We are glad that Sharer et al. (this issue) have dropped their original claim that the INAA data demonstrate multidirectional movement of Early Formative pottery. Beyond this, however, they offer nothing that might enhance understanding of Early Formative ceramic circulation or inspire new insights into Early Formative cultural evolution in Mesoamerica. Instead, their response contains fresh distortions, replications of mistakes made in their PNAS articles, and lengthy passages that are irrelevant to the issues raised by Neff et al. (this issue). We correct and recorrect their latest distortions and misunderstandings here. Besides showing why their discussion of ceramic sourcing repeatedly misses the mark, we also correct a number of erroneous assertions about the archaeology of Olmec San Lorenzo. New evidence deepens understanding of Early Formative Mesoamerica but requires that some researchers discard cherished beliefs.

The present study reports on the cultural marks encountered in three (possibly four) skeletons retrieved from primary deposits of the Maya Classic period at Palenque, Calakmul, and Becán, Mexico. We propose that the patterns of cut and stab lesions encountered in the trunks of these individuals stem from perimortem violence that accompanied heart removal from below the rib cage rather than from postmortem evisceration. We confirm the feasibility of this procedure by experimental replication in modern corpses. The interpretation of those procedures synthesizes information obtained from osteological, archaeological, and iconographic sources and leads to a broader discussion concerning the techniques, impact, and meanings of human heart sacrifice and associated body manipulations in Classic period Maya society. Methodologically, we conclude that direct skeletal evidence of heart sacrifice can be rare, imposing a cautionary caveat on the current discussion of mortuary remains in the Maya area.

La cuenca de la Laguna Merín fue habitada, durante cinco milenios, por pueblos constructores de montículos, responsables de la modificación antrópica más notable que experimentaron las llanuras de las latitudes medias sudamericanas. La composición, tamaño, densidad y distribución de los sitios hizo que las investigaciones se centraran en los procesos de "complejización". Similitudes con otros contextos motivaron la adopción de modelos explicativos generados para otras realidades culturales, causando la pérdida de visión de lo propio del registro regional. A través de la dimensión espacial y temporal se aborda el fenómeno cultural, discutiendo las interpretaciones funcionalistas. Más de 80 dataciones 14C sustentan que estas construcciones se elevaron en forma paulatina y continua. La distribución muestra que los sitios se concentran en los lugares de mayor productividad. Los ciclos de crecimiento de los montículos de India Muerta - Paso Barrancas evidencian vínculos con la historia ambiental. Por otra parte dentro de los conjuntos de montículos se advierten arreglos y distancias que se repiten entre sitios. Al interpretar el crecimiento de cada cerrito como asociado a un actor social, observamos como distancias y arreglos espaciales pasan a tener significado social; comportándose el registro, en desarrollo temporal, como un sistema de reproducción social.

We use a provincial perspective combined with compositional and stylistic data and historic accounts to propose three provincial strategies for imperial interactions—bolstering, resistance, and emulation—and note a fourth, exodus. A sample of three Late Postclassic period (A.D. 1350–1521) pottery types differs in chemical composition between two localities in south-central Veracruz, Mexico. Sherds from the Aztec provincial capital of Cuetlaxtlan along the lower Cotaxtla River are compared to those from the Lower Blanco River where Callejón del Horno is located. The composition of stamped-base bowls, Texcoco Molded censers, and Aztec III-style Black-on-orange bowls is distinct in samples from the two localities, with only scant evidence of exchange. A few vessels of Aztec III Black-on-orange were imported from the Basin of Mexico to Cuetlaxtlan. The stylistic characteristics on Aztec III-style Black-on-orange vessels do not distinguish the two Veracruz localities, but there are differences between them and illustrated vessels from the Basin of Mexico. The Cuetlaxtlan province was subject to unusual imperial investments, which may account partly for the emulation of imperial styles. Despite documentary evidence of rebellions, another factor was local decisions to use a prestigious exogenous style.

En este informe nos centramos en las evidencias arqueológicas del Holoceno Temprano y Medio, recuperadas en los sitios Y-021 y Y-045, como parte de un estudio de impacto ambiental en el valle medio del río Porce, Cordillera Central de Colombia. Hemos podido identificar cambios culturales, representados en las fases definidas a partir de las características de los restos materiales y su distribución estratigráfica en los dos sitios. En un primer momento, los grupos humanos que ocuparon el valle medio del río Porce vivieron principalmente de la caza y recolección de vegetales; pero desde muy temprano, alrededor del 7500 a.P. se observa una manipulación de algunas plantas. Esto desembocó en un sistema horticultor complementado principalmente con la caza, la recolección y, en menor medida, con la pesca. Hacia el 5000 a.P. irrumpe la cerámica como una novedad tecnológica acompañada de un incremento de la explotación del medio, y un aumento de los cultígenos en los diagramas de polen. Hacia el 3500 a.P. los sitios fueron abandonados.

Patterns of Late/Terminal Formative period (ca. 500 B.C.–A.D. 300) ceramic exchange in Oaxaca are examined through instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Samples of 453 Late/Terminal Formative period sherds were submitted to the Missouri University Research Reactor for INAA to determine elemental composition. The sherds came from 20 excavated sites and two surveys in the following regions: the Valley of Oaxaca, Mixteca Alta, Mixteca Baja, lower Río Verde Valley, and Cuicatlán Cañada. Selected for the study were vessel fragments from three recognized paste categories: grayware (gris), fine brownware (café fino), and creamware (crema). We also sampled clays and sherds from known sources in four modern pottery-making towns in the Oaxaca Valley. The research adds to the INAA database for Oaxaca by identifying the chemical signatures of six source groupings that we can link to specific regions and, in two cases, to particular source zones within regions. The evidence from chemical composition and typology indicates continuity in resource use and production practices in both Atzompa and Coyotepec from pre-Hispanic into modern times. The data show that the exchange of ceramics in Late/Terminal Formative Oaxaca was multidirectional, with ceramics imported both to and from the Oaxaca Valley.

We report recent excavations undertaken at the residential village Upanca located 1,600 m above sea level in the Nasca region of Peru in the Central Andes. Although fieldwork was initiated to evaluate the site's participation in the Early Nasca craft economy, excavations revealed a long occupation beginning in the Late Archaic (ca. 3000–1800 B.C.) and extending into the Early Intermediate period (ca. A.D. 1–750), with a principal component dating to the Early Nasca period (ca. A.D. 1–450). The Early Nasca component revealed high polychrome consumption, confirming previous assessments of Early Nasca's craft economy, and association with extensive agricultural terracing, suggesting surplus production beginning in the Early Intermediate period.