Analysis of the projectile points from the Arroyo Seco 2 site allows us to evaluate their design and use from the Early to the Late Holocene in the Pampas region. The Arroyo Seco 2 projectile points are associated with events of interpersonal violence as well as hunting. Based on the techno-morphological and typological analysis and the interpretation of weapon systems, it enables us to establish differences and similarities of several point designs. The results are integrated with projectile point information from other sites in the eastern Pampas to develop a chronological sequence from the Late Pleistocene through the Holocene of projectile designs that were used throughout the period.

One of the most significant engineering accomplishments of Maya civilization is Sacbe 1, a raised road connecting the ancient urban centers of Yaxuna and Coba. Using new lidar data in concert with excavation, epigraphic inscriptions, and landscape reconnaissance, we show that settlement and an urban experience emanated westward from Coba along the sacbe. The leaders of Coba—in particular, an ambitious seventh-century queen—used the sacbe to expand the political and cultural influence of their dynasty into the center of the peninsula while securing territory and resources. Gaps in the sacbe, precise delineation of its many curves, and examination of features near these curves call to mind several possible intentions governing its construction and use. Sites located along the causeway did not present significant barriers to the expansion of Coba. Sacbe 1 represents a uniquely urban space that expanded urban social networks into a rural hinterland while advancing state interests for territory and influence.

This article presents the results of a contextual analysis of graffiti found in Substructure II-B at the Maya city of Calakmul. The final use of this space was for the burial of an important Kanu’l lord, whose identity—as shown by a recent analysis of the Long Count date inscribed as part of the graffiti—seems to be that of Yukno’m Ch’een II. My analysis of the frequency of appearance of different categories of graffiti within the structure, compared to the frequency of the same categories within the total set of graffiti recorded in the Maya area, suggests that the main objective of its creators was the ritual reconditioning of this space: they wished to make it more suitable for the entombment of the ruler, through its aesthetic modification, in what constitutes an example of placemaking. The inclusion of images of deities associated with death, rebirth, abundance, and kingship reconfigured the room and transformed it into a sacred space in which the burial process could be properly carried out. Analyzing the graffiti in the context in which they are located allows us to better understand the intentionality of its creators.

La espelunca La Espiral, en la provincia Artemisa, presenta varias pinturas de las que sobresalen círculos concéntricos y una espiral. Para conocer la composición química de sus pinturas y obtener la fracción orgánica, que resulta la más difícil de estudiar a causa del comprensible proceso de degradación en el tiempo, se emplearon la microscopía electrónica de barrido y microanálisis de energía dispersiva por rayos-X, la microespectroscopía Raman y la cromatografía de gases acoplada a espectrometría de masas. El estudio nos muestra una comunidad de bajos niveles productivos con la capacidad técnica de crear una mezcla compleja con huevo, leche, ácido elágico y, como colorante principal, guano de murciélago. El hallazgo de residuos de aminoácidos de triptófano de huevo y leche en la mezcla pictórica resulta la primera evidencia arqueológica concreta del empleo de ambos productos en Cuba y las Antillas. Se propone la propuesta de la posible cadena operativa vinculada a la preparación de la pintura, a una aproximación a la inversión laboral y al número de miembros implicados en la ejecución de los gestos técnicos. Se teoriza sobre la relevante presencia femenina en su manufactura.

In Mesoamerica ceramics are used to define spatial and chronological units of past social, political, and economic activities. Here we compare results on ceramics subjected to type-variety classification, INAA and thin-section petrography, and symmetry analysis of design structure. The samples are primarily from sites in the Lake Pátzcuaro and Zacapu Basins in central and northern Michoacán from the Late Preclassic to the Late Postclassic periods (200 BC–AD 1522). We offer this analysis as a test case that introduces and compares the results of symmetry analysis with the more familiar typological and paste analyses. We explore how each approach monitors the timing and rate of sociocultural stability and change, as well as the kinds of social processes that each method documents.

Over the history of Maya studies, archaeologists have proposed various models for the structure of Maya settlements and their use of the landscape. The introduction of lidar to Maya studies, and the wealth of data this technology yielded, has many of these ideas coming under renewed study. Some of the most prominent models discussed in the last two decades have centered on low-density agrarian urbanism and forest gardens. Using settlement studies, lidar data, and hydrological analysis, this article discusses the applicability of these models for the ancient Maya at Lamanai and Ka’kabish, and more generally, Northern Belize. The Maya in the periphery at Lamanai developed wetland management strategies by capitalizing on natural drainage next to seasonally inundated swamps, or bajos. Evidence suggests that the Maya sustained large populations by using channels at the edge of bajos for field systems. These systems may be key to understanding their sustainability in the past.

The Incas territorial expansion process was motivated not only by ideological, political, and economic factors but also involved the ritual integration of ancient sanctuaries through capacocha offerings. Notable examples include the Sacred Rock (Roca Sagrada) of the Island of the Sun (Lake Titicaca) and the Oracle of Pachacamac (Lurín Valley). The antiquity of these two sanctuaries, combined with their roles as destinations for imperial-scale pilgrimages during the Inca period, underscore their significance and uniqueness and the role of the capacocha ritual to connecting places into the Inca world. The material correlates associated with numerous capacocha rituals recorded in the Andes demonstrate that this ritual adhered to standardized conventions and criteria. The canonical archaeological remains of capacocha are characterized by human sacrifices and specific offerings, particularly anthropomorphic figurines made of precious metals or Spondylus. The absence of human corpses in certain contexts can be attributed to taphonomic factors but also to ritual adaptations specific to the locations where they were discovered. In this article, we develop this adaptive model for two of the major sites of Inca cosmology: Lake Titicaca and Pachacamac, emphasizing their close connection to Cuzco, the imperial capital and center of the Inca world.

La reciente excavación arqueológica efectuada en el centro provincial inka de Tambo Viejo, en el valle de Acarí, Perú, resultó en el hallazgo de una pequeña construcción de forma rectangular y semisubterránea. En su interior encontramos hojas y semillas de coca en asociación con arena limpia. Esta evidencia sugiere que la pequeña construcción sirvió para el almacenamiento de las hojas de coca, las que habían sido cubiertas con arena limpia para garantizar su preservación. La arena tiene propiedades térmicas que crean condiciones relativamente frías y que son óptimas para la preservación de productos orgánicos.

Un oficial del ejército chileno relata que en 1879 los atacameños (o Lickanantay; actuales comunidades indígenas del interior de la región de Antofagasta, norte de Chile) realizaban procesiones al volcán Licancabur todos los años. Contrastando este relato, nos propusimos investigar el camino de peregrinación que utilizaban desde el pueblo de San Pedro de Atacama hasta dicho centro ceremonial. Entregamos aquí los resultados iniciales de esta investigación y evaluamos la profundidad cronológica de las peregrinaciones a las altas montañas, las que hasta ahora se han considerado una práctica originada con el estado Inka (ca. 500 aP), como el caso del rito de la Capacocha. Si bien nuestros datos son preliminares, son concluyentes en mostrar que las prácticas peregrinas andinas a las montañas son milenarias y que se desarrollaron desde hace unos 3.300 años, continuando hasta fines del siglo diecinueve en el caso del Licancabur. En la actualidad, sin embargo, no hemos logrado dar con ningún registro ni memoria oral que dé cuenta de procesiones desde los oasis sanpedrinos al volcán, develando una notable amnesia histórica colectiva, provocada en gran parte por la reciente delimitación de las fronteras estados-nacionales después de la Guerra del Pacífico.

The fall of Teotihuacan, associated with the internal revolt and the AD 550–570 “Great Fire,” shook Mesoamerica. Demographic displacements and military competition between sites were all characteristics of the subsequent Epiclassic period. This section will review data from my project “The Study of Tunnels and Caves in Teotihuacan (1987–1996),” behind the Pyramid of the Sun. Two of the four tunnels were extensively excavated and, for the first time, provide substantial evidence of subsistence, domestic and craft activities, and a vast array of ritual contexts from Epiclassic and Postclassic groups living at Teotihuacan. Radiocarbon samples from activity areas were analyzed with Bayesian statistics, providing the chronology for the Coyotlatelco occupation between ca. AD 640 and 820; the transition between Coyotlatelco/Mazapa by ca. AD 890–940; the Mazapa occupation between AD 940 and 1230; then a hiatus followed by the Aztec III occupation by ca. AD 1390–1460. Chemical analyses of activity areas in the Varillas Tunnel provided a different perspective for the study of activities. The presence of clear occupational levels and activity areas allowed us to reconstruct the life of post-Teotihuacan groups, with a large quantity and variety of ecofacts, human and faunal burials, and different types of instruments and complete objects.

Understanding what happened after the collapse of and dating the different reoccupations of Teotihuacan can be challenging due to different factors, including the reuse of building materials and looting during Postclassic and modern times, which resulted in altered archaeological contexts or significant inbuilt ages for the samples. A Bayesian approach integrating radiocarbon ages and detailed archaeological information can help to overcome these difficulties. In this contribution we present the process of building a high-resolution chronology for the tunnels located to the east of the Pyramid of the Sun (excavated by Linda R. Manzanilla from 1993 to 1996) by the integration of 20 radiocarbon ages from Cueva del Pirul and Cueva de las Varillas with detailed archaeological information on the context for each dated sample, including ceramic style. With the resulting chronology it is possible to distinguish the moment of the different occupations during the Epiclassic and Postclassic times, helping to refine chronologies based on ceramic styles and to understand the population dynamics in the area.

Macro- and microbotanical remains recovered from post-Teotihuacan occupations in quarry tunnels east of the Sun Pyramid, Teotihuacan, contribute to understanding lifeways in the surrounding valley after the partial abandonment of the city. Plant remains associated with domestic and ritual contexts from the excavations directed by Linda Manzanilla (1993–1996) are relevant to subsistence questions, aspects of surrounding vegetation, landscape exploitation, and the possibility of less-intensive agricultural production during the Epiclassic and Early Postclassic occupations.

A la caída de Teotihuacan, la ciudad no queda en total abandono; grupos culturales continuaron viviendo sobre las ruinas, reutilizando espacios y áreas a las que quizás, en algún momento, no les era permitido acceder. Hacia 600-650 dC comienza a prevalecer un nuevo complejo cerámico Coyotlatelco integrado por formas, diseños y estilos, y caracterizado por la decoración rojo sobre café. En el 800-850 dC el complejo cerámico Mazapa se encuentra en el área; sus formas y estilos (la decoración con líneas ondulantes y la olla blanco levantado cuyo origen se remonta a la región del Bajío) la hacen diferente. De 1390 dC a 1520 dC, el Complejo cerámico Azteca II, III tardío, IV y contacto está presente en Teotihuacan. Toda esta intensa actividad que se dio sobre la antigua urbe se ve reflejada en los túneles que se encuentran al este de la Pirámide del Sol. De 1987 a 1996, Linda R. Manzanilla lleva a cabo un proyecto interdisciplinario donde excava extensivamente cuatro túneles, y registra diferentes actividades al interior de ellos. Con el análisis detallado de la cerámica se pudieron identificar, ubicar cronológicamente y conformar los complejos cerámicos Coyotlatelco, Mazapa y Azteca en Teotihuacan.