The dynamic process involving the establishment, growth, and decline of Patio Group 9M-22-A, an elite Late Classic Maya domestic group at Copan, Honduras, is described in terms of 11 time spans. Architectural and stratigraphie changes occurring within these time spans are integrated with 70 obsidian hydration dates and demonstrate that the patio group was occupied to the end of the tenth century, with sporadic activity continuing into the eleventh century. Changes in the leadership roles spanning several generations within the patio group are inferred from the archaeological data and related to socioeconomic variables influencing the development cycle.

The process of Mesoamerican cultural expansion into western and northwestern Mexico has been a subject of speculation and investigation for over three centuries. Although many cultural traits have been “implicated” in this process, the practice of erecting stelae has not been one of them. Fieldwork by the author in Jalisco and Nayarit over the past 14 years has resulted in the discovery of 48 stone monuments which are proposed to be rustic versions of the usually more sophisticated stelae associated with cultures of central Mesoamerica. These west Mexican stelae are described and discussed in terms of their context, date, and possible function. Similar stone monuments from other sites in western and northwestern Mexico are also described, and relevant ethnohistoric data are presented. Finally, the diffusion of the practice of erecting stelae is discussed in relation to the process of mesoamericanization in western and northwestern Mexico.

Regional settlement studies in the Maya area have provided a basis for understanding the importance of subsistence strategies, but have not addressed the issue of how the settlements themselves are differentiated. This article examines Maya settlement patterns of the Belize River area and uses data from residential-unit midden tests to identify aspects of settlement variation. These variations are examined with respect to general landform characteristics. Much of the variation appears to relate to the productive capacity of agricultural resources in the area. This is no surprise, since the ancient Maya were an agrarian society.

Obsidian prismatic blades first appeared in the Pacific coast of Guatemala at the beginning of the Middle Preclassic, ca. 900 b.c., at the site of La Blanca. Blades were imported in finished form and supplemented an existing technology based on hard-hammer percussion. This indicates that by the Middle Preclassic obsidian was being traded in at least two forms: raw material and finished products. The beginnings of blade use coincide with a number of important social and political changes on the Pacific coast. Most important of these are the emergence of La Blanca as a regional center and the formation of a settlement hierarchy that includes over 50 sites. X-ray fluorescence reveals that the material used to make the blades comes from three geological sources: El Chayal, Ixtepeque, and San Martín Jilotepque. An analysis of the source frequencies through time reveals that El Chayal obsidian dominates the assemblage throughout the Conchas phase, with Ixtepeque being a minor source in all subphases. San Martín Jilotepeque obsidian is absent in the Conchas A and B subphases, but is present in Conchas C and D. This latter occurrence may signal a shift in trade relationships, but the overall pattern suggests that exchange connections established in the Early Preclassic were continued during the Middle Preclassic.

The widespread appearance of obsidian prismatic blades and polyhedral cores in ancient Mexican writing and art provides important information regarding ancient mesoamerican lithic technology. One common central Mexican epigraphic convention, a hooklike black element, is identified as a curving prismatic blade, here providing the phonetic value itz. The placement of blade segments on the edges of wooden clubs is one of the most commonly cited uses of prismatic blades. However, it will be noted that representations of such clubs are extremely rare until the Late Postclassic period. Rather than primarily serving as bladed edging on wooden weapons, prismatic blades were more commonly used as lancets and razors. Postclassic and early Colonial depictions of prismatic blades in use reveal that they were usually held directly in the hand, with no attempt at hafting.

Accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) dating of animal bone from Preclassic and Postclassic contexts at the Maya site of Cuello, Belize, has demonstrated the utility of the method in a humid tropical lowland environment, and has documented a hitherto unsuspected period of Postclassic activity including architectural construction and apparent occupation.

The Feathered Serpent Pyramid (Temple of Quetzalcoatl) was built in a single episode involving the sacrifice of around 200 individuals, in Miccaotli or Early Tlamimilolpa times. Most were males with military gear. Many had shell collars with pendants of imitation human jaws made of worked shell teeth set in stucco; rarely were real jaws used. At the center, 20 individuals (probably all males) were buried with very rich offerings including greenstone beads, earspools, nose pendants, figurines, and strange conical objects; obsidian blades and figurines; shells; and remains of wood and probable textiles. We also explored a looters' tunnel that had severely disturbed two large pits under the pyramid; in one of these an individual of exceptional importance may have been buried. Preliminary analysis of material from tests in the platform that later obscured the front of the pyramid suggests that it may have been built as much as two centuries after the pyramid. It covered another large pit associated with the pyramid, also looted.

In this article the significance of Teotihuacan's most sumptuous monument is studied: the Temple of Quetzalcoatl. Based on iconographie studies, together with the results of recent archaeological excavations, it is possible to deduce that the building was dedicated to the myth of the origin of time and calendric succession. The sculptures on its facades represent the Feathered Serpent at the moment of the creation. The Feathered Serpent bears the complex headdress of Cipactli, symbol of time, on his body. The archaeological materials discovered coincide with iconographie data and with this interpretation. Other monuments in Mesoamerica are also apparently consecrated in honor of this same myth and portray similar symbolism.

Changes in the nature of social stratification and economic organization during the history of the urban center of Teotihuacan are charted using information from the residential compound of Tlajinga 33. This lower-class, artesanal compound yielded evidence of craft specialization and mortuary patterns that allow investigation of changes in economic specialization and differentiation of internal status through time. From the mortuary evidence it appears that Tlajinga 33 became poorer and reduced its internal status divisions from Early Tlamimilolpa to Late Xolalpan-Metepec times. The craft specialization of the residents changed from one of probable autonomy to one where the compound contributed to a neighborhood specialization. These changes support evidence from other researchers that Teotihuacan became more rigid in organization and socially stratified through time. The urban society was thus characterized by social and economic change during its apogee.

Recent excavations in Tlailotlacan, the “Oaxaca barrio,” near the western periphery of the ancient city of Teotihuacan, revealed remains of irrigation features associated with the early history of the city. Small floodwater irrigation canals were found underneath a residential structure that had been occupied by Zapotec immigrants from Oaxaca. Radiocarbon dating, corroborated by ceramic evidence, places the earliest architecture in the Early Tlamimilolpa phase (ca. a.d. 200–300), thus providing a concrete terminal date for the hydraulic system, an advantage not enjoyed by previous canal explorations in the region. The hydraulic features consist of segments of two superimposed canal networks that, based on associated pottery, date to the Terminal Formative period (Tzacualli and Miccoatli phases), which represents the earliest well-documented date for the use of irrigation at Teotihuacan. Shortly after the canals were abandoned, control over this land passed from the original inhabitants to Zapotec immigrants. We suggest that this change in ownership and land use directly involved the Teotihuacan state and was part of a policy of maintaining control over the location of economically important “resources,” including foreign immigrants like the Zapotec, who had important trade connections.

Excavations in the Classic Period apartment compound, site 33:S3W1, in the ancient city of Teotihuacan, Mexico, have revealed the existence of two lapidary workshops. These workshops were spatially discrete and separate from domestic quarters and were located on the periphery of the compound, but still inside it, in open courtyard areas with packed earth surfaces. A number of stone grinding tools and work surfaces initially identified these areas as lapidary workshops. This assessment was confirmed by microartifact analysis of associated soil samples which indicate that a number of different raw material classes were used in the lapidary production. All of these materials, with the exception of basalt, are imported from outside of the valley of Mexico. Differential use of raw materials is present and appears to be based on the value of the commodity. Basalt and slate are the most common materials used, with greenstone and shell being the scarcest. The volume of raw material debitage is much greater than would be required for local consumption by the compound, suggesting that the lapidary artifacts were produced for exchange in the market of Teotihuacan. The scale of production, however, does not appear to be large enough to indicate that these materials were produced for long-distance exchange.