This article considers the results of instrumental neutron-activation analyses of 61 obsidian artifacts recovered from excavations at four archaeological sites in the lower Río Verde valley on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. Determinations of source locations of these artifacts permit the examination of changes in obsidian exchange patterns spanning the late Middle Formative to the Classic period. The results show that through most of this period the importation of obsidian into the lower Verde region was dominated by sources in the Basin of Mexico and Michoacan. The data allow us to evaluate previous models of interregional relations during the Formative and Classic periods, including interaction with the highland centers of Monte Albán and Teotihuacán.

In this study I examine local-scale associations between land resources and the density distribution of Maya residential sites for the prehistoric population maxima of the Late Classic period (ca. A. D. 600-900). Methods involve agricultural land evaluation following USDA guidelines, under assumptions of hand-cultivation technology. I give specific attention to the issue of concordance between the geographic scale of household agricultural production and the scale at which agricultural land evaluation is conducted. The focus is the upper Belize River area of Belize, Central America, where intensive archaeological survey and local-scale land-resource mapping provide the data necessary for a detailed analysis of ancient land-use patterns. The analysis reveals a strong and consistent relationship between prehistoric Maya settlement density and the agricultural productive capability of local soil types. For each land type, I discuss the amount of land available for each residential locus and probable cultivation methods used. I argue that the ability to identify clearly and quantitatively the association (or lack of association) between household settlement pattern and agricultural land capability is a necessary component of regional studies that seek to test models of Maya political economy and social change.

The Chinchorros were a preceramic fishing society that inhabited the Atacama coast of southern Peru and northern Chile from about 7020 to 1110 B. C., and their antiquity is much greater than originally thought. Previous Chinchorro chronologies have focused on seriation of fishing implements; this paper suggests analysis of mummies as another useful chronological tool. The Chinchorro system of artificial mummification, the oldest in the world, began about 5050 B. C, and was abandoned about 1720 B. C. Black, Red, Bandage, Mud-Coated, and Natural mummification styles represent diachronic cultural changes. In contrast to previous views, I argue here that the sophisticated Chinchorro mortuary practices originated locally, near Arica, specifically in the Camarones Gorge. The high concentration of cemeteries, high mortuary energy expenditure, presence of villages, and heavy reliance on maritime subsistence, as inferred from mummies, artifacts and human bone analyses, are all indicators that the Chinchorros were an early sedentary maritime society. The ideological complexity and antiquity of settlement of the Andean coast therefore need reappraisal.

Numeric age assessments of organic material encapsulated by rock varnish present on stone lintels of two “puquios” in the Nasca region of the south coast of Peru indicate a Precolumbian age. Accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon analyses at the Isotrace Laboratory revealed ages of cal A. D. 560(620)650 and cal A. D. 600(640)660 (1 sigma). These calibrated measurements are considered to be appropriate in the context of the archaeological settlement pattern data for the region. As well, the written documents of the colonial period neither confirm nor deny the presence of the puquios. Three assumptions are inherent in the acceptance of these dates: (1) AMS 14C dating and its application to rock varnish yield reliable results, (2) sample contamination can be recognized, and (3) determination of the age of the puquios rests upon testable available information; ex silentio arguments about the presence or absence of the puquios in the Nasca region before the Spanish conquest are inadequate for the resolution of the question.

Spondylus and Strombus shells are believed to have been sacred items in Latin American societies, often traded over long distances. Studies of the manufacturing sites of these and other prized marine shells have been mainly undertaken to investigate the long distance trade networks and symbol systems of the ancient societies. In contrast, this report examines evidence from small, inland sites of the Regional Developmental Period-Guangala Phase in southwest Ecuador to understand the role of shell working as a craft activity within the local socioeconomic system. It is shown that this activity, which involves interaction between littoral and inland dwellers, played an important role in subsistence adaptations to the semi-arid southwest coast of Ecuador. These findings will also be of interest to scholars of the subsequent period seeking to understand the organization of the late prehistoric Ecuadorian trading chiefdoms.