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A New Bayesian Chronology for Postclassic and Colonial Occupation at Xaltocan, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2016

Lisa Overholtzer
Lisa Overholtzer*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Wichita State University, 1845 Fairmount St., Wichita, KS 67260, USA. Email: lisa.overholtzer@wichita.edu
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Abstract

This article proposes a new four-phase chronology for Postclassic and colonial occupation at Xaltocan, Mexico, using Bayesian statistical modeling of a suite of 54 radiometric dates. Of these, 46 samples come from recent extensive excavations of sealed, stratified household deposits, facilitating improved understanding of sample context and resulting in a more accurate chronology. The timing of the adoption of major ceramic wares at the site and intrasite level is outlined and contextualized within broad, regional phases. These results are particularly valuable given recent research that repudiates a uniform chronological framework for the Basin of Mexico in the Postclassic period, and indicates instead a significant amount of chronological overlap and regional variation in the use of distinct ceramic types.

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Articles
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Radiocarbon , Volume 56 , Issue 3 , 2014 , pp. 1077 - 1092
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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