An Archaic Mexican Shellmound and Its Entombed Floors

An Archaic Mexican Shellmound and Its Entombed Floors PDF

Author: Barbara Voorhies

Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press

Published: 2015-12-31

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 195044600X

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Tlacuachero is the site of an Archaic-period shellmound located in the wetlands of the outer coast of southwest Mexico. This book presents investigations of several floors that are within the site's shell deposits that formed over a 600-800 year interval during the Archaic period (ca. 8000-2000 BCE), a crucial timespan in Mesoamerican prehistory when people were transitioning from full-blown dependency on wild resources to the use of domesticated crops. The floors are now deeply buried in an limited area below the summit of the shellmound. The authors explore what activities were carried out on their surfaces, discussing the floors' patterns of cultural features, sediment color, density and types of embedded microrefuse and phytoliths, as well as chemical signatures of organic remains. The studies conducted at Tlacuachero are especially significant in light of the fact that data-rich lowland sites from the Archaic period are extraordinarily rare; the wealth of information gleaned from the floors of the Tlacuachero shellmound can now be widely appreciated.

The Ceramic Sequence of the Holmul Region, Guatemala

The Ceramic Sequence of the Holmul Region, Guatemala PDF

Author: Michael G. Callaghan

Publisher: University of Arizona Press

Published: 2016-11-29

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0816531943

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New and comprehensive sequencing of the ceramics in Guatemala's Holmul region provides answers to important questions in Maya archaeology. In this comprehensive and highly illustrated new study, authors Callaghan and Neivens de Estrada use type: variety-mode classification to define a ceramic sequence that spans approximately 1,600 years.

Sculpture and Social Dynamics in Preclassic Mesoamerica

Sculpture and Social Dynamics in Preclassic Mesoamerica PDF

Author: Julia Guernsey

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-07-23

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1107012465

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This book examines the functions of sculpture during the Preclassic period in Mesoamerica and its significance in statements of social identity. Julia Guernsey situates the origins and evolution of monumental stone sculpture within a broader social and political context and demonstrates the role that such sculpture played in creating and institutionalizing social hierarchies. This book focuses specifically on an enigmatic type of public, monumental sculpture known as the "potbelly" that traces its antecedents to earlier, small domestic ritual objects and ceramic figurines. The cessation of domestic rituals involving ceramic figurines along the Pacific slope coincided not only with the creation of the first monumental potbelly sculptures, but with the rise of the first state-level societies in Mesoamerica by the advent of the Late Preclassic period. The potbellies became central to the physical representation of new forms of social identity and expressions of political authority during this time of dramatic change.

The Origins of Maya States

The Origins of Maya States PDF

Author: Loa P. Traxler

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 704

ISBN-13: 1934536865

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"Rather than unified into a single state, the Pre-Columbian Maya were organized into a series of independent kingdoms or polities. The vast majority of studies of Maya states focus on the apogee of their development in the Classic period, ca. 250-850 CE. In fact, Maya states are defined by the specific political structures that characterized Classic period lowland Maya society. The Origins of Maya States is the first study in over 30 years to specifically examine the origins and development of these states during the preceding Preclassic period, ca. 1000 BCE to 250 CE. Coverage includes material signatures for the development of Maya states, evaluations of extant models for the emergence of Maya states, and advancement of new models based on recent archaeological data. Attempts to understand the origins of Maya states cannot escape the limitations of archaeological data, and this is complicated by both the variability of Maya states in time and space, and the interplay between internal development and external impacts. To mitigate these factors, The Origins of Maya States combines an examination of topical issues with regional perspectives from both the Maya area and neighboring Mesoamerican regions to highlight the role of interregional interaction in the evolution of Maya states. At the core of the study the development of complexity during the Preclassic era is discussed within the Maya regions of the Pacific coast, highlands, and lowlands. This is followed by studies of Preclassic economic, social, political, and ideological systems to provide a developmental context for the origins of Maya states"--Provided by publisher.

Early Mesoamerican Social Transformations

Early Mesoamerican Social Transformations PDF

Author: Richard G. Lesure

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2011-09-04

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0520268997

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"Data and interpretations generated from the Soconusco are critical but often fail to inform larger debates in Mesoamerica as frequently as they should. This book remedies that situation; it will be of interest to all Mesoamericanists who work on the Archaic and Formative periods."--Jeffrey P. Blomster, editor of After Monte Alban: Transformation and Negotiation in Oaxaca, Mexico "This volume will be crucial to our understanding of the origins of civilization in Mesoamerica. Its interpretations are innovative and present a wealth of new research on an early time period from a very important region. Its importance cannot be underestimated."--Terry G. Powis, Department of Anthropology, Kennesaw State University

The Comitán Valley

The Comitán Valley PDF

Author: Caitlin C. Earley

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2023-07-13

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1477327142

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A thousand years ago, the Comitán Valley, in the Mexican state of Chiapas, was the western edge of the Maya world. Far from the famous power centers of the Classic period, the valley has been neglected even by specialists. Here, Caitlin C. Earley offers the first comprehensive study of sculpture excavated from the area, showcasing the sophistication and cultural vigor of a region that has largely been ignored. Supported by the rulers of the valley’s cities, local artists created inventive works that served to construct civic identities. In their depictions of warrior kings, ballgames, rituals, and ancestors, the artists of Comitán made choices that reflected political and religious goals and distinguished the artistic production of the Comitán Valley from that of other Maya locales. After the Maya abandoned their powerful lowland centers, those in Comitán were maintained, a distinction from which Earley draws new insights concerning the Maya collapse. Richly illustrated with never-before-published photographs of sculptures unearthed from key archaeological sites, The Comitán Valley is an illuminating work of art historical recovery and interpretation.

Fanning the Sacred Flame

Fanning the Sacred Flame PDF

Author: Brian D. Dillon

Publisher: University Press of Colorado

Published: 2012-03-15

Total Pages: 617

ISBN-13: 145711173X

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Fanning the Sacred Flame: Mesoamerican Studies in Honor of H. B. Nicholson contains twenty-two original papers in tribute to H. B. "Nick" Nicholson, a pioneer of Mesoamerican research. His intellectual legacy is recognized by Mesoamerican archaeologists, art historians, ethnohistorians, and ethnographers--students, colleagues, and friends who derived inspiration and encouragement from him throughout their own careers. Each chapter, which presents original research inspired by Nicholson, pays tribute to the teacher, writer, lecturer, friend, and mentor who became a legend within his own lifetime. Covering all of Mesoamerica across all time periods, contributors include Patricia R. Anawalt, Alfredo López Austin, Anthony Aveni, Robert M. Carmack, David C. Grove, Richard D. Hansen, Leonardo López Luján, Kevin Terraciano, and more. Eloise Quiñones Keber provides a thorough biographical sketch, detailing Nicholson's academic and professional journey.