, refuse disposal in...
Examination of Paleoindian and Archaic subsistence in Southern Belize (2015)
Recent excavations at Tzib’te Yux, a small rockshelter in Southern Belize, have revealed evidence of human occupation in the area spanning the Paleoindian and Archaic periods. Strata dating to the Late Pliestocene contain abundant faunal remains, lithic debitage, and highly fragmentary human remains. Preliminary indicators suggest that a broad spectrum of food resources was exploited including considerable input of lotic protein sources as early as the Late Pliestocene with continued...
Excavation of a Plaza Platform at Group A of the Medicinal Trail Community: A Hinterland Maya Site in Northwestern Belize (2017)
Previous excavations at Group A of the Medicinal Trail Community indicated a long occupation of the area, possibly dating back to the Middle Preclassic. In an effort to identify the earliest occupational phase at the group, we excavated the Middle Courtyard plaza platform of Group A to a depth of just over two meters below surface. Results of the 2016 field season brought greater understanding of the extensive amount of energy expended in building from the original foundation of the structures...
Excavations in Cacalotepexi Cave, Chiepetlan: Paleo-Indian Enigma and Late Postclassic-Early Colonial Transition (2017)
Cacalopetepexi Cave, located near the town of Chiepetlan, is notable for its depictions of what appear to be deer being chased by humans done in white paint. Excavations in the cave uncovered evidence of use in the Late Postclassic-Early Colonial periods. An unexpected find at the back of the cave was an enigmatic deposit of calcium carbonate filled with chert debitage and animal bones, which returned radiocarbon dates around 9800 cal BC.
Exemplary Centers as Quintessential Places: Migrants and Architectural Quotations in Late Postclassic Petén, Guatemala (2017)
Exemplary centers are physically schematized archetypes which represent and communicate social realities and political orders. Such exemplary centers are quintessential places, as they represent identity and memory. Migrating populations frequently reconstruct exemplary centers that replicate homelands through materials and images demonstrating their identity. Such "architectural quotations" help the migrants to legitimate social and political positions in the new locations. Members of groups...
Extending the Notion of Night: Volcanic Eruptions in Mesoamerica (2017)
The recent research on archaeological evidence for nightly practices has profoundly shaped interpretations of the past. As scholars begin to investigate this unexamined portion of ancient life, it is essential to include associations of night beyond the time of day. Volcanic events strongly influenced life throughout ancient Mesoamerica and provide an alternative avenue of investigation into ancient experiences of a form of night created by ash. Volcanic eruptions, particularly those of...
Faked but Not Forgotten: The Enduring Appeal of the Crystal Skulls (2015)
Supposedly originating from pre-Columbian Mesoamerican sites, the crystal skulls are one of the most iconic sets of fake artifacts which have graced museum shelves and the public’s imagination. The first crystal skulls appeared in collections during the late 1800’s, and well-known specimens are housed today as modern fakes at the Smithsonian and British Museums. Most media coverage of the skulls has revolved around the privately owned, so-called "Skull of Doom", claimed to be of Mayan origin and...
Flames, Ash, and Charcoal: Paleoethnobotanical Approaches to Understanding the Role of Fire in Postclassic Tarascan Ritual Practices (2017)
Although ethnohistoric sources provide many interesting clues regarding the importance of fire in Postclassic Tarascan rituals, these practices are still not well characterized by archaeologists. We know that fire was omnipresent in Tarascan society, not just for ordinary, daily needs (heating, cooking, light, etc.), but also in a seemingly diverse variety of ritual practice that ranged from the public cremation ceremonies of deceased rulers to more humble household rituals carried out on a...
The Forgotten Area: The Archaeology of Morazán, El Salvador (2016)
The archaeology of the department of Morazán, in northeastern El Salvador, is poorly known. Several sites there were included in national site lists compiled in the 1920s and 1940s, and a small survey was conducted in the 1950s, but only one site, the Gruta del Espiritu Santo, has been thoroughly documented. Multiple reasons explain the dearth of archaeological research. Much of the worst fighting during the 1980s and 1990s civil war occurred in Morazán, which is also one of the poorest and most...
Formative to Postclassic Landuse Changes in the Lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca (2017)
We provide a summary of the past ~15 years of paleoecological and paleoenvironmental analysis in the Lower Río Verde Valley. Ten lacustrine, wetland and estuarine sites throughout the valley and coastal zone were selected for sediment coring. The sediments were intensively sampled for a suite of biological and sedimentary analyses chosen to provide insight into changes in local and regional landuse. Our findings indicate initial land clearance and incipient agriculture occurred during the...
Friends, Foes, or Uneasy Acquaintances? Copan's Relationship with its Neighbors (2016)
A recent mapping and excavation project in the Copan Valley is taking a second view of communities outside of the Copan Pocket. The goal of this project is two-fold, one, to understand the environmental context of these sites, and two, to understand the relationship between them and the powerful leaders of the Copan Acropolis. It is unlikely that the kingdom of Copan could have reached its apogee without the support and subordination of its closest neighbors, a diversity of towns, villages and...
From hero objects to foam blocks: Contextualizing the archaeological record in Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed (2016)
Maya: Hidden Worlds Revealed is a 10,000- to 15,000-square-foot traveling exhibition created through multi-national, multi-institutional partnerships and intended to appeal to museum visitors of all ages. The core of the exhibition is a collection of more than 200 stunning and thought-provoking archaeological artifacts and ethnographic objects from throughout the Maya world. These objects provide visitors opportunities to engage with the authentic Maya past, the Maya today, and the work of...
Function-based Processing Decisions in the Middle Balsas Region of Guerrero, Mexico (2015)
Petrography has long been recognized as a powerful way to understand pottery provenience and production decisions. Despite this, few studies focus on production decisions made by potters working in a single community, especially potters who practice household-level production. In this paper, I investigate decisions made by potters at the site of La Queseria, Guerrero, Mexico during the Classic Period (AD 200-900). Petrographic analysis of their vessels suggests that two major clay sources were...
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 Ghost of Functionalism (2017)
This paper considers the assumptions, limitations, and greater implications that a theory of integration-disintegration has for analyzing social change across space and time. It reviews the historical foundations of the concept of integration as it emerged in enlightenment social theory and considers how the concept of integration has been repeatedly and uncritically co-opted into various discourses of archaeological theory. An alternative framework for thinking about social change will be...
Hallowed (under)Ground – Ancient Maya Dark Zone Use Patterns in the Subterranean Realm of Yaxcaba, Central Yucatan, Mexico (2015)
Cave explorers and scholars classify the different light zones of underground spaces into three categories – light, twilight, and dark. Despite the practical challenges ancient people faced while traveling into and through dark zones (those entirely devoid of light), it is common across the Maya region to find rich evidence that demonstrates that these spaces were heavily utilized during Precolumbian times. Research conducted during the 2009 - 2011 field seasons of the Central Yucatan...
Homicide or Deicide? The Function of Deity Impersonation in Mesoamerican Sacrificial Rituals (2016)
In Mesoamerican belief systems, deity impersonation rituals temporarily transformed human agents into divine beings. While donning the accoutrements of specific deities during ritual activity, they merged with and became literal embodiments of those gods, essentially becoming both functionally and ontologically divine for the duration of the ritual. In rituals of human sacrifice, both victim and executioner were typically bedecked in the costuming of specific gods, indicating that these were...