Central Mexico (Other Keyword)
1-11 (11 Records)
Three-dimensional digitization technology is opening up a new world of opportunities for the analysis and manipulation of artifacts without the risk of extraneous handling of the original, which could compromise preservation. This poster examines the practice of digital scanning on a collection of Mesoamerican spindle whorls at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, Florida, discussing the hardware and software used for digitization, as well as the process of creating accurate three-dimensional...
Architecture and Urban Transformation in Formative Central Mexico: New Findings from the Tlalancaleca Archaeological Project, Puebla (2017)
Tlalancaleca was one of the largest settlements before the rise of Teotihuacan in Central Mexico and likely provided cultural and historical settings for the creation of Central Mexican urban traditions during later periods. Yet its urbanization process and architectural traditions remain poorly understood. Our research over the last five field seasons indicates that Tlalancaleca was urbanized during the Middle Formative period (ca. 650-500 BC) and experienced large-scale urban transformations...
Big Changes in Little Places: An Examination of the Political Strategies of Leaders at Late Postclassic Xaltocan, Mexico (2017)
During the Late Postclassic the Basin of Mexico underwent dramatic political and cultural shifts, chiefly due to the formation and rapid expansion of the Aztec Triple Alliance. Xaltocan was among the many regional centers to be conquered and incorporated into the Aztec state. Historical documents indicate that prolonged conflict ultimately resulted in Xaltocan’s conquest and partial abandonment, thus local leaders were not integrated into the new political framework and were replaced by Mexica...
Climbing the Home of the Rain Gods: Mountain Cults in Ancient Central Mexico (2017)
According to Henry B. Nicholson, the rain deity Tlaloc enjoyed the most active and widespread cult in ancient Mexico. This assertion is surely correct, and is further evidenced from later ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources. Closely related to Tlaloc - and his earlier manifestations - were the Tepictoton, little directional mountain deities venerated during the veintenas of Tepeilhuitl and Atemoztli. In this paper we review Nicholson's original observations seen in the light of new...
Early Colonial Material Entanglements at Tlaxcallan, Mexico: Insights from a Polychrome Ceramic Sherd Disk (2020)
This is an abstract from the session entitled "Plus Ultra: An examination of current research in Spanish Colonial/Iberian Underwater and Terrestrial Archaeology in the Western Hemisphere." , at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology. In October 1519, the fiercely independent Tlaxcallan state first sent aid for Cortés’s conquest efforts, establishing a community of people who identified as Indigenous conquerors. By the mid-16th century, Indigenous peoples in Tlaxcala...
Early Urbanism in Central Mexico: Preliminary Results of the Tlalancaleca Archaeological Project, Puebla (2015)
Tlalancaleca was one of the largest settlements before the rise of Teotihuacan in Central Mexico and likely provided cultural and historical settings for the creation of Central Mexican urban traditions during later periods. Yet its urbanization process as well as socio-spatial organization remain poorly understood. This paper presents preliminary results of mapping, ground survey, surface collection, manual auger probe, and test excavations, which were carried out over the three seasons of...
Geoarchaeological and environmental studies in the Basin of Mexico (2015)
Environmental studies associated with prehispanic settlements in the Basin of Mexico were originally focussed on studies of agricultural potential and productivity, based on ethnographic assessments of essentially modern conditions. However, archaeologists were limited in their access to techniques developed in earth and biological sciences. Niederberger's research at Zohapilco in the southern Basin represents one of the earliest "geoarchaeological" approaches in which a concerted effort to...
Living in Early Urban Center: Preliminary Results of the Tlalancaleca Archaeological Project, Puebla (2017)
The archaeological site of Tlalancaleca was one of the largest urban centers in Central Mexico during the Middle to Terminal Formative periods (ca. 650 BC-AD 200/250). The site consists of a central plateau with civic-ceremonial cores and its surrounding areas, which are divided into the Northern Sector and the Southern Sector. Our research over five field seasons indicates that the urban landscape underwent significant changes through time, including initial urban growth during the Middle...
On the Orientation of Precolumbian Buildings in Central Mexico (1976)
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Pottery on the Periphery: Postclassic Ceramics from La Laguna, Tlaxcala, Mexico (2015)
This poster examines life at the periphery of the Postclassic Mesoamerican World System, discussing the access that rural or peripheral people may have to the larger economic, political, and informational networks of their region. It addresses these questions by presenting an analysis of the Epiclassic and Postclassic period ceramic assemblages from the site of La Laguna, Tlaxcala, Mexico. Almost all of the sherds come from Feature 185, a sheet midden context deposited during the late...
Trends in late Holocene Climate Change in Central Mexico (2015)
Lakes in central Mexico are ideal sites for the study of late Holocene climatic trends. These lakes have high sedimentation rates and their sediments are rich in pollen, diatoms and other biological remains that allow reconstructions of past environmental, ecological and climatic changes. In these lakes, precipitation, concentrated during the summer months, is frequently more important than temperature as a long-term environmental control; however, both variables are connected by climatic...