La región pacífica de Colombia presenta numerosas áreas inexploradas a lo largo de su litoral costero y tierras bajas. La región sur es la más conocida gracias a la importancia arqueológica de las zonas de Tumaco y La Tolita (Ecuador). Al norte de Tumaco recientemente se exploró la región del bajo Río Patía (Nariño). A traves de este trabajo se observaron asentamientos precolombinos relacionados con dos fases culturales: (a) fase Buena Vista y (b) fase Maina. Los pobladores precolombinos de estas fases se adaptaron básicamente a las áreas bajas de la llanura aluvial selvática y la región costera del sur de Colombia. Hacia finales del período de Desarrollo Regional costero, la fase Buena Vista (ca. 70–500 D.C.) culturalmente se encuentra relacionada con las fases tardías de El Morro y El Balsal de la secuencia establecida para la región de Tumaco (Nariño). Estas fases a su vez forman parte del período tardío “decadente” de la tradición Tumaco-La Tolita (ca. 400 A.C.-500 D.C.) de la costa sur de Colombia y norte del Ecuador. Igualmente, la fase Buena Vista se relaciona con la fase Guadual (ca. 200–600 D.C.) de la cuenca de los ríos Santiago y Cayapas, en el norte de la costa ecuatoriana. Posteriormente, la llegada de nuevos grupos al bajo Patía se representa por asentamientos de la fase Maina datados hacia el 880 D.C., hasta, probablemente, el contacto europeo. Esta fase se caracteriza primordialmente por una industria alfarera sencilla y poco decorada en relación con la cerámica de la fase anterior. Algunos de los sitios tardíos a su vez podrían corresponder a asentamientos de grupos Sindagua que ocuparon el área al tiempo de la Conquista y la Colonia, en los siglos XVI y XVII.

Excavators working in a ceremonial plaza group in the Classic period Lowland Maya city of Caracol, Belize, encountered thousands of pieces of chert and obsidian scattered above a royal tomb. A recent analysis of the chert from this context confirms that the assemblage included pieces from each stage of reduction in the production of blades. Taken together, the quantity of both chert and obsidian makes it the largest reported collection of lithic debitage found at the site and provides insight into the techniques of lithic crafters at Caracol. In this article, we consider the sequence of actions involved in the burial of a high-ranking individual and suggest that the layering of flaked stone above the tomb is reminiscent of other reported above-tomb contexts in the Maya Lowlands. Further, a technological analysis of this collection produced results similar to analyses of assemblages typically found in crafting-intensive residential groups. This finding suggests that lithic crafters throughout the city of Caracol donated flaked stone material for funerary events, providing a protective layer and sealing the grave below.

This study discusses the investigation of a series of pit-kilns in and around the prehispanic site of Kiuic in the Puuc region of the northern Maya lowlands and presents the multiple lines of evidence that identify these structures as lime production features. The study reports the results of systematic excavations, archaeometric analyses, archaeological experiments, ethnographic inquiries, and spatial analyses. Burnt lime has been used for architectural, dietary, hygienic, and other purposes by the Maya for at least three millennia and yet its importance in prehispanic Maya society is belied by the lack of lime production features identified in the archaeological record. The identification of these structures as lime production features has implications for understanding subregional differences in socioeconomic organization and resource management practices among the prehispanic Maya. This report provides a model for using multiple methods and analyses to investigate and identify lime production kilns that can be applied to societies and landscapes throughout the Maya area and the broader premodern world.

Shared identities create deep historical ties to community spaces and can facilitate or constrict political expansion. This research examines the relationship between the ways in which families engaged local landscapes and developed shared identities at Actuncan, Belize, during the Terminal Classic period, a time when the city experienced population growth as surrounding centers declined. The nature and location of activity patterns in and around three residential groups allow inferences about shared practices and the expression of identities that those activities enabled and constrained. Importantly, this research includes investigations of both residential groups and architecturally free areas. It uses multiple methods to explore activities and to produce overlapping datasets, including excavation and analysis of macroartifacts, microartifacts, and soil chemical residues. The results suggest that Actuncan residents used not only the formal patio spaces of residential groups but also the interstitial spaces between them. Moreover, one residential group, Group 1, appears to have been a locus for distinct activities including sequential burials and, possibly, affiliative ritual practices connected to ancestral landscape use. Understanding relationships among residents is an important foundation for exploring broader political dynamics, including relationships between residents and rulers and how rulers created, legitimized, and maintained power and authority.

El objetivo de este trabajo es examinar la presencia o ausencia de una ideología colectiva en la expresión iconográfica de la cerámica polícroma de Tepeticpac, asentamiento fundador y miembro activo de Tlaxcallan durante el Posclásico tardío (1250–1519 dC). De acuerdo con la teoría de acción colectiva recientemente aplicada para Tlaxcallan, hipotetizamos que estas vasijas deberían carecer de íconos ligados a nobles, gobernantes o personajes particulares, promoviendo más bien la unidad colectiva. Para evaluar esta hipótesis, analizamos materiales procedentes de diversas excavaciones realizadas en plazas, conjuntos arquitectónicos, terrazas y templos. Concluimos que, lejos de privilegiar a personajes, individuos o incluso a una deidad en particular, la cerámica polícroma más bien muestra temas que no fueron regulados por las élites políticas y que están centrados en alusiones al sacrificio, la guerra, las festividades, los dioses, la jerarquía noble y probablemente, los méritos por conquista, temas y actividades en los que cualquier individuo, a cualquier rango, pudo involucrarse.

Among the most ubiquitous “functionally identifiable” archaeological artifacts found in the Belize Valley are so-called ceramic “censer horns” or “three-prong incensarios,” sometimes glossed in the literature as “chile mashers” or “pestles.” Since their original identifications in the 1920s, they generally have been regarded as incensarios—or ceremonial objects—and used regularly as indicators of private or public ritual activities. The authors have examined many of these sherds and the restorable vessels represented; adhering residues; the reported depositional contexts; and their functional contextual associations, and submit that the vessels, sherds, and formal types represented had little if anything to do with ceremonial activities, public or private, but were in fact portable domestic braziers or braseros, and are primarily indicative of household or personal domestic activities rather than personal, familial, or corporate ritual observances. In actuality, two distinct classes of three-horned burner stands do exist and can be distinguished by appearance, intactness, and context. We describe and discuss both classes, and reiterate that although previously used to identify household shrines, religious activities, or other ideo-ritual observances, the majority of these vessels had little or nothing to do with anything other than warming beanpots, beans, or hands, or keeping away biting insects.

El estudio de la génesis de los montículos de la cuenca de la Laguna Merín, Uruguay, se focalizó en el aporte de sedimentos y elementos descartados. Investigaciones basadas en la geoquímica de la matriz llevaron a considerar el rol del fuego en su elevación. Ensayamos contrastar su presencia por medio de las técnicas de datación por luminiscencia. Si las edades o paleodosis medidas por luminiscencia ópticamente estimulada (OSL, por sus siglas en inglés) y por termoluminiscencia (TL) de diferentes fracciones de la matriz son similares, próximas o con cierto grado de superposición, entonces el agente de blanqueo tiene que haber sido el calor. La hipótesis fue verificada en montículos de tres sitios arqueológicos ubicados en el sur de la cuenca. La evidencia de que estaríamos frente a prácticas recursivas que producen acumulaciones de sedimento termoalterados nos condujo a los hornos de tierra y los oven mounds de Australia. La presencia de hornos de tierra prehistóricos ya fue reconocida en Uruguay. Los oven mounds son un potente análogo etnográfico-arqueológico que ilustra sobre procesos de formación de acumulaciones de sedimento termoalterado, al mismo tiempo que permite abordar aspectos socioeconómicos y simbólicos. Por último, a partir de las implicaciones de la hipótesis, señalamos la pertinencia de abordar los montículos a dos escalas: la de los comportamientos que los elevaron y la de su realidad como parches dentro del paisaje.

Our interdisciplinary study provides new information and interpretations of Ossuary I, a large assemblage of human bones associated with the ceremonial center dedicated to a life-size clay figure of a splendidly attired human skeleton (often identified as Mictlantecuhtli in the archaeological literature) at the site of El Zapotal in south-central Veracruz-Recovered in 1971, this assemblage has been interpreted as a ritual deposit of women who died during childbirth, whose bodies were dedicated in later Aztec lore to the Tlazolteotl goddess. The present paper provides new insights into the depositional sequence, the type and number of individuals within the assemblage, the sex and age profile of the mostly female cohort, the distribution of artificial head shapes as an ethnic marker, and evidence of perimortem violence and postmortem processing in the form of flaying. Our evidence indicates that Ossuary I represents the slow accumulation of loose bones and limb segments of partially skinned individuals in a circular shaft. Postdating the functioning of the Death God adoratorio and showing fluctuations in the patterns of pre-depositional body treatment, the assemblage expresses the Late Classic period ritual practice of flaying both males and females in Veracruz. In later stages, the ossuary was used again for a female cult, consistent with the original interpretation of women who died during childbirth.

Huencú Nazar es un sitio arqueológico a cielo abierto localizado en el Sistema Lagunar Hinojo-Las Tunas (región pampeana, Argentina) que fue ocupado durante el Holoceno tardío (ca. 3000 aP). En un área de 5.000 m2 se distribuyen 22 fogones, escondrijos de roca y concentraciones de rocas granitoides. En uno de los sectores excavados se registraron fogones en cubeta y el uso de huesos de Lama guanicoe (Artiodactyla, Camelidae) como combustible. El uso de combustible óseo permitió solucionar el problema de los residuos molestos para la comodidad de las personas ubicadas alrededor de los fogones. En torno a las estructuras de combustión se depositaron materiales relacionados con la subsistencia y la tecnología.

Meggers's commentary does not effectively address our critique of the seriational argument that large Amazonian sites always represent occupational palimpsests. As a consequence, more general claims about the limitations that Amazonian environments posed for prehistoric cultural development based on this same argument remain unconvincing and fail to account for relevant variability in the archaeological record.

The impressive multi-story funerary monuments found in the Upper Marañón Drainage of the northern Central Andes of Peru have long fascinated people. Archaeologists and historians have studied their spatial distribution to define the identity of the populations occupying the region during the Late Intermediate period (A.D. 1000—1450). Rather than focus on monumental architecture, in this paper I explore group identity in the Upper Mara ñon by analyzing the shape and layout of houses and evidence of residential funerary practices. Based on a regional comparative approach, I argue that diversity in domestic architecture and mortuary customs reflects a constellation of distinct collective identities

The Carboncillo area in the southern highlands of Ecuador is identified as the only confirmed source of archaeological obsidian located in the country outside of the northern highlands and is the first identified in the large gap between the known Ecuadorian and Peruvian sources. With the identification of this source, it can no longer be assumed that all obsidian found in Ecuador came from sources in the northern highlands. Thus the Carboncillo source has significant implications for interpreting patterns of long-distance exchange in the Andes, especially in southern Ecuador and the far north of Peru. A geochemical analysis of the Carboncillo material shows that it can be easily distinguished from the obsidian from other Ecuadorian sources. A provenance study of archaeological obsidian samples from the southern highlands of Ecuador using x-ray fluorescence demonstrates that the Carboncillo obsidian was used at the Preceramic site of Chobshi Cave and at a number of late prehispanic sites in the Saraguro region. The results indicate a high level of sociopolitical and economic isolation in late prehistory, most likely tied to a preoccupation with warfare between neighboring groups, and provide additional evidence that the economic organization of the southern highlands differed markedly from that of the north during this time.

Seven AMS radiocarbon dates (1950–1525 cal BC) from controlled contexts demonstrate Early Formative period occupation in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. These dated elements from the site of La Consentida include hearths, occupational surfaces, carbon adhering to pottery from a midden, and human bone collagen processed with XAD purification. They were excavated from primary contexts and do not represent redeposited materials. An eighth sample, dated to the Middle Formative period, is considered postoccupational. The diversity of dated deposits and features, their distribution, and their overlapping calibrated ranges indicate settlement by an initial Early Formative period village.

A través de la morfometría geométrica, este estudio explora la influencia del contexto cronológico y de procedencia en la variabilidad morfológica de 75 anzuelos de concha de Choromytilus chorus provenientes de siete sitios arqueológicos de la comuna de Taltal, en la costa sur del Desierto de Atacama, Chile. Los resultados muestran diferencias significativas en las formas de los anzuelos provenientes de distintos sitios y períodos. El rasgo que explica el mayor porcentaje de variación morfológica es el largo de una de las puntas, seguido por la abertura del anzuelo. Se identifican tres momentos clave en la evolución morfológica de estos artefactos. Entre 8500 y 7500 cal aP aparecen los primeros anzuelos, predominantemente sin vástago y de abertura amplia pero variable. De 7500 cal aP en adelante, la tecnología prolifera y se diversifica: los anzuelos sin vástago y con abertura amplia siguen predominando, pero formas con vástago y abertura media también están presentes en el kit de pesca. Finalmente, entre 5500 y 4500 cal aP el número de anzuelos disminuye, desaparecen las formas circulares y se mantienen las formas con vástago, pero con abertura más estrecha. El caso de estudio de Taltal contribuye a enriquecer el conocimiento sobre la tecnología del anzuelo en concha a lo largo del Pacífico.

This paper assesses a set of ideological practices related to the growth and abandonment of ceremonial and administrative buildings from the southern Moche area of the north coast of Peru. The archaeological record at Huacas de Moche, El Brujo, and Guadalupito, three of the main settlements in the region, includes evidence for the deposition and manipulation of animal and human bodies, burning, and the alteration of wall iconography. These activities took place in the period between A.D. 300-750, and were related to either the construction and renovation of structures or the abandonment of monumental built spaces. The analysis of this data contributes to a better understanding of Moche ritual dedicatory behavior, contextualizing it in a broader perspective on place making and the marking of time in precolumbian South America.

Essential to quipu analysis is identification of the logical structure of the quipu and the internal relationships of the data within that structure. The identification process relies on examining, in detail, the colors, placement, and spacing of the quipu cords, and the knot types and positions on the cords. Spin, ply, and knot directionality have recently become available for 59 otherwise well-described quipus. Here, I examine this additional information in the context of the logic of the quipus. Analysis shows that for these quipus, except for three in which the main cord differs from the other cords, spin and ply are uniform for all the cords on a quipu. For the large majority of the quipus (about 81 percent), knot directionality is also uniform throughout. The 19 percent for which knot directionality is mixed are presented and discussed individually. On them, knot directionality conforms to, and plays a role in, the overall logic of the quipu. It is clear that spin, ply, and knot directionality are not chosen by the quipu-maker on a cord-by-cord basis and they do not serve to distinguish between quantitative and non-quantitative data.

Surface clearing of small Ballcourt 2 at Nixtun-Ch'ich’, constructed atop a Middle Preclassic platform, revealed that the court was built and used in the Late and Terminal Classic periods and into the Postclassic, before and after apparent termination. Recovered artifacts suggest feasting and gambling.

A decade of public-works excavations on Flores Island—once Tayza, capital of the powerful Itza Maya confederacy in Postclassic- and contact-period Petén, Guatemala—has recovered large quantities of artifacts but without proper provenience controls. This important center is poorly understood in archaeological terms because of the dense modern construction that precludes systematic investigation. Thus, these excavated materials become critical despite their limitations for insights into the Itza settlement. Convenience samples of the slipped and decorated pottery from the salvage (and other) excavations were analyzed to interpret style and meaning through the combined perspectives of design structure analysis, information exchange, visual rhetoric, literary studies, and semiotechnology. Features examined include forms, types, colors, layouts, and motifs. The spatial distributions of these features over the island were assessed in terms of a quadripartite organization mentioned in Spanish accounts. It is proposed that the southeastern quadrant was the residential area of Itza royal elites, due to the presence of elaborate and innovative polychromes conveying messages of elite power. Pottery in the northern quadrants has more traditional decoration resembling that at mainland sites in the Lake Petén basin, and signals ordinary Itza identity. These differences, and the overall theoretical approach, might be testable on larger, better-excavated samples.

The Peruvian south coast between the Tambo and Ilo rivers is a deserted wasteland. Yet tracts of abandoned farmland and expanses of desiccated lomas vegetation indicate that it was once vibrant and productive. Scattered habitations and cemeteries also indicate a pronounced resident Chiribaya population between A.D. 1200 and 1400. While river drainages of the western Andes and their canalized extensions are often treated as primary analytical units of study, our investigation of so-called peripheral intervalley regions points to a highly engineered and intensively managed landscape. When compared to the Ilo Valley, intervalley Chiribaya were organized into smaller communities and managed smaller spring-fed irrigation systems but were also heavily invested in adjacent maritime and lomas resource bases. Utilizing a mixed economic strategy, we argue, these intervalley populations were anything but marginal to the Chiribaya señorío of the Ilo region; rather, they were fully engaged in the social, political, and economic spheres of the late Intermediate period Peruvian south coast and formed a significant component of the Chiribaya cultural landscape. Our results hold implications for other similarly marginalized areas of the Andean coast, where distinct microenvironmental parameters and human ingenuity intersected to significantly transform the western Andes.

Since 2004, archaeological, ethnographic, and archival investigations at the ex-hacienda San Miguel Acocotla in Atlixco, Puebla, Mexico, have explored the lives of indigenous workers who toiled at the hacienda from 1577 through the twentieth-century Mexican Revolution. The aim of this project is to understand the ways in which incorporation into an industrial capitalist system impacted individual and community identity. This report presents a summary of the archaeological components of the project. Research focused on the area of worker housing, the calpanería, in an effort to expand our understandings of the conditions of daily life of the hacienda's indigenous workers. I describe the completed fieldwork and summarize the results of studies of nineteenth-century domestic architecture andfoodways. These data challenge assumptions about the quotidian experiences of hacienda laborers, often made using incomplete historical records, and allow us to connect the ethnographic present with the prehispanic past by illuminating the transformative processes at work in rural Mexico during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.