This paper analyzes the reading format and reading order of the recently described Cascajal Block, an artifact with an Olmec-style inscription. The analysis, based not on the iconicity of the signs and their orientation, but solely on the formal and organizational characteristics of the text as a whole, and the patterns of repeated sign sequences, suggests that the text was written from left-to-right, bottom-to-top—if one assumes the orientation assigned to the block by Rodríguez Martínez et al. (2006). However, a simple 90-degree rotation of the block would render the text in left-to-right, top-to-bottom reading format and order—the same as that of later Mesoamerican scripts. It is suggested that the San Andres roller stamp and the La Venta obsidian core, both of which exhibit a pictorial image and an accompanying text, allow for a determination of the relative orientation of text and image with respect to each other, and support the hypothesis for the reading format proposed here. Also, preliminary structural analysis of the text reveals several patterns that are possibly indicative of linguistic structuring, and steps for future work on decipherment are outlined. Finally, the findings are placed within a broader context of previous studies of Olmec writing.

This study uses architectural and activity area analyses to examine the Classic-Postclassic transition and the resulting Postclassic-Early Historic (A. D. 1000–1697) Maya society in the Petén Lakes region of Guatemala. The research combines a detailed temporal comparison of architectural styles and an analysis of changing architecture as the restructuring of everyday social action. The methods have significance beyond Maya studies in addressing questions of cultural continuity or in-migration. Archaeological data from recent excavations, including new radiocarbon dates, document the intensive settlement of the Quexil Islands in the Terminal Classic period (A. D. 800–1000) and its occupation thereafter. Architectural evidence from the Quexil Islands and other Petén Lakes sites indicates a mosaic pattern of change, reflecting to varying extents Classic-Postclassic continuity and external contacts, with differences among sites rather than the complete replacement of populations. Evidence of the later incorporation of this small village, known ethnohistorically as “Eckixil,” in the Late Postclassic-Early Historic Itza polity, demonstrates a strong linkage with the political core, illustrating the political complexity of this hinterland region.

Chiconautla, situated on the northeastern shore of Lake Texcoco and the southern edge of the Teotihuacan Valley, lay at an important juncture for east-west exchange in the Basin of Mexico with connections to asfar away as the Gulf Coast. Recently, we completed an INAA study on ceramics from Chiconautla to examine marketing and exchange patterns from A. D. 950 to 1521. We present these data and contextualize them in light of contexts excavated at the site by George C. Vaillant, in particular materials from an Aztec noble residence he called “Casa Reales.” We also examine historical information regarding Chiconautla’s role in Aztec society as it existed at the eve of Spanish conquest. We evaluate the site’s particular position at the crossroads of important trade routes in light of recent models of Aztec markets and exchange and what these patterns say about shifting political affiliations in this critical region.

Two Terminal Formative (ca. 100 B. C.–A.D. 100) domestic areas of La Laguna, Tlaxcala, are compared to examine variability in residential structures, assemblages, and practices, and their correlation to status differences at this midsize regional center during the period of initial central Mexican urbanization and state formation. Combining multiple lines of evidence, the study assesses the applicability of previous frameworks for investigating household status to this particular community. It demonstrates significant differences between elite and commoner residences in architectural elaboration, labor mobilization, access to certain foreign goods, and particular ritual practices, but general similarities in domestic economies and more restrained differentiation informs of personal adornment and domestic ritual. These conclusions are consistent with demarcated lineage ranking but relatively minor wealth accumulation by a more rural elite located peripherally to larger cities and polities.