Scholars of West Mexico generally rely on the ceramic figurine tradition found in shaft tombs for interpreting the prehistory of the Late Preclassic period. Three new projects on shaft-tomb ceramics seek to advance our understanding of the Late Formative culture and societies of this region. First, ceramic figures are examined for evidence of the ball game in West Mexico; second, for cultural information about domestic and community organization; and third, for ways to differentiate authentic figures from modern reproductions.

This study investigates prehistoric West Mexican mortuary activities as technological systems. Specifically, the production, distribution, and use of mortuary ceramics are considered within a social context. Technological changes occurring between the Late Formative and Classic periods (200 b.c.–a.d. 700) at the site of Tabachines are compared to changes occurring at the center of the Teuchitlan tradition, 50 km away. At Tabachines, all aspects of the technology point to profound social change: tomb construction, treatment of the dead and offerings, and the approach to the production and use of mortuary ceramics. These changes are considered within a regional scope.

Recent research in the Sayula Basin of central Jalisco is gradually presenting a fuller view of the lifeways that characterized the people who lived on this thoroughfare, traditionally known for its vast salt flats. Salvage excavations undertaken at two major sites have supplied a number of new elements that are confirming and expanding previous knowledge of the chronological sequence, the ceramic complexes, the uses of space within an apparently closed area, and the possible sphere of interactions developed by the pre-Hispanic inhabitants of this part of western Mexico. Special attention is given to evidence relating to the study of native salt production.