In 1992 we conducted an intensive archaeological surface survey in and around the modern town of Yautepec, Morelos, Mexico. Our goals were to determine the size and extent of the Aztec-period city of Yautepec, and to gather data on its spatial organization. This article describes the methods used and the results obtained toward achieving the first goal. Aztec Yautepec covered approximately 209 ha; this area is partly covered by the modern town and partly by open fields. Late Postclassic settlement was clustered around a structure that today is the largest known Aztec palace in central Mexico. We generate ethnohistoric and archaeological population estimates for Yautepec and discuss the city in relation to other Aztec urban settlements in Morelos and the Basin of Mexico.

With systematic surface collections from the Mixtequilla region of Veracruz, Mexico, multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis distinguish two Postclassic complexes and permit examination of their associated settlement patterns. Comparison of pottery types to other assemblages provides cross dating and allows judgments about stylistic affinities. The earlier of the two complexes, assigned to the Middle Postclassic, ca. a.d. 1200–1350, exhibits characteristics of the “Mixteca-Puebla horizon.” The second complex dates to the Late Postclassic, a.d. 1350–1521, when the region was affected by imperial expansion of the Aztec Triple Alliance. Both complexes, but particularly the one from the Middle Postclassic, show marked changes in settlement pattern, material culture, and trade patterns. Changes in trade, stylistic emulation, or major population movement are insufficient to account for the evidence. Instead, political realignment, likely coupled with other factors, is a more promising interpretation.

Excavation at the Late Postclassic (a.d. 1300–1520) site of Tehuacan Viejo, Puebla, Mexico revealed a room with a codex-style mural. The mural is divided into two zones. The lower zone is composed of white stucco and decorated with red circles. The upper zone is composed of mud plaster and decorated with seven and one-half shields behind which occur crossed lances and banners. Holes in the wall above the painted shields once held wooden pegs for hanging actual shields. The door jambs and circular columns of the eastern doorway are painted with horizontal bands representing the layers of heaven. Streamers hang from these bands. Included in the decoration on these streamers are stylized stars and blue butterflies. These may represent the souls of dead warriors. Symbolically, the room is the heavenly abode of these warriors. The most likely function of the room was as an armory.

Two ballcourts at the major Classic site of La Milpa are of similar age but different design, a circumstance found only rarely elsewhere. Differences in playing surface and alley plan suggest that different kinds of ballgame were played during the Terminal Classic period on these courts.

The C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of amber and jet beads found at Tipu, a Colonial-period Maya site in Belize, Central America, indicate that these materials are of European origin. The two jet beads were found in association with the burial of children in a Christian cemetery, and the single amber bead was in a midden from the early years of Spanish occupation. Both the cemetery and the midden probably date to the late sixteenth century. The amber is clearly of Baltic origin. The jet spectrum is consistent with a Spanish origin.

A regional investigation of the ancient Maya settlement patterns of the Puuc suggests that this region was occupied by increasing numbers of people seeking to maximize control over prime agricultural soils during the Late Classic period. During the Late Classic the eastern Puuc region was controlled by numerous autonomous major centers that carried on the Classic Maya tradition of divine kingship. During the late ninth century a.d., the city of Uxmal briefly emerged as the politically dominant center of the region and was involved in an important relationship with the city of Chichen Itza. By a.d. 950, however, Uxmal and the other major centers of the Puuc had ceased all important elite activities.

The southern Lowland Maya hilltop center of Kinal is shown to be a human-modified watershed. The broad paved surfaces of the elevated central precinct acted as runoff-catchment areas directing precipitation into gravity-fed channels and reservoirs. In a geographical zone affected by an extended dry season and away from permanent water sources, Kinal demonstrates the components of a rainfall-dependent water-management system characteristic of other large sites in the region.

Recent archaeological surveys in the upper Belize River area have documented high overall settlement densities, albeit with an uneven distribution. Analyses have defined clear relationships between the distribution of land resources of varying agricultural capability and the density of ancient residential sites. However, these investigations did not provide direct physical evidence for cultivation techniques, particularly for the intensive methods that were probably employed in areas of prime land resources and high settlement density. The discovery in 1991 of terracing in direct association with a residential site prompted further investigations into the distribution of terrace systems throughout the area. The development of a computerized Geographic Information System (GIS) facilitated the prediction of terrace distributions on the basis of slope, soil type, and the parent material from which soils form. Initial field testing of the terrace-distribution model in 1992 resulted in the identification of 13 terrace systems, all situated on low slopes in soils developed on consolidated limestone. A variety of terrace systems were identified, including small, intricate patterns of “box terraces,” contour terraces, and cross-channel terraces. Locational data on these systems were used to modify the terrace-distribution model in anticipation of further field investigations. The results allow new insights into the structure of ancient Maya land use and settlement in the area, while illustrating a method that can be used to quantify landscape characteristics, thereby facilitating comparisons between local areas within a regional context.

The predominance of tree crops among abundant, well-preserved plant food remains from coastal sites in southern Belize suggests that these island Maya had a specialized subsistence focus. Limited arable land on offshore islands, together with a maritime economy, may have been important factors in the use of tree crops. The Wild Cane Cay Maya utilized a variety of native palm fruits – Orbignya cohune, Acrocomia mexicana, and Bactris major, as well as other wild tree fruits, in addition to corn. These coastal data support the view that specialized adaptation to diverse environments was a feature of ancient Maya subsistence.