Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Today, underwater and coastal cultural landscapes—whether from maritime, lacustrine, or fluvial origins—are primary data sources for numerous scientific disciplines, offering deeper insights into the dynamic relationship between humans and aquatic environments. A growing body of case studies is concentrating on underwater and coastal records from Latin America. Archaeological research in this area spans from the Mexican highlands to Patagonia and covers periods ranging from prehispanic to historical times. An increasing amount of material evidence from prehispanic societies in the region underscores Latin America’s long-standing traditions centered on aquatic environment exploitation and management. This session will focus on the results obtained from underwater and coastal contexts in Latin America, aiming to strengthen the connections between coastal and underwater archaeological communities by building methodological bridges.
Other Keywords
Coastal and Island Archaeology •
Underwater Archaeology •
Historic •
Ethnography/Ethnoarchaeology •
Andes: Middle Horizon •
Geoarchaeology •
Historical Archaeology •
Material Culture •
Zooarchaeology •
Mobility
Geographic Keywords
South America (Continent) •
Republic of Panama (Country) •
Republic of Colombia (Country) •
Netherlands Antilles (Country) •
Aruba (Country) •
Republic of Ecuador (Country) •
Oriental Republic of Uruguay (Country) •
Belize (Country) •
Republic of Peru (Country) •
Republic of Chile (Country)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-14 of 14)
- Documents (14)
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Archaeological Evidence in the Caves and Cenotes of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Since prehistoric times, the caves of the Yucatán Peninsula have been the locus of regular visit by animals but as well by the first humans populating the continent. Thousands of years later, the Maya culture would establish its cities around the cenotes and the few bodies of surface water. The Maya culture has developed over the...
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Buenos Aires Estuary Waterfront: The Zen City Wreck and Coastal Urban Archaeology (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This contribution presents the status of research and institutionalization of the underwater and coastal cultural heritage of the city of Buenos Aires. For this purpose, the environmental information and characteristics of the archaeological landscapes surveyed between 1995 and 2019 in excavations carried out in lands "gained from the...
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Contexts and Meanings of Prehispanic Underwater Offerings Discovered in the Volcanic Lakes of Nevado de Toluca, Mexico (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Nevado de Toluca is a volcano located in the central region of Mexico. At 4,200 m above sea level, there are two lakes inside its crater with evidence of rituals and prehispanic offerings. Archaeological evidence, recorded by both underwater and terrestrial archaeological practices, indicates a close symbolic relationship between...
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The Defensive Conformation of the Maritime Space in the Bay of Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) during the Eighteenth Century (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Cartagena de Indias’ geostrategic importance for the European colonial powers in the eighteenth century led to the creation of defense infrastructures and the development of practices to strengthen and protect the coastal territory. All the infrastructures and cultural practices inherent to the “militarization” of this territory...
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Exploring the Underwater Zooarchaeological Record of Lake Titicaca (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Lake Titicaca is one of the centers of early cultural development in the ancient Andes. Because of its sensitivity to climate change, the surface of the lake has fluctuated considerably over time, which in turn has influenced the development of ecological systems and cultural development. This paper focuses on the archaeofaunal remains...
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Fishing Weirs, Docks, and Cholchénes in the Patagonian-Fueguine Archipelago: Confluence of Different Maritime Cultures on the Coastal Edge (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The intertidal zone, as part of the coastal landscape, is the territory of transition between the terrestrial and marine environments. In the southern fjords (between Chiloé and Cape Horn), it is a space of social construction that reveals multiple culture-marine ecosystem relationships, based on the interaction between different...
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La explotación industrial de cetáceos en Bahía Aguila, Estrecho de Magallanes (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. El presente trabajo informa las actividades de campo realizadas en el marco del proyecto FIC 5377 de 2018/2019 , y las metodologías utilizadas para el registro y recolección de restos óseos de cetáceos sumergidos en bahía Águila (estrecho de Magallanes, Chile) donde funcionó la planta de la Sociedad Ballenera de Magallanes entre los...
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Marine Species and Sea-Related Representations in Ninth- to Fourteenth-Century Casma Iconography on the North-Central Coast of Peru (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent archaeological work has revealed that the north-central coastal region of Peru had been the territory of a cultural entity that we recognize today as “Casma” between the ninth and fourteenth centuries AD. Some aspects of this culture remain largely unknown and require further investigation, particularly its iconography. It...
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Reconstrucción de rutas acuáticas en Nueva España a través del análisis geográfico de textos (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. En esta ponencia se presentará la metodología refinada del análisis geográfico de textos que permite relacionar nociones espaciales concretas con expresiones lingüísticas con distintos niveles de precisión. En particular, me concentraré en el problema de las rutas acuáticas que aparecen dispersas en numerosas fuentes escritas del...
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Revisiting the Archaeology of a Small Harbor: Cananéia (São Paulo, Brazil), Nineteenth–Twentieth Centuries (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The presentation discusses the results of the author’s PhD dissertation on nineteenth- and twentieth-century harbor sites in Cananéia, São Paulo State, Brazil, a period when the capitalist economy was introduced in the region. From the mid-nineteenth century until 1950, the harbors experienced a subtle but significant transformation...
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The Shipwreck of the French Fleet in Las Aves de Sotavento, Venezuela: A Seventeenth-Century Maritime Disaster (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This presentation underlines the importance of Venezuela’s underwater cultural heritage through continued research into the shipwreck of French King Louis XIV’s fleet, which struck reefs in the Las Aves de Sotavento, in Las Aves Archipelago, Venezuela, the night of May 11, 1678. The fleet consisted of 30 vessels. At least 12 ships...
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Those Flowering Waters: Reconstructing 1,200 Years of Human Adaptation to Hydroclimatic Changes in Central Nicaragua (2024)
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This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Central Nicaragua is highly susceptible to hydroclimatic variations, which are affecting the subsistence economies of local populations. To what extent hydroclimatic changes impact prehispanic adaptation strategies in the Mayales River Valley (MRV)? This presentation will show the final result of the Interdisciplinary Archaeological...
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Un taller de Spondylus dentro de un edificio ritual en Pachacamac, Costa Central del Perú (ca. 1470-1533 dC) (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. En la Costa Central del Perú, las investigaciones llevadas en el Edificio B15 de Pachacamac recuperaron materiales malacológicos que nos acercan a conocer las diferentes actividades realizadas tanto dentro de este edificio como de este prestigioso sitio durante los períodos tardíos. Los objetivos del análisis fueron identificar los...
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Underwater and Above-Water: Archaeology and Ethnography of Underwater Gathering and Diving Practices along the Coast of Southernmost South America (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Underwater and Coastal Archaeology in Latin America" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The coasts of the Fuego-Andean-Patagonian archipelago, south of Chiloé Island, have a length of over 80,000 km and roughly comprise three distinct areas: the Chonos archipelago, the western channels, and the Fuegian channels. The underwater world of this archipelago as a whole must have been a rich and coveted treasure. The...