The focus of this study is on a khipu—a knotted—string recording device-from the Chachapoya region of the northeastern Andes of Peru. The khipu was one of 32 khipus discovered, along with some 220 mummy bundles, in 1996 in a half-dozen chullpas (burial houses) built into a rock-overhang overlooking a lake, called Laguna de los Cóndores, near the town of Leymebamba (Department of Amazonas). The cultural materials found with the mummies and khipus date from the pre-Inkaic Chachapoya culture (ca. A. D. 800-1450), through the Inka occupation of the region and on into the early colonial era. It is argued that the khipus stored with the dead represented tomb texts, which contained information pertaining to the history of the mummies and the social groups descended from them. One of the khipu samples (UR6) is interpreted as a combined biennial calendar and census of the tribute payers in Chachapoya territory, around Laguna de los Cóndores, in late Prehispanic times. It is argued that khipu UR6 was the source of information from which the first colonial census in the region was drawn up by the Spanish administrators, in 1535.

The following article proposes reconsidering the social archaeology paradigm as a worthwhile school of thought within Latin American philosophy. Rather than critiquing social archaeology for its supposed methodological limitations, I argue that this Latin American approach has already had an enormous contribution to the anthropological and political thought of the region. Instead of assuming that archaeology is a neutral enterprise, social archaeologists and others influenced by their ideas have already carried out important interdisciplinary and socially relevant research in the historical understanding of the past. Archaeological sites such as those of Cochasquí and Agua Blanca (among others) in Ecuador have benefitted significantly from a more refined political analysis of their histories than those routinely carried out in the positivistic paradigm of the United States. Finally, social archaeology also points to a much needed and useful link between the committed assessment of the continent"s past with the varied and important political transformation essential for the future well being of Latin America’s people.

Excavations in northern Honduras have produced evidence of initial village life that is among the earliest cases documented in Mesoamerica. Settlement beginning prior to 1600 B. C., the production of sophisticated pottery by 1600 B. C., and integration in economic exchange networks extending into Guatemala and Mexico by 1100-900 B. C. (calendar ages), are all consistent with patterns recorded in the Gulf Coast, Central Highlands, and Pacific Coast of Mexico. Supported by a suite of 11 radiocarbon dates, these findings overturn traditional models that viewed Honduras as an underdeveloped periphery receiving delayed influences from Mexican centers.

Las estructuras arqueológicas llamadas cerritos de indios han sido reportadas y estudiadas desde fines del siglo diecinueve, recibiendo variadas interpretaciones sobre su función. El presente artículo, pretende realizar una síntesis de la información arqueológica generada por investigadores uruguayos y brasileros, buscando discutir las aproximaciones empleadas y las explicaciones propuestas; en particular al respecto de la relación entre sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras y ambientes de tierras bajas. En el trabajo se propone una tipología y una secuencia arqueológica regional para estos cerritos. La actividad ritual y funeraria son particularmente consideradas. El análisis estratigráfico y el material arqueológico recuperado, apoyan la interpretación funcional y el estudio de la organización social, económica y política de estos grupos. El análisis crítico de la información etnohistórica adquiere significación a la hora de interpretar el tipo de sociedad y de conductas involucradas en estas construcciones. Consideradas como sociedades marginales, viviendo en ambientes marginales, estos grupos representan ahora, un interesante ejemplo para estudiar el cambio cultural y la emergencia de complejidad social.

This study reports stable carbon-isotope ratios for both bone collagen and apatite, and nitrogen-isotope ratios for bone collagen for 72 Maya skeletons from 9 zones representing contrasting status groups at Altun Ha, Belize. The sample spans the Preclassic to Postclassic periods, approximately 800 B. C. to after A. D. 950. Although Altun Ha has a maize-based (C-4) diet, it has a much stronger marine/reef component than any other Maya site studied so far. Two possible dedicatory burial groups are dietarily distinct. The source of protein appears to have been fairly stable throughout the site sequence, but a marked shift to reduced consumption of C4 foods seems to have occurred after the Early Classic period. A second similar decline probably occurred between the Late/Terminal Classic and the Postclassic periods. These apparent temporal trends may, however, be confounded by differences between zones. High status is marked by consumption of large quantities of C4 foods, possibly including C4-fed terrestrial animals. Males consumed more meat and C4 foods than did females. All δ-values and collagen-apatite spacings indicate that children were breastfed until at least the age of three or four.

Magnetic, palynological, and paleoecological data indicate that in the Río de la Pasión drainage, one of the most thoroughly investigated areas of the southern Maya lowlands, a refugee population remained in the Laguna Las Pozas basin long after the Classic Maya collapse and the Terminal Classic period, previously identified by archaeologists as eras of near-total regional abandonment. During the Early Postclassic period, ca. A. D. 900 to 1200, agriculturalists colonized and deforested the Laguna Las Pozas basin for agriculture while adjacent, abandoned terrain was undergoing reforestation. After discussing the archaeological utility of magnetic analyses, we conclude that following the Maya collapse, some refugee populations migrated to geographically marginal non-degraded landscapes within the southern lowlands not previously occupied by the Classic Maya.

Since its introduction, the study of artifact design has shed new light on the nature of variability in prehistoric technological organization. Few ethnoarchaeological studies exist exploring the interrelationships between subsistence risk, the costs of technological failures, and the design of artifacts. This ethnoarchaeological study investigates these relationships in a transhumant agro-pastoral case study from the southwestern Bolivian altiplano. Three aspects of tool design are explored to document variability in design characteristics between and within assemblages from agricultural and pastoral residences. These design features consist of the reliability of raw materials used in tool manufacture, the reliability of joints used in compound tools, and the maintainability of tools in case of partial or total failure. While time-budgeting constraints differ at pastoral and agricultural residences, the costs of production shortfalls are equally severe. In response, artifacts from both residences are designed to be highly reliable. However, depending on the likelihood of tool failure, artifacts are designed with different raw material and joint reliability to either minimize tool failure or maximize maintainability. Multiple backups and replacement components are accumulated and maintained to reduce subsistence risk caused by the failure of artifacts with high potential failure rates or low maintainability.

The Tierra Blanca Joven (TBJ) eruption of the Ilopango caldera in central El Salvador was one of the largest Holocene volcanic events in Central America, and its ecological and cultural impacts were felt throughout El Salvador and adjoining areas of Guatemala and Honduras. Early radiocarbon measurements established a ca. A. D. 260 ± 114 calendar date for the eruption. However, a reevaluation of the original 14C dates, in addition to new AMS 14C assays, shows that the TBJ eruption occurred at least a century and a half later than originally estimated. The revised 14C composite supports an Early Classic Period calendar date for the eruption: 1 sigma = A. D. 421(429)526; 2 sigma = A. D. 408(429)536. A review of archaeological settlement, ceramic, and radiocarbon evidence from sites throughout the area of greatest devastation reveals a large-scale demographic collapse following the event. We believe that the population crash was caused both by the biophysical effects of the eruption and by the resulting disarticulation of the "Miraflores" cultural-economic sphere. The affected areas of El Salvador and south-eastern Guatemala did not completely recover until the seventh century A. D.

The Moche was the last complex society to develop on the Peruvian north coast during the Early Intermediate Period (200 B. C.-700 A. D.). While archaeological research on the Moche has traditionally concentrated on the impressive marks of political and religious power, we know relatively little about Moche household organization and patterns of residence. In this research, conducted at the eponymous site of Moche, I identify three types of architectural organization relating to both residential and nonresidential spaces. An analysis of building materials and architectural superposition suggests a close relationship among construction quality, household size, and occupational continuity, in the case of residential architecture. The observed differences, I argue, reflect strategies of household social reproduction among Moche's urban population that depend largely on socioeconomic status. I also contend that different forms of labor were responsible for the construction of residential compounds and other specialized areas, the function of which may not be primarily residential. This research emphasizes the great potential of studying domesticity in prehistory as well as the dynamics of urban construction and suggests methods effective for the reconstruction of household forms and change in sedentary societies.

Este trabajo revé el problema del surgimiento, adopción y cronología de la tecnología cerámica en las tierras bajas del Cono Sur sobre la base de los resultados obtenidos de la investigación del sitio arqueológico Zanjón Seco 2 (Región Pampeana, Argentina). Se resume la información cronológica, los aspectos estratigráficos y artefactuales del sitio, con especial énfasis en la interpretación y discusión de las implicaciones del hallazgo de tiestos cerámicos lisos e incisos en un contexto de cazadores recolectores fechado en ca. 3,000 años A. P. La información obtenida es relevante para entender dos problemas que han sido frecuentemente objeto de debate. En primer lugar, el referido a los centros de surgimiento y/o invención de esta innovación tecnológica, ya que los fechados de Zanjón Seco 2 son tan antiguos como los del noroeste Argentino. En segundo lugar, se discuten las condiciones para la adopción de esta innovación tecnológica. En este sentido, se comparan los resultados de distintos sitios de la Región Pampeana, se discuten las posibles vías de incorporación y los contextos de integración de la cerámica en el marco de una complejización en las condiciones socioeconómicas que habrían estado operando en las sociedades de cazadores-recolectores pampeanos del Holoceno tardío.

As one of the most common artifact categories found on Spanish colonial sites, the wheel-made, tin-glazed pottery known as majolica is an important chronological and social indicator for archaeologists. Initially imported from Europe, several manufacturing centers for majolica were set up in the New World by the late sixteenth century. The study of colonial majolica in the Viceroyalty of Peru, which encompassed much of South America, has received less attention than ceramic production and trade in the colonial Caribbean and Mesoamerica. Prior to 1650 the Viceroyalty of Peru was supplied with majolica largely produced in the city of Panama Vieja, on the Pacific. Panama Vieja majolica has been recovered from throughout the Andes, as far south as Argentina. Majolica made in Panama Vieja provides an important chronological indicator of early colonial archaeological contexts in the region. The reproduction of Iberian-style majolica for use on elite tables was symbolically important to the imposition of Spanish rule, and thus Panamanian majolicas also provide an important indicator of elite status on Andean colonial sites.

Quebrada Tacahuay, located on the south coast of Peru, is one of the oldest expressions of maritime adaptations in the Western Hemisphere. Excavations conducted in 1997 and 1998 indicate that humans focused their activities on the collection and butchering of marine birds, particularly cormorants and boobies, and other marine resources more than 10,290 years ago (uncalibrated radiocarbon years B. P.). In addition to abundant zooarchaeological remains, cultural material includes unifacial lithic tools and one worked marine mammal rib. We report on the use of marine resources at the site in conjunction with the taphonomic history of site formation. Geological data indicate that El Niño flood events initially occurred during the Pleistocene and at various times during the Holocence. The abundant use of seafood indicates that Quebrada Tacahuay represents a specialized coastal extraction station used by Late Paleo-Indian populations with a well-developed littoral adaptation.

Recently obtained radiocarbon determinations from the Cañada de Cuicatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico, have made it possible to revise the chronological placement of the Perdido phase (from 600-200 B. C. to 750-300 B. C.) and the Lomas phase (from 200 B. C.-A. D. 200 to 300 B. C.-A. D. 200), the latter being the phase for which substantial evidence of a Zapotec conquest of the Cañada has been recovered. The revised chronology brings the Lomas phase into close alignment with the Late Monte Albán I (300-100 B. C.) and the Monte Albán II (100 B. C.-A. D. 200) phases, during which the early Zapotec state emerged with its capital at Monte Albán in the Oaxaca Valley. The new Cañada dates support the proposition that territorial expansion outside the Oaxaca Valley played a major role very early in the process of Zapotec primary state formation. This strategy of extra-Valley expansion appears to have been initiated before all areas within the Oaxaca Valley were fully integrated into the Zapotec state.

Our work in the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Haiti, and Jamaica has revealed significant patterning in apparently unretouched molluscan shell objects. In the present paper we conclude that repetitive patterns in shell breakage, especially of queen conch (Strombus gigas), reflect the specific manufacture of forms for use as expedient tools. Expedient tools exhibit only primary modification in which a portion of the source material is removed and shaped, but there is no specific evidence for the preparation of a work edge. Alternatively, expedient tools may display no modification of the raw material except that produced through use. We hypothesize that through controlled breakage large S. gigas and other mollusk shells were modified to create numerous smaller pieces for everyday domestic activities. The key factor here is human intent. Experiments clearly demonstrate that controlled breakage of adult shells produces predictable fragments. Among these are forms that occurred in prehistoric sites throughout the West Indies; many of these forms also exhibit signs of use wear. This type of regional comparison and analysis is important for all archaeologists who work in coastal settings. It is only through such general studies that the sample size is sufficient to facilitate a more complete reconstruction of the aboriginal tool kit.

Este trabajo aporta información acerca de la cronología y distribución de las mayólicas panameñas, a partir de los datos obtenidos en las excavaciones que se realizan en Panamá La Vieja (1519–1671) y en otros sitios coloniales del continente. Incluye una referencia a los aspectos estilísticos de los tipos definidos, y analiza la incidencia de cada uno de ellos en perspectiva diacrónica. Nuevos datos de localidades con mayólica panameña, permiten circunscribir su distribución a la vertiente pacífica (desde Guatemala hasta Chile), contribuyendo a la verificación de la hipótesis enunciada por Florence y Robert Lister (1974). El trabajo intenta explicar la ausencia significativa de mayólicas producidas en la ciudad de Panamá (costa pacífica del istmo), en las localidades de la costa atlántica, en contraposición a la constante presencia de cerámicas europeas en la ciudad de Panamá (las cuales, durante el auge de la industria local, alcanzaron frecuencias de alrededor del 20%). Tal situación no podría ser entendida tomando únicamente en consideración el alto costo de los fletes transístmicos (los cuales afectaban por igual ambas vías): ante el mismo valor agregado, resultaba socialmente deseable adquirir las mayólicas europeas en la ciudad de Panamá, mas no las panameñas en Portobelo. Resulta clara la existencia de valoraciones sociales diferenciales entre las mayólicas locales versus europeas, modeladoras de preferencias estéticas y hábitos de consumo.

En materiales arcaicos de Arica se descubre la existencia de distintas costumbres vinculadas con la deformación artificial de la cabeza. Dichos materiales pertenecen a los sitios Morro 1, Morro 1/6 y Morro de Arica (Uhle). Una vez realizado el diagnóstico morfoscópico se obtuvieron una serie de mediciones en 101 cráneos que fueron procesadas estadísticamente para poner a prueba las diferencias entre cráneos deformados de distintos tipo y no deformados. Se siguió un diseño tipo análisis de la varianza (ANOVA) para una vía, empleando como covariantes sexo, edad y grupo. Los resultados obtenidos permiten confirmar alteraciones en la forma del cráneo comptibles con lo que cabría esperar a partir de la aplicación de las técnicas deformatorias circular erecta, circular oblicua y tabular erecta. Con respecto a esta última se hacen consideraciones sobre la importancia de este hallazgo y sobre la antigüedad de dicha práctica cultural en el área andina.

In a recent report (Latin American Antiquity 11:283-299), Bruce Dahlin presents evidence from Chunchucmil, Yucatan, and other ancient lowland Maya centers, which indicates that low stone and earth barricade walls may have been important defensive constructions. He also postulates that population annihilation occurred during Maya warfare, particularly at Chunchucmil. In this commentary I explore alternative explanations regarding Maya defensive works and warfare derived from recent archaeological research and historic sources from the Maya lowlands. The existence of palisades or thorny bush on barricade walls, and more gradual abandonment of Maya sites during episodes of conflict, warrant further consideration and testing along with Dahlin"s intriguing hypotheses.

The results of an analysis of cranial measurements obtained from 223 skeletal samples, exhumed in 11 archaeological sites of Arica littoral and the Azapa valley, in extreme north Chile are presented. The object of this analysis is to reconstruct the biological history of the prehistoric inhabitants of the coast and the valley, in the context of their interaction with demographically and culturally more developed centers around Lake Titicaca. To this end, an osteological collection exhumed in that region is included in the analysis. The results reveal the microevolution of a coastal population with Andean roots that possibly arrived at the coast of Arica some 9,000 years ago, whose phenotypic features are recognizable until the time of contact with populations of the XVI century. This group gave origin to the inhabitants of the valleys, which during the Formative Period (3,500 B. P.) became farmers. The coastal groups maintained contact with certain groups from the valley (AZ-70). Nevertheless, the characteristic coastal features are accentuated starting from the Late Archaic Period (PLM-7 site), possibly due to genetic drift not compensated for by immigration. During the Formative Period, gene flow occurred from the highlands to the valleys, judging by a decrease in biological distance. This flow reached its maximum intensity in the Middle Horizon and the Late Intermediate Period (AZ-8). It is suggested that the migrations from the highland to the valleys are related to the disintegration of Tiwanaku.