For Whom the Bells Fall: Metals from the Cenote Sagrado,Chichén Itzá

Bells of copper and copper alloys and gold–copper alloys were deposited in events at the Cenote Sagrado at Chichén Itzá, Mexico during the site's primary occupation (ad 750–1050) and in later centuries. Housed in three museums in the United States and Mexico, bells (n = 38) were evaluated for traces of fabrication and alteration using Vis–UV–IR optical microscopy. Bulk compositions were determined through p‐ED‐XRF. Phases and compositional variation by depth were characterized through XRD and RBS. The technological styles of bell groups were ascribed to communities of metallurgical practice, from West and Central Mexico to Costa Rica and Panama.     

Central petén blue pigment: A maya blue source outside of Yucatán,México

Much of the research on Maya Blue has focused on locating palygorskite sources in northern Yucatán, México. To that end, Arnold et al. (2007) reported seven discriminate source mineral locations for palygorskite used in the manufacture of Maya Blue. Recently, a blue pigment was excavated from the archaeological site of Ixlú, El Petén, Guatemala and LA-ICP-MS and INAA analyses were conducted to determine if the pigment had the traditional Maya Blue structure and if it was from one of the seven mineral sources in México. Geochemical analyses demonstrate that the Ixlú pigment has the traditional Maya Blue structure, but it was manufactured from clays in central Petén, Guatemala. These new data suggest that the knowledge of Maya Blue manufacture was transferred and not the actual pigment and they reveal another source for Maya Blue manufacture outside of the Yucatán peninsula.     

New radiometric dating of water management features at the prehistoric Purrón Dam Complex,Tehuacán Valley,Puebla, México

Recent investigations at the prehistoric Purrón Dam Complex in the Tehuacán Valley of southern Puebla, México applied radiometric dating to more securely date the complex. Ceramic-based dating in the 1960′s placed the Dam's origin to the Formative Period. While Formative Period origins are widely accepted, the chronology lacks resolution and direct dates. Samples from impounded sediments behind the dam and from prehistoric canal fill were dated through Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) as well as both standard ¹⁴C and accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) assays. These samples directly date the functioning of the water management features within the complex. The results confirm the Formative Period origins of the Purrón Dam, and offer new insights into the construction and functioning of the dam and irrigation system.     

Integrating shallow geophysical survey: archaeological investigations at Totógal in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas,Veracruz, México

The Postclassic site of Totógal in the western Tuxtla Mountains of Veracruz, Mexico contains rare examples of stone architectural features in the southern Gulf Lowlands. Today, the partial remains of one such structure are highly visible; however, the amount of wall fall, looters' pit destruction and over-growth masks the extent and form of the feature. Local histories ascribe these ruins to early Colonial construction periods, however Postclassic Aztec-style artifacts recovered near this architecture question the occupational sequence of the site and its constructions. To better examine the extent of construction, as well as the occupation associated with them, we conducted a program of shovel testing, topographic mapping, electromagnetic induction survey and excavation. We discuss our findings in this paper and demonstrate the utility of geophysical surveys as complementary field strategies in the Tuxtla Mountains and other volcanic regions.     

Settlement Change in Spanish America: the Dynamics of Congregación in the Cuchumatán Highlands of Guatemala, 1541–1821

To facilitate the conversion of Indians to Christianity and to create centralized pools of exploitable labour, the policy of congregatión in Spanish America aimed at producing an orderly pattern of nucleated settlement that contrasted greatly with the predominantly random and scattered arrangement of pre-Hispanic times. Although the imprint of congregación persists to this day, the operation of the policy in the Cuchumatán highlands of Guatemala was not without its failures and frustrations. A review of mid-sixteenth-century congregación , and of the reasons behind the subsequent process of settlement dispersal in the Cuchumatán region, forms the focus of discussion.
Afin de faciliter la conversion au christianisme des Indiens, et dans le dessin de regrouper et de centraliser la main-d'ceuvre exploitable, la politique de la congregación dans l'AmCrique hispanique visait à produire un modèle ordonné de repeuplement nucléé. Cela contrastait fortement avec la distribution sans ordre des populations clairsemCes de l'époque pré-hispanique. Quoique des traces de la congregación persistent encore aujourd'hui, cette politique ne se rCalisa pas sans uncertain nombre d'Cchecs et de frustrations dans les Altos Cuchumatanes du Guatemala. Notre discussion se centre sur une revue de la congregacidn du milieu du seizième siècle, et traite les raisons qui motivèrent le processus de la dispersion subséquente de la population dans cette région.