Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-06T00:18:55.915Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

SOIL GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSES AT THE PRECLASSIC SITE OF XTOBO, YUCATAN, MEXICO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2012

David S. Anderson ,
Daniel A. Bair  and
Richard E. Terry
David S. Anderson*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 101 Dinwiddie Hall, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118
Daniel A. Bair
Affiliation:
Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, 275 WIDB, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602
Richard E. Terry
Affiliation:
Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, 275 WIDB, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The geochemical analysis of soil samples collected in association with archaeological remains has proven to be an effective tool in the identification of past human behaviors. These methodologies are here applied to the study of notable features from the site of Xtobo, Yucatan, Mexico. Xtobo is a Preclassic Maya regional center in northwest Yucatan exhibiting a complex settlement pattern, including a well-defined plaza, multiple raised causeways, and a ballcourt. In addition, the site includes a large defined open area, which was initially thought to be a potential marketplace. The results of the geochemical soil analyses identified several areas of food production and consumption throughout the site, along with potential craft production zones. The results in association with the potential marketplace were intriguing, but inconclusive.

Type
Special Section: Contemporary Archaeology in Yucatan
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , Fall 2012 , pp. 365 - 377
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Anderson, David S. 2003 El asentamiento preclásico en la región noroeste de Yucatan. In Proyecto Costa Maya: Reporte interino, Temporada 2002: Reconocimiento arqueológico de la esquina noroeste de la peninsula de Yucatan, edited by Andrews, Anthony P. and Castellanos, Fernando Robles, pp. 46–61. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Centro INAH Yucatan, Mérida.Google Scholar
Anderson, David S. 2005 Preclassic Settlement Patterns in Northwest Yucatan. Mono y Conejo 3:13–22.Google Scholar
Anderson, David S. 2010 Xtobo, Yucatan, Mexico: The Study of a Preclassic Maya Community. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI.Google Scholar
Anderson, David S. 2011 Xtobo, Yucatan, Mexico, and the Emergent Preclassic of the Northern Maya Lowlands. Ancient Mesoamerica 22:301–322.Google Scholar
Andrews, Anthony P., and Castellanos, Fernando Robles 2004 An Archaeological Survey of Northwest Yucatan, Mexico. Mexicon 26(1):7–14.Google Scholar
Bair, Daniel. A., and Terry, Richard. E. 2009 Estudios geoquímicos de suelo en Mayapán, temporada 2008. In Proyecto Los Fundamentos Del Poder Económico De Mayapán, Temporada 2008, edited by Masson, Marilyn A., Lope, Carlos Peraza, and Hare, Timothy S., pp. 377–384. University at Albany-SUNY, Albany, NY.Google Scholar
Bair, Daniel, Terry, Richard, and Moriarty, Matthew 2006 Soil chemical analysis of ancient Maya activities at La Trinidad de Nosotros, Peten, Guatemala. Paper presented at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Juan, Puerto Rico.Google Scholar
Barba, Luis 1986 La quimica en el studio de areas de actividad. In Unidades habitacionales mesoamericanas y sus areas de actividad, edited by Manzanilla, Linda, pp. 21–39. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Barba, Luis 2007 Chemical residues in lime plastered archaeological floors. Geoarchaeology 22:439–452.Google Scholar
Barba, Luis, and Ortiz, Agustín 1992 Análisis químico de pisos de ocupación: un caso etnográfico en Tlaxcala, Mexico. Latin American Antiquity 3:63–82.Google Scholar
Barba, Luis, De Pierreboug, Fabienne, Trejo, Claudia, Ortiz, Agustín, and Link, Karl 1995 Activites humaines refletees dans les sols d'unites d'habitation contemporaine et prehispanizue du Yucatan (Mexique): Etudes chimiques, ethnoarcheologiques et archeologiques. Revue d'Archeomitrie 19:79–95.Google Scholar
Bautista, Francisco, Palacio-Aponte, Gerardo, Quintana, Patricia, and Zinck, Joseph Alfred 2011 Spatial Distribution and Development of Soil in Tropical Karst Areas from the Peninsula of Yucatan, Mexico. Geomorphology 135:308–321.Google Scholar
Bautista, Francisco and Zinck, Joseph Alfred 2010 Construction of an (sic) Yucatec Maya Soil Classification and Comparison with the WRB Framework. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 6(7):1–11.Google Scholar
Berdan, Frances F. 1985 Markets in the Economy of Aztec Mexico. In Markets and Marketing, edited by Plattner, S., pp. 51–66. Monographs in Economic Anthropology, Vol. 4. University Press of America, Lanham, MD.Google Scholar
Beach, Timothy 1998 Soil Constraints on Northwest Yucatan Mexico: Pedoarchaeology and Maya Subsistence at Chunchucmil. Geoarchaeology 13:759–791.Google Scholar
Brenner, Mark, Leyden, Barbara W., Curtis, Jason H., Gonzalez, Roger M. Medina, and Dahlin, Bruce H. 2003 Un registro de 8000 años del paleoclima del noroeste de Yucatan, Mexico. Revista de la Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan 15:52–65.Google Scholar
Brown, Linda, and Sheets, Payson 2000 Distinguishing Domestic from Ceremonial Structures in Southern Mesoamerica: Suggestions from Ceren, El Salvador. Mayab 13:11–22.Google Scholar
Calunga-García Marín, Patricia 2003 The Domestication of Henequen (Agave fourcroydes Lem.). In The Lowland Maya Area: Three Millennia at the Human-Wildland Interface, edited by Gómez-Pompa, Arturo, Allen, Michael F., Fedick, Scott L., and Jiménez-Osornio, Juan J., pp. 439–446. Food Products Press, New York.Google Scholar
Curtis, Jason H., Hodell, David A., and Brenner, Mark. 1996 Climate Variability on the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) during the Past 3500 Years, and Implications for Maya Cultural Evolution. Quaternary Research 46:37–47.Google Scholar
Dahlin, Bruce H., Bair, Daniel, Beach, Timothy, Moriarty, Matthew, and Terry, Richard E. 2010 The Dirt on Food: Ancient Feasts and Markets among the Lowland Maya. In Pre-Columbian Foodways: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food, Culture, and Markets in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Staller, John E. and Carrasco, Michael B., pp. 191–232. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Dahlin, Bruce H., Jensen, Christopher T., Terry, Richard E., Wright, David R., and Beach, Timothy 2007 In Search of an Ancient Maya Market. Latin American Antiquity 18:363–385.Google Scholar
Dunning, Nicholas P. 1993 Ancient Maya Anthrosols: Soil Phosphate Testing and Land Use. In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Pedo-Archaeology, Vol. 93–03, edited by Foss, J.E., Timpson, M.E., and Morris, M.W., pp. 203–211. University of Tennessee Special Publication, Knoxville.Google Scholar
Dunning, Nicholas P., and Beach, Timothy 2004 Noxious or Nurturing Nature? Maya Civilization in Environmental Context. In Continuities and Changes in Maya Archaeology: Perspectives at the Millennium, edited by Golden, Charles W. and Borgstede, Greg, pp. 125–141. Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Fernández, Fabián G., Terry, Richard E., Inomata, Takeshi, and Eberl, Marcus 2002 An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Chemical Residues in the Floors and Soil of Q'eqchi' Maya Houses at Las Pozas, Guatemala. Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 17:487–519.Google Scholar
Folan, William J. 1991 Sacbes of the Northern Maya. In Ancient Road Networks and Settlement Hierarchies in the New World, edited by Trombold, Charles D., pp. 222–229. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Garraty, Christopher P. 2009 Evaluating the Distributional Approach to Inferring Marketplace Exchange: A Test Case from the Mexican Gulf Lowlands. Latin American Antiquity 20:157–174.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard D. 1998 Continuity and Disjunction: The Pre-Classic Antecedents of Classic Maya Architecture. In Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture, edited by Houston, Stephen D., pp. 49–122. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Harrison, Peter D. 2006 Maya Agriculture. In Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest, edited by Grube, Nikolai, pp. 70–79. Kónemann, Kóhn.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth G. 1998 The Distributional Approach: A New Way to Identify Marketplace Exchange in the Archaeological Record. Current Anthropology 39:451–476.Google Scholar
Hutson, Scott R., Stanton, Travis W., Magnoni, Aline, Terry, Richard E., and Craner, Jason 2007 Beyond the Buildings: Formation Processes of Ancient Maya Houselots and Methods for the Study of Non-Architectural Space. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 26:442–473.Google Scholar
Hutson, Scott R., and Terry, Richard E. 2006 Recovering Social and Cultural Dynamics from Plaster Floors: Chemical Analyses at Ancient Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 33:391–404.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, Ponciano, Erick, Pinto, Estela, Terry, Richard E., and Eberl, Marcus 2002 Domestic and Political Lives of Classic Maya Elites: The Excavation of Rapidly Abandoned Structures at Aguateca, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 13:305–330.Google Scholar
Jones, Christopher 1996 Excavations in the East Plaza of Tikal. In Tikal Report, Vol. 2. Tikal Report 16. The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Lentz, David L., Beaudry-Corbett, Marilyn P., de Aguilar, Maria L. Reyna, and Kaplan, Lawrence 1996 Foodstuffs, Forests, Fields, and Shelter: A Paleoethnobotanical Analysis of Vessel Contents from the Ceren Site, El Salvador. Latin American Antiquity 7:247–262.Google Scholar
Lindsay, Willard L. (editor) 1979 Chemical Equilibria in Soils. Wiley Interscience, New York.Google Scholar
Lindsay, Willard L., and Norvell, W. A. 1978 Development of a DTPA Test for Zinc, Iron, Manganese, and Copper. Soil Science Society of America Journal 42:421–428.Google Scholar
Magnoni, Aline, Hutson, Scott R., and Stanton, Travis W. 2008 Landscape Transformations and Changing Perceptions at Chunchucmil, Yucatan. In Ruins of the Past: The Use and Perception of Abandoned Structures in the Maya Lowlands, edited by Stanton, Travis W. and Magnoni, Aline, pp. 193–222. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, Linda, and Barba, Luis 1990 The Study of Activities in Classic Households: Two Case Studies from Coba and Teotihuacan. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:41–49.Google Scholar
Medina Castillo, Edgar 2003 Los Juegos de Pelota de la región noroeste de Yucatan. In Proyecto Costa Maya: Reporte interino, Temporada 2002: Reconocimiento arqueológico de la esquina noroeste de la peninsula de Yucatan, edited by Castellanos, Fernando Robles and Andrews, Anthony P., pp. 62–87. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Centro INAH Yucatan, Mérida.Google Scholar
Medina Castillo, Edgar 2005 El juego de pelota del Preclásico Medio en el noroeste de Yucatan, México. Licensiatura thesis, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatan, Mérida.Google Scholar
Middleton, William D., and Price, T. Douglas 1996 Identification of Activity Areas by Multi-element Characterization of Sediments from Modern and Archaeological House Floors Using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectroscopy. Journal of Archaeological Science 23:673–687.Google Scholar
Middleton, William D., Barba, Luis, Pecci, Alessandra, Burton, James H., Ortiz, Agustín, Salvini, Laura, Suárez, Roberto Rodriguez 2010 The Study of Archaeological Floors: Methodological Proposal for the Analysis of Anthropogenic Residues by Spot Tests, ICP-OES, and GC-MS. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 17:183–208Google Scholar
Parnell, J. Jacob, Terry, Richard E., and Golden, Charles 2001 The Use of In-Field Phosphate Testing for the Rapid Identification of Middens at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 16:855–873.Google Scholar
Parnell, J. Jacob, Terry, Richard E., and Nelson, Zachary 2002a Soil Chemical Analysis Applied as an Interpretive Tool for Ancient Human Activities at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Journal of Archaeological Science 29:379–404.Google Scholar
Parnell, J. Jacob, Terry, Richard E., and Sheets, Payson D. 2002b Soil Chemical Analysis of Ancient Activities in Cerén, El Salvador: A Case Study of a Rapidly Abandoned Site. Latin American Antiquity 13:331–342.Google Scholar
Peniche May, Nancy 2010 The Architecture of Power and Sociopolitical Complexity in Northwestern Yucatan during the Preclassic Period. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego.Google Scholar
Quezada, Sergio 2001 Breve historia de Yucatan. El Colegio de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Redfield, Robert, and Rojas, Alfonso Villa 1934 Chan Kom: A Maya Village. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication No. 448, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Robles Castellanos, Fernando, and Andrews, Anthony P. (editors) 2003 Proyecto Costa Maya: Reporte interino, Temporada 2002: Reconocimiento arqueológico de la esquina noroeste de la peninsula de Yucatan. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Centro INAH Yucatan, Mérida.Google Scholar
Sanchez, Charles A. 2007 Phosphorus. In Handbook of Plant Nutrition, edited by Barker, Allen V. and Pilbeam, David J., pp. 51–90. CRC Press/Taylor and Francis Group, Boca Raton, FL.Google Scholar
Schiffer, Michael B. 1987 Formation Processes of the Archaeological Record. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Shaw, Justine 2008 White Roads of the Yucatan: Changing Social Landscapes of the Yucatec Maya. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Sheets, Payson 2000 Provisioning the Ceren Household: The Vertical Economy, Village Economy, and Household Economy in the Southeastern Maya Periphery. Ancient Mesoamerica 11:217–230.Google Scholar
Stuart, George E. 1979 Map of the ruins of Dzibilchaltun, Yucatan, Mexico. Middle American Reasearch Institute 47. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Sweetwood, Ryan V., Terry, Richard E., Beach, Timothy, Dahlin, Bruce H., and Hixson, David 2009 The Maya Footprint: Soil Resources of Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico. Soil Science Society of America Journal 73:1209–1220.Google Scholar
Terry, Richard E., Fernández, Fabián G., Parnell, J. Jacob, and Inomata, Takeshi 2004 The Story in the Floors: Chemical Signatures of Ancient and Modern Maya Activities at Aguateca, Guatemala. Journal of Archaeological Science 31:1237–1250.Google Scholar
Terry, Richard E., Hardin, Perry J., Houston, Stephen D., Jackson, Mark W., Nelson, Sheldon D., Carr, Jared, and Parnell, J. Jacob 2000 Quantitative Phosphorus Measurement: A Field Test Procedure for Archaeological Site Analysis at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 15:151–166.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1970 Maya History and Religion. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Tourtellot, Gair 1988 Excavations at Seibal: Peripheral Survey and Excavation: Settlement and Community Patterns. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum, Vol. 16. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Turner, B. L., Klepeis, Peter, and Schneider, Laura C. 2003 Three Millennia in the Southern Yucatan Peninsula: Implications for Occupancy, Use, and Carrying Capacity. In The Lowland Maya Area: Three Millennia at the Human-Wildland Interface, edited by Gómez-Pompa, Arturo, Allen, Michael F., Fedick, Scott L., and Jiménez-Osornio, Juan J., pp. 361–387. Food Products Press, New York.Google Scholar
Uriarte Torres, Alejandro J. 2011 Estrategias políticas y organización espacial durante el formativo en Ciudad Caucel, Yucatan. Unpublished Master's thesis, Centro de estudios arqueológicos, Colegio de Michoacán, Mexico,Google Scholar
Villa, A. 1934 Survey of the Cobá-Yaxuná Highway. Yearbook 32. 89 vols. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Wells, E. Christian 2004 Investigating Activity Patterning in Prehispanic Plazas: Acid-Extraction ICP/AES Analysis of Anthrosols at Classic Period El Coyote, Northwest Honduras. Archaeometry 46:67–84.Google Scholar
Wells, E. Christian., Novotny, Claire, and Hawken, James R. 2007 Quantitative Modeling of Soil Chemical Data from Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy Reveals Evidence for Cooking and Eating in Ancient Mesoamerican Plazas. In Archaeological Chemistry: Analytical Techniques and Archaeological Interpretation, edited by Glascock, Michael D., Speakman, Robert J., and Popelka-Filcoff, Rachel S., pp. 210–230. ACS Symposium Series, Vol. 968. American Chemical Society, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Wells, E. Christian, Terry, Richard E., Parnell, J. Jacob, Hardin, Perry J., Jackson, Mark W., and Houston, Stephen D. 2000 Chemical Analyses of Ancient Anthrosols in Residential Areas at Piedras Negras, Guatemala. Journal of Archaeological Science 27:449–462.Google Scholar
Wurtzburg, S.J. 1991 Sayil: Investigations of Urbanism and Economic Organization at an Ancient Maya City. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI.Google Scholar