Our understanding of the history of ancient Chichen Itza has been advanced significantly in recent years by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia's Chichen Itza Archaeological Project. One important advance has been the definition of a new ceramic complex for the site of Yabnal, which dates to the Late Classic period, and corresponds to the Motul ceramic complex of Mayapan. The majority of materials used to define the Yabnal complex come from recent excavation of terraces and platforms distributed throughout the entire area occupied by Chichen Itza in its heyday, but also includes finds in association with the construction and use of buildings with rooms such as the substructure of the Temple of the Initial Series. The most important ceramic materials include complete and restorable vessels obtained from sealed contexts. The Yabnal ceramic complex displays a variety of local and imported wares, similar to those found elsewhere in the northern plains, with the Slate Ware group proving possibly the most important. Ceramic Slate Ware is a high-quality ceramic characterized by the frequent use of volcanic ash as temper, and demonstrates a deeply rooted tradition in northern Yucatan, spanning roughly 600 years. Although most recent discussion of ceramics at Chichen Itza has focused on the Terminal Classic and Postclassic periods, this study examines the early Yabnal ceramic complex of the Late Classic period with a focus on the site, its chronology, and the important implications this ceramic complex has for the general history of the northern plains.

Salvage excavations along the right of way of a 2 km stretch of proposed highway crossing the northern part of the Postclassic city of Tula, Hidalgo utilized a multi-phase investigation strategy, featuring pedestrian survey and exploratory test-pitting. This fieldwork led to extensive excavation in five localities, which uncovered significant portions of both elite and non-elite residential compounds, a possible administrative structure, and two temples, one of which is the earliest example of a twin temple pyramid in western Mesoamerica. The diversity of structures and corresponding functions encountered in excavation are comparable to those found in previous excavations that suggest the city was organized into barrios, each with its own political, religious, social, and other institutions that mimic those of the larger urban polity. While these investigations confirm previous evidence of considerable destruction of the ancient city in recent decades, they also demonstrate that significant portions are still intact.

This study simulates vulnerability to famine and food poverty among peasant households in the Basin of Mexico two decades after the Conquest. Using demographic and cadastral data recorded in the Códice de Santa María Asunción (Tepetlaoztoc), vulnerability is assessed by comparing household and patio-group (household compound) food production to consumption needs at the same scales, Modeling of food production of the principal subsistence crops (maize, beans, and maguey) uses the soil types noted for each field in the Asuncion document and a production model that accounts for soil-productivity differences. Both typical and poor years are modeled. Household and patio-group food needs are based on the codex data for each individual in the community. The study reveals that 60% of the population was at risk of famine in a poor year and that up to 16% would have suffered food poverty in a typical year. Nevertheless, even in a poor year, 40% of the population would have had adequate-or-better nutrition. Thus, this analysis supports contrasting views of early Contact-period nutrition. Because of the unequal distribution of food-production resources in Nahua society, some commoner households were usually adequately fed, while others normally suffered chronic undernutrition. Patio groups represent a possible response to this situation, as analysis by patio group indicated reduced vulnerability to food poverty. Land per capita ratios appear to be the best explanation of the differences in food poverty and famine risk among the households or patio groups.

Investigations concerning the earliest Maya have been of archaeological interest for many decades. Northern Belize serves as a valuable region for researching and understanding early Maya developments. In particular, the ancient Maya site of Colha in northern Belize is a focal point of some early developments beginning in the Archaic period. Select resources in the region, especially in the chert-bearing zone, clearly had been of great interest and attraction to populations extending back into Paleoindian and Archaic times, as well as the Maya period for Colha and other sites near the resource zone. With the appearance of pottery-producing settled villages is the common assertion that Maya societies are in place around 1000 b.c. Recent studies have identified much earlier occupants in the region with significant cultural developments, including semi-permanent occupation and horticulture occurring in the Late Archaic at approximately 3400 b.c. It seems plausible, perhaps likely by our assessment, that these Late Archaic people (or aceramic populations) may have been the earliest Maya communities. Factors of defining communities, aspects of horticulture, and the transition from the Archaic into the Preclassic are reviewed in consideration of—just who were the earliest Maya?

The Maya haab, the 365-day solar year, ended with a 5-day period called “Uayeb.” According to Bishop Diego de Landa, preparations for the commencement of a New Year began during the Uayeb period of the preceding year. This paper concerns the events and ceremonies encompassing the beginning of a Cauac year and discusses the parallels between Landa's descriptions of these events and certain figures and activities portrayed in several almanacs of the Madrid Codex. Based on the calendrical structure of these almanacs, we argue that they pertain specifically to Uayeb-related ceremonies for a single year within the 52-year cycle, beginning on a day 13 Cauac.

The Canek Manuscript describes a visit by Fray András de Avendaño y Loyola, two Franciscan companions, and ten Maya sacristans from the town of Tipu to the towns of Chacan on the western shore of Lake Peten Itza and Noh Peten (Tah Itza or Tayasal) on the island that today is Flores, Peten, Guatemala. This visit probably occurred in January or February, 1695, two years before the Spanish conquest of Noh Peten. The four-folio manuscript is a fragment of a larger document, the remainder of which is lost. The Franciscan author, a lay brother, was probably Fray Alonso de Vargas. This contribution places the manuscript in its ethnohistorical context, describes it content, and discusses its significance.

A comprehensive site survey and excavation program took place in 1995 and 1996 at the Maya center of Chac II (Chac) located within the Puuc hills region of Yucatan, Mexico. This work presents a body of evidence in support of the idea that Chac was an important center beginning in the Early Classic period (a.d. 300–600) that experienced significant foreign contacts. In addition, multifaceted data from surface, soil, architectural, and excavated contexts are addressing major questions pertaining to architectural and ceramic chronologies, the founding of the Puuc stoneworking tradition, site activity areas, and patterns of land use. Furthermore, dating indicates that Chac predated Sayil and that the two sites have a close geographical relationship. Also, terrace agriculture appears to have been widespread at Chac, contrasting greatly with Sayil where intensive gardening was widely practiced. In light of the new information from Chac, we argue that the traditional models of Puuc origins are inadequate. Investigations at a major Early Classic site in the heart of the Puuc region suggests that the region's rise was indigenous coupled with external ties to foreign groups reaching to central Mexico. The site of Chac is thus taking on strategic importance for understanding the origins of Puuc civilization, providing a rare opportunity to study a Maya center that was on the brink of urbanism in one of the most urban ancient Maya areas. These new data are helping to elucidate the nature of Maya urbanism in the Puuc region and establish the kinds of cultural links that existed between the northern Maya Lowlands and the rest of Mesoamerica during the Classic period.

Late Classic interaction between Copan and western El Salvador has been archaeologically recognized in prestige items, monumental influences, and the common use of Copador ceramics. An inscribed flask excavated in 1952 in the main pyramid at Tazumal, El Salvador provides historical evidence for these ties. The flask is dedicated as the property of K'ahk' Uti' Witz' K'awiil (Copan Ruler 12), a long-lived seventh-century ruler who presided over the expansion of Copan's influence far outside of the Copan valley. The flask is the only hieroglyphic text from El Salvador naming a recognizable individual or that can be dated to an absolute calendrical span, one of only a few miniature Classic Maya vessels tagged with an individual's name, and the only one naming an ajaw (lord). The vessel's text, iconography, and context brings the political relationship between Copan and western El Salvador into sharper focus.

Recientes exploraciones arqueológicas en el litoral norteño de la península yucateca, México, han arrojado nuevos datos de la interacción entre humanos y animales en tiempos prehispánicos. En este artículo queremos discutir el patrón de aprovechamiento seguido por parte de los pobladores prehispánicos en dicha zona costera, basándonos en dos conjuntos zooarqueológicos correspondientes a los sitios de Isla Cerritos e Xcambo respectivamente, ambos ubicados en el Estado Mexicano de Yucatan y pertenecientes a la cultura maya prehispánica. La discusión conjunta del aprovechamiento manifestado a través de los dos sitios está motivada en primer lugar por la relativa cercanía entre ambos asentamientos, y en segundo lugar, porque los dos sitios son cronológicamente continuos y permiten esbozar el desarrollo del aprovechamiento precolombino de fauna costera a través de una secuencia cronológica de aproximadamente 850 años.

Una parte importante del trabajo está dedicada a describir los hallazgos de una especie de mamífero hoy extinta, identificada entre los materiales faunísticos: la foca tropical (Monachus tropicalis). Los especímenes constituyen los únicos hallazgos de su tipo relacionados a reminiscencias culturales prehispánicas en Mesoamérica hasta la fecha y son de particular interés, porque desde hace más de 20 años se había supuesto, sin sustento en hallazgos materiales, el aprovechamiento de focas por parte de los mayas prehispánicos. El hallazgo de huesos de esta especie en contextos arqueológicos nos permite ahora afirmar la hipótesis, demostrando que sí hubo aprovechamiento, a pequeña escala, de esta especie por parte de los ocupantes costeros prehispánicos de la región.

Pyramid B was one of the most important buildings in the sacred precinct of the Early Postclassic city of Tula, Hidalgo. On its summit was a temple supported by anthropomorphic and zoomorphic columns and four pillars containing the reliefs of 16 individuals and other images. Based on comparative analysis with other archaeological specimens and images from conquest era codices, I propose that all 16 individuals were warrior-kings in sacred dress bearing a suite of weapons associated with the Tollan-Xicocotitlan elite.

Two burials excavated at Izapa in 1963 have special green obsidian artifacts made at Teotihuacan. We describe the contexts and contents of these burials and consider the significance of their contents in light of Spence's (1996) model of Teotihuacan exchange of obsidian objects. We interpret the Izapa artifacts as gifted objects indicative of the political independence of Izapa in Middle Classic times.

Skeletal remains from Tlajinga 33 (33:S3W1) have been the focus of research in the southern sector of Teotihuacan since excavations took place in the 1980s. Recent excavations in Tlajinga Compounds 17 and 18 (17:S3E1 and 18:S3E1, respectively), located along the southern Street of the Dead, recovered nine additional skeletons. This article is a description of the burials from Compounds 17 and 18 and a comparative analysis of health, diet, and chronology across all three compounds (Compounds 17, 18, and 33). Here, we test the hypothesis that individuals between residential compounds at Tlajinga lived similar lives and that health and biogeochemical markers of individuals will reflect these similarities. Although the sample size is small, the paleopathological analysis of individuals at Compounds 17 and 18 indicates morbidity patterns similar to Tlajinga 33, but also that these residents were perhaps less susceptible to stressors during periods of juvenile growth. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes suggest that, overall, diets were analogous across compounds, but Compounds 17 and 18 were able to supplement their diet with a greater variety of plant resources. There were no clear dietary differences between higher and lower status individuals, however. Finally, accelerated mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dates indicate that residential living may have occurred later at Compound 18 than at Compound 17 and Tlajinga 33.

Figurines offer archaeologists intriguing insights into many aspects of prehistoric culture. Beyond their utility as chronological markers, figurines offer information regarding the social and cultural structures of a society. This paper will demonstrate how the figurines of Michoacan can be used as markers of ethnic identity and ethnic continuity in the Lake Patzcauro Basin. The high degree of continuity in decorative and production styles throughout much of the sequence serves as evidence for ethnic continuity and the identity of the people who made the artifacts. A preliminary typology for the Michoacan figurines is presented to support the idea that a distinctly Michoacan style of figurine exists. The application of this figurine typology reveals a high degree of continuity in the figurine record. This supports the hypothesis that the ethnic origins of the Michoacan people may reach back as far as the Late Preclassic/Early Classic period.

Cuando a fines de la primera mitad del siglo XVI los españoles concluyeron la conquista del noroeste de la península de Yucatán, encontraron que las mujeres mayas poseían una larga tradición en la confección de los tejidos de algodón. Los encomenderos y los franciscanos aprovecharon su disposición y organización del trabajo textil para obligarlas a tejer mantas de algodón con el fin de exportarlas al mercado novohispano. La crisis demográfica del último tercio del siglo de la invasión imposibilitó a los pueblos producir con su población femenina las cuotas tributarias y las limosnas textiles. Este fenómeno dio como resultado que los pueblos vivieran un periodo de desequilibrio que propició un proceso de simplificación social, de intensificación de la jornada de trabajo femenino y que la cuota de explotación colonial se incrementara.

This paper summarizes some accomplishments of the Teotihuacan Mapping Project, with particular attention to issues of accuracy and validity. I then describe experiences and lessons learned in creating electronic files derived from Mapping Project field records and collections. I sketch questions about the city and state of Teotihuacan that loom especially large in my own thinking. Finally, I list some specific field projects at Teotihuacan that I think should be given high priority, as well as opportunities with curated materials, records, and electronic files.

Although studies of warfare are now common in Maya archaeology, much remains to be learned about strategy, tactics, and various other practical factors in the process of making war. An emphasis on the concrete and practical is necessary to both acknowledge agency and understand how conflict relates to the human experience. Through an examination of documentary and archaeological data in a comparative framework, I elaborate on practices of Maya fortification construction and how the creation of a martial landscape ties into relations of power during the Late Postclassic/Early Spanish Colonial period (a.d. 1200–1600). During this period, in the region of Mensabak, Chiapas, Mexico, Maya peoples fortified a peninsula according to principles of defense-in-depth. In other words, they created layers of fortification to slow and stall an attack. My analysis reveals how the creation of a martial landscape shaped local culture by incorporating elements of sacred geography and ritual landscape to perpetuate social inequality.

The unexpected discovery of an elaborate stone coffer with lowland-style carved images and early Maya inscriptions in a cave in the northern Guatemalan highlands has great implications for our understanding of highland-lowland interaction. However, this discovery proved to be only the “tip of the iceberg” in terms of the importance of subterranean evidence in this region. Investigations in caves in central Guatemala over the past decade have been a central part of the regional investigations, often directing subsequent reconnaissance, settlement surveys, and site excavations. Indeed, the early history of the region and the trade route passing through it has largely been reconstructed from evidence in cave shrines along the mountain valley routes from Kaminaljuyu and the Valley of Guatemala to lowland Maya sites. This article reviews this evidence, which also demonstrates how cave assemblages can be used not merely to study ancient ritual, but to examine broad problems in culture history and critical elements in the study of elite power, ceramic production, settlement patterns, interregional trade, and ancient economy.

Los habitantes de Monte Albán estaban organizados en una sociedad jerárquica compleja; la integración a la sociedad estuvo determinada por factores sociales, económicos, políticos, así como de género y edad. El objetivo central del estudio radica en identificar la posición social de los niños y su integración como miembros de la comunidad. Con este fin analizamos los patrones funerarios y el uso del espacio en dos unidades domésticas de estatus medio/alto del periodo clásico (200–750 d.C.). De acuerdo con el análisis e interpretación de los resultados, los niños más pequeños fueron enterrados en los patios centrales, algunos en fosas y otros sobre cajetes cubiertos con otro plato. A partir de los cuatro a cinco años se inhumaban bajo el piso de los cuartos y sólo unos cuantos al interior de la tumba familiar. Esta metodología permite conocer las diferencias sociales y de género al interior del grupo social y quizá como reflejo también en la sociedad zapoteca.

Previous interpretations of the occupation history of La Milpa, Belize, which were based on preliminary ceramic data, suggested that occupation of the site fluctuated dramatically from the Late Preclassic to the Terminal Classic (400 b.c.–a.d. 850). It was determined that the modest Late Preclassic village became a large Early Classic city with regal-ritual architecture and carved monuments. In Late Classic I, it appeared the site was nearly abandoned. Its reoccupation and exponential growth in Late Classic II was followed by rapid abandonment before the end of the Late Classic III/Terminal Classic. New ceramic analyses utilizing attribute analysis with an emphasis on formal modes has clarified the sequence and, in turn, softened the occupation curves. This article provides descriptions of the Late Classic I, II, and III ceramics, along with revised percentage frequency graphs of La Milpa's occupation history based primarily on the work of the La Milpa Archaeological Project (1992–2002).