For decades the “potbellied” monuments have been the center of a controversy in Mesoamerican archaeology. These massive boulder sculptures have been found at numerous sites associated with the major culture-historical problems of the Preclassic period in southern Mesoamerica. A secure dating of the style has not been possible and there have been several conflicting interpretations of their age and significance. One interpretation holds that some “potbellies” are among the earliest monumental sculptures in the New World, contemporary with, or even ancestral to, the Olmec style. New evidence from the site of Santa Leticia. El Salvador, provides the first secure dating of several “potbellied” monuments and related sculptures. An undisturbed stratigraphic context, dated by both associated ceramics and a C-14 series, indicates that the style is probably a phenomenon of the Late Preclassic period (ca. 500 B.C. to A.D. 100).

A recently discovered sheltered rock scar covered with red pictographs, in Jalisco, west Mexico, is a major addition to the rather meager data on pictographs in Mesoamerica. It appears to contain a complex set of data pertaining to the cosmology of the relatively unknown Indians who inhabited the Jalisco coast during the last Pre-Hispanic period. Analysis of the scar has incorporated both the artistic symbolism of the nearby Huichol Indians, and concepts developed through archaeoastronomy. This analysis suggests that the ceiling pictographs record the use of sky transits of the sun, Venus, or the constellation Orion as wet-season/dry-season calendrical markers. Wall pictographs show the sun on the mountainous horizon, below which is the earth filled with symbols of plants and animals; among these stand shamans calling down the life-giving rain from the god(s) of the sky. I also explore the possibility that one of the ceiling pictographs is a record of the appearance of the Crab supernova in the sky in A.D. 1054.

Of the many canal systems of the Chimu empire the Chicama-Moche Intervalley (La Cumbre) Canal connecting the Chicama and Moche valleys represents the highest level of technical achievement. This paper examines the engineering skills of the Chimu as revealed by computer analysis of the open channel flow design techniques they utilized. Analysis of agricultural strategies made possible by this canal and the surveying skills inherent to its use are examined in detail. The presence of many trial canal paths toward the distal end of the canal indicate extreme difficulty in overcoming tectonically induced ground-slope changes caused by fault lines near the intervalley divide. The canal was abandoned prior to completion of construction and thus never served to supply the Moche Valley with Chicama water.

The poppy seed recovery test is a simple and inexpensive means of determining the effectiveness and consistency of any particular botanical flotation system. By adding a known number of charred poppy seeds (Papaver somniferum) to a sample before it is processed, archaeologists can check for loss, damage, and inter-sample contamination. Different systems, equipment, methods, and personnel tested since 1976 yield recovery rate percentages ranging from 6% to 98%. Such percentages provide a basis of comparison among widely differing flotation systems and enable the archaeologist to decide which flotation system to use under particular logistical constraints.

Considerations of markets in Precolumbian Mexico have failed to analyze the significance of periodicity for Precolumbian market systems. This essay examines periodicity and argues that the several types of recorded Precolumbian markets are qualitatively different; the 5-day market was basic, while 9-, 13-, and 20-day markets were ritual in nature, tied to specific and infrequent days, and played little or no part in market articulation.

Excavations undertaken during 1978 and 1979 at Nohmul, Belize are believed to cast new light on the demise of the Maya. Investigations revealed Terminal Classic-San Jose V material intermixed with Late Classic to Early Postclassic Yucatec material in a single-unit refuse deposit. More importantly, striking architectural similarities exist between structures at Nohmul and Chichen-Itza; Structure 20 at Nohmul proved to be of the “patio-quad” type known previously only from Chichen-Itza, and Structure 9 of Nohmul may be put forth as a “Caracol” (Chichen-Itza Structure 3C15) counterpart. On the basis of excavations at Nohmul, it is implied that there is an association between Toltec Chichen-Itza (Sotuta) and the Terminal Classic periods to the south (San Jose V-Tepeu 3), in that the two are overlapping, if not coeval. Should this be the case, new alternatives relating to the Maya collapse must be considered.

Ethnoarchaeological research has made valuable contributions towards our understanding of the functional variation of specific artifacts and features. The use of spiked vessel-forms among modern Maya groups, as well as the depictions of spiked vessels in the surviving Maya codices, suggest that spiked vessels have served a relatively wider range of functions (although invariably in a ritual context) than most Mesoamericanists have suspected. A critical review of the spiked vessel phenomenon, using the codices, the archaeological literature, and recent ethnographic data is presented as a guide for future archaeological interpretation.

Recent analyses of primary documentary sources have demonstrated that Don Crabtree's technique of prismatic blade manufacture differs significantly from that of the ancient Mexicans. The most widely known of these ethnohistoric descriptions of blademaking, as well as several previously not considered, are reevaluated and compared to the Crabtree technique. Major discrepancies between the Aztec technique and that described by Crabtree then became the focus of replication experiments. Finally, prismatic blades were successfully produced in the manner and with the tool described by the early Spanish friars.

Hafting has long been recognized by archaeologists as a process affecting stone tools. However, the effects of this process on the archaeological record have been virtually ignored. Hafting affects the final typological form of tools because hafted tools are usually more extensively and intensively worked than their unhafted counterparts. Ethnoarchaeological and some recent archaeological evidence indicates that functionally equivalent but typologically diverse hafted and unhafted tools may be in use at the same site. Because hafted tools are disposed of as a consequence of the “retooling” of hafts, the context of their disposal may not be equivalent to the context of their use. But, unhafted tools appear to be disposed of more often at or near the focus of use. Indifference to the hafted/unhafted distinction then may seriously distort inferences based upon intrasite spatial analysis. It is also argued that hafting is a strategy that will be differentially employed by any social group at different sites according to circumstances, thereby contributing to interassemblage variability. Finally, some methods of analysis are suggested that will allow the typological and distributional effects of hafting and retooling to be taken into account by lithic analysts.

A major theoretical issue in studies of prehistoric societies in the Basin of Mexico concerns the relationship between irrigation and the development of prehistoric settlement systems. Locating and dating the remains of prehistoric water control systems, however, presents a major methodological problem. The discovery of a series of stratified prehistoric canals in the exposed profiles of contemporary borrow pits near Santa Clara Coatitlan provided an excellent opportunity for dating a prehistoric irrigation system. Results of recent excavations, reported on in this paper, demonstrate that these canals are part of a middle Formative floodwater irrigation system, which is the earliest confirmed evidence, to date, for the use of irrigation in the Basin of Mexico.

A 1980 amendment to the Internal Revenue Code introduced a new concept of the “qualified conservation contribution” which provides income tax benefits to the donor of historic land areas and certified historic structures. Archaeological sites can be either, and archaeologists who understand the charitable contribution provisions of the Internal Revenue Code will recognize opportunities to protect archaeological resources through donations of land or easements. This article describes the tax concepts in sufficient detail to enable archaeologists to help interested landowners begin to explore charitable contributions as alternatives to sales.

Usulutan pottery is a major characteristic of Preclassic ceramic assemblages in southern Mesoamerica. This distinctive “resist” decorated pottery has long been considered a significant marker of southeastern influence in other areas of Mesoamerica and has been an important element in discussions of external stimuli on the development of Maya civilization. The origin, evolution, and technology of Usulutan have been debated for over 50 years. New archaeological evidence from western El Salvador now provides solutions to several aspects of this debate. The discovery of a complete, well-dated sequence of resist and Usulutan decorated ceramic types demonstrates a western Salvadoran origin and development for this pottery, tracing the tradition back to the Early Preclassic period. This sequence provides a spatial and temporal framework for future studies of Usulutan technology. The new evidence also requires a reassessment of the nature and significance of the Late Preclassic spread of Usulutan pottery in southern Mesoamerica.

Archaeologists and resource managers have recognized many different forms of site significance. While much recent discussion has focused upon research of scientific significance, other concepts, such as ethnic significance, have received little attention or have been avoided altogether. Here, the concept of ethnic significance is discussed, an example from the Navajo is presented, and some of the broader implications of the concept are considered.

Prehistoric agricultural landforms at Chilca, Peru have been traditionally identified as sunken fields, excavated basins designed to provide planting surfaces close to the natural water table. Analysis of the morphology, physical context, and recent use of the features indicates that this view is incorrect, and that the bulk of the features are flood control embankments. Parallels with similar systems elsewhere in the Americas are described, and the implications for reconstructing prehistoric agricultural processes are explored.