Altica is a rare first-farming village site in the Basin of Mexico that has survived to modern times. Thus, it provides a glimpse into life during the Early–Middle Formative period. While valuable archaeological information on the village was recovered in excavation, only four burials comprising four individuals were recovered, a very small sample. Two individuals are older-aged females; the third, a middle-aged male, was accompanied by prestigious nonperishable goods and indicates that there are status differences even at this early date. The final individual was a young male buried in a deviant manner, suggesting possible foul play. While all individuals have indicators of periods of poor health, stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen paint a more complete picture of the types of foods these individuals consumed over their lifetime. Radiogenic strontium isotopes of tooth enamel identify one individual, the young male buried in a deviant manner, as non-native to the Altica region. Thus, there is mystery in the manner of death, but even in this small sample, the wider connections Altica had that are so evident in the artefactual analysis are found in the skeletons. In addition, accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating provides a chronology of occupation through the people.

This article focuses on Structures 12 and 22 from Yaxchilan (Chiapas, Mexico), where the ancient Maya reset stone lintels from the sixth century a.d. in eighth-century buildings. The resetting highlights attention to the preservation of the lintels as relics from the past. Valued for their antiquity and the histories they had accrued, particularly from contact with ancestors, they served as loci for communication with the past, with memory inhering in their materiality. This essay also explores the lintels’ physical contexts and how the Maya may have engaged with them. For example, the arrangement of the Structure 12 lintels would have guided circumambulation. Such movement was associated with sacred processions, and evidence suggests the building was reserved for ancestor veneration. Although only restricted groups could have entered the small structure to perform rites, these may have been integrated into extended ceremonial circuits in public spaces.

This article connects with studies of the life histories of things, in which analysis is directed toward objects’ use, reuse, and modification. Examining how people interacted with sculptures over time offers insight into the people and the objects and provides glimpses into Late Classic Maya perception of sculptures and their material qualities.

This article seeks to contribute to the development of a method for analyzing the attributes of the gods of central Mexico in the manuscripts and the statuary from the time of the Spanish conquest. I focus on the Goddess of Water, Chalchiuhtlicue, “Jade Her Skirt.” The method consists of isolating the component designs of her array and grouping them in semantic groups. I begin by examining these designs and show that all of them were used in the notation of toponyms. These findings call into question the traditional separation between glyphs and icons. I next study the semantic groups and show that they consist of a series of culturally selected manifestations of water. Hence, it follows that the rules of composition of the goddess were grounded on a process of “definition by extension.” Thus, most of the semantic groups referred to different secondary names of the goddess, allowing us to think that they represented theonyms of a particular type.

Ceramic and radiometric data from the three seasons of survey and excavations, 1995–1997, conducted in the coastal districts of Santa Rosa and Jutiapa in southeastern Guatemala are used to construct a chronological sequence for this previously little-known 1000-km2 region. Patterns of local ceramic manufacture and interregional trade are identified through the use of type-variety classification methods coupled with neutron-activation analysis. The resulting 3000-year-long uninterrupted chronological sequence, beginning in the Early Preclassic, shows patterns of continuity in manufacturing techniques, as well as evolving styles and shifting networks of interregional interactions that span much of the Pacific Coast and the highlands and lowlands of southeastern Mesoamerica, from the Gulf of Mexico to Copan, Honduras. These interactions indicate the southeastern Pacific Coast participated in exchange systems that brought together different ethnic groups whose cultural manifestations included Maya ceramics in the Preclassic and Classic periods, and ceramic, architectural, and sculptural evidence suggesting the southeastern Pacific Coast was actively involved in the Cotzumalguapa Nuclear Zone that stretched to the west into Escuintla and to the east into Pacific El Salvador during the Classic period.

The identity of the Classic Maya was expressed through public architecture and the creation of sacred landscape, which incorporated the landscape of creation and the concept of the world tree. Pyramids, plazas, stelae, and ballcourts were important components of this landscape. In the Peten, architectural complexes known as “E-groups” were another component. E-groups are well-known astronomical “orientation calendars” that were first built in the Terminal Preclassic period. Named after Group E at Uaxactun, they consist of three buildings on the east side of a public plaza and a fourth in the middle of the plaza or on the west side. Terminal Preclassic E-groups functioned as solstice and equinox markers. However, their function changed in the Early Classic period, arguably due to influence from Teotihuacan, to a focus on agricultural seasons. In this paper, I argue that pseudo–E-groups were built well into the Late Classic period in the eastern Peten and were a defining architectural complex for the region. The original, functional Terminal Preclassic E-groups were based on ritual activities focused on solar events. By the Early Classic, E-groups had become multipurpose parts of the sacred landscape of public architecture. Late Classic pseudo–E-groups, however, had become nonfunctional for either solar or agriculturally oriented observation. Nevertheless, they had become so deeply embedded into the template of sacred space and architecture that pseudo–E–groups were constructed to reinforce the identity of cities and the validity of their rulers.

This study of subsistence activities (fishing, hunting, gathering, and manufacture) in the Lake Cuitzeo Basin underscores the value of ethnoarchaeology as a tool for reconstructing the ancient aquatic lifeway in the territory of the ancient Tarascan state, which flourished in an environment dominated by lakes, rivers, marshes, and other wetlands. Mesoamerica was the only civilization in the ancient world that lacked major domesticated sources of animal protein, such as cattle, pigs, and sheep. Therefore, the abundant wild aquatic species (fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and plants, among others) played a strategic role in the diet and economy of most Mesoamerican cultures, including the Tarascans. Most of the activities, artifacts, and features linked with aquatic lifeways throughout Mesoamerica are difficult to detect in the archaeological record. As a result, we must rely on ethnographic and ethnohistorical perspectives like the ones discussed here to formulate analogies, in order to understand this important aspect of the ancient past.

This paper utilizes anthropological and sociological approaches to social memory to analyze the position and relevance of sacred sites among the Jakaltek Maya of the western highlands of Guatemala. Based on archaeological investigations and oral history, the connection between the past and present is analyzed in terms of collective memory, underscoring the importance of specific places and landscape in remembering as well as in reinforcing Jakaltek identity and history. Three distinct sacred sites are discussed, including their archaeological evidence; position (or lack of) in histories; disposition/creation as sacred site; and ties to the community's social memory. Sacred sites and social memory are viewed as a key component of indigenous activism and identity politics as well as an integral aspect to understanding the social context of archaeology in the Guatemalan Maya Highlands.

Although iron-ore mirrors are commonly found in the Maya area, very few workshops are known to date. Cancuen, Guatemala, is one of the few sites to show evidence of iron-ore production during the Late Classic (a.d. 600–800). This article reviews all the available data on this material in Cancuen in light of the recent excavations, and, by combining spatial and technological analysis, proposes to shed new light on the spatial organization of this production. By comparing the composition and the social context of production in Cancuen with that of Aguateca (Inomata and Eberl 2014), we suggest that there was a division of tasks between sites in which Cancuen's artisans were involved in the first stage of the production of luxury goods, whereas other stages, such as the arrangement of the tesserae on the supports and their repolishing, were more socially invested and made by elite artists at the recipient sites.

The mapping of the ancient city of Teotihuacan was an archaeological project of singular importance in the history of archaeology. In this paper, we discuss the origin and history of the Teotihuacan Mapping Project (TMP) through a series of personal vignettes written by the project's leader, René Millon, which are put into larger context by Jeff Altschul, one of the many students who worked on the project. We examine the characteristics that led to the TMP's successes and its shortcomings and discuss lessons learned that may be of value to planning future big, complex archaeological projects. We argue that above all, a big project needs a big problem to solve. In the case of the TMP, the problem was the origin of the city. Marshaling a team of diverse talents, Millon and his colleagues were able to make many key decisions in ways that successfully overcame problems that had not been heretofore confronted by archaeologists. These decisions include the use of low-altitude aerial photography, the definition of sites to include nonliving urban spaces, the sampling of surface artifacts, strategic test excavations, computerized data management and sophisticated statistical analyses, and a unique manner of publication. Less successful was the project's record in publishing descriptive data. The project's success lay in its ability to take on an important problem and to follow through, even though some tasks required decades to complete and others remain to be completed.

Acanmul is a medium-size center located at the north end of the Bay of Campeche about 25 km northeast of the city of Campeche. Between 1999 and 2005, three independent sets of investigations and major architectural consolidation were carried out at the center by archaeologists from the Universidad Autónoma de Campeche (UAC), the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), Centro Regional de Campeche, and UAC in collaboration with San Diego State University. These efforts produced a wealth of new information on the archaeology of the central Campeche coast, including new insights into the emergence and evolution of the northern slateware tradition and the architectural history of the central coast from Preclassic through Postclassic times. New data concerning changing relationships through time of the central coast Maya to both the interior central and southern lowlands and to the northern plains also were documented, as was the mid ninth century sacking of the center. This article synthesizes the findings of the three separate institutional efforts at Acanmul and offers a number of new cultural historical scenarios and hypotheses based on them.

In the early 1880s, a finely carved Maya shell picture plaque was found at the Toltec capital of Tula, central Mexico, and was subsequently acquired by The Field Museum in Chicago. The shell was probably re-carved in the Terminal Classic period and depicts a seated lord with associated Maya hieroglyphs on the front and back. Here the iconography and glyphic text of this unique artifact are examined, the species and habitat of the shell are described, and its archaeological and social context are interpreted. The Tula plaque is then compared with Maya carved jade picture plaques of similar size and design that were widely distributed throughout Mesoamerica, but were later concentrated in the sacred cenote at Chichen Itza. It is concluded that during the Late Classic period, these plaques played an important role in establishing contact between Maya lords and their counterparts representing peripheral and non-Maya domains. The picture plaques may have been elite Maya gifts establishing royal alliances with non-local polities and may have become prestige objects used in caches and termination rituals.

Like other rulers in the ancient world, Classic Maya kings needed to legitimize their power. They did so by adopting the name of the sun deity, K'inich, thus identifying themselves with the celestial authority of a potent supernatural being. However, Classic Maya kings used the name of the sun god in two different ways: to name the individual self of the king, and to identify his socially defined person. The individual self of a king was always linked to a defined aspect of the sun god. The person of the king was always referred to using a simple K'inich prefixed to a rigid designator. These two modes of reference also show differences in usage. Prefixed K'inich name elements are mostly omitted in external references because they refer to a socially defined person who is not perceived as such in antagonistic areas. But the K'inich referring to a king's self is employed in external references.

Mesoamerican studies have long focused on the well-known pre-Columbian game ullamaliztli, its architectural context, and its possible variants. But other games can be identified, among them the stick game from Teotihuacan and a handball game depicted at Dainzù. Despite a large chronological gap, the handball game at Dainzu can be related to the present pelota mixteca, taking into account other artifacts. It may also be associated with the palangana-type ballcourts, thus modifying our interpretations of the ballgame architectural context.

Phil C. Weigand has devoted his career to the anthropology and archaeology of the most poorly known area of Mesoamerica, “an enormous area of elaborate cultural development [that] has been relegated to unimportance” (Weigand and Foster 1985:5). We refer, of course, to the Occidente or West Mexico, roughly defined by the states of Michoacán, Colima, Jalisco, and Nayarit, often including parts of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Sinaloa, and sometimes Guerrero. Over the course of his career, Weigand has integrated data from archaeology, ethnohistory, and ethnography to gain a better understanding of western Mesoamerica. This Special Section is an homenaje to Phil that draws together contributions by some of his friends and colleagues who have felt his influence over the years.

Recent salvage excavations conducted in the Early Postclassic city of Tula, Hidalgo, exposed a residential compound containing an open patio, beneath which was discovered a massive burial, designated Feature 5. Human remains involving a minimum of 49 individuals were discovered, many of whom were arranged in a sitting or squatting position. The majority of individuals, including all of the latter, were young children. The bioarchaeological analysis suggests that they were sacrificed. Many individuals exhibited anthropogenic modification, including cut marks on the skull and postcranial skeleton, indicating the children had been flayed. Some individuals were represented only by the skull and cervical vertebrae, suggesting decapitation. The individuals appeared to be in bad health, a common attribute of children sacrificed to Tlaloc by the Aztecs. According to ethnohistorical sources, children offered to Tlaloc commonly had their throats slit, although this practice was not identified among the individuals in Feature 5, possibly owing to their young age. Sacrifice also may have been made to Xipe Totec, as suggested by the evidence of flaying and the presence of a large hollow sculpture of the deity located in an adjacent residential compound, a deity who has been also linked to human sacrifice related to regeneration and fertility.

Archaeological research can draw on material remains to understand the ways that individuals may have expressed their identities in pursuit of specific goals. Here ritual performances in ancient Mesoamerica are considered for their role in shaping identities deployed to gain social and political power. The Late to Terminal Classic period (a.d. 650–960) site of Las Canoas, Honduras, is offered as a case study. In particular, the monumental Main Plaza Group at Las Canoas is examined as a spatial setting for the performance of rituals involving the use of incense burners and ceramic anthropomorphic figurines. These performances are argued to have facilitated the efforts of certain members of the community to take advantage of shifting political and economic alliances in the region and make a bid for power. Ultimately, however, their efforts to establish spiritual and political leadership did not endure.

This article presents the results of seven archaeological salvage and rescue projects that resulted in new information on settlement at Tula, Hidalgo that includes materials and evidence of activities rarely or never before encountered at Tula. Several localities exhibited evidence of craft activities that included the production of basalt megaliths, human and animal figurines, and the processing of human skulls. One locality was the scene of elaborate ritual involving the mass sacrifice of children, and another was the scene of elaborate ritual destruction and offerings involving some of the most sumptuous objects yet found at Tula. One of the most remarkable aspects of the wealth of information and material culture obtained was that these were salvage and rescue operations undertaken with limited time and resources in localities determined by factors in which previous archaeological knowledge played no guiding role. These investigations indicate that despite the extensive damage suffered by Tula outside the protected area, much of the old city still remains for researchers for the immediate future.

Two “Directional Count Glyphs” have long been recognized as the indicators of backward and forward chronological reckonings in Maya inscriptions. Their traditional decipherment, following early work by Thompson, is founded upon the reading xok, ‘to count’, for one frequent sign in these glyphs. The present study calls this reading into question by suggesting that all ‘count’ glyphs are read u-ti, spelling the verb ut, ‘come to pass’. This decipherment applies to all known contexts of the glyphs.

Stratigraphic and seriational analysis of the ceramics from La Blanca, Guatemala, resulted in the definition of a highly refined sequence. Within the 300 years of the Conchas phase (c. 900–600 b.c.) it is possible to define, minimally, a four-part subdivision. The four-part subdivision is based on a Stratigraphic analysis of the presence or absence of seven ceramic wares. However, experiments with seriational methods suggest that greater resolution may be obtained through the quantitative analysis of attribute frequencies. The chronological resolution obtained by these relative dating methods is at least equal to the resolution possible with chronometric methods.

The Aztec period city-state of Otumba in the upper Teotihuacan Valley was integrated into the Acolhua domain from the early 1430s to about 1515. It then became independent, demonstrating the fragility of city-state organization as a means of regional political integration. A close look at Otumba and other city-states in the Teotihuacan Valley reveals that Acolhua strategies of social engineering welded together the potentially-autonomous city-states into an elaborate political system with impressive structural strengthening and improved flow of services and materials through it.