Nohmul,Belize: 1982 Investigations

Abstract

The large site of Nohmul in northern Belize has a long sequence of occupation spanning Some two millennia. Half a century of sporadic excavation has shown it to be a center of regional importance from the Late Formative to the Early Postclassic. The present report outlines past and planned study of Nohmul, and describes the results of excavations and mapping in 1982. Principal discoveries in the ceremonial center date to the Terminal Formative/Early Classic and Terminal Classic/Early Postclassic periods, ca. 200–300 A.C. and ca. 800–1000 A.C. respectively.     

Geophysical Investigations at Teotepec,Mexico (1000 B.C.–A.D. 1000)

Abstract

Recent investigations at the site of Teotepec in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas in southern Veracruz, Mexico explored Middle Formative through Late Classic (1000 B.C.–A.D. 1000) socioeconomic conditions. A central focus was the form and function of the site's distinctive architectural configuration, the Long Plaza Group. During the 2007 and 2008 field seasons, a systematic geophysical survey of Teotepec obtained initial information on the layout, orientation, and possible function of the site's central architectural core. Results from the survey allow for a clear definition of the site's Long Plaza Group in addition to the identification of a possible ball court along its eastern edge. It is also clear that Teotepecans incorporated natural features into their architectural core by placing a pyramid atop a volcanic landform and modifying a natural basalt flow in order to create a level plaza. Finally, the geophysical data indicate significant time depth in architectural construction by suggesting diffirent mound construction techniques, thus underscoring the importance of Teotepec as a persistent place in a region marked by significant population fluctuations in the Formative and Classic periods.     

Nicotine in the hair of mummies from San Pedro de Atacama (Northern Chile)

The consumption of plant-derived hallucinogenic substances through smoking and snuffing is a long-standing tradition in the south-central Andes. Chemical and archaeobotanical evidence point to the consumption of nicotine and tryptamine alkaloids in Northwestern Argentina and of tryptamine alkaloids in San Pedro de Atacama (SPA), in prehispanic times. In this paper, results are reported of gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analyses aimed at identifying nicotine and tryptamine alkaloids in the hair of mummies from different cultural periods of SPA. Fifty-six samples were examined. While tryptamines were not found in any of the samples, nicotine was found in 35 samples, assigned to the Late Formative (1 of 1 sample from this period), Late Formative or Middle (1 of 2 samples from either of these periods), Middle (4 of 6 samples from this period) and Late Intermediate periods (8 of 12 samples from this period), or without assignment to period due to lack of contextual information (21 of 35 samples unassigned to a period). These results show a continuous consumption of nicotine from the Late Formative to the Late Intermediate periods of SPA (ca. 100 B.C.–1450 A.D.). No associations were found between presence of nicotine in the hair of mummies and presence of snuffing trays or of other snuffing paraphernalia in the corresponding tomb; furthermore, neither the diversity of the funerary context, measured in terms of the number of types of objects, nor the presence of gemstone necklaces differed between tombs with mummies with or without nicotine in their hair. Overall, these results suggest that consumption of nicotine was performed by members of the society at large, irrespective of their social and wealth status.     

The Late Prehistoric,Protohistoric, and Early Historic periods in Eastern Arabia (ca. 5000–1200 B.C.)

This paper presents an overview of cultural developments in eastern Arabia during the Late Prehistoric, Protohistoric, and Early Historic periods (ca. 5000–1200 B.C.) as defined here. Emphasis is placed on the indigenous lithic industries, ceramics, architecture, burial practices, and subsistence data, while interregional ties and comparative chronology are treated as well. A unified chronological schema for the entire region is proposed which can function alongside local, regional sequences.     

Settlement and subsistence among the Early Formative Gulf Olmec

Mounting archaeological evidence suggests that floodplain resources, not maize (Zea mays) agriculture, were instrumental in the emergence of Early Formative (ca. 1500–900 uncal BC) complexity across Mesoamerica’s isthmian lowlands. The lion’s share of these data derives from the Pacific side of the isthmus; discussions of the Early Formative Olmec along Mexico’s southern Gulf lowlands have not kept pace. This paper presents settlement and subsistence data that highlight the role of floodplain resources in the development of Gulf Olmec politico-economic complexity. These data support a non-agricultural alternative to traditional models of Gulf Olmec emergence at San Lorenzo, the premier Early Formative Gulf lowlands center. Increased productivity of maize toward the end of the Early Formative period challenged San Lorenzo’s extant politico-economic basis, bringing about a short-term, hyper-acceleration of elite competitive displays. Ultimately, the adoption of maize agriculture generated a reorganized Middle Formative period (ca. 900–400 uncal BC) landscape in and around San Lorenzo. This agrarian adjustment saw occupation move out of the floodplain and into the upland areas, a process sometimes characterized as a cataclysmic system collapse in the Coatzacoalcos basin.     

Unintended Consequences? Monumentality as a Novel Experience in Formative Mesoamerica

To contribute to creation of a model for the initial steps in monumental construction in Formative period Mesoamerica (ca. 1100–700 B.C.), this article employs concepts from theories of structuration. It treats evidence of differential durability of construction materials as sources of insight on possible intended and unintended consequences of the construction of earthen platforms by the generations of people who lived through these new construction projects. It explores the changes in spatiality, connection to place, and materialization of time at multiple scales that these construction projects produced.     

Neolithic economy in central Europe

This article presents a survey of Neolithic economy, land use, trade, natural environment, and usage of plant and animal resources in central Europe, 5415–2240 B.C. (4500–1800 bc). Early, Middle A and B and Late Neolithic materials are summarized and compared. The earliest farmers expanded from southern Hungary and adjacent areas into central Europe over a relatively short time period, 100–200 years. They occupied areas only with good soils; thus probably hunters and gatherers continued to exist in many regions of central Europe. There is an increase in population and more upland areas are exploited for farming during the Middle Neolithic A and B periods. By the Middle Neolithic B period, low-level hierarchical or ranked societies appear in some regions of central Europe. The Late Neolithic may represent a modification of the mixed farming strategy observed during the earlier periods. Perhaps the herding of domestic animals became more important.     

Guidelines for Contributors

Abstract

Recent surveys in the Tuxtla Mountains of southern Veracruz, Mexico, indicate that the region had a long history of occupation, beginning around 1400 B.C. and lasting until the Spanish Conquest. Settlement patterns during the Formative Period were largely unsegregated, with only nominal development of social complexity toward the end of the period, whereas those during the Classic Period were much more complex, with a well-developed settlement hierarchy, the growth of urban centers, a differentiated craft economy, and major contacts with highland Mesoamerica. Comparisons with surveys of comparable size from other parts of the south Gulf Coast show significant variability in population history, settlement patterns, and development of complex society. The settlement history of the south Gulf Coast was, therefore, not a homogeneous phenomenon, although resemblances in ceramic assemblage content and population history between the Tuxtlas and the Coatzacoalcos River valley suggest a closer relationship than with other areas of the Gulf Coast.     

Recent Issues in the Archaeology of the Mimbres Region of the North American Southwest

Archaeological research in the Mimbres region (southwestern New Mexico) has focused on the post-A.D. 500 ceramic/agricultural occupations, especially the Mimbres Classic period (1000–1130). This work has advanced general anthropological issues regarding mobility, land use and human impact, and the concept of abandonment. Deeper understandings of some of these issues require more detailed demographic estimates, which in turn are dependent on methodological advances, particularly studies of site use life. Research on the production and distribution of Mimbres pottery—famous for its naturalistic black-on-white designs—is advancing rapidly. Although the designs have been well illustrated and much discussed, more systematic anthropological research on Mimbres design style is badly needed. Various aspects of Mimbres social and ideational realms (e.g., household and community organization, social hierarchy, the symbolism of the pottery designs) have received some attention but await new perspectives derived from current social theory.     

Postclassic expansion of Mesoamerican biocultural characteristics into Sonora,Mexico

Recent excavations at the Postclassic period (circa a.d. 1000–1521) mortuary mound of El Cementerio (SON P:10:8), located along the Río Yaqui in central Sonora, Mexico, have documented 105 mortuary features (111 individuals) many of which display elongated intentional cranial modification and several cases of tooth filing. These constitute biocultural traits common across much of Mesoamerica throughout its Prehispanic cultural sequence, which expanded along West Mexico and into northwest Mexico beginning in the late Classic period. The examples from El Cementerio represent the northernmost concentrated expression of these traits and could represent the spread of Mesoamerican/West Mexican identity associated with macro-regional trade and the expansion of the Aztatlán archaeological tradition during the Postclassic period in the region.     

Classic Lowland Maya Political Organization: A Review

This paper reviews recent archaeological research concerning Classic Maya lowland political systems (ca. A.D. 250–1000). It focuses specifically on (1) subsistence practices revealed through the analysis of prehistoric climate, available resources, agricultural technologies, and diet; (2) population distribution, density, and size revealed through the analysis of settlement practices and architectural function; (3) social differentiation and interaction revealed through the analysis of burial practices, diet and health, architecture, and production, consumption, and exchange patterns; and (4) ancient Maya political economy (how it was funded) revealed through the analysis of community organization, ritual activities, the Classic Maya collapse, and warfare. It finally ends with a brief discussion of the future of Maya archaeology. A key factor that recurs throughout this review is the noticeable amount of variability that existed—varied resources, subsistence strategies, settlement practices, and social and political systems. An understanding of this variability is the key to appreciate fully the Classic Maya.     

Civic and Residential Settlement at a Late Preclassic Maya Center

Abstract

The Late Preclassic period in the Maya Lowlands (300 B.C.–150 A.C.) documents the transition toward increased social and economic complexity culminating in the Classic Maya civilization (250–900 A.C.). The Late Preclassic Maya community of Cerros in northern Belize has revealed a settlement pattern of dispersed household clusters and scattered public architecture. Moreover, the site manifests a clear, three-part concentric zonation, similar to later Classic period communities. The authors' analysis provides a definition through time of civic and residential architecture and of the division between elite and non-elite domiciles. The study draws heavily on a functional analysis of the excavated ceramic assemblage. The unique settlement pattern of the semitropical Maya is suggested to be an environmental adaptation with rural elites coordinating the dispersed sustaining population through public monuments and associated ritual.     

Lidar mapping and surface survey of the Izapa state on the tropical piedmont of Chiapas,Mexico

Recent lidar and pedestrian surface surveys have remapped the well-known Mesoamerican site of Izapa and the surrounding Soconusco piedmont. These data document: 1) occupation from the surrounding piedmont environment, 2) significantly larger estimates of the site's size during both the Formative and Classic periods as well as 3) new architectural features from the monumental site core. Methodological issues are outlined for combining high precision lidar mapping with ground truthing and pedestrian survey that focuses on surface collection of temporally diagnostic artifacts. Results are presented for 670 mounds documented in an area of 43.1 sq km in and around the ancient capital of Izapa.     

COMPLEMENTARY COMPOSITIONAL ANALYSIS OF FORMATIVE PERIOD CERAMICS FROM THE TEOTIHUACAN VALLEY

During the Classic Period, Teotihuacan was an economic centre of central Mexico, but little is known about the development of this system. This paper presents a pilot study in multi‐method analysis of Formative Period (1500/1400 bc –ad 150) ceramics from the Teotihuacan Valley. Pottery was characterized by instrumental neutron activation analysis, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, thermal ionization mass spectrometry and petrography. It appears that most pottery was made from local raw materials that differ from later Postclassic materials. Some inter‐village interaction is suggested by stylistic choices, and one settlement had a group of ceramics made from unequivocally distinct raw materials. The study demonstrates how complementary methods can be used to draw greater anthropological meaning from compositional differences.     

The children of Kaminaljuyu: Isotopic insight into diet and long distance interaction in Mesoamerica

Known for its spectacular tombs and adobe talud–tablero architecture, the highland Guatemalan city of Kaminaljuyu is key to models of long distance interaction in Mesoamerica. We use stable isotopic data from human bone, dentine and tooth enamel to reconstruct Kaminaljuyu’s dietary history. Stable carbon isotope ratios and alkaline earth ratios of enamel carbonate indicate a decline in maize consumption from Preclassic to Classic periods, perhaps due to the desiccation of Lake Miraflores, which was used to irrigate Late Preclassic fields. Stable oxygen and strontium isotope ratios in enamel shed light on the geographic origin of Early Classic skeletons, and show that the central skeletons in the tombs were local children. However, four decapitated skulls and two peripheral skeletons show enriched oxygen ratios, similar to Lowland Maya sites. Strontium isotope ratios indicate that most of these are from an area underlain by Cretaceous limestones; one is from a metamorphic region. Two individuals may have traveled to or from Central Mexico. The greater evidence for lowland individuals among the tomb skeletons implies that political connections with the Maya area were more significant to elites at Kaminaljuyu than was direct contact with Central Mexico.     

The Woodland and Mississippian traditions in the prehistory of Midwestern North America

Cultural developments in Midwestern North America between 5000 and 400 B.P. are reviewed and related to two overlapping, but contrasting, cultural traditions: Woodland and Mississippian. Significant changes in prehistoric subsistence systems, settlement patterns, and sociopolitical organization are reviewed within a three-division framework, beginning with a Transitional period (5000–2000 B.P.) when Late Archaic and Early Woodland societies settled into different regions, constructed regional markers (cemeteries, mounds, earthworks), and established economic and social relations with both neighboring and more distant groups. This was followed by the Middle Woodland period (2000–1500 B.P.) that is associated with the Hopewell climax of long-distance exchange of exotic materials, mound building, and ceremonial activities, although all Middle Woodland groups did not participate in this Hopewell interaction sphere. In the Late Prehistoric period (1500–400 B.P.), the Woodland tradition persisted in some areas, while the Mississippian tradition developed from local Late Woodland societies elsewhere. Finally, the patterns of interaction between the two traditions are discussed.     

Determining Olmec maize use through bulk stable carbon isotope analysis

Bulk stable carbon isotope analysis on absorbed organic residues in ceramics can be an effective method for discerning patterns of maize use when the ceramics come from relatively uniform archaeological contexts. The bulk stable carbon isotope method is faster and less costly than the more commonly used compound-specific stable carbon isotope analysis. Moreover, the bulk stable carbon isotope method can determine the presence of C4 plant carbon in samples in which organic compounds have degraded. Bulk stable carbon isotope analysis was used to discern patterns of maize (Zea mays mays) use among a sample of 24 ceramic sherds from an Early Franco Period feasting deposit (ca. cal 650 B.C.) at the Olmec site of San Andrés, La Venta, Tabasco, Mexico. A comparison of the δ 13C results of different categories of ceramics showed that proportionally more maize was used in luxury beverage service wares than in utilitarian vessels, suggesting that maize-based beverages were prominent in this probable elite feasting episode.     

Atlantic salmon, archaeology and climate change in New England

A paucity of archaeological remains of Atlantic salmon in Northeast North America has been cited as evidence that the species may have been present in the region only during and after the Little Ice Age (ca. 1450–1850 AD), one of coldest periods of the Holocene. However, significant problems of preservation, recovery and identification remain. Here, improved methods of identification use vertebra structure to distinguish salmon from trout, and strontium/calcium ratios to differentiate sea-run from landlocked salmon. In addition to the Little Ice Age, Atlantic salmon is identified in tightly dated contexts at 7000–6500 and 3500–3000 calendar years BP, during climate periods that were comparatively warm and wet.     

A Bayesian AMS C chronology of the Classic Maya Center of Uxbenká, Belize

Archaeologists require precise chronologies of cultural change to understand the nature and timing, and causes and effects, of ecological and social transformations. The Uxbenká Archaeological Project (UAP) has made chronology building a main goal, employing epigraphic data, artifact seriation, and high-precision AMS ¹⁴C dating. With more than 60 ¹⁴C dates with measurement errors below ±25 ¹⁴C yr, primarily on single charcoal specimens, Uxbenká may be the most intensively dated Classic Period site in the tropical Maya Lowlands. Here we take the next step, combining this rich chronometric dataset with associated stratigraphic information in OxCal's Bayesian framework to generate a high-resolution chronology of Uxbenká's early development and expansion in southern Belize. We show how archaeologists may take advantage of complex architectural stratigraphy to constrain broad calibrated ranges during the Classic Period, and to estimate dates for observed construction events that can not be directly dated (e.g., clearing/leveling plazas, laying plaster floors, renovating/rebuilding structural elements). Our analysis confirms the antiquity of the ceremonial Stela Plaza (Group A), where first construction is estimated between 60 cal BC and cal AD 220 and is associated with a Pre-Classic structure obscured by later construction and reorientation of the group to a N-S alignment ca. AD 150–310. The analysis also indicates initial leveling and construction at plaza Group B from cal AD 60–310 and Group D from cal AD 20–240, both earlier than previously assumed. Though Late Classic contexts are not as well represented by direct dates, architectural modifications are documented at all three plaza groups after AD 550, including the extensive plastering, laying paving stones, and construction of facades on existing structures. The resulting chronology revises our previous thinking on the mode of settlement and development of Classic Maya society at Uxbenká and indicates specific areas of investigation to elucidate events in the Late and Terminal Classic at the site, including political and social fragmentation and the abandonment of the urban core late in the Classic Period.