The Paleo-American and Archaic Periods in Yucatan

Pathways to Complexity ◽

10.5744/florida/9780813054841.003.0002 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Anthony P. Andrews ◽

Fernando Robles Castellanos

Keyword(s):

Yucatan Peninsula ◽

Human Presence ◽

Yucatán Peninsula ◽

Preclassic Period ◽

Maya Area ◽

Middle Preclassic

This chapter reviews the growing evidence of human presence in the Maya area during Late Paleo-Indian and Archaic times. By the end of the Archaic, around 2500-2000 B.C., agriculture had spread throughout much of the Maya area, possibly accompanied by the first semi-permanent settlements. During the Early Preclassic, around 2000-1500 B.C., if not earlier, the first permanent farming settlements appear. The search for preceramic sites on the Yucatan peninsula has not been very successful and in northern Yucatan the earliest permanent settlements with ceramics do not appear until the early part of the Middle Preclassic period, ca. 1000-900 B.C.

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The Genesis of Maya Complexity in the Northwestern Region of the Yucatan Peninsula

Pathways to Complexity ◽

10.5744/florida/9780813054841.003.0009 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Fernando Robles Castellanos ◽

Teresa Ceballos Gallareta

Keyword(s):

Detailed Analysis ◽

Social Complexity ◽

Yucatan Peninsula ◽

Maya Lowlands ◽

Monumental Architecture ◽

Yucatán Peninsula ◽

Northwestern Region ◽

Maya Area ◽

Middle Preclassic

In this chapter the evidence for the rise of social complexity in the Maya area is reviewed and re-considered in light of recent evidence provided by the authors and their colleagues in the northern Maya lowlands. A detailed analysis of Middle Preclassic ceramics is presented as well as analyses of the monumental architecture of Poxila and Xocnaceh. The ceramics indicate a rapid dispersion of Maya-Yucatecan groups in the northern lowlands during the Middle Preclassic. The authors also argue that Xocnaceh and Poxila provide evidence of emerging regional statehood during the latter part of this period.

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Paleoindian ochre mines in the submerged caves of the Yucatán Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.aba1219 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (27) ◽

pp. eaba1219

Author(s):

Brandi L. MacDonald ◽

James C. Chatters ◽

Eduard G. Reinhardt ◽

Fred Devos ◽

Sam Meacham ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mineral Resource ◽

Wood Species ◽

Yucatan Peninsula ◽

Skeletal Remains ◽

Quintana Roo ◽

Compelling Evidence ◽

Human Presence ◽

Yucatán Peninsula

Investigations in the now-submerged cave systems on the Yucatán Peninsula continue to yield evidence for human presence during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Skeletal remains are scattered throughout the caves of Quintana Roo, most representing individuals who died in situ. The reasons why they explored these underground environments have remained unclear. Here, we announce the discovery of the first subterranean ochre mine of Paleoindian age found in the Americas, offering compelling evidence for mining in three cave systems on the eastern Yucatán over a ~2000-year period between ~12 and 10 ka. The cave passages exhibit preserved evidence for ochre extraction pits, speleothem digging tools, shattered and piled flowstone debris, cairn navigational markers, and hearths yielding charcoal from highly resinous wood species. The sophistication and extent of the activities demonstrate a readiness to venture into the dark zones of the caves to prospect and collect what was evidently a highly valued mineral resource.

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High-resolution speleothem record of precipitation from the Yucatan Peninsula spanning the Maya Preclassic Period

Global and Planetary Change ◽

10.1016/j.gloplacha.2015.10.003 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 138 ◽

pp. 93-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

Martín Medina-Elizalde ◽

Stephen J. Burns ◽

Josué M. Polanco-Martínez ◽

Timothy Beach ◽

Fernanda Lases-Hernández ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Yucatan Peninsula ◽

Yucatán Peninsula ◽

Preclassic Period

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Partaking in Culinary Heritage at Yaxunah, Yucatán during the 2017 Noma Mexico Pop-Up

Heritage ◽

10.3390/heritage3020028 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 474-492

Author(s):

Chelsea Fisher ◽

Traci Ardren

Keyword(s):

Food System ◽

Yucatan Peninsula ◽

Community Members ◽

Community Based ◽

Food And Agriculture ◽

Yucatán Peninsula ◽

Archaeological Work ◽

Field Season ◽

Maya Area ◽

The Town

In spring of 2017, celebrity chef René Redzepi opened a pop-up of his famed restaurant, Noma, on the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. During its run, Noma Mexico worked closely with the town of Yaxunah, a Yucatec-Mayan speaking community in the peninsula’s interior, hiring women to make tortillas and acquiring local ingredients for the restaurant. For us—two archaeologists interested in past and present Maya food and agriculture who have worked in the Yaxunah community for years—this made the 2017 field season a compelling time to engage in culinary heritage. We share on-the-ground perspectives from our work with Yaxunah community members during a decisive spring for rural Yucatán’s globalizing food system. These perspectives offer a candid contribution to this special issue’s archive of community-based and heritage-engaged archaeological work in the Maya area.

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