Reconstructing the Political Organization of Pre-Columbian Nicaragua

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Reconstructing the Political Organization of Pre-Columbian Nicaragua," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Discussions of political organization in lower Central America often include the assumptions of political complexity. This session will include papers on recent archaeological evidence and re-evaluations of political complexity in Nicaragua and lower Central America. Data include exchange, trade, chronological markers, ideological connections and other politically relevant data that investigate political complexity.

Other Keywords
Intermediate Area • Ceramic Analysis • Environment and Climate  • Political economy • Geoarchaeology • Architecture • Survey • Landscape Archaeology • Settlement patterns • Nicaragua

Geographic Keywords
Republic of El Salvador (Country) • Republic of Guatemala (Country) • Department of Martinique (Country) • Department of Guadeloupe (Country) • Antigua and Barbuda (Country) • Belize (Country) • Anguilla (Country) • Republic of Honduras (Country) • St. Lucia (Country) • Montserrat (Country)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-9 of 9)

  • Documents (9)
Documents
  • The Apparent Resilience of the Dry Tropical Forests of the Nicaraguan Region of the Central American Dry Corridor to Extreme Variations in Climate over the Last c.1200 Years (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only William Harvey. Sandra Nogué. Nathan Stansell. Kathy Willis.

    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 Central American dry corridor is currently and has historically been the most densely populated area of the Central American Isthmus and is subject to the greatest covariance in precipitation between seasons. The vegetation of this region was typically composed of dry tropical forests, which are suggested to be...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • New Views on the Ancient City of Cihuatán (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Paul Amaroli.

    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. Since half a century ago, it has been recognized that the Early Postclassic in the territory of western El Salvador represents a sweeping departure from its Classic period antecedents, as seen in the type site of Cihuatán. Its nature has been variously described as generically Mexican, or central Mexican and Gulf...

  • Politics along the Rivers: An Example from the Gulf of Fonseca, Honduras (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Marie Kolbenstetter.

    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 relationship between environment, politics, and economies has often been observed in the archaeological record. In the Gulf of Fonseca, where archaeological sites concentrate around mangrove swamps, rivers and estuaries; politics were intricately tied to the affordances of riverine systems. Based on the ceramic...

  • Pre-Columbian Adaptation to Fluvial Environments, Chontales, Central Nicaragua: 2018 PRISMA Results. (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Irene Torreggiani. Benjamin Acevedo Peralta. Juan Aguilar. Deyvis Oporta Fonseca. Bastiaan van Dalen.

    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. Alluvial valleys are dynamic environments that continuously change under the influences of flooding and erosive processes caused by climatic and tectonic events. The Roberto Amador site is situated on alluvial deposits, surrounded by a meander of the Mayales River, in the proximity of the city of Juigalpa, Chontales,...

  • Preliminary Results of Archaeological Survey in the Zapatera Archipelago, Granada, Nicaragua (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Lucy Gill. Kaz van Dijk.

    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. Although archaeology within the Zapatera Archipelago was initially documented in the 19th century due to the islands’ exceptional stone statuary and petroglyph panels, little scientific archaeology or environmental work has taken place there. This paper presents the results from the first season of the Proyecto...

  • Religious Practices of Pre-Columbian Pacific Nicaragua (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sharisse McCafferty. Geoffrey McCafferty.

    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. Colonial period ethnohistorical sources recorded the religious practices of the Contact period Nicarao of Pacific Nicaragua, including a pantheon of deities, use of a ritual calendar, and other ceremonies. These were closely affiliated with the religion of Nahua central Mexico, linked to the purported migration of...

  • Structurally Speaking; Architecture of El Rayo and the Greater Nicoya Region (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Shaelyn Rice. Geoffrey McCafferty. Sharisse McCafferty.

    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. Located on the shore of Lake Nicaragua, El Rayo is a unique archaeological site, enriched with a large material base and many examples of human burial practices. Dating from the Late Bagaces Period (500-800 CE) to the Sapoa Period (800-1300 CE), El Rayo’s stone architectural features cover both major timeframes,...