Recent geophysical survey at the early urban center of the Gallinazo Group in the Virú Valley highlights the potential for a multifaceted approach to remote sensing on the desert coast of South America and underscores the value of these well-established techniques for the rapid and detailed mapping of complex urban architecture. The Gallinazo Group (100 B.C.-A.D. 700) was an early city home to a population of between 10,000 and 14,400 people living in a network of agglutinated houses, plazas, public buildings, and alleyways. In 2008, detailed analysis of the site was undertaken, integrating traditional excavation techniques, soil coring, magnetometry, and ground-penetrating radar to gain a better understanding of the urban morphology of the site. The results of this fieldwork were extremely successful, with large areas of the urban layout being mapped in great detail. This article presents results from our survey, highlighting the potentials and limitations of each technique.

The domestication of llamas and alpacas was fundamental for the cultural and economic development of Andean societies, but the origins of camelid pastoralism as a distinct mode of socioeconomic organization remain little understood. Whereas most archaeological interpretations of prehispanic highland societies emphasize the transition from hunting-gathering to agriculture as a process marked by the establishment of agricultural sedentary villages, other subsistence and mobility strategies have been for the most part overlooked. A case in point is the Wankarani cultural complex from the Central Altiplano of Bolivia, which has been interpreted as an example of an early village-based sedentary society. Here, I argue that a model of mobile pastoralism based on ethnoarchaeological research better explains the Central Altiplano's Formative period archaeological record. Recently collected data support this proposition. Settlement patterns consisted of multiple dispersed camps attached to residential bases occupied recurrently. Horizontal excavations from a residential base revealed structures and features analogous to pastoralist landscapes documented around the world. Faunal identification confirmed the preponderance of domesticated camelids. Based on this evidence, I argue that we need better explanatory frameworks for approaching the origins, organization, and variability associated with early food producing societies such as mobile camelid pastoralists.

Since 2004, archaeological, ethnographic, and archival investigations at the ex-hacienda San Miguel Acocotla in Atlixco, Puebla, Mexico, have explored the lives of indigenous workers who toiled at the hacienda from 1577 through the twentieth-century Mexican Revolution. The aim of this project is to understand the ways in which incorporation into an industrial capitalist system impacted individual and community identity. This report presents a summary of the archaeological components of the project. Research focused on the area of worker housing, the calpanería, in an effort to expand our understandings of the conditions of daily life of the hacienda's indigenous workers. I describe the completed fieldwork and summarize the results of studies of nineteenth-century domestic architecture andfoodways. These data challenge assumptions about the quotidian experiences of hacienda laborers, often made using incomplete historical records, and allow us to connect the ethnographic present with the prehispanic past by illuminating the transformative processes at work in rural Mexico during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

This paper addresses the diversification of plant resource management practices in the lowlands of southeastern Uruguay starting in the fourth millennium B.P. Our approach includes (a) a reexamination of ethnohistorical sources; (b) a review of lithic and ceramic materials; (c) the presentation of new ethnoarchaeological information; and (d) the analysis of starch grains from grinding stones. The results highlight the importance of the palm Butia odorata as a source of food and useful materials for much of the year. Furthermore, the analysis of both macro- and micro-residues has enabled us to identify the presence of Datura ferox seeds and starch grains from edible plants. While many of these identifications confirm the use of a number of previously reported species, others are new, as is the case with Phaseolus sp., Arachis sp., and Typha domingensis. Continuity in the management of certain plant species and in environmental conditioning is interpreted as an important investment in the long-term cycles of human-environment interactions.

Ceremonial architecture of late precontact (A.D. 600-1500) societies of Puerto Rico consists of stone-lined plazas and ball courts (bateys,). Archaeologists use these structures to signify the onset of hierarchical “chiefly” polities and to interpret their regional organization. Problematically, little consideration is given to the costs of their physical construction and the associated organizational implications at local and regional scales. In this paper, we use data gathered through geoarchaeological field investigations to develop labor estimates for the plaza and bateys at the site of Tibes—one of the largest precolumbian ceremonial centers in Puerto Rico. The estimates provide a basis for addressing how these features were constructed at the site and are considered within the broader organizational contexts of incipient polities in the island's south-central region between A.D. 600 and A.D. 1200.

Kaminaljuyú has been an important focus of archaeological research since the 1930s, and the chronologies of various sites of the Southern Maya Area are linked directly to that of Kaminaljuyú. The implications of the currently prevalent chronology of Kaminaljuyú are that various social and political institutions developed significantly earlier in the Southern Maya Area than in the Maya Lowlands during the Preclassic period. Our evaluations of new and existing radiocarbon dates through the application ofBayesian statistics, as well as ceramic cross-dating, indicate that the Middle and Late Preclassic portions of the Kaminaljuyú sequence need to be shifted forward in time by roughly 300 years. Our chronological revisions have the following important implications: (1) many centers in the Southern Maya Area suffered political disruptions around 400 B.C., roughly at the same time as La Venta and the centers in the Grijalva region of Chiapas; and (2) highly centralized polities with divine rulers and their depictions on stelae developed roughly contemporaneously in the Southern Maya Area and in the Maya Lowlands after 100 B.C.

The Preceramic archaeological record of highland Mesoamerica is biased toward rockshelter sites. We advocate more fieldwork in streamside settings, where open-air sites are likely to be found for reasons related both to the systemic context of hunter-gatherer lifeways and to the geoarchaeological context of site burial and preservation. Predicting site location requires attention to the peculiar nature and behavior of incised ephemeral streams (barrancas) and to the complex alluvial stratigraphic sequences that they leave behind. Four case studies—from the Mexican states ofTlaxcala, México, Morelos, and Oaxaca—reconstruct the geometry and age structure of late Quaternary alluvium from exposures in cutbanks, brickyards, and purposefully dug trenches. We identify deeply buried locales with the remains of extinct megafauna, intentionally set fires, and lithic debitage. We distinguish between geographical areas, stream reaches, and time intervals that do or do not hold much promise for further research. The fragmentary nature of the alluvial record and the paucity of sites can be explained by changes in stream behavior wrought by agricultural land use and are conditioned by the intensity and antiquity of agriculture in any given area. Deposits and sites of Paleoindian age may be more commonly preserved than those of Archaic age.

This study places the recently excavated ninth-century A.D. four-part calendrical notations at Xultun (Lunar Table, Ring Number, Long Count, and Multiplication Table) in the context of both Classic monumental inscriptions and astronomical knowledge in the Postclassic Dresden Codex. We demonstrate that the Lunar Table employed a formula attributed to Palenque and that it could have been used as a device to determine precisely where to break the sequence of alternating 29- and 30-day months one finds on dated monuments. All four categories found at Xultun appear in the Dresden Codex. The Ring Number, which bridges a date in the deep past with one in the recently completed era, is a perfect fit with one of the most fundamental Dresden eclipse cycles. Our analysis of glyphs accompanying the Long Count date enables us to place candidate eclipses, especially one that corresponds with a conjunction of Mars, in real time. We argue that the large multiples were extracted from, or prepared for, warning tables like the Dresden eclipse table, and we demonstrate why such tables must have existed well before the Xultun inscriptions. Thus, while the writings in the Dresden manuscript constitute a finished product, the writing on the wall of residential Structure 10K-2 is more akin to what one might find in an astronomer's notebook.

The 2011 investigations of the Caves Branch Archaeological Survey at the large and recently documented Maya site of Tipan Chen Uitz resulted in the discovery of the site's first monument with a glyphic inscription. Prior to this discovery, the site's glyphic corpus was limited to a small collection of texts rendered on fragmentary ceramics. In this paper, we describe these sherds as well as the monument (Monument 1), report on their archaeological contexts, provide an epigraphic analysis of the texts, and consider these written sources relative to our growing understanding of Tipan and its place in the ancient political landscape. The discovery of Monument 1 is important, for it stands to contribute to sociopolitical reconstructions in this part of the central Maya Lowlands and has significant implications for the possible presence of other, as yet undiscovered, Late Classic period (A.D. 550-830) monuments at Tipan.

The nature and extent of the political and cultural influence of the Tiwanaku state (ca. A.D. 500—1100) in the Azapa Valley of northern Chile are debated topics. The absolute chronology of these contacts also remains somewhat unclear. Much of the debate has centered on the origins and chronological position of the Tiwanaku-related black-on-red ceramic style called Cabuza. In order to reevaluate the chronological position of the Cabuza, Maytas-Chiribaya, and San Miguel ceramic styles and associated cultural phases of the Azapa Valley, we obtained a total of 16 new radiocarbon dates for the Azapa-6, Azapa- 71a, Azapa-141, and Azapa-143 cemeteries. All but one sample dated to the Late Intermediate period (ca.A.D. 1000-1450). We compare our results with previously published radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dates and carry out Bayesian probability calculations, establishing the most likely chronological ranges for the three ceramic styles. Based on this research, we argue that the undeniable Tiwanaku influence seen in the Azapa Valley more likely reflects processes set in motion by the collapse of the Tiwanaku state rather than an attempt to colonize or indirectly control the Azapa Valley during the Middle Horizon (ca. A.D. 550-1000).

Despite a long history of research, interactions between the Tiwanaku polity of the Andean Middle Horizon (ca.A.D. 500-1100) and the San Pedro de Atacama oases of northern Chile remain controversial. Here, we investigate Middle Horizon interactions through an isotopic identification of the geographic origins of individuals buried in San Pedro de Atacama cemeteries and present the largest radiogenic strontium isotope dataset generated, to date, for the Andes. For individuals in Middle Horizon San Pedro de Atacama cemeteries ofCasa Parroquial, Coyo Oriental, Coyo-3, Larache, Quitor-5, Solcor-3, Solcor Plaza, Solor-3, and Tchecar Túmulo Sur, mean tooth enamel and bone 87Sr/86Sr = .70834 ± .00172 (2σ, n = 273). Overall, the mean 87Sr/86Sr values from Middle Horizon San Pedro de Atacama cemeteries support the idea that interactions between Atacameños and inhabitants of other regions varied by ayllu, an Andean kin-based community structure, with some ayllus incorporating individuals with a wider variety of geographic origins than others. When our interpretations of the radiogenic strontium isotope data are contextualized with analyses of mortuary behavior and recent biodistance analyses, we argue that the San Pedro de Atacama oases appear to be have been inhabited by culturally and biologically diverse groups, rather than by large numbers of colonists from the Tiwanaku capital and the Lake Titicaca Basin.

We discuss Chinchorro mortuary practices during the Middle Archaic (7000-5000 B.P.) as demonstrated by 12 funerary contexts excavated at the site of Maestranza Chinchorro, northern Chile. First we describe each of the funerary contexts. Then we discuss the variability of mortuary practices, the configuration of multiple burials, the mortuary treatment of human fetuses, lifestyle, and paleopathology. We conclude that mortuary practices are heterogeneous and that not all subjects received elaborate treatment. Mortuary ritual focused on the seven infants in the group, which included two fetuses of a few months' gestation, something fairly unusual in human prehistory. Treatment consisted in the removal of all soft tissue and the use of sticks to reinforce the skeletons, upon which abundant gray clay was mounted in order to model the human figure. In contrast to the infants, just one young adult woman received complex mortuary treatment. Finally, based on the spatial distribution of contemporary burial sites, we propose that Middle Archaic communities in coastal Arica comprised small groups, including adults and children of different sexes, that settled around key resources like watering holes, rivers, wetlands, and hunting and fishing areas. This resulted in fierce intergroup competition and highly territorial behavior.

Paleoethnobotanical analyses of samples excavated at Los Naranjos, Honduras, provide an unprecedented record of the diversity of plants used at an early center with monumental architecture and sculpture dating between 1000 and 500 B.C. and contribute to understandings of early village life in Mesoamerica. Los Naranjos is the major site adjacent to Lake Yojoa, where analysis of an important pollen core suggests very early clearing of the landscape and shifts in the relative prevalence of certain plants over time, including increases in maize. Our results from starch grain, phytolith, and macrobotanical analysis complicate interpretation of previous pollen core dates, suggesting that maize was not as central as expected to the early inhabitants of the settlement. Moreover, with identification of macrobotanical remains recovered from flotation of sediments and extraction of microbotanical remains from adhering sediments and the surfaces of obsidian tools, we can compare the potential of each analysis in interpretations of plant use. No single method would have allowed recovery and identification of all the plants documented across sample types. The presence of botanical residues on the obsidian tools provides direct evidence of processing. Even in the small sample analyzed, we can recognize tools used exclusively for culinary processing, tools used only for non-culinary tasks, and multi-purpose tools.

One of the benchmark ceramic chronologies for the Central Maya Lowlands—that of Becán, Campeche—was critically flawed in its inception. Its flaws resultedfrom a perceived need to parallel the established Uaxactún bellwether and a failure to recognize that the typological and modal content of the sequence of assemblages defined was not continuous but disjunctive in character. In fact, this sequence reflected a broken continuum of discrete segments separated by a major break representing an actual occupational and historical gap in the site history of Becán. This paper reexamines the premises of the original Becán sequence, reassesses its structure and chronology, and offers a new alternative for its replacement and future fieldtesting. Reassessments of individual types and groups and their relationships and established chronologies, joined with a fresh consideration of Bejuco-phase depositional circumstances and stratigraphies, suggest that the political failure of Becán and the consequent abandonment of the center may have occurred as early as A.D. 730-750. The resulting gap in the occupational and ceramic sequences of the site lasted into the early ninth century. The suggested changes have significant ramifications not only for the chronologies of the site and the surrounding Río Bec region, but also for their cultural, architectural, and political histories.

The Dawson seriation of Nasca ceramics has long been assumed to be an accurate marker of temporal changes in the prehispanic south coast of Peru. We test this assumption by directly dating a sample of sherds using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL). Our results suggest that while some phases of the seriation are valid chronological markers, others appear to be the result of factors other than time. We discuss the implications of these results and call for additional studies of ceramics using luminescence dating

Ulúa-style marble vases played important social, political, economic, and religious roles in southern Mesoamerica during the seventh through eleventh centuries A.D. However, most such vessels known to archaeologists are part of looted collections or else were unearthed before the advent of modern archaeological practices. As a result, little is known about the context, use, and chronology of these objects. Recent investigations at the site of Palos Blancos in northwest Honduras discovered an Ulúa-style marble vase in an undisturbed mortuary context. Excavation of the burial context, along with bioarchaeological and stable isotope analysis of the human remains, suggests that the vase was placed as an offering, possibly to an ancestor of the residential group. Phosphate and pollen studies indicate that the vase once held a corn-based beverage . Radiocarbon dating of four charcoal samples from immediately below and adjacent to the vase yielded a range of dates from the beginning of the Late Classic period, ca.A.D. 600-800. Through analyses of the context and contents of the vase, this research contributes to a more holistic understanding of the use and meaning of Ulúa-style marble vases in southern Mesoamerica.

Khipus are knotted-string devices that were used in the Inka Empire for communication and for recording information. We recently analyzed the names and associated khipu cords in a newly discovered hybrid khipul alphabetic text from the Central Andes. Results indicate a significant relationship in the text between knot direction and a form of social organization known as moieties, in which S-knots correspond to the upper (Hanan) moiety and Z-knots correspond to the lower (Urin) moiety. This relationship suggests that knot direction was used to indicate moiety in Andean khipus and, as such, may represent the first decipherment of a structural element in khipus since the decoding of the number system in the 1920s.

Over 30 funerary bundles were excavated in 2005 from a large chamber tomb at the prehispanic religious center of Pachacamac on the central coast of Peru. The largest and most elaborate bundle was found in the innermost part of the tomb, tightly surrounded by other bundles. We hypothesized that this bundle contained the deceased leader of a social group whose members collectively cared for their ancestor's bundle (for example, by rewrapping it) and continued to use the tomb to inter deceased individuals from subsequent generations. We tested this hypothesis by dating samples from different layers of the wrapping materials and soft tissue from the bodies and conducting a Bayesian analysis of the resultant dates. We determined carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in the diet of the interred individuals to correct for marine reservoir effects. Our findings suggest that (1) rewrapping did not occur; (2) the tomb was used for over 500 years starting at cal A.D. 1000; and (3) existing bundles were reshuffled each time new bundles were introduced. Overall, diverse lines of evidence indicate that the tomb had a complex use history and contained individuals with diverse geographical and social origins. This challenges conventional thinking about the social and chronological significance of coexisting bundles in large tombs.