The Bilimek Vessel is among the most remarkable pieces of portable Aztec sculpture, and it contains an unusually complex body of imagery concerning starlore and cosmic battle. The Bilimek Vessel and other Aztec sources reveal that the alcoholic beverage pulque was well integrated into Aztec concepts of warfare and mythology. To the Aztec, pulque was identified with the souls of dead warriors and the starry night sky. The many figures appearing on the Bilimek Vessel represent star beings attacking the sun. At least three and probably four of the depicted deities are identical to the sky bearers appearing in the year-bearer pages of the Codex Borgia (see Seler 1963) and Codex Vaticanus B (see Seler 1902–1903). It is noted that much of the iconography and calendrics appearing on the Bilimek Vessel concerns the completion of the 52-year cycle and the New Fire ceremony, an event that symbolized the cosmic battle between the sun and the fearsome tzitzimime star demons of darkness.

Matacapan, a Classic-period center in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico, is known for its strong stylistic affinities with Teotihuacan. The Comoapan complex is a ceramic-production area situated along the southern edge of Matacapan. Data from Comoapan indicate that pottery manufacture was large scale and intensive, with final products distributed outside of Matacapan and possibly beyond the Tuxtlas. These data suggest that models of Tuxtlas political economy emphasizing long-term Teotihuacan administration should be reconsidered. More reasonable is a perspective that views the Tuxtlas as a source of high-quality prestige goods whose distribution is administered by local elite.

Conceptualizations of pre-Hispanic staple transport remain underdeveloped. Conventional wisdom has long maintained that while “prestige goods” could demand long-distance transport, staple transport was short distance. A quantitative model reveals the fallacy of that argument and establishes the possibility of long-distance, overland staple transport in Mesoamerica by using maize tribute transport between Zempoala and Tenochtitlan as an example. This conclusion has implications for understanding Mesoamerican interregional exchange, ecology, and society.

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.

Sluyter (1993) makes some useful points, but his criticism of Drennan's arguments is unsound. Sluyter is incorrect in thinking that there is no limit to the distance from which human bearers could carry food staples at a net energy profit. Drennan did not take into account that feeding bearers meals supplied at way stations is more efficient than requiring them to carry all their food with them, and he is unrealistic in thinking that a center will rarely procure food from a distance too great to allow more than half of what is procured to reach the center. At least during shortages, food may be procured at a much smaller net energy profit. Nevertheless, Drennan is correct in arguing that there is a limit beyond which (other things being equal) no further increase in procurement radius can increase the food potentially available to the center.

The site of Nakbe, located approximately 13 km southeast of El Mirador in the far northern part of the Peten, has been investigated by the RAINPEG Project, directed by Richard Hansen, for the last four field seasons. The ceramic sequence from Nakbe has provided us with a much broader view of cultural development in the north-central Peten. We have defined a series of preliminary ceramic complexes that span Middle Preclassic through Late Classic times.

The earliest complex at Nakbe, called Ox, which belongs to the Mamom horizon, is one of the two best represented at the site, and definitely associated, late in the period, with large-scale architecture. The principal ceramic groups are the Juventud, Chunhinta, and Pital. The main forms are bowls or basins with flaring walls and direct or everted rims, short-necked jars, cuspidors or semicuspidors, and composite-silhouette bowls. Particularly notable, although rare, are the types Muxanal Red-on-Cream and Tierra Mojada Resist. The Ox Complex is characterized by a high frequency of decoration executed by penetration methods, especially incision and chamfering.

The unslipped pottery pertains to the types Achiotes Unslipped and Palma Daub. The latter is marked by a red wash applied to the exterior neck of the jar, the major form in these types. Daub is a form of decoration limited to the Middle Preclassic in this area, as is the chamfering technique on the slipped pottery.

The ceramic complexes most similar to Ox are located to the south of Nakbe at Uaxactun and Tikal. The high frequency of chamfering, daub, and other traits strongly link Nakbe to these southern sites during the Middle Preclassic, while sites to the north and southwest, such as Seibal, Altar de Sacrificios, and Becan exhibit more tenuous connections.

The Kan Complex belongs to the Late Preclassic period, and is characterized by the Sierra, Polvero, Flor, and Sapote Ceramic Groups. Although associated with the large structures in the site center, Kan ceramics are less abundant than Ox ceramics in our samples. Kan pottery corresponds closely to that of El Mirador and is similar to other complexes of the Chicanel horizon. Particularly noteworthy are everted rims with circumferential grooves and lateral, labial, and medial flanges and ridges. The unslipped pottery of the Kan Complex consists almost exclusively of jars bearing exterior striation from the shoulder to the base.

The closest ceramic ties to Kan pottery continues to be with the southern complexes, especially Uaxactun and Tikal. Moreover, the similarity to Seibal is greater during Chicanel times, while Belize appears to differentiate itself ceramically from the Peten during this time. Nevertheless, the Chicanel horizon is the period in which the maximum geographical extent of a ceramic sphere is reached.

“Protoclassic” ceramics are rare, but the small amounts recovered at Nakbe are similar to those from El Mirador. The major type is Iberia Orange, found in small quantities in surface contexts. Characterized by hollow, mammiform supports, hooked rims, and orange slip, this Nakbe pottery seems to be more similar to pottery at Seibal than to other complexes with Protoclassic pottery.

Early Classic pottery is virtually nonexistent in our excavations, suggesting an insignificant occupation during this period.

Late Classic pottery (Uuc Complex) appears in significant quantities at Nakbe, mainly in the outskirts of the site. All of the types and modes defined at El Mirador are found at Nakbe, principally Tinaja Red, Chinja Impressed, Infierno Black, and Carmelita Incised, as well as the polychrome types. Moreover, Codex-style polychrome was also found at the site. As at El Mirador, the Uuc ceramics are not found in association with large-scale architecture, and it appears that Nakbe was not a major center at this time.

The major occupations at Nakbe pertain to the Middle and Late Preclassic periods. The abundance of architecture, ceramics, and other classes of artifacts from the Ox Complex provides us with an opportunity to investigate a Middle Preclassic occupation in which there was a much more complex social organization, at least at Nakbe, than had previously been suspected.

Sufficient numbers of preceramic projectile points have now been found in Belize to define two morphologically distinct projectile-point types, Lowe and Sawmill. A provisional type —Allspice—is proposed but lacks both the necessary numbers and adequate context for acceptance as a diagnostic type. A single Clovis point is so far the only diagnostic of the Paleoindian period. This study also suggests that the projectile-point typology, the foundation for much of the Belize Archaic Archaeological Reconnaissance chronology, is so badly flawed that the resulting chronology has little merit. Recent discoveries of major preceramic sites with associated radiocarbon dates and their possible association with early raised-field agriculture indicate that studies of preceramic Belize are entering an exciting new era. This typology should provide a useful tool for future studies and is the beginning of a meaningful chronology.

This study is an iconographic analysis of ballcourt markers from the Late/Terminal Classic Maya site of Tenam Rosario, Chiapas, Mexico. The squatting posture of the two figures depicted on these markers, while rare in Lowland Maya art, is compared to Late Postclassic images of the earth deities Tlaltecuhtli and Tlaloc from Central Mexico. Contemporaneous examples of this posture are presented from the Gulf Coast site of El Tajin where squatting figures are associated with the rain god specifically and with the themes of ballgame sacrifice and regeneration in general. Tlaloc imagery in Classic Maya art is related to blood sacrifice as a complex, which includes both ritual warfare and autosacrifice. These forms of sacrifice are discussed as engendered categories in both Classic Maya and Aztec society. The Tenam Rosario markers are found to express themes that are consistent with ballgame symbolism throughout Mesoamerica, while conflating male and female aspects of blood sacrifice as regenerative ritual.

This article provides a synthetic examination of the role of external relations in the social, cultural, and political development of the Oaxaca Coast. The article deals primarily with the lower Río Verde valley and the southern Isthmus since these two regions have been the focus of archaeological research on the Oaxaca Coast; other areas of the coast are discussed when data permit. The data from the coast indicate that interregional relations were dominated by elites in pursuit of exotic materials and ideas that served to symbolize and legitimize their special status in society. Evidence for contact with some of the most powerful political centers of pre-Hispanic Mexico are documented, including Monte Albán, Teotihuacan, Tenochtitlan, and possibly El Tajín and Tula among others. Despite contact with these powerful centers the Oaxaca Coast appears to have been politically autonomous for most of its pre-Hispanic history.

Research carried out during the last three decades at the Late Postclassic city-state of Otumba, Mexico, has identified a wide variety of craft-production specializations. Data derived from excavations and surface collections made at the workshop site of one of Otumba's specialties—lapidary jewelry production—have revealed much of the process for the production of such jewelry, including ear spools, lip plugs, and beads, along with some possible secondary products, such as sequins and disks, all primarily made from obsidian. Besides the lapidary products themselves, many of the tools employed in production—made of obsidian, chert, and basalt—were found. The materials recovered enhance and expand upon the information available from colonial documentary sources, providing greater insight into this complicated and intriguing process.

Recent excavations at Laguna Zope, on the southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec, provide interesting insights into the nature of a regional center in the hinterlands of Monte Albán. The excavation focused on an elite-status area of the site dating to the Terminal Formative period, a time when the Monte Albán polity in the highland Valley of Oaxaca was thought to have embarked on an imperialist campaign to turn former exchange partners into tribute-paying subjects. In contrast to the evidence from some other regions of Oaxaca, there was little to suggest that Laguna Zope was ever subjugated. On the contrary, exchange between Pacific coastal Laguna Zope and Monte Albán seems to have flourished during the Terminal Formative despite the political unrest that apparently interfered with commerce elsewhere in Oaxaca. In maintaining its political independence and resilience as a center for long-distance exchange during this troubled period, Laguna Zope may have capitalized on its relative distance from the Valley of Oaxaca and on a geographic location that afforded it strategic access to other markets.

Recent fieldwork has identified a previously unknown obsidian source area in southern Zacatecas and northern Jalisco. Evidence of prehistoric use of surface gravel and nodule outcrops in the Huitzila-La Lobera source area includes raw-material extraction and the production of cores, large blade blanks, rough bifaces, and other artifacts. Unusual variability in color is characteristic of the sources and includes a banded variety described as “rainbow” obsidian. Characteristics of this source area are compared to the Llano Grande obsidian source area in Durango. Implications for understanding the distribution of obsidian from sources in the Sierra Madre Occidental to the cultures of the north Mesoamerican frontier are presented and discussed.

A total of 51 obsidian samples from archaeological sites in western Mexico (La Quemada, Totoate, Las Ventanas, Laguna San Marcos) and from the Tequila source area were analyzed chemically by direct-current plasma atomic emission spectrometry (DCP) and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) in an effort to identify the sources of the archaeological obsidian by step-wise discriminant analysis of the data. Surprisingly, only 3 of the 39 archaeological samples (2 from Laguna San Marcos and 1 from Las Ventanas) could be correlated with a Volcán Tequila source (Teuchitlan). Four other groups of archaeological obsidian were recognized. The largest, Group Y, was found to be derived from the La Lobera source located near the Jalisco–Zacatecas border. This source accounted for 12% of La Quemada obsidian and a higher proportion for Las Ventanas and Totoate. Source locations for the remaining three groups could not be determined from the existing chemical data base. These results could indicate that a minimum of interaction took place between La Quemada and the Teuchitlan cultural tradition. It shows that one focus of La Quemada's trade endeavors was in the Río Bolaños/Tlaltenango valleys. This study also indicates that organized obsidian trade between the Mexican core and its outer periphery was probably not a factor between a.d. 400 and 800.

Findings from recent survey and excavation projects in Ejutla, Oaxaca, enable a broader examination of marine shell use and exchange in ancient Mesoamerica. A variety of shell ornaments were manufactured from Pacific Coast species at the Ejutla site during the Terminal Formative/Early Classic periods. Comparisons of the Ejutla mollusc assemblage with shell ornaments found at other highland Oaxaca sites indicate shifts in the nature of shell-ornament manufacture and exchange during the Formative and Early Classic periods. These changes, in conjunction with other findings, signal shifting relationships late in the Formative period among Monte Albán, the Ejutla Valley, and the Pacific Coast. The recognized shifts in highland-lowland Oaxaca relations generally coincide with an expanded importance of Pacific Coast shell at Teotihuacan and in the Lowland Maya region.

The Classic period along the Oaxaca Coast was a time of population growth and increased sociopolitical complexity, as marked by the prominence of hierarchical settlement systems, large regional centers, and the proliferation of monumental artworks. An iconographic examination of standing stone sculpture from six archaeological sites between the Rio Verde and the Río de los Perros indicates that these later Classic societies were concerned with the same religious themes that prevailed at that time throughout the Peripheral Coastal Lowlands: the Underworld death and rebirth of the celestial deities in mythical events reenacted in the ritual ballgame. With no single dominant power dictating cult orthodoxy, independent political leaders interpreted these rituals freely. As permanent public expressions of the polity's stature, the sculptures and the religious message they encoded appear to have both enhanced a leader's prestige in intergroup social competition and helped foster internal social differentiation.

The results of trace-element analysis of 200 prismatic blades from Colha, Belize, are reported. Questions concerning possible elite control and restriction of obsidian distribution, and the relative decline and increase of the El Chayal and Ixtepeque sources in varying functional contexts within lower- and upper-status areas are the primary focus of the study. Contrary to expectations, a high percentage (51%) of obsidian was assigned to the Ixtepeque source, 48% was assigned to El Chayal, and only two samples (1%) were assigned to Rio Pixcaya. The use of obsidian from the Ixtepeque source declines through time from Tepeu 2 through Tepeu 3 from 72% to 43%, and Ixtepeque obsidian appears to have had a largely ceremonial use by the Terminal Classic period. It appears that as Ixtepeque obsidian became less available at the site, it fell more into the hands of the elite. This trend runs counter to our expectations of an apparent lack of elite control of Ixtepeque obsidian in the Postclassic. The Colha data suggest that a slightly different process may have governed the distribution of Ixtepeque obsidian in the Late/Terminal Classic than during the Postclassic period. It is not clear, however, whether this trend extends to regional differences in control or is simply a local idiosyncratic phenomenon at Colha.

The reconstruction of time is a central concern all archaeologists must address in their research; few, however, are fully aware of the potential of all the dating methods at their disposal. For this reason, this paper summarizes the developmental history and current level of field application of obsidian-hydration dating. It (1) reviews how this dating technique was first discovered and applied, (2) details our current knowledge of the process of hydration and which variables affect its rate, (3) discusses the relative advantages and limitations of the three primary approaches employed to construct hydration chronologies, and (4) presents a protocol for its future application in Mesoamerica. The synthesis of this body of hydration-dating research may help archaeologists more constructively decide how and when to apply this unique and versatile dating technique to their specific research questions by providing the information and guidelines necessary for recovering pertinent field data.

Epigraphic and functional comparisons of carved monuments in highland and coastal Oaxaca are used to address questions concerning (1) the origin and development of writing in southwestern Mesoamerica, (2) macroregional interactions, and (3) past linguistic affiliations of coastal groups. Given the scarcity of known inscriptions, particularly along the littoral of Guerrero and Oaxaca, it is concluded that the writing system in the coast is derived from central (Zapotec) Oaxaca and that the littoral did not play a role in the origins of writing in Mesoamerica. Since most of the inscribed material presently available from the coast dates between a.d. 600 and 900, relatively few traces of interregional contacts can be detected by means of epigraphy. Discernible interactions include contact with post-Teotihuacan sites in the central highlands via Guerrero; central Oaxaca through intermediate regions like Sola de Vega and Miahuatlan; and Tabasco, the latter apparently the result of migrations. The close epigraphic similarities between the coast and central Oaxaca suggest that groups speaking Chatino and other languages of the Zapotecan family had a wider distribution along the littoral in former times.