Although Andean archaeology has long used the term “ethnic” to refer to human groups, new understandings of ethnicity have injected less static understandings of contextualized identity construction into our models of the past. A review of recent work on ethnicity in the field reveals, however, that methodological approaches to these social entities do not always follow suit and rather favor normative synchronie comparisons. This paper explores the origins and trends in the study of ethnic groups and ethnicity in Andean archaeology, arguing that we may be seeing the persistence of the culture concept in the guise of ethnicity. It also examines best practices in the literature in order to make recommendations concerning the adoption of local, contextual, and diachronic methods in conjunction with multiple lines of evidence. These practices are more likely to expose the processes of identity construction by rendering explicit the relationships among culture, ethnicity, and the use of emblemic material culture. It argues, thereby, for the provision of proof of this process rather than its assertion.

The archaeological site at Raqchi is best known for the large Inka building identified by colonial sources as the “temple of Viracocha.” The site also has an enclosure with 152 circular buildings that have previously been interpreted as Inka state storage: collcas. Although Inka pottery was found within some structures, the utilitarian pottery, carbonized plant remains, and hearths found on the floors of the buildings at Raqchi date their construction to the Middle Horizon. These results have caused a significant reinterpretation of the site and highlight a distinction between the political economies of the two largest Andean states. We suggest this sector of the site functioned as a Wari compound for seasonal work groups, similar to those at Pikillacta and Azángaro, suggesting a potential coercive aspect within Wari colonization. This prompts a reevaluation of the Viracocha cult during the Inka period, its reclaiming of Tiwanaku and Wari state sites, and the role of public ceremony within Inka state policy.

Our interdisciplinary study provides new information and interpretations of Ossuary I, a large assemblage of human bones associated with the ceremonial center dedicated to a life-size clay figure of a splendidly attired human skeleton (often identified as Mictlantecuhtli in the archaeological literature) at the site of El Zapotal in south-central Veracruz-Recovered in 1971, this assemblage has been interpreted as a ritual deposit of women who died during childbirth, whose bodies were dedicated in later Aztec lore to the Tlazolteotl goddess. The present paper provides new insights into the depositional sequence, the type and number of individuals within the assemblage, the sex and age profile of the mostly female cohort, the distribution of artificial head shapes as an ethnic marker, and evidence of perimortem violence and postmortem processing in the form of flaying. Our evidence indicates that Ossuary I represents the slow accumulation of loose bones and limb segments of partially skinned individuals in a circular shaft. Postdating the functioning of the Death God adoratorio and showing fluctuations in the patterns of pre-depositional body treatment, the assemblage expresses the Late Classic period ritual practice of flaying both males and females in Veracruz. In later stages, the ossuary was used again for a female cult, consistent with the original interpretation of women who died during childbirth.

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.

Ten or more features, each consisting originally of an open circle formed by a series of small holes, are present on two Late Archaic superimposed prepared floors at a shellmound on the outer coast of Chiapas, Mexico. These puzzling features bear a strong resemblance to ethnographic and ethnohistoric scoreboards used in indigenous dice games. Accordingly, the approximately 5,000 year-old features also were most likely game boards. Archaeologists have traced other Mesoamerican games into deep prehistory, including rubber ball games and another dice game known in Aztec times as patolli. These data provide evidence for the cultural importance and longevity of gaming in Mesoamerica.