Late Maya Mural Paintings from Quintana Roo,Mexico

Abstract

Six murals of exceptional interest were encountered during a recent survey of Maya sites in Quintana Roo, Mexico. Evidence presented here suggests that the murals are the latest to depict pre-Columbian subject matter in the Yucatan Peninsula.     

Radiocarbon Dating of Architectural Mortar: A Case Study in the Maya Region,Quintana Roo,Mexico

Abstract

The use of radiocarbon dating to analyze mortar and charcoal inclusions within mortar or plaster is a useful way to date the construction of architecture, particularly when options for other chronometric methods are limited. In the Yalahau region of northern Quintana Roo, Mexico, members of the Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project have faced challenges in dating buildings made of large blocks of stone in the Megalithic architectural style. The Megalithic style poses serious problems for any analysis, as excavating into structures with stones weighing several tons can be dangerous, expensive, and time consuming. Additionally, there are no associated sculptures, texts with dates, or other traditionally accessible chronological markers. These factors have resulted in a reliance on a ceramic chronology despite the uncertainty of the dating of many ceramic types in this region, as well as the questionable contextual associations between recovered ceramics and architectural construction phases. Megalithic-style structures at the ancient Maya site of El Naranjal have residual mortar with charcoal inclusions left behind during the mortar-making processes that can be extracted and dated with AMS ¹⁴C methods. Several samples of mortar and charcoal were obtained from structures 1 and 10 from exposed exterior walls and an interior vault. The resulting dates confirm the date for the construction based on ceramics excavated from the same site.     

The Rigging and the 'Hydraulic System' of the Roman Wreck at Grado, Gorizia, Italy

The hull of the Roman wreck at Grado has been preserved under the cargo of amphoras. On the site, a lot of wooden elements of the rigging are preserved, including deadeyes, blocks, and toggles. Three possible bitts were identified, one of them sculpted; two were nailed to the hull while one was loose. Near the keel a lead tube, protected by a wooden box, has been interpreted as a bilge-pump but more probably it was a suction-pump. The tube would have been connected to a piston pump which has not survived. Possible explanations for its use are presented.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

The Wreck of the Warship Northumberland on the Goodwin Sands,England, 1703: an interim report

The Northumberland, a third‐rate man‐of‐war was lost with all hands during the Great Storm of 26–27 November 1703 on the Goodwin Sands—famously known as ‘the ship swallower’. It was rediscovered in 1980 by local divers following the location of a sister ship, the Stirling Castle. Since, the primary concern has been to record exposed structural remains, ordnance and artefacts, and interpret the wreck formation of the site. This paper describes the results of this work, and discusses in particular the size of the keel, the use of chocks, and standardization of ordnance in the Restoration Navy through reference to comparable ship‐finds and historical records.     

The Archaeology of Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico

The site of Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico, is well known for its distinctive architecture and sculpture that came to light in excavations initiated some 70 years ago. Less well known is the extensive corpus of archaeological research conducted over the past several decades, revealing a city that at its height covered an area of c. 16 km² and incorporated a remarkably diverse landscape of hills, plains, alluvial valleys, and marsh. Its dense, urban character is evident in excavations at over 22 localities that uncovered complex arrangements of residential compounds whose nondurable architecture left relatively few surface traces. Evidence of craft production includes lithic and ceramic production loci in specific sectors of the ancient city. Tula possessed a large and densely settled hinterland that apparently encompassed the surrounding region, including most of the Basin of Mexico, and its area of direct influence appears to have extended to the north as far as San Luís Potosí. Tula is believed to have originated as the center of a regional state that consolidated various Coyotlatelco polities and probably remnants of a previous Teotihuacan-controlled settlement system. Its pre-Aztec history exhibits notable continuity in settlement, ceramics, and monumental art and architecture. The nature of the subsequent Aztec occupation supports ethnohistorical and other archaeological evidence that Tula’s ruins were what the Aztecs called Tollan.     

The Pepper Wreck, an early 17th-century Portuguese Indiaman at the mouth of the Tagus River, Portugal

Found in 1993 of the rocks of the fortress São Julião da Barra, at the mouth of the Tagus River, the SJB2 shipwreck—or Pepper Wreck—was tentatively identified as the Portuguese Indiaman Nossa Senhora dos Mártires , lost at this location on its return voyage from Cochin, in India, on 14 September 1606. Its archaeological excavation disclosed a collection of artefacts from the late 16th and the early 17th centuries and allowed the study of the surviving hull structure. The evidence suggests that the Pepper Wreck was a typical Portuguese Indiaman, similar to those described in Portuguese 16th century ship treatises, with a keel of around 27.7 m and an overall length of nearly 40 m.     

The Marausa Wreck,Sicily: interim report on a boat built in the Western Imperial Roman tradition

In 1991, the wreck of a late 3rd–early 4th century AD Roman merchant vessel was discovered on the west coast of Sicily that had carried North African amphora, tubuli, and other ceramics. The hull was dismantled and raised in 2011, including a keel hook‐scarfed to stem and sternposts, 39 pegged mortise‐and‐tenon joined planks, 43 frames with an irregular pattern of floor‐timbers, half‐timbers, and futtocks fastened to the planking with treenails and copper nails, sister‐keelsons and evidence of two stringers, 36 ceiling strakes, and the base of a bilge pump. Many repairs are indicated. The fairly flat bottom and round bilges, mortise‐and‐tenons, sister‐keelsons and lack of a coherent framing pattern, place the boat in the Western Imperial tradition.     

The 19th‐Century Akko Tower Wreck,Israel: a summary of the first two excavation seasons

The shipwreck designated as the Akko Tower Wreck lies at the entrance of Akko harbour, Israel, 35 m north of the Tower of Flies, in 4.4 m of water. Following two seasons (2012 and 2013) of underwater excavation, it is suggested that it is the remains of a merchant brig of 200 tons, dated to the first half of the 19th century, and built under the influence of the French shipbuilding tradition in an established shipyard. The full story of the ship and its place in the maritime history of Akko, however, remains an enigma.     

The 9th‐Century‐AD Belitung Wreck,Indonesia: analysis of a resin lump

The 9th‐century‐AD Belitung wreck was discovered in 1998 in the Java Sea. Construction techniques rapidly confirmed that it was unlike any known Chinese or Southeast Asian vessel. The uncertainty about its origins was resolved in 2008 by timber identifications: it was constructed in the Middle East (probably Oman or Yemen). This paper, on the characterization of a dammar resin lump collected in the vicinity of the wreck, supplies additional evidence confirming the probable re‐stitching of the vessel somewhere in Asia. © 2010 The Authors