La organización social de las colonias españolas en América se caracterizó por la desigualdad, configurando estilos de vida disímiles dependiendo de la casta y estamento de pertenencia. Las investigaciones desarrolladas desde una perspectiva paleopatológica en la ciudad colonial de Mendoza (siglos dieciséis al diecinueve), ubicada en el centro-oeste del actual territorio argentino, permitió identificar estados de salud diferenciados en individuos inhumados en cementerios según su procedencia espacial (interior/exterior de los templos). El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar la distribución de la enfermedad degenerativa articular (EDA) entre grupos de distinta procedencia socioeconómica, inhumados en cinco cementerios católicos coloniales del sitio Área Fundacional de Mendoza. Se relevaron superficies articulares apendiculares de 66 adultos de ambos sexos. No se registraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre individuos de diferentes sectores de inhumación, pero sí niveles de estrés mecánico-funcional diferenciados entre sexos según su procedencia social. Se discute la influencia del sexo, la edad y el tamaño corporal en las tendencias identificadas, siendo este último la variable que mayor influencia presentó. Los patrones de uso del cuerpo son interpretados en función del contexto histórico, el sexo y el estatus social del difunto y su familia.

Object biography, amended and expanded by the newer and ontologically updated concept of object itineraries, is a well-established analytical tool for documenting human–object interactions. The present paper explores its intersection with art, and proposes the concept of Creative Object Biography, as a step forward in the discourse and as a means for articulating and sharing alternative narratives and imageries not only among specialists but also – and especially – with the wider public, aiming to render discussions on materiality relevant to diverse audiences. The paper uses as a case study a group of three every-day objects associated with the Vlach pastoral transhumance of northern Greece, whose entanglements and cultural itineraries functioned as the inspiration for the creation of three original short films.

The Kaan (“Snake”) kings, a powerful political entity in the Classic Maya Lowlands, were housed in the Early Classic period at Dzibanche, and they moved their capital to Calakmul by the year a.d. 642 (Helmke and Awe 2016; Martin 2020:138–139). Their network of alliance and intermarriage radiated southward, and Waka's early eighth-century queen, Lady K'abel, was from the Kaan bloodline and married in to the Wak lineage, exemplifying the close connection between the two political entities. The discovery of Stela 44 in tunneling efforts in M13-1, the city's important ritual center, allows us to trace political ties between the Kaan and Wak kings to significantly earlier than previously known, which seem to begin around the mid-sixth century. This monument provides insight into three converging lines of evidence supporting the profound alliance these elites had built: first, the accession of a Wak king, Wa'oom Uch'ab Ahk, under the supervision of the Kaan king K'ahk’ Ti’ Ch'ich’; second, the father of the new king, Chak Tok Ich'aak, seems to be connected to La Corona, another early Kaan ally; and third, the mother of Wa'oom Uch'ab Ahk, Ix Ikoom, is also connected to La Corona and the broader Kaan hegemony through her title ix sak wahyis.

Stylistic shifts in ceramics are often linked with sociopolitical changes, yet adopting new ceramic designs may indicate anything from shared aesthetic appeal to emulation. Focusing on multiple ceramic technologies is critical for understanding ceramic changes as they relate to wider social fluctuations. The relationships between clay and ceramic recipes, and communities of practice, have not been studied at the urban landscape of Angamuco, Michoacán in western Mexico. Petrographic and geochemical analyses of tempers and fabrics indicate that ceramics, including imperial Purépecha (a.d. 1350–1530) vessels, were created from local and regional materials, and that these materials remained relatively stable for over 1,000 years. Ceramic archaeometry in western Mexico has been relatively limited compared to other parts of Mesoamerica, and this study may be compared to future studies in the region.

Pompey owned numerous properties in Italy, but except for a few residential villas little is known of their location or economic function. However, two amphora stamps have been attributed to him, which show that he was involved in the manufacture of amphorae, and probably in the production of the wine. Four tile stamps, found in the vicinity of Gravina in Puglia and at a villa at San Gilio in the upper Bradano valley, can also be attributed to Pompey for reasons discussed in detail in this paper. Since they were found in locations close to a drove road, it is inferred that Pompey had invested in properties which could be used as pasture for transhumant sheep. The circumstances in which he acquired the estate near Gravina are discussed, and it is suggested that it fell within the territory of Silvium and is likely to have been acquired by him after the War of Spartacus in which the settlement was destroyed. It is also suggested that the estate was bought by Octavian in the sale of Pompey's properties, which was still ongoing in 44 BC.

Around 120 years ago, a burial was discovered in the Argaric settlement of San Antón, 60 km southeast of Alicante (Spain). Although it was similar to many others recorded during more than a century of research, some gold objects found made this burial exceptional in the Iberian Bronze Age funerary record. Based on the most recent archaeological data, this article reviews both the context and the whole set of grave goods. It also explores the intersocial relationships that these gold ornaments suggest, which directly or indirectly seem to point towards both eastern Mediterranean Europe as well as to the Carpathian Basin.

This article studies the duplication diacritic of Epigraphic Mayan (ISO 639-3 emy) during the Classic period (a.d. 200–900). Cataloged as grapheme 22A, it consists of two dots optionally and rarely affixed to another grapheme to command the reader, in the majority of cases, to read a syllabogram twice in sequence. This article reviews prior literature on the diacritic, elaborates a typology of four distinct but ultimately related functions, and employs a data set compiled by means of the Maya Hieroglyphic Database to determine via statistical tests whether scriptal, linguistic, media, geographic, and temporal factors were influential in its distribution, and more narrowly, its various functions. The results indicate that two lexemes, käkäw ‘cacao’ and k'ahk’ ‘fire,’ account for several of the scriptal and linguistic traits that show significant relationships with 22A, with the former, käkäw, likely serving as a major prototype in the evolution of 22A. It is also pointed out that 22A is absent from the Postclassic (a.d. 900–1521) codices, suggesting that one of the Classic regional subtraditions with lowest frequency of use of 22A may have been a direct ancestor of the subtraditions responsible for the codices.

We describe an analysis of the flaked stone tools recovered from households in the Postclassic central Mexican city of Calixtlahuaca (a.d. 1130–1530). Most artifacts are obsidian and represent the blade-core technology, but biface and bipolar artifacts are also represented. Even though household residents were involved in limited biface and bipolar reduction, it appears that the city did not have any resident blade producers. This finding is at odds with the views of many archaeologists, who tend to associate craft production with the emergence of complex Mesoamerican urban centers. We examine the technologies from temporally distinct Calixtlahuacan household assemblages. We discuss why the quantity and quality artifacts associated with blade production are not consistent with resident blade making in the city. Finally, we examine four models for blade provisioning: (1) whole-blade trade, (2) processed-blade trade, (3) long-distance itinerant craftsmen, and (4) local, hinterland-based craftsmen. Evaluating how the Calixtlahuacans got their flaked stone tools has important implications for the comparative understanding of the organization and scale of economic provisioning systems in Postclassic central Mexico. This analysis supports new inferences about the nature of commercial networks that supplied the Toluca Valley prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the sixteenth century.