Analyses of archaeological data from the La Entrada region in northwestern Honduras demonstrate that central-place theory applies to the regional settlement system during the Late Classic period. The configuration of the regional central-place system appears to have been oriented to the local exchange of subsistence goods and to the minimization of energy expenditure in their movement. The distribution patterns of obsidian artifacts vary significantly among the hypothetical sustaining areas of centers, corroborating the reconstruction of a central-place system. This also suggests that political factors affected the circulation of certain materials and that basic economic spatial units in Classic Maya society were relatively small.

The acquisition and use of exotic, valuable, and ritually important elite goods is a prominent feature of many imperial political economies. After an extensive review of the archaeological and documentary sources on one specific valuable in the empire of Chimor, this paper analyzes the visual representation of such goods, an aspect seldom addressed by archaeologists. An architectural relief recently excavated at Chan Chan, the capital of Chimor, sheds new light on the use of exotic materials and long-distance trade and exchange along the Pacific coast of South America in the late Prehispanic period. This relief, named "Los Buceadores" (The Divers) for the principal imagery depicting Spondylus divers, is important for elucidating the role of this valuable in the early development of the Chimú empire. It is argued that the Chimú rulers sponsored a long-distance exchange network during an early stage of the expansion of the Chimú polity and that the fruits of this network, particularly Spondylus, formed a critical element in the formation and maintenance of the ritual and economic basis of power for the expanding state.

Recent investigations in the Casma Valley on the north-central coast of Peru have uncovered a series of circular and rectangular/square structures, each containing a central hearth associated with either four subfloor ventilation shafts or a single open ventilation trough. The structures date to the Late Preceramic period (2500-1800 B. C.) and the Initial period (1800-900 B. C.). All are small and were originally roofed with perishable materials to hold in heat and smoke from the central hearth. It seems likely that these ventilated hearths represent a coastal variant of the Kotosh Religious Tradition that has been well documented in the Peruvian Highlands. The structures probably served as ritual chambers for small groups of people, somewhat analogous to the sweathouses of various Native American groups.

Wetland research in northern Belize provides the earliest evidence for development of agriculture in the Maya Lowlands. Pollen data confirm the introduction of maize and manioc before 3000 B.C. Dramatic deforestation, beginning ca. 2500 B.C. and intensifying in wetland environments ca. 1500-1300 B.C., marks an expansion of agriculture, which occurred in the context of a mixed foraging economy. By 1000 B.C. a rise in groundwater levels led farmers to construct drainage ditches coeval with the emergence of Maya complex society ca. 1000-400 B.C. Field manipulations often involved minor modifications of natural hummocks. Canal systems are not as extensive in northern Belize as previously reported, nor is there evidence of artificially raised planting platforms. By the Classic period, wetland fields were flooded and mostly abandoned.