Exchange Implications of Obsidian Source Analysis from the Lower Rio Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico

1995 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur A. Joyce ◽  
J. Michael Elam ◽  
Michael D. Glascock ◽  
Hector Neff ◽  
Marcus Winter
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Source Analysis ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Basin Of Mexico ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Monte Alban ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Exchange Patterns ◽  
Obsidian Source

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.

HUMAN SACRIFICE AND DIVINE NOURISHMENT IN MESOAMERICA: THE ICONOGRAPHY OF CACAO ON THE PACIFIC COAST OF GUATEMALA

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Human Sacrifice ◽  
Artistic Representations ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Ethnographic Data

AbstractThis article explores the sacrificial symbolism of cacao (Theobroma sp.) on the Pacific coast of Guatemala, manifest in the iconography of ceramic objects and stone sculptures from the Classic period, in textual references from the colonial period, and in contemporary ethnographic data from the southern highlands. The iconographic and textual metaphors contained in these sources linked cacao pods with dead warriors, captives, and sacrificial victims. As interpreted in this article, the harvest of cacao was equated with the acquisition of sacrificial victims, and both were conceived as precious sources of nourishment for the gods. Changes in artistic representations are discernible from Early Classic Teotihuacan-style censers to Early Postclassic Plumbate ceramic effigies. Cacao and other fruits from the Pacific coastal piedmont are still related to the symbolism of war and sacrifice in contemporary rituals from the Tz'utujil town of Santiago Atitlán. Data from southern Guatemala may be relevant to understand the sacrificial symbolism of cacao throughout Mesoamerica.

scholarly journals ALTICA, COAPEXCO, AND THE ROLE OF MIDDLEMEN IN FORMATIVE OBSIDIAN EXCHANGE

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia E. Johnson ◽  
Kenneth G. Hirth
Keyword(s):  
Potential Role ◽  
The South ◽  
Basin Of Mexico ◽  
Technological Data ◽  
Processing Site ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Obsidian Source

AbstractAltica's location in the Patlachique Range, 10 km away from the Otumba obsidian source, suggests its potential role in the distribution of Otumba obsidian. Altica may have been an important Formative middleman and processing site for obsidian exchange within the Basin of Mexico. To the south, Coapexco's position along a natural, restricted inlet to the Basin of Mexico may have enabled it to function as a node for pooling and distributing material into the Basin. This paper combines geochemical sourcing and technological data drawn from several Early and Middle Formative obsidian assemblages to reconstruct the movement of obsidian in this period to identify obsidian sources and consumption sites. In doing so, the paper assesses the role that intermediary sites like Altica and Coapexco could have played in the processing and distribution of obsidian into more distant consumption sites.

Shell-Ornament Production in Ejutla

1993 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary M. Feinman ◽  
Linda M. Nicholas
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Recent Survey ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Monte Alban ◽  
Marine Shell ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractFindings from recent survey and excavation projects in Ejutla, Oaxaca, enable a broader examination of marine shell use and exchange in ancient Mesoamerica. A variety of shell ornaments were manufactured from Pacific Coast species at the Ejutla site during the Terminal Formative/Early Classic periods. Comparisons of the Ejutla mollusc assemblage with shell ornaments found at other highland Oaxaca sites indicate shifts in the nature of shell-ornament manufacture and exchange during the Formative and Early Classic periods. These changes, in conjunction with other findings, signal shifting relationships late in the Formative period among Monte Albán, the Ejutla Valley, and the Pacific Coast. The recognized shifts in highland-lowland Oaxaca relations generally coincide with an expanded importance of Pacific Coast shell at Teotihuacan and in the Lowland Maya region.

scholarly journals Origin and diet of inhabitants of the Pacific Coast of Southern Mexico during the Classic Period - Sr, C and N isotopes

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 101981
Author(s):  
Virginie Renson ◽  
Marx Navarro-Castillo ◽  
Andrea Cucina ◽  
Brendan J. Culleton ◽  
Douglas J. Kennett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
N Isotopes ◽  
C And N

scholarly journals The Marine Radiocarbon Reservoir Effect in Tomales Bay, California

Radiocarbon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 963-974 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee M Panich ◽  
Tsim D Schneider ◽  
Paul Engel
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Northern Coast ◽  
Museum Collection ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
R Value ◽  
Tomales Bay

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the marine reservoir effect for Tomales Bay, a 25.5-km-long tidal estuary along the northern coast of California. We determined the regional ∆R through radiocarbon (14C) measurements of pre-1950 shells from a museum collection as well as archaeologically recovered shell samples from a historical railroad grade of known construction date. These results are compared against four sets of paired shell and bone samples from two local archaeological sites. Our results indicate little spatial variation along the inner bay, but the proposed ∆R value is lower than those previously reported for nearby areas along the Pacific Coast. We also note potential variability in regional ∆R of approximately 200 14C years for the late Holocene, and comparison with an older paired bone and shell sample points toward more significant temporal variation earlier in time.

Prehistoric Footprints from El Salvador

1957 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 282-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Haberland ◽  
Willi-Herbert Grebe
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Central American ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
The North ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Volcanic Chain ◽  
River Deposits ◽  
Original Vegetation

In the Central American Republic of El Salvador the Rio Lempa divides the eastern third of the country from the rest. In its lower course it flows through a large coastal plain, built up in geologically recent times by river deposits and sediments from the volcanic chain in the north (San Vicente and the volcanic group of the east). From west (Balsam range) to east (Colinas de Jucuarán) this plain has a length of about 100 km. and a width of 20 km. Some 20 years ago the nearly flat land, which slopes only very slightly from the volcanic chain to the Pacific coast, was still heavily wooded, but since then most of the forest has been cleared away for cotton crops, only leaving tiny patches of the original vegetation. In this process a number of archaeological sites were revealed, especially east of the Rio Lempa, in the department of Usulután.

Radiocarbon Chronology for the Late Archaic and Formative Periods on the Pacific Coast of Southeastern Mesoamerica

1995 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 161-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Blake ◽  
John E. Clark ◽  
Barbara Voorhies ◽  
George Michaels ◽  
Michael W. Love ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
Middle Formative

AbstractArchaeological excavations carried out during the past five years along the Pacific coast of Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador have recovered 79 new 14C dates for the Late Archaic and Early to Middle Formative periods. We analyze these new dates along with 25 previously published dates to refine a sequence of 10 archaeological phases spanning almost three and a half millennia, from ca. 4000 to 650 B.C. The phases are summarized with a brief description of their most salient characteristics. We include illustrations of the Early Formative period ceramics and figurines from the Mazatan region. The sequence of phases reveals a trajectory of cultural evolution beginning in the Archaic period with the mobile hunting, fishing, and gathering Chantuto people. By 1550 B.C., the first ceramic-using sedentary communities appeared on the coast of Chiapas. They were hunter-fisher-gatherers who supplemented their food supply with cultivated plants, including maize and beans. We suggest that by the Locona phase (1400–1250 B.C.) in Chiapas, they began the transition from egalitarian sociopolitical organization to simple chiefdoms, leaving behind evidence of large-scale architectural constructions, long-distance imports such as obsidian and jade, and elaborately crafted prestige goods. Also in Chiapas, during the Cherla phase (1100–1000 B.C.), ceramic and figurine styles, nearly identical to those found at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan on the Gulf Coast, made their first appearance. Many of the local artifact styles were gradually replaced by styles that became increasingly widespread in Mesoamerica. The chronology presented here shows that these changes were roughly contemporaneous with similar ones in neighboring regions of Mesoamerica.

scholarly journals A Review of Obsidian Source Exploitation in pre-Columbian South America

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Argyrios Periferakis
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Trade Networks ◽  
Spanish Conquest ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Obsidian Source

The focus of this paper is the obsidian quarries of the Pacific coast of pre-Columbian South America, which were exploited by the indigenous populations since ca. 11000 BC. The importance of obsidian in geoarchaeology and palaeoanthropology has already been demonstrated in sites from all around the world. In this paper, the presence of obsidian in correlation to tectonic activity and volcanism of South America is presented, along with the main sources in their regional geological context. Obsidian artefacts were the mainstay of everyday life of indigenous populations and obsidian was also used in manufacturing weapons. Despite advances in metallurgy, which were comparable with those of contemporary European states, obsidian was never supplanted by metal implements and weapons, until the Spanish conquest. Obsidian is as useful today, as it was to these civilisations, albeit in the different role, of discerning interactions between local societies, elucidating aspects of everyday life, and tracing palaeomobility and trade networks.

Low-Intensity Investigations at Three Small Sites Along Lake Xaltocan in the Northern Basin of Mexico

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Morehart ◽  
Destiny L. Crider
Keyword(s):  
Classic Period ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Infrastructural Development ◽  
Northern Basin ◽  
Basin Of Mexico ◽  
Late Postclassic ◽  
Site Function ◽  
Small Sites ◽  
Habitation Site

This report describes recent low-intensity archaeological investigations conducted at three small sites in the northern Basin of Mexico. The sites are represented by surface artifact scatters and are located on the former shoreline of the now-drained Lake Xaltocan, originally one of the principal lakes in this region. Fieldwork included mapping surface concentrations and site dimensions, conducting test excavations, and recovering surface collections. The analysis of surface artifacts focused on determining site function and chronology. Based on fieldwork and analysis, we propose that Michpilco likely was a habitation site with a substantial occupation during the Classic period. The smaller Non-Grid 5 site was occupied during the Epiclassic period, and site Non-Grid 6 was occupied during the Late Postclassic to colonial periods. These sites reflect occupations in a lacustrine landscape throughout different periods. They also exemplify the rapid disappearance and threat of destruction that looting, infrastructural development, and agriculture pose to archaeological sites in the region.

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