On the absence of a millennial population rebound in the central Maya lowlands

Small depressions are a frequent landscape feature in the northeast Petén and northwestern Belize. Although generally considered the remains of seasonal ancient Maya water cisterns, they have not been subject to systematic study. Excavation of 16 depressions in northwestern Belize showed that these features are either natural sinkholes (dolines) or quarried cavities. In three depressions, quarrying for construction materials and mining for clay was evident and two depressions are the remains of collapsed chultuns. Depressions probably also served as areas where household activities were carried out, they may have played a role as gardens, and were used as trash dumps. For one quarter of the sample, a water storage function was established. Water input-output calculations showed that these features could have held water year round and thus theoretically could have played a much more important role in supplying water than commonly assumed. The study indicates that Classic Maya population could have relied on decentralized water sources and suggests that hypotheses of centralized water management in the central Maya lowlands should be critically reviewed.

Most population estimates for Maya sites are for the Late Classic period, a time of peak population in the Central Maya Lowlands. At Naachtun, Guatemala, a major city during the Early Classic that continued into the Late Classic period, researchers recently carried out an ambitious program of test pitting in residential areas; its aim was to model the growth of residential units during the entire Classic period and so better contextualize the rise of Classic Maya dynasties and the scale of their economic and political power. This article presents an improvement to the existing method for estimating population for periods preceding the population apex (in this case, the Early Classic period): it not only estimates the occupancy rate of residential units occupied pre-apex but also assesses their size, using a typology I developed based on their morphology and pattern of transformation.

After more than half a century of intensive archaeological research the early Middle Formative (or Middle Preclassic) period (1000-600 B.C.) continues to be one of the most enigmatic eras in the study of Lowland Maya prehistory. While several factors contribte to this situation, the primary cause for this obscurity lies in the fact that few sites have produced either contextual or stratigraphic evidence of occupation during this phase (Rice 1976; Andrews 1988). Concsequently, any new site with evidence of Middle Formative occupation can contribute substantially to our limited knowledge of this pioneering stage of the lowland Maya. This paper introduces one such site, Cahal Pech, where recent investigations have uncovered a stratigraphic sequence that tentatively spans the early Middle Formative to the Late Classic period. It provides a preliminary description, of the site's early Middle Formative configuration and briefly discusses its possible regional affiliation.

After more than half a century of intensive archaeological research the early Middle Formative (or Middle Preclassic) period (1000-600 B.C.) continues to be one of the most enigmatic eras in the study of Lowland Maya prehistory. While several factors contribte to this situation, the primary cause for this obscurity lies in the fact that few sites have produced either contextual or stratigraphic evidence of occupation during this phase (Rice 1976; Andrews 1988). Concsequently, any new site with evidence of Middle Formative occupation can contribute substantially to our limited knowledge of this pioneering stage of the lowland Maya. This paper introduces one such site, Cahal Pech, where recent investigations have uncovered a stratigraphic sequence that tentatively spans the early Middle Formative to the Late Classic period. It provides a preliminary description, of the site's early Middle Formative configuration and briefly discusses its possible regional affiliation.

The goal of this study is to compare both dental and skeletal stress indicators of the Classic and Postclassic coastal and inland sites of the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The hypothesis is that coastal populations will show osteo and dental pathologies characteristic of a primarily marine food source combined with a diet of horticultural resources. This kind of alimentation provides people with less environmental stress and therefore a better health status. However, over time, in the Postclassic period, the health conditions deteriorated among both coastal and inland inhabitants, according to the hierarchization of the society, militarization, and commercial activities of all the coastal sites. The sample was drawn from 19 sites (196 individuals of both sexes) from the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as from inland localities within the boundaries of Quintana Roo. Both dental and osteological stress indicators were analyzed, and crosstabs were applied for absolute and relative frequencies and their corresponding χ(2) and F Fisher analyses. The osteopathological index of the coastal and inland sites of the Classic period were compared over time between the Classic coastal inhabitants and the Postclassic coastal inhabitants so as to understand how life conditions changed over time. The Mantel-Haenszel odds ratio, with the crosstabs controlling for sex (males and females), was also carried out. There are low frequencies of dental pathologies and anemia present in both the coastal and inland populations of Quintana Roo in the Classic and Postclassic times. Only the presence of periostitis is highly common in both types of site, and this is the only indicator with significant differences. The dental pathologies, anemia and periostitis, in general, present a slight upward trend in both the coastal and inland populations over time. The coastal populations have fewer frequencies of the above than the inland sites whilst, in the Postclassic period, both the coastal and inland sites register increased frequencies of all the indicators. Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) is the only indicator that does not follow this tendency. The analyzed indicators are in accord with the general tendency reported in the literature. The results revealed a general trend whereby the Classic inland sites display poorer life conditions than the Classic coastal sites. In the Postclassic period, this pattern changed because the frequencies of all stress indicators increased. The explanations regarding this tendency are related to the differential access to food resources between regions; coastal people had a varied diet and better sources of protein, taking into account the culture of alimentation, the type, and the sources (in general, fish) that have an important impact on the absorption of micronutrients and therefore greater impact on local health conditions. Also, it is plausible that they were able to access imported food through commerce (such as meat and vegetables/corn). The decline in health of the coastal people in the Postclassic period was probably associated with social stratification, increasing militarism, changes in the economic corpus, new pathogens, and the decline of the power structures prevailing throughout the Classic period.

Recent archaeological settlement surveys around Lakes Yaxha and Sacnab in the El Peten district of Guatemala have provided new data on the nature of Middle Preclassic (1000-300 B.C.) Maya populations in the Central Peten. Locations of apparent domestic and civic activities have been determined and the settlement configuration and architectural remains identified for the period suggest certain institutional characteristics of the earliest inhabitants of the lake basins. The settlement data are discussed in the context of available information and speculation on initial occupation of the Central Peten.

This article aims to infer population dynamics in the Noh Bec region (Yucatán Peninsula, México) during the Maya Classic period (AD 350-800), based on a combined analysis of dental morphology and (87) Sr/(86) Sr isotopes, and on a comparison of the dental evidence together with archaeological signs of trade and relationships with other regions in the Maya world. Twenty-three dental morphological variables were used to estimate affinities between dental collections from Noh Bec and 10 more sites from the region. (87) Sr/(86) Sr isotopes were recorded from the enamel of permanent teeth of 32 individuals from Noh Bec, and compared to the site's local chemical signature. Dental morphology reveals a strong affinity with Kohunlich, in the central Maya lowlands, while some diversity can be noted with the Petén sites (such as Calakmul) as well as sites on the northern coast of the peninsula. The local extent of (87) Sr/(86) Sr variation ranges between 0.7086 and 0.7088. Eight of the 32 Noh Bec individuals analyzed were born elsewhere. Isotopic values indicate different places of origin although apparently none were from the northern coast of the peninsula; instead, the range of variability reflects many locations along the western coast of the peninsula as well as inland sites in the Chenes region in Campeche. Dental morphology and (87) Sr/(86) Sr ratios indicate intense population dynamics in the peninsula during the Maya Classic period. Despite the different nature of the dental and isotopic indicators, results agree with archaeological evidence and with proposed trade routes in the peninsula.

We explore social and imperial relations in the western lower Papaloapan Basin, especially along the lower Blanco River, using statistical analyses of ceramic rims from recent surveys. This region is sandwiched between two known tributary provincial centers of the Aztec empire, but its relationship to the empire is uncertain in colonial documentary materials. Our analyses illuminate changes in social relations from the Middle (A. D. 1150–1350) to Late Postclassic (A. D. 1350–1520) periods and shed light on the impact of Aztec imperialism. We use a ceramic unmixing procedure to assign collections to the Middle and Late Postclassic periods for assessment of settlement patterns. Next we use cluster analyses to examine vertical wealth and status differentiation. In the Middle Postclassic period, we observe a concentric gradation of wealth and status away from the small center of El Sauce. Late Postclassic changes include the decline of El Sauce and the founding of a new center at Callejón del Horno. The concentric model does not apply to the Late Postclassic period, however, and wealth and status became more highly concentrated at Callejón del Horno compared to its hinterland. We also investigate sparse collections-those with few Postclassic rims-to evaluate whether these collections represent poor residences or, rather, sherd scatter from possible field manuring. The lower Blanco region was likely integrated into the Aztec empire on the basis of changes in vertical social differentiation from Middle to Late Postclassic times and percentages of Aztec-style ceramics compared to known Aztec provincial centers, especially Cotaxtla.

Archaeologists working in the Belize Valley have argued for the persistence of Maya populations from the Classic (AD 300–900) through Postclassic (AD 900–1500) periods since Gordon Willey's groundbreaking settlement survey and excavation work in the 1950s. This is contrary to the trajectory recorded in some parts of the Maya region where there is clear evidence for political disruption and population decline at the end of the Classic period. The argument for continuous Classic to Postclassic occupation in the Belize Valley remains ambiguous due to researchers' reliance on relative ceramic chronologies. This article reports the results of direct accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of human skeletons (n= 12) from the important center of Baking Pot, Belize, which is thought to provide some of the best ceramic evidence for continuity in the valley. The AMS dates show a long span of mortuary activity between the Middle Preclassic and Late Classic periods (405 cal BC to cal AD 770), with a hiatus in activity during the Early Postclassic (cal AD 900–1200) and subsequent activity in the Late Postclassic (cal AD 1280–1420). These results are not consistent with the idea that Baking Pot was occupied continuously from the Classic through Postclassic periods. This work highlights the need for additional AMS14C work at Baking Pot and elsewhere to establish absolute chronologies for evaluating the political and demographic collapse of Classic Maya regional centers.

I review quantitative data for several major social and economic changes in central Mexico from the Classic Period through the Late Postclassic Period. Two kinds of trajectories through time can be identified. First, population and urbanization exhibited U-shaped curves of change: High values for Teotihuacan in the Classic, then lower values during the Epiclassic and Early Postclassic periods, followed by high values again in the Late Postclassic (Aztec) Period. On the other hand, economic measures (trade and commercialization) increased over this interval, while measures of well-being or standard of living declined. This is a preliminary study that points to the importance of quantitative archaeological data for research on the changes that took place in ancient Mesoamerica.

The paper presents the results of a paleophytosociological substantiation of the interregional correlation of the Kasimovian and Gzhelian deposits of the Donets Basin in connection with consideration of the question of a difference in stratigraphic volumes of the Sphenopteris mathetii (= Alethopteris zeilleri) and Sphenophyllum angustifolium Zones in the Donets Basin and the Sabero Coalfield of Spain due to a diachronicity of the lower boundary of the Sphenophyllum angustifolium Zone. Paleophytosociological data about a composition and spatio-temporal dynamic of ancient plant communities give an understanding of the process of a flora development, which is recorded in the phytostratigraphic scale, and make it possible to carry out the substantiation of the correlation of phytozonal units taking into account ecological-cenotic features of vegetation cover. Based on the analysis of the literary paleoclimate and lithological-facial data and own paleophytosociological studies, it was concluded that during the early Gzhelian time, corresponding to more or less stable glacio-climatic conditions of the middle part of the interglacial interval of the Late Paleozoic glacial period, the diachronicity of the floristic changes in the basins with different types of tectonical and sedimentation processes within a single paleophytochoria may be due to the differences in ecological-landscape conditions that determined the composition and spatial differentiation of vegetation cover. The paleophytosociological studies have shown that the marking taxa of the Sphenophyllum angustifolium Zone, defining its lower boundary by the limestone O5 at the base of the Gzhelian Stage in the Donets Basin, are the diagnostic species of the paleophytocenoses, which dominated in the vegetation cover of the Donets Basin during the early Gzhelian time. The base of the Sphenophyllum angustifolium Zone in the Donets Basin corresponds to the temporal level of an appearance of these new paleophytocenoses, which were spread within coastal lowlands and delta plains. At the beginning of the Gzhelian time, these dominant plant communities of lowlands in the Donets Basin occupied less humid and waterlogged environments than the existing environments at the same time in the Sabero Coalfield of Spain where the marking fern and pteridosperm species of the Alethopteris zeilleri Zone continued to grow. The lower boundary of the Sphenophyllum angustifolium Zone in the Sabero Coalfield, which according to radiometric dating corresponds to the level located close to the limestone Р2 in the Donets Basin, is consistent with the base of the upper Odontopteris schlotheimii Subzone of the Sphenophyllum angustifolium Zone. The lower boundary of the Odontopteris schlotheimii Subzone in the Donets Basin records the temporal level reflecting а change of distribution areas of the paleophytocenosis, i.e. а change of the dominant paleophytocenosis, namely, a reduction of the plant communities on coastal lowlands and a wider distribution of the plant communities within delta plains.

Reconstructing the formation and land use history of the Mound 2 depression at Río Viejo, Oaxaca, Mexico

Agroforestry and ritual at the ancient Maya center of Lamanai

The importance of Maya sea trade was the sea's integrating role as provider of ritual and subsistence resources and ritual symbolism in the Maya economy. Coastal as opposed to inland transportation of obsidian and other exotics was enhanced because of coastal–inland exchange within the southern Maya lowlands. Results are presented on fieldwork conducted to investigate Maya sea trade by the South Coastal Archaeology in Belize (SCAB) project in the Port Honduras area of south-coastal Belize between Punta Gorda and Punta Negra. The research focused on identifying features characteristic of Maya trading ports that participated in long-distance trade and their impact on regional economies. The first part of the project, with fieldwork in 1982, identified the offshore island site of Wild Cane Cay as a trading port from the Classic through Postclassic periods (a.d. 300–1500). The discovery of some 30 sites during the second phase of the project, dating from the Protoclassic through the Postclassic periods (a.d. 1–1500), indicated that the coastal area had a long period of settlement in contrast to the inland area of southern Belize where settlement was concentrated during the Late Classic period (a.d. 600–900). The patterns of distribution of similar-sourced obsidian, and blades instead of cores within the south-coastal area indicated that some exotics were regionally distributed and that Wild Cane Cay was the nexus of regional distribution. The importance of coastal-inland exchange is underscored by the presence of specialized salt-production sites, coastal resources, and inland goods—notably “unit-stamped” pottery and moldmade figurine whistles.

Recent excavations at the Postclassic period (circa a.d. 1000–1521) mortuary mound of El Cementerio (SON P:10:8), located along the Río Yaqui in central Sonora, Mexico, have documented 105 mortuary features (111 individuals) many of which display elongated intentional cranial modification and several cases of tooth filing. These constitute biocultural traits common across much of Mesoamerica throughout its Prehispanic cultural sequence, which expanded along West Mexico and into northwest Mexico beginning in the late Classic period. The examples from El Cementerio represent the northernmost concentrated expression of these traits and could represent the spread of Mesoamerican/West Mexican identity associated with macro-regional trade and the expansion of the Aztatlán archaeological tradition during the Postclassic period in the region.