Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T04:12:47.591Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A HIGH-RESOLUTION CHRONOLOGY FOR THE PALATIAL COMPLEX OF XALLA IN TEOTIHUACAN, MEXICO, COMBINING RADIOCARBON AGES AND ARCHAEOMAGNETIC DATES IN A BAYESIAN MODEL

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2020

Laura E Beramendi-Orosco Open the ORCID record for Laura E Beramendi-Orosco [Opens in a new window] ,
Galia Gonzalez-Hernandez ,
Ana M Soler-Arechalde  and
Linda R Manzanilla
Laura E Beramendi-Orosco*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City04510, México Laboratorio Universitario de Radiocarbono, Laboratorio Nacional de Geoquímica y Mineralogía, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City04510, México
Galia Gonzalez-Hernandez
Affiliation:
Laboratorio Universitario de Radiocarbono, Laboratorio Nacional de Geoquímica y Mineralogía, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City04510, México Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City04510, México
Ana M Soler-Arechalde
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City04510, México
Linda R Manzanilla
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City04510, México
*
*Corresponding author. Email: laurab@geologia.unam.mx.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Teotihuacan is one of the most studied archaeological sites in Mesoamerica because of its exceptional size and urban planning; however, its last years of occupation and abandonment are still under debate. We report a high-resolution chronology for the Xalla complex integrating archaeomagnetic dates, radiocarbon (14C) ages, and detailed archaeological information about sample type and context in a Bayesian model. The model includes 42 14C ages and 7 archaeomagnetic dates grouped in 6 phases, including samples from collapsed roofs with 14C ages earlier than expected, suggesting a problem of inbuilt age. The archaeomagnetic dates on lime plasters were classified in unburned samples, related to the time of construction, and burned samples, related to the Big Fire associated to the abandonment of Teotihuacan. The modeled 14C ages resulted in shorter intervals, with the possibility of differentiating the construction phases, confirming that big beams had inbuilt age. Further, combining the two dating methods and classifying lime plaster samples in burned and unburned, it was possible to date different events within the same archaeological context. It is concluded that by combining these two dating methods and understanding the moment that each sample is dating, it is possible to obtain solid and precise chronologies.

Keywords

archaeomagnetic datingBayesian chronologyinbuilt ageTeotihuacan
Type
Conference Paper
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 63 , Issue 4: Featuring: CLARa Proceedings of the 1st Latin American Radiocarbon Conference , August 2021 , pp. 1073 - 1084
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 1st Latin American Radiocarbon Conference, Rio de Janeiro, 29 Jul.–2 Aug. 2019

References

REFERENCES

Beramendi-Orosco, LE, González-Hernández, G, Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J, Morton-Bermea, O. 2006. The Radiocarbon Laboratory at the National Autonomous University of Mexico: first set of samples and new 14C internal reference material with an activity of 80.4 pMC. Radiocarbon 48(3):485–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beramendi-Orosco, LE, González-Hernández, G, Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J, Manzanilla, LR, Soler-Arechalde, AM, Goguitchaishvili, A, Jarboe, N. 2009. High-resolution chronology for the Mesoamerican urban center of Teotihuacan derived from Bayesian statistics of radiocarbon and archaeological data. Quaternary Research 71(2):99–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beramendi-Orosco, LE, González-Hernández, G, Soler-Arechalde, AM. 2012. Cronología para Teopancazco: Integración de datos arqueomagnéticos a un modelo bayesiano de radiocarbono. In: Manzanilla LR, editor. Estudios Arqueométricos del centro de barrio de Teopancazco en Teotihuacan. Coordinación de la Investigación Científica y Coordinación de Humanidades, UNAM. p. 111–134.Google Scholar
Beramendi Orosco, LE, González Hernández, G, Soler Arechalde, AM, Manzanilla, LR. 2019. Ubicando a Xalla en el tiempo–Cronología de 14C y arqueomagnetismo. In: Manzanilla LR, editor. El palacio de Xalla en Teotihuacan. Primer acercamiento, Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico-Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México. p. 307–326.Google Scholar
Blanton Richard, E, Feinman, GM, Kowalewski, SA, Peregrine, PN. 1996. A dual-processual theory for the evolution of Mesoamerican civilization. Current Anthropology 37(1):1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009a. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1):337–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009b. Dealing with outliers and offsets in radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon 51(3):1023–1045.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowgill, G. 2007. The urban organization of Teotihuacan, Mexico. In: Stone, EC, editor. Settlement and society: essays dedicated to Robert McCormick Adams. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. p. 261–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hueda-Tanabe, Y, Soler-Arechalde, AM, Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J, Barba, L, Manzanilla, L, Rebolledo, M, Gogitchaishvili, A. 2004. Archaeomagnetic studies in central Mexico—dating of Mesoamerican lime-plasters. Physics of Earth and Planetary Interiors 147:269–283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lanos, P, Dufresne, P. 2008. Bayesian archaeomagnetic and radiocarbon dating: the RenDate software. Radiocarbon and Archaeology, 5th International Symposium. Zurich, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, L, López-Luján, L. 2001. Exploraciones en un posible palacio de Teotihuacan: el Proyecto Xalla (2000–2001). Mexicon XIII(3):58–61.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, LR. 2001. Agrupamientos sociales y gobierno en Teotihuacan, Centro de México. In: Ciudad-Ruiz A, Iglesias-Ponce-de-León MJ, del Carmen Martínez-Martínez M, editors. Reconstruyendo la ciudad Maya: el urbanismo en las ciudades antiguas. Madrid: Sociedad Española de Estudios Mayas. p. 461–482.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, LR. 2003. The abandonment of Teotihuacan. In: Inomata, T, Webb, RW, editors. The archaeology of settlement abandonment in Middle America. Salt Lake City (UT): The University of Utah Press. p. 91–101.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, LR. 2006. Estados corporativos arcaicos. Organizaciones de excepción en escenarios excluyentes. Revista Cuicuilco 13(36), ENAH: 13–45.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, LR. 2015. Cooperation and tensions in multiethnic corporate societies using Teotihuacan, central Mexico as a case study. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(30):9210–9215.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manzanilla, LR. 2017. The Xalla palace in Teotihuacan. In: Rob, MH, editor. Teotihuacan: city of water, city of fire. San Francisco (CA): Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco De Young and University of California Press. p. 118–123.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, LR. 2019. El Palacio de Xalla en Teotihuacan, primer acercamiento. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas.Google Scholar
McFadgen, BG. 1982. Dating New Zealand archaeology by radiocarbon. New Zealand Journal of Science 25:379–92.Google Scholar
Millon, R. 1973. Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Mexico. Volume 1: the Teotihuacan map, part 1: Text. Austin (TX): University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Millon, R. 1988. The last years of Teotihuacan dominance. In: Yoffee, N, Cowgill, G, editors. The collapse of ancient states and civilizations. Tucson (AZ): The University of Arizona Press. p. 102–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nichols, DL. 2016. Teotihuacan. Journal of Archaeological Research 24:1–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pasztory, E. 1992. Abstraction and the rise of a utopian state at Teotihuacan. In: Berlo, JC, editor. Art, ideology, and the city of Teotihuacan. Washington DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. p. 281–320.Google Scholar
Price, TD, Manzanilla, L, Middleton, WH. 2000. Immigration and the ancient city of Teotihuacan in Mexico: a study using strontium isotope ratios in human bone and teeth. Journal of Archaeological Science 27:903–913.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Blackwell, PG, Bronk Ramsey, C, Buck, C, Cheng, H, Edwards, RL, Friedrich, M, et al. 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55(4):1869–1887.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosales-de-la-Rosa, E, Manzanilla, LR. 2011. Producción, consumo y distribución de la mica en Teotihuacan. Presencia de un recurso alóctono en los contextos arqueológicos de dos conjuntos arquitectónicos: Xalla y Teopancazco. In: Manzanilla LR, Hirth K, editors. La producción artesanal y especializada en Mesoamérica. Áreas de actividad y procesos productivos. Mexico City: INAH-UNAM. p. 131–152.Google Scholar
Sanders, WT, Parsons, JR, Santley, RS. 1979. The Basin of Mexico. The ecological processes in the evolution of a civilization. Studies in Archaeology. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Scott, EM, Cook, GT, Naysmith, P. 2010. The fifth international radiocarbon intercomparison (VIRI): an assessment of laboratory performance in stage 3. Radiocarbon 52(2–3):859–865.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soler-Arechalde, AM, Sánchez, F, Rodríguez, M, Caballero-Miranda, C, Goguitchaishvili, A, Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J, Manzanilla, L, Tarling, DH. 2006. Archaeomagnetic investigation of oriented pre-Columbian limeplasters from Teotihuacan, Mesoamerica. Earth, Planets and Space 58(10):1433–1439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soler-Arechalde, AM, Caballero-Miranda, CI, Osete, ML, López-Delgado, V, Goguitchaishvili, A, Barrera-Huerta, A, Urrutia-Fucugauchi, J. 2019. An updated catalogue of pre-Hispanic archaeomagnetic data for central Mesoamerica: implications for the regional paleosecular variation curve. Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana 71(2):497–518.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xelhuantzi, MS. 2002. Informe sobre el análisis de siete muestras de vigas carbonizadas de la estructura cuatro cuarto uno de Xalla, Teotihuacan. Informe Técnico, Laboratorio de Arqueobotánica, Subdirección de Laboratorios y Apoyo Académico, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), México.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Beramendi-Orosco et al. supplementary material

Beramendi-Orosco et al. supplementary material

Download Beramendi-Orosco et al. supplementary material(File)
File 15.7 KB