Showing papers in "Latin American Antiquity in 1991"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the model and its archaeological evaluation at Copan and discuss interpretive implications of the specific results obtained, in the context of other ongoing studies in epigraphy, iconography, and archaeology.
Abstract: Many societies use architecture for symbolic expression, and often buildings or other constructions constitute maps of a culture's worldview. Archaeological identification of such ideational expressions is receiving renewed attention, in the Maya area as in many other regions. Excavations in 1988-1989 in Groups 8L-10 through 8L-12, Copan, Honduras, were designed to examine a particular model of ancient Maya site planning and spatial organization, in which the principles of architectural arrangement and their directional associations derive from Maya cosmology. This paper describes the model and its archaeological evaluation at Copan and discusses interpretive implications of the specific results obtained, in the context of other ongoing studies in epigraphy, iconography, and archaeology.
199 citations
TL;DR: In this article, plant remains recovered from excavations at Copan in western Honduras have provided substantive data regarding agroeconomic systems of the prehistoric inhabitants, including corn, beans, and several species of Cucurbitaceae.
Abstract: Analysis of plant remains recovered from excavations at Copan in western Honduras has provided substantive data regarding agroeconomic systems of the prehistoric inhabitants. The time span of the deposits ranges from the Gordon/Uir phase (900-400 B. C.), which may have been non-Maya, to the Coner phase (A. D. 700-900+), which encompasses the collapse of the Classic Maya cultural manifestation in the valley. Several traditionally recognized mesoamerican cultigens were identified including corn, beans, and several species of Cucurbitaceae. In addition, remains of a number of economic tree species were discovered, suggesting a reliance on arboriculture as part of the subsistence strategy. Pine charcoal predominated in all deposits and may have been the preferred wood for fuel and construction. Analysis of edible-plant-species distributions from low- and high-status Late Classic dwellings using the Shannon-Weaver index revealed that elite individuals had a higher diversity of available foods, a situation that may have led to nutritional stress among lower-status individuals and, ultimately, social unrest.
124 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, high-precision trace-element analyses for 208 geological samples representing 25 mesoamerican obsidian sources were obtained using instrumental neutron-activation analysis to measure a total of 28 elements per sample.
Abstract: High-precision trace-element analyses for 208 geological samples representing 25 mesoamerican obsidian sources were obtained using instrumental neutron-activation analysis to measure a total of 28 elements per sample. These are the first detailed chemical studies ever published for many of the source areas. Especially intensive analyses were made for six sources in the states of Veracruz and Puebla in Mexico from the region of Pico de Orizaba volcano. In addition, source determinations are provided for 65 artifacts from the Olmec site of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan, Veracruz. The investigations presented here constitute an important basis for associating obsidian artifacts with specific sources, thereby making possible the reconstruction of Prehispanic trade system.
105 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the technology and social organization of intensive agricultural production in the Andean state of Tiwanaku and conclude that in this period, the technology of agricultural production turned on the creation of an artificial regional hydrological regime of canals, aqueducts, and groundwater regulation articulated with massive raised-field systems.
Abstract: Utilizing data from six seasons of field research, this article focuses on the question of the technology and social organization of intensive agricultural production in the Andean state of Tiwanaku. Recent literature in Andean archaeology and ethnohistory asserts the dominance of local kin groups in the organization of agricultural production rather than supracommunity state authority. The analysis presented here takes issue with this perspective as applied to the core territory of the Tiwanaku state during the period from ca. A. D. 400 to 1000 (Tiwanaku IV-V). I conclude that in this period: (1) the technology of Tiwanaku intensive agricultural production turned on the creation of an artificial regional hydrological regime of canals, aqueducts, and groundwater regulation articulated with massive raised-field systems, and (2) the organization of agricultural production in this core territory entailed structured, hierarchical interaction between urban and rural settlements characterized by a substantial degree of political centralization and the mobilization of labor by social principles that reached beyond simple kinship relations.
103 citations
TL;DR: A recently developed radioimmunoassay is capable of detecting BZE in hair samples from ancient, spontaneously mummified human remains, indicating that coca-leaf-chewing practices began in this area about 2,000 years ago.
Abstract: Coca-leaf chewing results in absorption of part of its cocaine content. Following absorption, cocaine and/or its stable metabolic product benzoylecgonine (BZE) may enter the chewer's hair follicles and subsequently be incorporated into the hair shafts. This article reports that a recently developed radioimmunoassay is capable of detecting BZE in hair samples from ancient, spontaneously mummified human remains. Results are provided from tests on hair samples of 163 individuals, representatives of populations from seven different cultures living at coastal and low valley sites in northern Chile during the past 4,000 years. These indicate that coca-leaf-chewing practices began in this area about 2,000 years ago. The practice seems to have been common in several subsequent cultural groups. In one of these—Maitas Chiribaya—the majority of both adult men and women indulged in this practice. Coca-leaf-chewing women probably transferred BZE to their fetuses and nursing infants.
82 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that standardization is neither a necessary nor sufficient characteristic of craft specialization, and demonstrate that product uniformity is easily achieved by nonintensive ceramic producers by using data gathered among seasonal potters in southern Veracruz, Mexico.
Abstract: The relation between vessel standardization and ceramic-production scale is firmly entrenched in the archaeological literature. This discussion challenges that relation, arguing that standardization is neither a necessary nor sufficient characteristic of craft specialization. Data gathered among seasonal potters in southern Veracruz, Mexico, demonstrate that product uniformity is easily achieved by nonintensive ceramic producers. The factors contributing to dimensional standardization and their implications for archaeological interpretations of pottery manufacture are discussed.
68 citations
TL;DR: The authors used epigraphic and iconographic data from Copan to understand the developmental trajectory of Classic period sociopolitical evolution in the Copan Valley, and found that from its beginning in the fifth century, the Classic Copan polity was ruled by powerful kings who controlled large populations and, quite likely, an extensive territory that may have included the site of Quirigua in the Motagua Valley to the north.
Abstract: Results of 16 years of archaeological research at Copan, Honduras, based on different methods and theoretical perspectives, can be used in combination to better understand the developmental trajectory of Classic period sociopolitical evolution in the Copan Valley. Although research continues, findings to date demonstrate the advantage of conjunctive research that applies archaeological, epigraphic, and iconographic data in a crosscutting, self-corrective strategy. While the use of any single data set may produce incomplete or inaccurate conclusions, as in the use of settlement data alone to reconstruct Middle Classic population size and assess the developmental status of the Copan polity, more complete conclusions can be reached by applying a fuller range of data from excavations in both the valley and Acropolis of Copan's urban core, along with epigraphic and iconographic evidence. These combined data show that from its beginning in the fifth century, the Classic Copan polity was ruled by powerful kings who controlled large populations and, quite likely, an extensive territory that may have included the site of Quirigua in the Motagua Valley to the north. At the other end of the developmental trajectory, the combination of research findings from the Acropolis and surrounding elite residential compounds and valley settlement data, has led to a redefinition of the Classic “collapse” at Copan, now seen as a long-enduring process involving the decentralization of political authority, the end of centralized dynastic rule, and gradual depopulation of the valley. This reconstruction, in combination with evidence for the end of the Classic period at other Lowland Maya sites, supports the long-standing conclusion that there was no single cause for the collapse, but rather that a complex and long-operating series of processes was responsible for the end of lowland Classic Maya civilization.
63 citations
TL;DR: In this article, archaeological data from two Chimu settlements in the Casma Valley, Peru, document the occurrence of a fourteenth-century A.D. ENSO event and some of the cultural responses to that prehistoric El Nino.
Abstract: Recent debate about the development of complex societies on the north coast of Peru has turned on the relative importance of marine vs. terrestrial resources and the extent to which different resource zones are upset by El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. While ENSO events are cited frequently as having important consequences for Prehispanic Andean societies, in fact there are few archaeological data about the nature of cultural responses to a specific ENSO event. Archaeological data from two Chimu settlements in the Casma Valley, Peru—Quebrada Sta. Cristina and Manchan—document the occurrence of a fourteenth-century A.D. ENSO event and some of the cultural responses to that prehistoric El Nino.
56 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that rodents were a constant food item for humans in central Chile, and that rodent species were selected based on body size and conspicuousness.
Abstract: We analyzed the remains of small mammals fzom 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.
52 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors report on archaeological and geomorphological research carried out by the 1988 Rlo Verde Formative Project in the lower RLO Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico, which suggests that the region was only sparsely inhabited prior to 500 B.C.
Abstract: This article reports on archaeological and geomorphological research carried out by the 1988 Rlo Verde Formative Project in the lower Rlo Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico. The research suggests that the region was only sparsely inhabited prior to 500 B.C. During the Late/Terminal Formative (400 B.C.-A.D. 250), however, survey data suggest that the lower Rlo Verde Valley experienced considerable population growth. Excavations at the sites of Cerro de la Cruz and Rlo Viejo yielded evidence for emerging status inequalities during the Late Formative leading eventually to the rise of complex social organization by the Classic period (A.D. 250-900). Two preliminary explanations are offiered for the seemingly late occurrence of large populations with complex social organization in the region. The explanations focus on environmental change and interregional social interaction, respectively. Evidence for the exploitation of coastal habitats is also discussed, since the use of marine and estuarine resources could alter the implications of both explanations of societal change.
49 citations
TL;DR: In this article, household architectural variability within the residential area of SayEl, Yucatan, Mexico is examined and a rank ordering of vault area and per-capita labor investment is achieved.
Abstract: This paper examines household architectural variability within the residential area of SayEl, Yucatan, Mexico. Labor-investment figures for residential architecture are used as a means of categorizing variability. A rank ordering of vault area and per-capita labor investment is achieved and an architectural wealth hierarchy is presented for the residential area of SayEl. This hierarchy is placed in the context of Maya land-tenure systems. It is argued that large, wealthy households may have been 'first-founder" families in the SayEl valley and thus were in a position to effiectively control and monopolize land and other productive resources, including human labor, for their own economic advantage.
TL;DR: In this paper, a framework for modeling intersocietal interaction and understanding its sociopolitical consequences is proposed, which calls attention to who is actually involved in the interaction process, how these transactions are carried out and what the goals of the contact partners are.
Abstract: Archaeologists frequently assume that when cultures interact with each other the most complex partner dominates the transactions. We propose that this is a misleadingly simple view of a complex process. A framework for modeling intersocietal interaction and understanding its sociopolitical consequences is outlined here. This theoretical structure calls attention to who is actually involved in the interaction process, how these transactions are carried out, and what the goals of the contact partners are. The complex material patterns from two neighboring areas of Late Classic (A. D. 600-950) southeast Mesoamerica are then examined using the proposed model to see what insights into ancient interaction processes it can provide.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present new evidence on the 21 Andean areas where puquios were constructed and controlled by the Spaniards and evaluate arguments pertaining to the origin of the Nasca Puquios.
Abstract: It has been claimed that the puquios, a subterranean irrigation system of the Nasca drainage, are a unique Prehispanic innovation. However, documentary evidence indicates that many puquios were constructed and managed by Spaniards. In Iberia such systems were built by Islamic engineers and were extended by Christians after the Moors were expelled in 1492. The Spaniards brought this technology to Mexico and the Andes, beginning in the mid-sixteenth century. They employed it in agriculture, in urban water systems, and to drain mines. This paper presents new evidence on the 21 Andean areas where puquios were constructed and controlled by the Spaniards and evaluates arguments pertaining to the origin of the Nasca puquios.
TL;DR: In this article, the Pacariqtambo origin myth of the Inca was analyzed through examining archaeological data from the Province of Paruro (Department of Cuzco, Peru).
Abstract: In this study the Pacariqtambo origin myth of the Inca, as described in a number of different Spanish chronicles, is analyzed through examining archaeological data from the Province of Paruro (Department of Cuzco, Peru). The findings suggest that the rock outcrop of Puma Orco, located in the District of Pacariqtambo, may represent the Tambotoco of the Pacariqtambo origin myth, and that the nearby Inca ruins of Maukallaqta may have contained an oracle of the first mythical Inca, Manco Capac. It is suggested that these ruins were built by the ruling elite of Cuzco to commemorate their mythical progenitor and to legitimate their sacred status within Inca society.
TL;DR: Two areas of Middle Preclassic architecture flanking a courtyard dating between ca. 650 and 400 B.C. were investigated in this paper, and they were found that had perishable superstructures, and demonstrated periodic partial demolition and rebuilding.
Abstract: 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.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined a production-consumption model for intersite exchange of stone tools from the early Maya site of Cuello in northern Belize and found that during the Late Preclassic two highly standardized formal tools were manufactured at Colha and distributed to Belizean communities as a finished product.
Abstract: New lithic data from the early Maya site of Cuello in northern Belize provide a basis for examining a production-consumption model for intersite exchange of stone tools. Comparison of lithic evidence from Cuello, Pulltrouser Swamp, and Cerros, putative consumer communities, with evidence from Colha, the production community, suggests that during the Late Preclassic two highly standardized formal tools were manufactured at Colha and distributed to northern Belizean communities as a finished product. Those communities also obtained Colha-like material in less-reduced form for local manufacture of other formal tools. The availability of a high-quality chert source in large nodules may have been an enabling factor in Late Preclassic regional developments, including agricultural intensification.
TL;DR: A 500-year record of changes and continuities in structures defined as ceremonial has been discovered in the Qhuna phase (5000 4400 B.P.) of Late Preceramic period Asana in the Moquegua drainage of southern Peru.
Abstract: A 500-year record of changes and continuities in structures defined as ceremonial has been discovered in the Qhuna phase (5000 4400 B.P.) of Late Preceramic period Asana in the Moquegua drainage of southern Peru. These are the earliest known ceremonial structures in the south-central Andes, and their existence razses new questions about the trajectory of cultural change in the region. In its earliest construction around 4800 B.P., the ceremonial complex appears to be a "dance ground," similar to the sometimes-enclosed spaces used by ethnographically known mobile foragers for periodic feasts and social exchanges. By 4500 B.P., however, the complex appears to be more formal in its construction, with a clear insideutside dichotomy offeature placement and presumed activity performance. In this paper, the structural features of the ceremonial complex are described, compared to other, roughly contemporaneous expressions of ceremonial structures in theAndes, and theirfunction interpreted.
TL;DR: In this article, a study of Middle Preclassic (Conchas phase) ceramics from the site of La Blanca, Spain, is presented, where the focus is on 431 prismatic obsidian blades excavated from the same deposits in order to discern if patterns of change can be discovered in this lithic industry.
Abstract: In a study of Middle Preclassic (Conchas phase) ceramics from the site of La Blanca, Love (1989) derived a sequence offour subphases. Here, the focus is on 431 prismatic obsidian blades excavatedfrom the same deposits in order to discern if patterns of change can be discovered in this lithic industry. For each blade, recorded attributes describe blade dimensions and edge wear, as observed through low-power microscopy. Chronological controls were set by ceramic associations. Through the sequence, blades became smaller and more fragmentary, due, we hypothesized, to an increasing scarcity of obsidian. As predicted from these trends, we found that wear patterns became more pronounced through time, and use of a bipolar technology became increasingly important for removing (rejuvenating) worn lateral edges. A definite obsidian-blade sequence emerged, which was investigated through linear discriminant-function analyses.