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El Coyote, macroregional exchange, and Early Postclassic Mesoamerica Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2024-03-13 William J. McFarlane
Relative to the centuries preceding and following it, the tenth century a.d. in Mesoamerica is poorly understood by scholars. Although there is some regional variation in the timing of these events, archaeologists commonly ascribe a pattern of political decline, dynastic collapse, or social reorganization to this period. Paradoxically, increasing interregional interactions and emergent market exchange
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Blood, obsidian, and the Teotihuacan cult of the mirror Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2024-03-12 Trenton D. Barnes
Drawing upon iconological theory, this article argues that mirrors and blood were regarded as a conceptually linked pair within the imperial ideology of Teotihuacan, Mexico from the second century onward. The relationship between blood and mirrors is shown to have codified with the construction of the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, Teotihuacan's third largest edifice. This monument's facade was
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The duplication diacritic: A case study of variation and change in Mayan writing Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2024-03-04 David F. Mora-Marín
This article studies the duplication diacritic of Epigraphic Mayan (ISO 639-3 emy) during the Classic period (a.d. 200–900). Cataloged as grapheme 22A, it consists of two dots optionally and rarely affixed to another grapheme to command the reader, in the majority of cases, to read a syllabogram twice in sequence. This article reviews prior literature on the diacritic, elaborates a typology of four
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Lithic tool provisioning in the western Aztec provinces: A view from Calixtlahuaca Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2024-03-04 Bradford W. Andrews, Angela C. Huster, Michael E. Smith
We describe an analysis of the flaked stone tools recovered from households in the Postclassic central Mexican city of Calixtlahuaca (a.d. 1130–1530). Most artifacts are obsidian and represent the blade-core technology, but biface and bipolar artifacts are also represented. Even though household residents were involved in limited biface and bipolar reduction, it appears that the city did not have any
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Potting communities and conservatism in the Purépecha empire at Angamuco, Michoacán, Mexico Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2024-03-04 Anna S. Cohen
Stylistic shifts in ceramics are often linked with sociopolitical changes, yet adopting new ceramic designs may indicate anything from shared aesthetic appeal to emulation. Focusing on multiple ceramic technologies is critical for understanding ceramic changes as they relate to wider social fluctuations. The relationships between clay and ceramic recipes, and communities of practice, have not been
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Waka’ Stela 44 and the Early Classic Kaan hegemony Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2024-03-04 Mary Kate Kelly, Olivia Navarro-Farr, David A. Freidel, Juan Carlos Pérez Calderón, Griselda Pérez Robles
The Kaan (“Snake”) kings, a powerful political entity in the Classic Maya Lowlands, were housed in the Early Classic period at Dzibanche, and they moved their capital to Calakmul by the year a.d. 642 (Helmke and Awe 2016; Martin 2020:138–139). Their network of alliance and intermarriage radiated southward, and Waka's early eighth-century queen, Lady K'abel, was from the Kaan bloodline and married in
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Sounds in context: Archaeoacoustical studies of instruments from Comalcalco and Jonuta, pre-Hispanic Maya sites Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-12-22 Francisca Zalaquett, Miriam Judith Gallegos, Ricardo Armijo, Dulce Espino
Sounds produced by humans and their environment are perceived and codified based on people's experiences as members of social groups, resulting in some sounds being used as means of communication. In this article, we present an archaeoacoustic study of diverse types of instruments excavated or collected from Comalcalco and Jonuta, two important pre-Hispanic Maya sites located in the modern state of
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Establishing the Terminal Classic Ik'hubil Ceramic Sphere in the Eastern Maya Lowlands of Belize Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-10-18 Eleanor Harrison-Buck
In this study, I use the type-variety-mode analysis to define the diagnostic ceramic material for the Ik'hubil Ceramic Complex dating to the Terminal Classic (ca. a.d. 780–930/1000). The percentages of shared ceramic content indicate that multiple sites in the mid-to-lower Sibun Valley are members of an Ik'hubil Ceramic Sphere. My preliminary analyses of sites in the lower Belize River valley suggest
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Rehabilitating El Pozito, Northern Belize: a Classic Maya town and its socioeconomic history as reflected in ceramics and architecture Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-10-18 Keith Eppich, Joseph W. Ball
This article revisits a long-neglected site in Northern Belize, the Classic Maya settlement of El Pozito, located in the Orange Walk District. Investigations led by Mary Neivens and Dennis Puleston explored the site between 1974 and 1976, documenting its architecture and recovering a substantial quantity of artifacts. Afterward, events conspired to bring these investigations to a close, leaving the
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From simple row of dots to the rain god calendar: Interpretation of the pecked cross petroglyph from the Late Postclassic Tetzcotzinco Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-09-25 Daniel Prusaczyk
This article presents and analyzes a newly discovered petroglyph from Tetzcotzinco (mun. Texcoco, Mexico) in the form of arranged pecked dots. Based on what is known about Mesoamerican divinatory systems, calendars, and the perception of space, the interpretation takes into account both the encoded numerical values and the layout of the dots. The main argument is that this and similar representations’
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All that glitters is not pyrite: A geochemical assessment of iron-ore objects used by the Classic Maya Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Tomás Barrientos Q., Andrea Sandoval, Yoshiyuki Iizuka, Tanya Carías P.
Different types of iron ore and pyrite were used to craft a wide variety of reflective artifacts in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, including “mirrors,” pectorals, necklaces, and dental inlays, among others. In the Maya region, most of these have only been visually assessed, without using analytical techniques. Consequently, our understanding of the diversity of raw materials used in artifact production
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Análisis tecnológico de los mosaicos de pirita de Tak'alik Ab'aj Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Christa Schieber de Lavarreda, Emiliano Ricardo Melgar Tísoc, Reyna Beatriz Solís Ciriaco, Miguel Orrego Corzo, Jeremías Claudio
Resumen El sitio de Tak'alik Ab'aj se encuentra en la bocacosta suroccidental de Guatemala. Durante las excavaciones del Entierro 1 de la Estructura 7A, fechado para finales del preclásico tardío (150 d.C.), se recuperó un rico ajuar funerario compuesto por decenas de piezas de jadeitita, hematita, pirita y cuatro mosaicos “reflectores” de este mismo material. Cada uno fue labrado con la misma tecnología
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Classic Maya mirror conjurors of Waka', Guatemala Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-09-14 David A. Freidel, Olivia C. Navarro-Farr, Michelle E. Rich, Juan Carlos Meléndez, Juan Carlos Pérez, Griselda Pérez Robles, Mary Kate Kelly
The Classic period lowland Maya used iron-ore mosaic mirrors and deposited mirrors in the burials of rulers and other people. Depictions of mirrors suggest that they were used for scrying, as were mirrors in Mesoamerica at the time of the Spanish arrival. Maya mirror users of this kind were conjurors, who used a variety of other divining and conjuring instruments and materials, including plates and
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Introduction: Recent research on iron-ore mirrors in Mesoamerica and Central America Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Matthieu Ménager, Silvia Salgado, David Freidel
This Special Section focuses on recent research centered on iron-ore mirrors in Mesoamerica and Central America. Iron-ore mirrors are rare and esoteric artifacts, mainly crafted by specialized centers in the Maya, central Mexico, and Zapotec areas from the Early Preclassic to the Postclassic. They were found in numerous archaeological sites and cultures, from the Gila River in the United States to
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Los discos de Pizarra de Teotihuacán: caracterización y procedencia de la materia prima Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Julieta M. López Juárez, José Luis Ruvalcaba Sil, Marina Vega González, Manuel Aguilar Franco
Resumen Desde la antigüedad, los artefactos de pizarra fueron utilizados por sociedades asentadas en diversos puntos del continente americano; su uso abarcó diferentes temporalidades y múltiples formas. En el caso particular de Teotihuacán, ubicado en el centro de México, los artefactos en cuestión se reportan dentro y fuera de esta ciudad, depositados como ofrenda y asociados directamente al fuego
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Mesoamerican iron-ore mirrors found in Costa Rica: unraveling the interaction between the Chibcha and Maya regions Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Silvia Salgado, Matthieu Ménager, Bárbara Arroyo, David Freidel
Nearly 60 complete or fragmentary slate backings from iron-ore mirrors have been found in pre-Columbian funerary contexts in northern Costa Rica, including a couple that bear Maya hieroglyphic inscriptions. With the exception of a single example dating between a.d. 800 and 1550, these slate objects typically occur in contexts dating from 300 b.c. to a.d. 500–600. Recent geochemical analyses indicate
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Mirrors and reflective objects at Kaminaljuyu Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Bárbara Arroyo
Slate disks have been reported from various excavations in the Maya Highlands. These artifacts have typically been described as supports or backings for iron-ore and pyrite mirrors. A number of these objects have been recovered in context at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Whenever objects with reflective surfaces are identified in the field, they tend to be interpreted as mirrors, but they may have been worn
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The mirrors from Chiapa de Corzo: an early example for the Classic pyrite mirrors? Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Emiliano Gallaga, Emiliano Melgar, Lynneth Lowe
Smith and Kidder (1951:44) were among the first to highlight pyrite pre-Hispanic mirrors as “marvels of painstaking craftsmanship.” These mirrors present reflective surfaces consisting of 20–50 pyrite tesserae with beveled edges, perfectly cut, and average 2 mm in thickness. The first known examples of mirrors in Mesoamerica were the “Olmec” type—a concave mirror created from a single hematite piece
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The other side of the mirror. Maya Late Classic iron-ore artifact production: an insight from Cancuen Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-09-14 Chloé Andrieu, Naya Cadalen
Although iron-ore mirrors are commonly found in the Maya area, very few workshops are known to date. Cancuen, Guatemala, is one of the few sites to show evidence of iron-ore production during the Late Classic (a.d. 600–800). This article reviews all the available data on this material in Cancuen in light of the recent excavations, and, by combining spatial and technological analysis, proposes to shed
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Human–environment interactions at Ta'ab Nuk Na, a submerged Maya salt works site in Belize Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-08-29 Cheryl M. Foster, Heather McKillop, E. Cory Sills
Sea-level rise and settlement are investigated at Ta'ab Nuk Na, an ancient Maya salt works in Belize, by examining samples from wooden posts and marine sediment. The samples included Post 145 of Building B and the Nunavut beam, along with marine sediment columns cut from beside both wooden posts. The sediment columns were sampled at 2 cm intervals. Loss-on ignition confirmed the presence of organic
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A preliminary bioarchaeological study of the funerary urns from Los Tamarindos, Tierra Caliente, in Michoacan, Mexico Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-08-07 Adam Budziszewski
This article presents the results of a preliminary bioarchaeological study of 10 funerary urns containing human burned remains from the Los Tamarindos urn-field cemetery dated to the Postclassic period. I was able to determine the basic biological profile data. In addition, I determined the fragmentation rate as well as the thermal alternation of bones from funerary urns from Los Tamarindos, which
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Noble houses and palaces: reconsidering the existence of palaces in Late Postclassic (A.D. 1250/1300–1519) Tepeticpac, Tlaxcallan Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-07-18 M. Amparo Robles Salmerón, Aurelio López Corral, M. Teresa Salomón Salazar
Archaeological research on palaces and architectural spaces related to power factions allow a better understanding of the social dynamics of political economies. Several types of palaces appear in Mesoamerica according to distinct forms of sociopolitical organization. For Tlaxcallan, a Late Postclassic (A.D. 1250/1300–1519) geopolitical state-level polity with a highly collective government, the existence
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Striking distance: Investigating the epigraphy and geography of a Late Classic Maya war Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-06-26 Nicholas P. Carter, Samantha Krause, Jacob Lozano
We present a photogrammetric model and new line drawing of Sacul Stela 3 at the ancient Maya site of Sacul 1, Guatemala. Although virtually illegible in person and from photographs, the inscription on the eroded stela can largely be read or reconstructed in the 3D model. Our reading confirms a previous argument that the kingdom based at Sacul 1 was attacked in A.D. 779 by forces from the site of Ucanal
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A preliminary revised life history of Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico: A persistent place Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-06-09 Sarah Kurnick, David Rogoff, Iliana Ancona Aragón
This article presents a preliminary, revised life history of Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico, and considers in detail the site's relationship to nearby communities. More specifically, this article presents the results of a type-variety analysis of the cumulative palimpsest of ceramics excavated at the site between 2017 and 2022. Unlike initial studies conducted in the 1980s, the current study suggests
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The big picture: Reassessing population estimates and socio-spatial structure at the Zacapu Malpaís urban settlements using LiDAR Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-04-19 Marion Forest
Recent research conducted in northern Michoacan, west Mexico, has yielded significant new datasets that can be used to reconsider the occupation of this region in the Postclassic period (a.d. 900–1541), prior to and during the rise of the Tarascan state. LiDAR data, in particular, has facilitated reassessment of the archaeological record and its implications concerning the population and social dynamics
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Caracterización espacial de un paisaje de extracción prehispánico: el yacimiento de dacita de Las Minas, Zacapu, Michoacán Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-04-19 Osiris Quezada Ramírez, Véronique Darras
Resumen En la cuenca lacustre de Zacapu a lo largo de su ocupación prehispánica (100 a.C. a 1450 d.C.), la dacita, una roca de origen volcánico, fue un recurso estratégico dentro de la economía regional, con el cual los antiguos habitantes de la zona elaboraron una serie de artefactos líticos ligados tanto a actividades de subsistencia y artesanales como rituales. Las investigaciones iniciadas en 2011
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Evolution of ancient farming systems and demography in the volcanic highlands of Zacapu: A model drawn from Geoarchaeology and archaeogeography Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-04-19 Antoine Dorison, Christina Siebe
Among the numerous archaeological remains that recent LiDAR flights revealed in Guatemala and Mexico, agrarian features are the most abundant. Archaeologists today are compelled to revise their paradigms in terms of methodology and assessment of environmental appropriation for agriculture. The Malpaís de Zacapu in west Mexico is one example. Besides the discovery of a substantial Epiclassic occupation
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Holocene volcanic eruptions of the Malpaís de Zacapu and its pre-Hispanic settlement history Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-04-19 Nanci Reyes-Guzmán, Claus Siebe, Magdalena Oryaëlle Chevrel, Grégory Pereira, Ahmed Nasser Mahgoub, Harald Böhnel
The Michoacán-Guanajuato volcanic field (MGVF) hosts >1,400 monogenetic structures younger than 5 Ma. Here we focus on the Malpaís de Zacapu Late Holocene cluster located in the western part of the Zacapu lacustrine basin, situated in the heart of native Purepecha province. The Malpaís de Zacapu comprises four distinct eruptions: the Infiernillo lava flow emitted at ~1450 b.c.; Malpaís Las Víboras
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Nueva perspectiva sobre el sistema de organización territorial epiclásico en la región de Zacapu, Michoacán Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-04-19 Grégory Pereira, Antoine Dorison, Osiris Quezada Ramírez, Céline Gillot, Dominique Michelet
Resumen El período de aproximadamente tres siglos (600–900 d.C.), que corresponde al epiclásico, fue el escenario de una notable expansión de los asentamientos en la cuenca de Zacapu y sus alrededores. Si bien la zona parecía carecer de núcleos monumentales mayores equivalentes a los que se conocían en las regiones vecinas del Bajío o del sur de las tierras altas michoacanas, los trabajos recientes
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Pueblos viejos–pueblos nuevos: transformación del paisaje en el norte de Michoacán (México) a inicios del período novohispano (siglo dieciséis) Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-04-19 Karine Lefebvre, Antoine Dorison, Pedro Urquijo Torres
Resumen En el siglo dieciséis, la conquista española se extendió rápidamente hacia lo que hoy se conoce como el occidente de México. A partir de 1522, el reino tarasco sucumbió frente a los españoles y con ello iniciaron su proyecto de colonización y expansión territorial. Desde las primeras décadas, los españoles moldearon las actividades cotidianas para asegurar el control sobre las poblaciones indígenas
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Special Section Introduction: Introducing Zacapu archaeology and the Uacusecha project Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-04-19 Grégory Pereira
According to Purepecha oral tradition, the ancestors of the Uacusecha dynasty that ruled Michoacan at the beginning of the sixteenth century began their epic in the Zacapu region. The importance of this region also lies in the research carried out since the early 1980s that led to the elaboration of a regional sequence outlining the trajectory of pre-Hispanic societies centuries before the emergence
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The Maya 819-Day Count and Planetary Astronomy Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-04-18 John H. Linden, Victoria R. Bricker
Arguably the most enigmatic of the Maya calendar cycles, the 819-day count has challenged modern scholars for decades. Even today it is not completely explained and there are several areas for further research, including its relationship with the synodic periods of the planets visible to the naked eye. Earlier research has demonstrated a four-part, color-directional scheme for the 819-day count such
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Early Maya E Groups, the Milky Way, and creation Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-04-12 Prudence M. Rice
I propose a “Milky Way / creation hypothesis” for the elongated eastern structures in early Maya E Groups: they were modeled on the Milky Way galaxy. These architectural arrangements, beginning in the Preclassic period (c. 900 B.C.–A.D. 200) in the southern Maya Lowlands, were adopted from predecessors in the Early Preclassic neighboring Gulf Coast region. The widespread overall similarity of E Groups
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Ancestral Maya domesticated waterscapes, ecological aquaculture, and integrated subsistence Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-03-31 Joel W. Palka
Ancestral Maya engineered wetland fields and canals in floodplains for plant cultivation and water management. Canals and reservoirs, however, also provide aquatic resources to supplement agriculture. Maya created multi-trophic ecological aquaculture by modifying the waterscape to increase the amounts of foods and useful materials, such as fish, turtles, waterfowl, and reeds. While archaeological and
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Es nuestra tradición: the archaeological implications of an ethnography on a modern ballgame in Oaxaca, Mexico Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-03-31 Marijke M. Stoll
Pre-hispanic ballgames have an extensive temporal depth and geographical breadth across Mesoamerica, with over 1,500 ball courts recorded on 1,200 archaeological sites in Mexico alone. It is likely that ballgames played critical but variable roles in how communities related to each other. Most interpretations emphasize ballgames as cosmological rituals and legitimation practices exclusive to elites
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ANIMAL PROVISIONING AT CHICHEN ITZA AND ISLA CERRITOS: A ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL REVIEW OF FAUNAL UTILIZATION Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-03-20 Nayeli G. Jiménez Cano
Zooarchaeological data are presented to examine aspects of animal resources utilization at Chichen Itza and Isla Cerritos during the Terminal Classic. Through the review of zooarchaeological records, a differential pattern emerges based on contextual and environmental origins of the identified taxa, highlighting the ritual importance of coastal species at Chichen Itza. In addition, the transportation
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CHICHEN ITZA AND ITS ECONOMY AT THE END OF THE CLASSIC PERIOD: TRIBUTE, CENTRALIZED REDISTRIBUTION, AND MARITIME STATIONS Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-03-20 Rafael Cobos
Studies of the ancient economy associated with the Classic and Postclassic periods of Maya civilization show that, in order to explain it, the market economy model has been widely used, where economic transactions were carried out in marketplaces. In this type of economy, goods are exchanged based on an agreed value that takes into account supply and demand. However, other types of exchange, such as
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THE CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULINITIES AT CHICHEN ITZA: A FUNCTIONAL INTERPRETATION OF STRUCTURE 2D6 Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-03-20 Lilia Fernández Souza, Héctor Hernández Álvarez, Mario Zimmermann
The structure of power underlying the hegemonic control Chichen Itza held over the Northern Maya Lowlands has been debated for decades. In this article, we present the idea of a dominant discourse on masculinities, which played a fundamental role in both practice and on a symbolic level among the strategies designed to support this emblematic pre-Columbian capital. Our discussion of archaeological
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HEADS, SKULLS, AND SACRED SCAFFOLDS. NEW STUDIES ON RITUAL BODY PROCESSING AND DISPLAY IN CHICHEN ITZA AND BEYOND Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-03-20 Vera Tiesler, Virginia E. Miller
Chichen Itza stands as a monumental landmark of late Pre-Columbian Maya and Mesoamerican religious complexes. Among the enigmatic aspects of Chichen Itza's ceremonial innovations count skull racks (known as tzompantli in Nahuatl), where the heads of sacrificed victims would be exhibited. Here we combine the scrutiny of death imagery and human skeletal remains, including skulls with marks of bilateral
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MOVIMIENTOS POBLACIONALES DEL CLÁSICO TERMINAL EN CHICHÉN ITZÁ, A PARTIR DE LA MORFOLOGÍA DENTAL DE UN GRUPO DE NIÑOS SACRIFICADOS Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-03-20 Alfonso Gallardo, Martha Pimienta Merlín, Oana Del Castillo Chávez
En excavaciones efectuadas en Chichén Itzá en 1967, se encontró una construcción subterránea tipo chultun conteniendo los restos óseos de más de 70 individuos humanos, la mayoría subadultos masculinos. El depósito mortuorio presenta características de ser post-sacrificial, de carácter primario; la datación por carbono-14 lo ubica hacia el 1000 d.C., en el momento de mayor expansión de Chichén Itzá
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Terminal Classic Conch-Shell Gorgets from the Maya Region and Central Mexico Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-03-03 Nicholas P. Carter, Katharine W. Lukach
This article discusses a category of conch-shell gorgets, mainly semielliptical in shape, which were produced during the Terminal Classic period in central Mexico and/or the Maya lowlands. We describe the iconography and style of these ornaments, seek precedents in other media for their themes, and use stylistic and epigraphic data to connect them to long-distance economic and political interactions
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The Life and Death of Homes at Noh K'uh: The Cosmological Ceremonies of Late Preclassic Corporate Maya Households Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-03-01 Santiago Juarez
The Late Preclassic (400 b.c.–a.d. 200) site of Noh K'uh in Chiapas, Mexico, is home to extended residential groups that aggregated around a small ceremonial complex at the bottom of the Mensäbäk Basin. Evidence collected from domestic contexts indicates that the Late Preclassic households of this site were organized under corporate political systems that emphasized collective identity and cosmological
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Evidence for lexical and phonetic determinatives in Mayan writing: The case of T713 Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-02-27 David F. Mora-Marín
This article utilizes the Maya Hieroglyphic Database (Looper and Macri 1991–2022) to study the spellings of three glyphic values based on T713 (Thompson 1962), namely, the logogram K′AB′ ‘hand, arm’ (n = 88), the logogram K′AL ‘to close, wrap, adorn’ (n = 484), and the syllabogram mi (n = 68), cataloged as MZ1, MR1, and MR2, respectively, by Looper et al. (2022). The main goal is to study the functions
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Teotihuacan site 19:N1W5: Mortuary and oxygen isotope evidence for a Michoacan affiliation Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-02-27 Michael W. Spence, Sergio Gómez Chávez, Fred J. Longstaffe, Julie Gazzola, Grégory Pereira, Karyn Olsen, Helen Perlstein Pollard
Site E19 (19:N1W5), near Tlailotlacan, the “Zapotec Barrio” of Teotihuacan, contains evidence of both Tlailotlacan and Michoacan affiliation. To verify and better understand the Michoacan relationship, 22 enamel and 19 bone samples from five E19-affiliated burials were analyzed to determine their oxygen isotope compositions, which provide an indication of an individual's area of residence when that
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CULTURAL DIMENSIONS OF WARFARE IN THE MAYA WORLD Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-02-13 Nam C. Kim, Christopher Hernandez, Justin Bracken, Kenneth Seligson
Archaeological studies worldwide have revealed a wide range of cultural contexts within which practices of violence and warfare have occurred. In Mesoamerica, ongoing studies have enriched our understanding of social contexts of violence and warfare in Maya societies. This expanding body of field data allows deeper exploration of the ways violence was intricately linked to different aspects of cultural
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The Maya Battle, 786–1519 Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-02-13 Mary E. Miller
A careful reading of the battle in the Bonampak murals offers new insights into eighth-century strategies for warfare, and the importance of overwhelming force in both aggression and deterrence. These same two strategies were critical during the Spanish invasion, especially in defense of freshwater resources. The murals of Bonampak provide insights into the Maya battle, including the emphasis on teamwork
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PRECLASSIC MAYA FORTIFICATION AT MURALLA DE LEÓN, PETEN: DEDUCING ASSETS, MILITARY STRATEGIES, AND SPECIFIC THREATS THROUGH ANALYSIS OF DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-02-13 Justin Bracken
In the absence of historical records, ethnography, or artistic depictions, fortifications provide one of the best forms of evidence for insight into the nature of warfare within past societies. Excavations into the monumental stone perimeter wall, 1.5 km in circumference, at Muralla de León in the Peten Lakes Region have dated its initial construction to the first two centuries of the Late Preclassic
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TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC LANDSCAPES: A STUDY OF MAYA FORTIFICATION AT TZUNUN, CHIAPAS, MEXICO Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-02-13 Christopher Hernandez
Although studies of warfare are now common in Maya archaeology, much remains to be learned about strategy, tactics, and various other practical factors in the process of making war. An emphasis on the concrete and practical is necessary to both acknowledge agency and understand how conflict relates to the human experience. Through an examination of documentary and archaeological data in a comparative
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UNLEASHING MAYA WARFARE: INQUIRY INTO THE PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF WAR-MAKING Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-02-13 Christopher Hernandez, Justin Bracken
Across many decades of Maya archaeology, the study of war has typically been focused on its geopolitical, systemic, evolutionary, and structural implications. We argue these approaches stand to benefit from deeper interrogations of practice. Such a perspective shifts scholarly attention toward the ways in which Maya peoples prepared for and engaged in combat, and how they administered the outcomes
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WARFARE, SACRIFICE, AND THE CAPTIVE BODY IN LATE CLASSIC MAYA SCULPTURE Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2023-02-13 Caitlin C. Earley
Traditional interpretations of Maya warfare have focused on the ritual aspects of war, including the necessity of taking captives for sacrifice. Captives are a common theme on carved stone monuments in the Late Classic period, and images like the murals at Bonampak suggest that captives taken in battle were ultimately sacrificed. Textual information from hieroglyphs and historical records, however
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La isla de Atitlán: un nuevo yacimiento de obsidiana en el Occidente de México Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2022-12-19 Ericka Sofía Blanco Morales, Guillermo Acosta Ochoa, Rodrigo Esparza López
Resumen Durante la época prehispánica, la obsidiana se caracterizó por ser una materia prima de primera necesidad para la elaboración de gran variedad de objetos. La tecnología de talla para la extracción de diversos artefactos fue una importante actividad económica. En el occidente de México, la obsidiana resultó un recurso fundamental debido a su abundancia y a la diversidad de yacimientos presentes
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LiDAR analyses in the contiguous Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin, Guatemala: an introduction to new perspectives on regional early Maya socioeconomic and political organization Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2022-12-12 Richard D. Hansen, Carlos Morales-Aguilar, Josephine Thompson, Ross Ensley, Enrique Hernández, Thomas Schreiner, Edgar Suyuc-Ley, Gustavo Martínez
LiDAR coverage of a large contiguous area within the Mirador-Calakmul Karst Basin (MCKB) of northern Guatemala has identified a concentration of Preclassic Maya sites (ca. 1000 b.c.–a.d. 150) connected by causeways, forming a web of implied social, political, and economic interactions. This article is an introduction to one of the largest, contiguous, regional LiDAR studies published to date in the
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An archaeological evaluation of the Olmec “royal tombs” at La Venta, Mexico Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2022-12-06 Susan D. Gillespie, Michael Volk
At La Venta, Mexico, the Middle Formative Olmec regional center, the existence of individual leaders is interpreted from the evidence of monumental stone portraiture and several tombs believed to house the bodies of a sequence of kings late in La Venta's history. The status of these latter features as graves, however, has been debated since soon after they were excavated in the 1940s, especially because
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THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANDESQUE CAPITAL IN THE MAYA LOWLANDS DURING THE MIDDLE PRECLASSIC Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2022-11-17 Kathryn Reese-Taylor, Verónica A. Vázquez López, Nicholas P. Dunning, Armando Anaya Hernández, Shane Montgomery, Debra S. Walker
In this article, we argue that landesque capital was integral to the development of complexity in the Maya Lowlands. Such features involved permanent investments in the landscape that supported material and ideological practices, resulting in increased sustainability and well-being. We contend that these developments stemmed from accretional modifications to soils in the Preceramic/Early Preclassic
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THE INFLECTION POINTS IN FORMATIVE MAYA HISTORY: THE VIEW FROM CHAMPOTÓN, CAMPECHE, MEXICO Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2022-11-17 Jerald Ek
This study evaluates the degree of correspondence between chronological frameworks implemented in Maya studies and current archaeological evidence, focusing on dynamics in the Preclassic period in the Champotón River drainage, Campeche, Mexico. The earliest ceramics documented in Champotón, dating to the early facet of the Middle Preclassic, were part of a regional tradition that shared decorative
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DINÁMICA DEL DESARROLLO CULTURAL Y SOCIOPOLÍTICO DE NAKUM, GUATEMALA DURANTE EL PRECLÁSICO MEDIO Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2022-11-17 Jarosław Źrałka, Bernard Hermes, Juan Luis Velásquez, Wiesław Koszkul, Michał Wasilewski
ResumenLos resultados de investigaciones arqueológicas recientes llevadas a cabo en el sitio Nakum, ubicado en el noreste de Guatemala, indican que este centro experimentó una importante evolución cultural, sociopolítica y arquitectónica entre los horizontes pre-Mamom y Mamom (1000–300 a.C.). Las excavaciones arqueológicas permitieron documentar varios edificios y complejos fechados para este periodo
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PRECLASSIC PLACEMAKING AT YAXNOHCAH, MEXICO: A VIEW FROM THE GRAZIA AND HELENA COMPLEXES Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2022-11-17 Verónica A. Vázquez López, Kathryn Reese-Taylor, F.C. Atasta Flores Esquivel
Archaeological excavations at Yaxnohcah have revealed a long sequence of sedentary occupation, from 1000 b.c. to a.d. 1400, with dynamic periods of growth occurring during the Middle (1000–400 b.c.) and Late Preclassic (400 b.c.–a.d. 200). Two of these complexes, Grazia and Helena, serve as case studies that reveal the transformative processes of this period, illustrating site evolution on a larger
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MIDDLE PRECLASSIC HYDRAULIC PLANNING AT NIXTUN-CH'ICH', PETEN, GUATEMALA Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2022-11-17 Timothy W. Pugh, Prudence M. Rice, Evelyn M. Chan Nieto, Marie L. Meranda, David S. Milley
Nixtun-Ch'ich', on the western edge of Lake Peten Itza in Peten, northern Guatemala, features an axis urbis and an urban grid dating to the Middle Preclassic period (800–500 b.c.). New research reveals that Middle Preclassic constructions—five circular or oval artificial pools and planned surface drainage—facilitated or impeded the movement of water. Large limestone rubble lines at least two of the
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MIDDLE PRECLASSIC POTTERY PRODUCTION AND EXCHANGE IN THE NORTHERN MAYA LOWLANDS: AN ICP-MS ANALYSIS Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2022-11-17 Evan Parker, George J. Bey, Jiyan Gu, Timothy Ward, Tomás Gallareta Negrón
Evidence of complex and widespread occupations during the Middle Preclassic (1000–350 b.c.) have been identified throughout the Northern Maya Lowlands and are associated with both Mamom and pre-Mamom ceramics. Beyond typological information based on the visual examination of paste, slip, and surface treatment, archaeologists know little about the technology or economics of pottery production and exchange
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METALWORKING AT MAYAPAN, YUCATAN, MEXICO: DISCOVERIES FROM THE R-183 GROUP Ancient Mesoamerica Pub Date : 2022-08-18 Elizabeth H. Paris, Elizabeth Baquedano, Carlos Peraza Lope, Marilyn A. Masson, Douglas J. Kennett, Stanley Serafin, Jennifer L. Meanwell
This article presents a compositional analysis of metal artifacts from the Postclassic period (a.d. 1100–1450) city of Mayapan, Yucatan, Mexico. We document metallurgical production at R-183, an elite residential group and one of the most significant archaeological contexts associated with metalworking at Mayapan. Salvage excavations in 1998 recovered a small cache containing 282 copper bells, two