This article argues that the Mexica emperor's mantle was a fiber net rectangle studded with actual turquoise beads or plaques, a conclusion that is contrary to technically based interpretations of the garment as a tie-dyed cotton cape. The purpose of making this distinction is to increase our understanding of the symbolism embodied by Mexica costume within a cultural and historical context. Known as xiuhtlalpiltilmatl in Nahuatl, the mantle is said to have had its origins in Toltec times. Later it was worn mainly by Mexica emperors at accession and other ceremonies to symbolize continuity with their Toltec and Chichimec predecessors. Within the context of Mexica ideology, the garment served this symbolic purpose through its very materials: the rough agave net alludes to nomadic Chichimec warriors of the desert, while turquoise refers to the civilized, sedentary, agriculturally based Toltec peoples.

We report a Prehispanic dam and remnants of a small reservoir at the ancient Maya site of Tamarindito in the Río de la Pasión region of Guatemala's Petén district. The remnants of the dam are on the Petexbatún escarpment, to the east of the main site in the midst of an area of residential groups and numerous and varied agricultural terracing. The dam was about 60 m long and would have held a reservoir of about 2,000 m3. This volume of water was sufficient to irrigate nearby terraced fields. The dam and reservoir probably date to the Late Classic period (A.D. 550-800), a period during which Tamarindito was involved in regional warfare. In addition to producing irrigation water, we hypothesize that the system was built to provide a supplemental, more defensible, residential water supply and to protect a spring located below the dam.

A Chimú-Inka ceramic-manufacturing center, dating ca. A.D. 1470-1532, has been located in the Jequetepeque Valley of northern Peru. An analysis of a large sample of molds and over-fired sherds from the site indicates that the potters produced both local and Inka-derived forms—primarily mold-made utility wares. Since Inka aryballoid bottles were produced here, their production, and presumably their use, was more akin to utility wares for commoners than to ceremonial/administrative ware for the elite. Although there were numerous potters involved in the production of large numbers of vessels, the production was not organized with strict division of labor, but rather with each individual potter working on most stages of production.

La Cueva Tixi se ubica en la sierra La Vigilancia, en cercanías de la ciudad de Mar del Plata, Argentina. Las investigaciones arqueológicas permitieron definir una secuencia estratigráfica de cuatro ocupaciones. Seis dataciones (AMS) sobre carbón vegetal, procesadas en la University of Arizona, indican que los cazadores-recolectores utilizaron la cueva durante los últimos 10,000 an̄os. El análisis de los materiales indica variabilidad en el uso de la cueva vinculada a patrones de mobilidad y territorialidad de los cazadores-recolectores pampeanos.

The origin of the Codex Borgia has been under discussion since it was first published. Although there exists a consensus that it, along with the other manuscripts of the Borgia Group, corresponds to the Mixteca-Puebla style, opinions vary as to its specific provenience within the area where this style is found. The majority of the arguments proposed involve stylistic and iconographic similarities between elements represented in the codex and those found on ceramics and Prehispanic mural paintings, particularly in the Valleys of Puebla-Tlaxcala and Tehuacán, but a direct relation with any aspect of material culture remains tenuous. Recent archaeological excavations in Cholula have provided a large collection of peculiar Postclassic figurines that appear to correspond to the ritual "jars" represented on various pages of the codex. Because the distribution of these pieces is limited to the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley, and they have not been reported for other parts of Mesoamerica, we suggest that their repeated occurrence in the Codex Borgia provides yet more evidence to claim a Puebla-Tlaxcala origin for this document.

Este artículo intenta definir áreas de consumo primarias y periféricas formales que se producían en Colha, en vista de las opciones de transporte y demanda del consumidor. Por medio de un modelo de presencia/ausencia, se examinan conjuntos líticos de 29 sitios del Preclásico Tardío y el Clásico Tardío en el norte de Belice buscando evidencia de variación en la demanda del consumidor según los periodos y según la proximidad a las vías acuáticas naturales. Durante el Preclásico Tardío, la más grande diversidad de herramientas formales ocurrió en los sitios que se sitúan al noroeste de Colha. Durante el Clásico Tardío la demanda por la herramientas formales de Colha se manifiesta en un mayor número de sitios que se sitúan a una distancia más grande y en todas direcciones del centro de producción. La comparación de la distribución de herramientas formales de pedernal, basada ya sea en el transporte terrestre o acuático, parece indicar que el uso de las vías acuáticas internas o marítimas (costeñas) se incrementó significativamente el tamaño del sistema de intercambio local. Los resultados de este estudio ilustran el significado de las rutas naturales de transporte como recursos explotables y en el desarrollo del sistema de intercambio local.