In this article we discuss the Prehispanic earthen causeways (calzadas) that traverse the llanos (humid savannas) of Barinas state, Venezuela. A salient question is why the calzadas in this area connect some archaeological sites but not others. Some scholars have proposed that the calzadas were constructed primarily as an adaptive response to seasonal flooding. We assess this proposition by examining Late Gaván phase (A. D. 550-1000) data from along the Río Canaguá and find a lack of positive association between sites that experience seasonal inundations and linkage to the calzada network. Instead, we conclude that the configuration of Late Gaván calzadas is better explained by a series of economic, military, and religious factors, all related to the political dynamics of chiefdom organization on the regional level.

Los estudios sobre macro y microrrestos botánicos en contextos de cazadores-recolectoresde Pampa y Norpatagonia se han incrementado, al igual que el conocimiento del impacto de las plantas en la dieta de estas poblaciones. Con este propósito se han integrado diversos indicadores y técnicas analíticas. En algunos casos se registra el uso simultáneo de plantas silvestres y cultígenos. El marco temporal de uso de plantas domesticadas en la macroregión se ha desarrollado hasta ca. 2000 años a.P., mientras que la escala espacial se extiende entre el área cordillerana hasta las provincias fitogeográficas del monte y el espinal (34º a 40º S y 72º a 63º O aproximadamente). En este trabajo se presentan datos novedosos referidos a la presencia simultánea de maíz (Zea mays), cereales y leguminosas silvestres (Prosopis sp. y Poaceae) en contextos de cazadores-recolectores de la Pampa Occidental Argentina. Estos datos provienen del análisis de microfósiles en diferentes soportes: cerámica, artefactos de molienda y dientes humanos. Estos resultados permitieron conocer el rol que tuvieron las plantas para estas sociedades. A su vez, los datos fueron integrados, con investigaciones que focalizan el estudio de restos vegetales, tanto silvestres como domesticados, en una escala macroregional.

El Salado is a prehispanic salt production site located in the Tuxtla Mountains of southern Veracruz, Mexico. Fieldwork at the site was conducted to determine the methods of salt production, the character of the archaeological residues produced, the scale of the industry, and the history of production. El Salado contains two major occupations, the first dating to the Early Formative period and the second to the Late Classic period. During the Early Formative, solar evaporation in pottery trays was the primary method of salt production. This method was supplemented by some salt-making that involved boiling brine in tecomates. During the Late Classic, in contrast, boiling salt water became the preferred method of production. Late Classic brine reduction involved a two-step process. The salt level in the brine was first increased by boiling in collared jars. This brine was later reduced to loaves by boiling in shallow pottery vessels called cazuelas.

This article proposes a new 14C chronology for the three-phase ceramic chronology from the settlement of Chavín de Huántar based on the AMS dating of collagen extracted from faunal remains recovered during my 1975 excavations. The chronometric estimates for the Chavín de Huántar ceramic chronology are as follows: Urabarriu Phase (950–800 cal BC), Chakinani Phase (800–700 cal BC), and Janabarriu Phase (700–400 cal BC). The new measurements confirm the sequence of the ceramic phases and indicate that the site was established around 950 cal BC and was abandoned by 400 cal BC. The results are consistent with the earlier hypothesis that the major developments at Chavín de Huántar largely postdate the Initial Period fluorescence of early coastal civilization during the second millennium BC, but they cast doubt on some current interpretations of the site's founding and cultural apogee.

Some prominent Mesoamericanists long considered lowland central Veracruz to have been agriculturally unproductive prior to the Totonacs' construction of a canal-irrigation system at Zempoala during the Middle Postclassic period (A. D. 1200-1400). This evaluation reflects a long-standing negative predisposition toward tropical lowlands and a preoccupation with the significance of canal irrigation in the emergence of urban societies. However, an appreciation of mesoenvironments and their ecological interrelations has led to a reevaluation of agriculture in central Veracruz. In wetlands to the south of Zempoala, evidence of canals and planting platforms supporting maize cultivation by A. D. 500 demonstrates that people were intensively cultivating that mesoenvironment by the Classic period (A. D. 1-850). Moreover, vestiges of sloping-field terraces occur throughout some 1,000 km2 of piedmont west of those wetlands. Direct evidence for crops and a chronology are still lacking for these latter fields, but ethnohistorical data and plant ecology suggest cotton, maize, agave, and a Prehispanic origin.

The results of George Vaillant's 1935 excavation at the Postclassic site of Chiconautla are presented. Vaillant suggested that the structure he excavated. Casas Reales, was the palace of an elite family. My analysis of the architecture and associated artifacts supports his proposition. The Postclassic (A. D. 1150-1520) artifacts from the palace provide evidence that the elites at Casas Reales engaged in household rituals, obsidian working, and cotton-cloth production. This analysis contributes to a better understanding of elite behavior in the Basin of Mexico and enables us to evaluate the degree of fit between archaeological and ethnohistoric data.

Chronology building is an integral part of the archaeological research process, and changing research questions often require the refinement of existing chronologies. This view is illustrated with a description of the derivation, refinement, and confirmation of a ceramic sequence for the Postclassic period in Morelos, Mexico. The joint application of stratigraphy and quantitative ceramic seriation produced a five-phase Postclassic chronology. To deal with problems in distinguishing the stylistically similar ceramics of the final three phases, discriminant-function analysis was employed, resulting in the confident phasing of nearly all excavated contexts at the sites of Capilco and Cuexcomate. Calendar years are assigned to the phases by radiocarbon dating, and the implications of the dated sequence are explored briefly.

Since the 1950s, a decline in stature has been offered as evidence of increasing nutritional stress in prehistoric Maya populations, particularly during the Late Classic collapse. A review of the extant skeletal data, however, reveals very inconsistent support for such a decline. The primary explanation for the variation may reside in the small number of skeletal series that have representatives of more than one time period. Other possible explanations include methodological problems associated with stature reconstruction, reliability in sex determination, and variation in health response according to site size and location.

Indicators of oral health were recorded in a sample of 200 Formative period (1500 B.C.–A.D. 500) skeletons from archaeological sites located in the Lower Azapa Valley of northwest Chile. This period represents a major shift in subsistence strategies in the Atacama Desert, as coastal groups adopted agriculture and moved deeper into the valley. Frequencies of caries and antemortem tooth loss were compared between site locations (coast vs. valley) and by archaeological phase (early vs. late) to interpret the degree to which these incipient agriculturalists were reliant on domesticated resources. Overall, frequencies of caries (11.9 percent) and tooth loss (11.6 percent) are somewhat higher than for other prehistoric groups practicing a mixed subsistence strategy. However, residents of the interior valley exhibited significantly more dental decay and tooth loss than those along the coast. Our results identify that although the Formative period residents of the Lower Azapa Valley practiced a mixed subsistence strategy, the degree of reliance on agricultural production differed between the coast and the valley. We propose that these differential patterns in oral health are tied to local investment, adaptive cycles, and niche construction.

As in other examples of state collapse, political disintegration of the Tiwanaku state circa AD 1000 was accompanied by considerable cultural continuity. In the Moquegua Valley, Peru, the location of the largest Tiwanaku communities outside the altiplano, settlements and practices associated with this postcollapse cultural continuity are termed Tumilaca. Previous research indicated that Tumilaca was short-lived, with all vestiges of Tiwanaku gone from Moquegua's archaeological record by the thirteenth century when the valley was subsequently characterized by Estuquiña-style materials. This article discusses radiocarbon dates from Tumilaca la Chimba, a village established as the political authority of the Tiwanaku state waned. The 21 absolute dates from Tumilaca domestic, public, and funerary contexts span at least 350 years, from the late tenth to the mid-fourteenth centuries AD. They suggest that (1) Tiwanaku-affiliated communities endured well into the later Late Intermediate Period (AD 1200–1470); (2) ongoing debates about the emergence of Estuquiña communities must consider the role of terminal Tiwanaku populations; and (3) analyses of postcollapse continuity can be enhanced by considering peripheral locales and the particularities of continuity.

Warfare was a prevalent phenomenon throughout the Andes during the Late Intermediate period (LIP; AD 1000–1450). A salient research topic within broader investigations of conflict is how populations cope with chronic warfare. This article utilizes statistical and GIS-based analyses of architectural features and settlement patterns to reconstruct defensive coping mechanisms among groups living in 15 fortified settlements in the Nazca region of Peru. This research evaluates how populations deployed artificial defenses (fortifications), natural defensibility, and settlement placement to best protect themselves and critical resources from enemy incursions. Intersite variation in fortification was primarily driven by population size: the smallest and most vulnerable settlements were the most heavily fortified and occupied the least accessible areas. Variation in fortification investment within each site was driven by differences in the accessibility of approaches leading to the residential sector of a site. Settlement patterns were largely driven by natural defensibility, large viewsheds, and proximity to economic resources. This research demonstrates that LIP populations made optimal trade-offs between competing defensive variables, revealing highly patterned regional defensive strategies. Broader spatial, settlement, and architectural data indicate that warfare in the region was chronic and internecine.

One of the earliest pottery assemblages in the New World (5900 B. P.) was manufactured by logistically mobile hunter-gatherers at San Jacinto I, in Colombia, South America. The vessels were constructed using fiber temper and were elaborately decorated. These characteristics along with the archaeological context of the pottery suggest that its use was unrelated to cooking or food processing. Visual and statistical analyses indicate the pottery had high economic and social value for this semisedentary group; it likely was utilized for feasting/serving activities and possibly for short-term storage. Comparative analyses indicate that the pottery from other early sites in northeast South American may have served similar functions during the early Formative period.

This paper presents the results of a recent petrographic study of Monte Albán grayware pottery. Using INEGI bedrock maps, optical mineralogy, and sedimentary petrology techniques, I demonstrate that the organization of gray-ware production changed greatly through time at Monte Albán. During the Late-Terminal Formative period (Monte Albán I-II), the majority of the gray wares consumed at Monte Albán were probably imported to this hilltop center from some distance. Furthermore, I found the paste composition of this pottery was highly variable, suggesting that many small-scale part-time specialists were engaged in gray-ware production at this time. With the transition to the Classic period (Monte Albán III-IV), the organization of gray-ware production may have changed dramatically and nearly all of the gray wares recovered from Monte Albán were probably produced at this hilltop center. At the same time, we see extensive evidence of specialized gray-ware production at Monte Albán from both survey and excavation data.

This article presents new settlement survey data from the Izapa center of southern Mesoamerica, a site long known for its corpus of low-relief stelae. These data, which track the changing distribution of population from 1000 BC–AD 100, indicate that the city's population peaked at 5,725 inhabitants. Izapa was the capital of a regional kingdom with more than 40 lower-order monumental centers and a territory that covered at least 450 sq. km. Recent AMS dates confirm the apogee of the kingdom at 300–100 BC, and volcanological reconstruction suggests that a Tacaná volcano eruption corresponds with archaeological evidence of political and demographic disruptions to the kingdom. Patterns at Izapa are contextualized in terms of Inomata and colleagues’ (2014) call for redating Kaminaljuyu, placing the erection of stelae there to after 100 BC, as well as Love's (2018) and Mendelsohn's (2018) responses in this journal. Izapa was an integrated kingdom from 700–100 BC, and “Izapa-style” sculptures were a novel medium of political communication introduced after the polity had been functioning without them for centuries. If Inomata and colleagues' (2014) proposal is correct that low-relief stelae were erected only after 100 BC at other centers in southern Mesoamerica, this was centuries after the practice was established at Izapa.

Standards for diaphyseal lengths of the femur, humerus, and tibia that can be used in juvenile age estimation for the ancient Maya are presented. It is argued that these new standards are necessary given differences in stature and limb proportion in Mesoamerican groups compared to the prehistoric North American groups upon whom the current available standards have been developed. Using data from 96 juveniles in the protohistoric Maya series from Tipu, Belize, regression equations were developed to predict age of dental development using diaphyseal lengths; all had excellent fit and statistical significance. When the equations were tested with diaphyseal lengths from other Mesoamerican populations, the results were supportive of such application.

This paper reports the recent discovery of a royal tomb in Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico. Buried in this chamber was an adult male. Among the abundant offerings that accompanied this personage was a polychrome plate bearing the heiroglyph, Yukom Yich’ak K’ak’ (Jaguar Paw), the name of the governor of Cakalmul during the second half of the seventh century. Previously, it was believed that Jaguar Paw was captured and sacrificed at Tikal in 695 A. D. However, new data suggest that this recently discovered tomb at Calakmul was his final resting place.

In this paper, we examine wood charcoal assemblages that were recovered from ash layers in Terminal Classic (A.D. 800–950) burials at the Maya site of Rio Bee to understand the use of fuel wood in funerary rites. Compared to charcoal deposits from domestic and non-funerary contexts, the spectrum of wood taxa used in the burial deposits is unique, which suggests specific fire-related practices. Members of the Sapotaceae family and Cordiasp. dominated all contexts and were clearly primary fuels. In contrast, the use of pine (Pinus sp.), which does not grow locally today, was limited to ritual practices. In addition, it seems that a deliberate effort was made to maximize the taxonomic richness of the fuel wood used in burials. Funerary charcoal deposits appear to have been carefully and intentionally “composed” for burning during funerary rites. We propose that this practice materialized the relationship between fire, ash, and the cycles of life and death, which are often symbolized by plant life cycles in the worldview of ancient Maya societies. This study also emphasizes the contribution of anthracological (wood charcoal) analysis to the reconstruction of human behavior and the importance of systematic paleoethnobotanical sampling in funerary contexts.

This study builds on the premise that local knowledge of limestone—and its workable characteristics—was foundational to landscape inhabitation in the Puuc region of Yucatán, México. Classic Maya architecture of the northern Yucatán generally is considered to represent the apogee of Maya construction prowess with extensive use of core-veneer masonry and the creation of tall, wide corbelled vaults. Less commonly discussed is the variable distribution of high-quality limestone across the Yucatán, the social matrix that undergirds the quarrying, transporting, and working of limestone, and the pronounced social differences materialized in stone architecture. This study explores these three topics by bringing to bear Yucatec Mayan linguistic evidence and excavation data from the archaeological site of Sayil, in the hilly Puuc region of Yucatán. That information provides a basis for understanding the development of a sprawling residential complex, the role that variable limestone quality played in its expansion, and serves as an index of intra-compound social difference. Late additions to the dwellings indicate that recognition of the cultural value of carved stone persisted long after masonry skills became attenuated. The durability of stone renders it a particularly effective—if underutilized—medium for interpreting social landscapes of the past.

This study uses architectural and activity area analyses to examine the Classic-Postclassic transition and the resulting Postclassic-Early Historic (A. D. 1000–1697) Maya society in the Petén Lakes region of Guatemala. The research combines a detailed temporal comparison of architectural styles and an analysis of changing architecture as the restructuring of everyday social action. The methods have significance beyond Maya studies in addressing questions of cultural continuity or in-migration. Archaeological data from recent excavations, including new radiocarbon dates, document the intensive settlement of the Quexil Islands in the Terminal Classic period (A. D. 800–1000) and its occupation thereafter. Architectural evidence from the Quexil Islands and other Petén Lakes sites indicates a mosaic pattern of change, reflecting to varying extents Classic-Postclassic continuity and external contacts, with differences among sites rather than the complete replacement of populations. Evidence of the later incorporation of this small village, known ethnohistorically as “Eckixil,” in the Late Postclassic-Early Historic Itza polity, demonstrates a strong linkage with the political core, illustrating the political complexity of this hinterland region.

Two areas of Middle Preclassic architecture flanking a courtyard dating between ca. 650 and 400 B. C. were investigated. Successive plaster-floored houses were found that had perishable superstructures, and which demonstrated periodic partial demolition and rebuilding. Thirteen burials had a range of grave goods and orientations; burial position may, however, be lineage specific. While adult grave goods do not indicate social diversity, abundant shell jewelry with children suggests a status based on family rank rather than on individual achievement.