Kaminaljuyú has been an important focus of archaeological research since the 1930s, and the chronologies of various sites of the Southern Maya Area are linked directly to that of Kaminaljuyú. The implications of the currently prevalent chronology of Kaminaljuyú are that various social and political institutions developed significantly earlier in the Southern Maya Area than in the Maya Lowlands during the Preclassic period. Our evaluations of new and existing radiocarbon dates through the application ofBayesian statistics, as well as ceramic cross-dating, indicate that the Middle and Late Preclassic portions of the Kaminaljuyú sequence need to be shifted forward in time by roughly 300 years. Our chronological revisions have the following important implications: (1) many centers in the Southern Maya Area suffered political disruptions around 400 B.C., roughly at the same time as La Venta and the centers in the Grijalva region of Chiapas; and (2) highly centralized polities with divine rulers and their depictions on stelae developed roughly contemporaneously in the Southern Maya Area and in the Maya Lowlands after 100 B.C.

Iconographic studies often provide evidence to interpret ritual activities of archaeologically known cultures. Recent excavations at the site of Conchopata near Ayacucho, Peru, led to a re-analysis of the ritual behavior of Middle Horizon (A. D. 750-1000) Wari society. The identification of a hallucinogenic plant design, Anadenanthera colubrina, depicted on Conchopata offering pottery contributes a crucial understanding of a previously unknown artistic icon. This icon was discerned as depicted in various abstract renditions on Middle Horizon textiles, snuff paraphernalia, ceramics, and stone sculpture, including the Gate of the Sun at Tiwanaku, Bolivia. Based on historic and ethnographic evidence, the plant's prehistoric use as a hallucinogen is discussed with regard to suggested chicha drinking ceremonies, and the transitional role of Wari leaders from shamans to priests.

Female figurines from the Cantera phase at Chalcatzingo, Morelos, depict stages of the life cycle: puberty, pregnancy, and child rearing. Contextual data indicate that the figurines were used in female-focused life-crisis ceremonies that created a web of social rights and obligations validated by reciprocal exchanges. These rights and obligations were the means by which power and influence were created, directed, and controlled by particular households. Thus, these figurines and their contexts permit a better understanding of the role of women in the dynamics of social-hierarchy formation at Chalcatzingo, and how the formation of social bonds and patterns of exchange were important in the accumulation of power.

Maya Blue is an unusual blue pigment consisting of a clay-organic complex of indigo and the unusual clay mineral palygorskite (also called attapulgite). Used on pottery, sculpture, and murals from the Preclassic to Late Colonial periods largely in Mesoamerica, blue was the color of sacrifice and ritual. Did the palygorskite used to make Maya Blue come from a restricted source in Yucatán like Shepard, Arnold, Arnold and Bohor believed, or from widespread sources like Littmann argued? This report presents the results of a pilot study comparing INAA and LA-ICP-MS analysis of 33 palygorskite samples collected from different parts of the Maya area. These data reveal that it is possible to discriminate mineral source locations, and that it should be possible to determine whether the palygorskite used to make Maya Blue came from widespread sources or was traded widely from one or a few sources. Consideration of contextual information such as agency, landscape and language suggest that the Shepard/Arnold/Bohor hypothesis is more plausible than that of Littmann. No matter which hypothesis is supported, however, each has significant implications for the relationship of the diffusion of Maya Blue (or the knowledge of its production) to Maya social organization.

La cuenca de la Laguna Merín fue habitada, durante cinco milenios, por pueblos constructores de montículos, responsables de la modificación antrópica más notable que experimentaron las llanuras de las latitudes medias sudamericanas. La composición, tamaño, densidad y distribución de los sitios hizo que las investigaciones se centraran en los procesos de "complejización". Similitudes con otros contextos motivaron la adopción de modelos explicativos generados para otras realidades culturales, causando la pérdida de visión de lo propio del registro regional. A través de la dimensión espacial y temporal se aborda el fenómeno cultural, discutiendo las interpretaciones funcionalistas. Más de 80 dataciones 14C sustentan que estas construcciones se elevaron en forma paulatina y continua. La distribución muestra que los sitios se concentran en los lugares de mayor productividad. Los ciclos de crecimiento de los montículos de India Muerta - Paso Barrancas evidencian vínculos con la historia ambiental. Por otra parte dentro de los conjuntos de montículos se advierten arreglos y distancias que se repiten entre sitios. Al interpretar el crecimiento de cada cerrito como asociado a un actor social, observamos como distancias y arreglos espaciales pasan a tener significado social; comportándose el registro, en desarrollo temporal, como un sistema de reproducción social.

Based primarily upon evidence from the site of Urichu in the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin of Michoacán, we propose that changes in the burial practices of local elites document a transformation of these elites from highly ranked local chiefs into a socially stratified elite class associated with the emergence of the Tarascan state. Two distinctive mortuary patterns that represent the Classic-Epiclassic and Late Postclassic periods are presented. These patterns vary in the age and sex composition of differing mortuary facilities, the preparation and treatment of the bodies, the mortuary facilities, the types of burial goods, and the location of the burials within settlements. Comparison to mortuary practices from the sites of Loma Santa María (Morelia), Guadalupe (Zacapu Basin), Tingambato, and Tres Cerritos (Cuitzeo Basin) place these patterns in a regional context. By contrasting the earlier mortuary pattern, which is associated with societies poorly known, with the later mortuary pattern, which is associated with the well documented Tarascan empire, it is possible to propose a model of a transformation in regional political economies associated with the emergence of the Tarascan state in the Postclassic period. This transformation involved a shift in elite identity from one primarily associated with imported finished goods from distant powerful centers and control of prestige goods networks, to an identity primarily associated with locally produced, distinctively Tarascan, goods and control of tributary, military, political, and ideological networks.

We analyzed the remains of small mammals from two rockshelters in the pre-Andean mountains of central Chile. A significant fraction of the remains exhibited evidence of burning. Burned remains were present from 4460 to 1520 B.P. and belong to rodent species of large body size and weight that are either diurnal or colonial. We suggest that rodents were a constant food item for humans in central Chile, and that rodent species were selected based on body size and conspicuousness.

From the Classic period to the present, scholars have documented the widespread Maya belief in a supernatural guardian of the animals who must be appeased in hunting rituals. Despite this resilience, features and deposits entering the archaeological record as a result of hunting ceremonies remain largely unknown. I describe several contemporary and nineteenth-century shrines used for hunting rites in the Maya highlands of Guatemala. These sites contain a unique feature, a ritual fauna cache, which consists of animal remains secondarily deposited during hunting ceremonies. The formation of these caches is informed by two beliefs with historical time depth: (1) the belief in a guardian of animals and (2) the symbolic conflation of bone and regeneration. The unique life history of remains in hunting-related ritual fauna caches suggests a hypothesis for puzzling deposits of mammal remains recovered archaeologically in lowland Maya caves. These may have functioned in hunting rites designed to placate the animal guardian and ensure the regeneration of the species via ceremonies that incorporated the secondary discard of skeletal remains. A review of the ethnographic literature from the Lenca, Huichol, Nahua, Tlapanec, and Mixe areas reveals similar hunting rites indicating a broader Mesoamerican ritual practice.

One of the largest demographic shifts to occur in Andean prehistory took place during the Late Intermediate Period (A.D. 1000–1400). Across a large expanse of the central Andes a vast number of lower elevation settlements were abandoned and local populations were concentrated in newly constructed, defensibly positioned sites, located along high ridges. In this article we examine this dramatic settlement shift in relation to the Chanka ethnic group that occupied the Andahuaylas region (Department of Apurimac, Peru). The results indicate that the shift from valley to hilltop settlements in the Andahuaylas region occurred around A.D. 1000. We propose that the shift reflects an increased dependency on agro-pastoralism that resulted from a period of climate change. We also suggest that in this region of the Andes the shift was augmented by growing levels of political competition after the dissolution of the Wari Empire and that current models, which situate the Chanka as a uniquely powerful ethnic group at the time of the Inca expansion, need to be reexamined.

We address the general problem of sociopolitical evolution in highland Peru during the Late Intermediate period (ca. A.D. 1000-1470) from the perspective of changing relationships between herders and cultivators in the Tarama-Chinchaycocha region. First, we use ethnographic and ethnohistoric information to help model central Andean herder-cultivator interaction. Here we emphasize the ecological and sociological foundations for economic specialization, the ritually based integration of pastoral and agricultural groups in the absence of strong state organization, and how the ritually interactive units define and maintain their borders. Second, in the light of these perspectives, we examine archaeological settlement pattern data from our study area in the central highlands of Peru. We conclude that the Late Intermediate period was a time of significant organizational change that included new forms of ritually based local and regional integration of pastoral and agricultural economies. Third, we briefly consider the general implications of our findings for understanding organizational change throughout the central Andean highlands during the Late Intermediate period. We suggest that the largest and most complex Late Intermediate highland polities depended on the full integration of specialized pastoralists and agriculturalists in those regions where both economies could attain maximal combined productivity in the aftermath of the breakdown of large states at the end of the Middle Horizon (ca. A.D. 600-1000).

Paleoethnobotanical remains from the Three Dog site (SS-21), an early Lucayan site located on San Salvador, Bahamas, are presented and compared to data from other prehistoric Caribbean sites. Flotation, in situ, and screen recovery (1/16", 1.58 mm) revealed six taxa of fuelwood and charred Sapotaceae seed fragments. Preliminary SEM analysis of six chert microliths revealed possible evidence of the Caribbean aroid, Xanthosoma sp. (cocoyam, malanga, yautía) or Zamia sp. The presence of Sapotaceae and possibly Xanthosoma sp. or Zamia sp. in the archaeobotanical record can be attributed to a number of alternative explanations. The site"s inhabitants may have transported these plants from their homelands and transplanted them to home gardens. An alternative view is that they exploited or managed wild representatives or created disturbed habitats that encouraged the spread of wild or cultivated forms. The pollen data from two Bahama cores, one from Andros, the other from San Salvador, reflect anthropogenic disturbance during the prehistoric occupational sequence. The increasing frequency of Sapotaceae pollen in the San Salvador sequence is consistent with the occurrence of Sapotaceae at the Three Dog site. Finally, preservation- and recovery-related issues are discussed. The study suggests that multiple means of data recovery must be employed to gain a more representative picture of prehistoric Caribbean plant use and floristic environment.

Compositional and stylistic analyses of decorated ceramics have provided information about the regional organization of economic systems in the Aztec empire’s core zone, the Basin of Mexico. Late Aztec Black-on-orange ceramics (A. D. 1350–1520) are found at nearly all archaeological sites in the Basin of Mexico, but prior to this study their sources were not verified. This study has investigated whether Black-on-orange ceramics were produced in one or many areas in order to define in greater detail dependent communities’ economic relations with the Aztec empire’s capital. To identify production areas, paste compositions of 85 Late Aztec Black-on-orange ceramic samples were compared using neutron-activation analysis. The analysis distinguished three different production areas in the eastern and southern parts of the Basin of Mexico, indicating that Late Aztec Black-on-orange ceramics represent a style adopted by regional manufacturing centers, and are not products of a single center. Because a number of decorative motifs are exclusive to particular paste groups, the sources of some Black-on-orange vessels can now be identified visually.

Portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF) was used to obtain source determinations for 2,235 obsidian artifacts. These were supplemented by 48 previously published results made by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) to bring the total sample to 2,283. Thirteen geological sources have been identified by instrument to date. Three sources in Highland Guatemala accounted for nearly 98 percent of all attributions, with approximately 2 percent from 10 green and gray obsidian sources in central Mexico. Geological sources can be brought into cultural context by examining their distributions among types of artifacts, recovery contexts, structure group types, distance from the Classic period epicenter of the city, and chronological relationships. Several procurement systems operated to import obsidian cores and other artifacts. Consumers obtained obsidian artifacts primarily through marketplace exchange, but other kinds of distribution are also indicated. The reliability, portability, rapidity, ease of use, non-destructive nature, and relatively low cost of pXRF show promise for the acquisition of the source attributions needed to construct the past cultural contexts of obsidian procurement and use. This method produces results comparable to those obtained by other kinds of instrumental analysis, and with a considerably higher degree of reliability than visual determinations.

There exists general consensus in the archaeological literature that bitter manioc was a staple crop in precontact agricultural systems in the lowlands of South America. This view is based upon the indirect evidence derived from archaeological ceramic and lithic assemblages rather than archaeobotanical evidence, the preserved remains of bitter manioc itself. Studies of microlithic “manioc” grater flakes from Pozo Azul Norte-1, a site located in the middle Orinoco valley of Venezuela, reveal a much more complex function of these artifacts involving the processing of several starchy roots including arrowroot, guapo, yam, and ginger, as well as seeds including maize and possibly palm. The starch and use-wear data collected in these investigations indicate that archaeobotanical data are a more reliable means of assessing the function of these tools than are ethnographic analogues.

The Moche archaeological culture of the North Coast of Peru has been reified into a political system and claimed as the first state in South America. While some recent scholarship has reduced the size of the proposed state, the idea of Moche as a distinct political, social, or ethnic entity remains. In this article we demonstrate that even by the “classic” neoevolutionary theory of the 1960s—1980s the criteria for Moche statehood were not met. We suggest that neoevolutionary models for one or more Moche states are inadequate for understanding an archaeological culture that endured for more than six centuries, and we offer suggestions for directions for future research.

During the Middle Horizon (A.D. 540–900) the Wari of the central highlands Ayacucho region expanded their control into many parts of the Andes. While different motives have been cited for Wari state expansion, we suggest that a severe and prolonged drought during the sixth century may have played a significant role. We posit that the Wari responded to this environmental crisis not only by seeking practical solutions, such as securing productive land outside the heartland, but also by implementing religious practices intended to cosmologically restore fertility to drought-stricken areas and validate acquisition of arable land in foreign territories. Using a model of Inka ideology developed by Peter Gose, we propose that a strong religious complex involving ancestor worship, huacas, and the cosmological control of water led the Wari to seek out and control locations where water could be drawn from supernatural sources. The presence of large bodies of water near major Wari administrative sites as well as other natural phenomena, particularly certain mountains, rock formations, and large stones, and site offerings of Spondylus, copper, and stone figurines support this model. A sacred Wari landscape is thus seen as complementary to the established political landscape and providing a supernatural justification.

Los restos de maíz en sitios arqueológicos de la región central de Chile son notablemente escasos. Para estudiar la introducción y adopción de este cultivo en las poblaciones prehispánicas se discutirán los resultados de análisis de isótopos estables de un conjunto de muestras humanas que abarcan desde las comunidades alfareras iniciales (300 a.C.–200 d.C.) hasta el contacto incaico (1450–1550 d.C.). Los isótopos estables de Carbono son sensibles para determinar la presencia y estimar abundancia de plantas C4, como el Zea mays, en dietas del pasado. Nuestros resultados permiten concluir que i) la adopción del maíz es posterior al 200 d.C., ii) su consumo se hace regular entre los grupos Llolleo, iii) su uso aumenta significativamente en los grupos Aconcagua con un consumo diferencial por género, y finalmente iv) la importancia del Zea mays decae inesperadamente durante el período de contacto incaico. En el Período Cerámico Temprano, los horticultores de maíz eran contemporáneos de y compartían el paisaje con cazadores recolectores y horticultores de quinoa, aún cuando cada grupo tenía sus propios hábitos dietarios. Esta evidencia muestra un nuevo acercamiento a los sistemas sociales pero también dejan abiertas algunas preguntas, especialmente en lo que se refiere a la presencia inicial del maíz en la región.

Recent research on the Inka has documented the strategies and effects of imperial administration at a provincial and household level. Less is known, however, about the structure and dynamics of the Inka frontier and its impact on local and economic processes. The southeastern Inka frontier—according to ethnohistoric record—was the setting for conflict between the Inkas and the Guaraní-speaking Chiriguano groups from the Chaco piedmonts and Amazonian lowlands. In the context of two competing frontier models, one military (a hardened perimeter or in-depth defense) and one cultural (with wide socioeconomic processes), this article evaluates the nature of the southeastern Inka frontier and its effects on local socioeconomic dynamics. Archaeological and ethnohistorical research at Oroncota and Cuzcotuyo, two Inka centers of this frontier, suggest an alternative in the form of a “soft military frontier” formed by outposts and imperial centers disembedded from local socioeconomic processes. While architecture reveals high levels of investment, settlement data, storage capability, and the distribution of Inka imperial materials all suggest a minimal involvement in local socioeconomic processes. The results are relevant to understanding Inka frontier strategies and provide a case study of frontier interaction between a highly organized prehistoric state and tribal populations.

Mortuary practices rank among the best sources of archaeological data from which to infer social organization, ideology, religious beliefs, and to a certain extent, the political structure of past societies. This essay (1) reviews mortuary practices among prehistoric groups of Puerto Rico, (2) proposes a possible sequence of changes through time, and (3) presents explanations that account for the observed changes. Aside from evident correlation with broad cultural developments, changes in mortuary practices can be understood best in the context of parallel developments in social, political, and economic complexity. We argue that in Puerto Rico a shift in mortuary practices from burying dead relatives in centralized cemeteries to the disposition of the dead in domestic contexts was strongly related to a shift from largely kin-based societies to the ranked organization of cacicazgos (chiefdoms). Particularly, we conclude that the shift in social organization from emphasis on extended descent groups that acted as corporate groups to nuclear households reflects a strategy utilized by the emerging elite to dismantle and reorient previous communal institutions. This shift was accomplished through the monopolization, by the emerging elite, of the tenets surrounding the cult of the ancestors to create a legitimizing ideology.

In this paper I investigate the community-level articulation of imperial and local political structures during the Inka occupation of the Collagua Province, located in the Colca Valley of highland southern Peru. Combined ethnohistorical and archaeological analysis document the emergence of a hybrid imperial/local political formation in the shift from autonomous rule during the Late Intermediate period (A.D. 1000–1450) to the Inka occupation during the Late horizon (A.D. 1450–1532). Documentary evidence reveals considerable but uneven penetration of Inka imperial institutions across the two ranked moieties that structure local community organization, with remarkably close conformity between Inkaic ideals of rank and hierarchy among the communities (ayllus) of the lower moiety, but greater autonomy among the higher-ranking ayllus of the upper moiety. New data from a systematic survey around the provincial capital documents a decentralized Late Intermediate period settlement pattern associated with fortifications, suggesting segmentary autonomous political organization. The subsequent Late horizon settlement pattern signals overall occupational continuity, but with the establishment of an Inka administrative center and the installation of central plazas and Inka structures at large settlements with local elite domestic architecture. The two data sets combined provide a integrated view of centralized, but locally mediated, Inka administration.