Innovative Methods and New Discoveries: A Preliminary Report from Excavations at Las Mesillas in the Southern Mountains of Oaxaca

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Moving the Needle: Expanding the Discourse on Modern Archaeology in Oaxaca Part II" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In the Summers of 2022 and 2023, members of the Proyecto Arqueológico de Quiechapa (PAQuie) completed test excavations at the archaeological site of Las Mesillas located in southern mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico. Innovative approaches were used to document the excavations that combined paperless and photogrammetric methods. The excavations, while small, begin to bring into focus the history of the site of Las Mesillas. Ceramic analysis and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating techniques confirm that the site experienced major architectural modifications beginning in the Classic period that continued into the Late Postclassic. In this paper, we will describe our innovative approach to excavation and report on our preliminary findings from Las Mesillas and their implications.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Moving the Needle: Expanding the Discourse on Modern Archaeology in Oaxaca Part II

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 51826