This analysis of production variability of Postclassic Maya pottery from consumer contexts at Caye Coco implies that household pottery making varied and that products destined for different social and functional use contexts were made with differing degrees of standardization. New chronological and typological information from the Terminal Classic and Early Postclassic Periods at Caye Coco provide data important to the study of long-term interregional affiliations leading up to the Late Postclassic. Our attribute analysis of major type and form classes of Postclassic Period vessels quantifies the relative diversity and homogeneity of products made for Caye Coco consumers. Greater standardization is found in serving dishes and other slipped vessel forms as opposed to unslipped storage and food preparation containers within the site’s assemblage, and evidence for regional scale similarities in dish attributes is also found. High levels of serving dish standardization likely reflect conditions of open social and economic boundaries and perhaps the direct exchange of some vessels. Minimally, stylistic templates were broadly shared due to the widespread use of highly visible serving dishes at regional feasts and religious celebrations.

Identifying patterns in the organization of spaces, and in the ways past peoples may have moved through those spaces, can provide insights into daily practice, group interaction, and social control in community life. To identify such patterns, a modified version of access analysis is applied to the densely settled Late Classic (A.D. 650–960) site of Las Canoas, northwest Honduras. The usefulness of this spatial diagramming technique to illuminate patterns of potential significance to the past architects and occupants of this site will be critically assessed. In particular, access analysis is applied to consider formal and informal control of movement and social interaction within two discrete household groups. Conclusions regarding spatial use and social practice at Las Canoas are drawn from combined consideration of access diagrams, architectural form, activity distribution, and connections with the surrounding landscape.

There exists general consensus in the archaeological literature that bitter manioc was a staple crop in precontact agricultural systems in the lowlands of South America. This view is based upon the indirect evidence derived from archaeological ceramic and lithic assemblages rather than archaeobotanical evidence, the preserved remains of bitter manioc itself. Studies of microlithic “manioc” grater flakes from Pozo Azul Norte-1, a site located in the middle Orinoco valley of Venezuela, reveal a much more complex function of these artifacts involving the processing of several starchy roots including arrowroot, guapo, yam, and ginger, as well as seeds including maize and possibly palm. The starch and use-wear data collected in these investigations indicate that archaeobotanical data are a more reliable means of assessing the function of these tools than are ethnographic analogues.

Interaction between distant, culturally distinct, complex societies can significantly impact the sociopolitical development of the societies involved. In Classic period Mesoamerica, the urban center of Teotihuacan was a dominant force in the Valley of Mexico, and there is compelling evidence that its influence extended well beyond this region. The role of Teotihuacan in the political development of Maya cities has been debated for decades, though interaction may have also included exchange and the presence of Maya individuals at Teotihuacan. In this study I investigate interaction between Teotihuacan and several Maya polities through typological, spatial, and compositional analyses of Maya ceramics found at Teotihuacan. Data from instrumental neutron activation analysis are used to identify probable subregions from which Maya ceramics were imported to Teotihuacan. Results indicate that diverse Maya polities interacted with Teotihuacan over the course of five centuries, and that relationships involving polities in the central Petén region were particularly long-lived. This research has important implications for understanding the sociopolitical histories of Mesoamerican complex societies specifically, and interaction among complex societies in general.

In this paper, I use data gathered from recent excavations conducted in the San Lorenzo region to explore the nature of Olmec site structure. Most studies dealing with this topic have focused on ceremonial precincts at large regional centers. Recent archaeological investigations conducted at the low lying Early Formative period (1500–900 B.C., radiocarbon years) site of El Remolino provide a unique opportunity to study how the Olmec organized domestic space outside primary centers. Although no easily identifiable structural remains were found at El Remolino, refuse disposal patterns are used to infer architectural arrangement and also provide clues on site layout. In order to investigate variations in household spatial structure in the San Lorenzo region, the Remolino data are compared with results from household archaeological studies conducted in an elite precinct (the Group D area) at the regional center of San Lorenzo. Findings indicate that household spatial layout at El Remolino ascribed to a residentially dispersed house-lot type of spatial patterning, whereas spatial structure in the Group D area of San Lorenzo adheres closer to the more nucleated house compound type of spatial patterning.

Color differences between the original illustrations in the Codex Mendoza and the facsimile most widely used by scholars can be calibrated using a standard set of Munsell soil color charts. The discrepancies are potentially misleading about the presence and origin of some pigments used and the cultural significance of what is being shown in the document.