Archaeologists argue that the resiliency of Precolumbian Maya communities during the Terminal Classic collapse (800-1000 AD) in the Maya lowlands was based on their leaders’ ability to navigate the institutional and interrelational changes of the period, especially as they relate to divine kingship. This can be extended to include the leaders’ ability to adapt to changing trade networks and the commodification of new materials.  Lamanai, a Precolumbian Maya site in Northern Belize, is known for circumnavigating the changes that caused the collapse of many centres in the Maya lowlands.  One of the well-established explanations for the resiliency of Lamanai is its ongoing access to coastal trade networks.  To understand the economic structure of individual communities, archaeologists look for evidence of social stratification, which is evident in variability in the built environment. By analyzing differences in structure size, which has been used as an indicator of long-term labour investment, and the density of ceramics per structure, I argue that one of Lamanai’s supporting communities – referred to as Coco Chan – was heavily stratified in the Terminal Classic period, indicating a community with varied access to the market-based economy.

Recent research on the ancient Maya has documented market economies, although debate remains as to the importance of associated socioeconomic institutions, such as physical marketplaces, for structuring economic life in Maya societies across space and time. Broadly defined, a socioeconomic institution is an organized group of people that uses regularized practices, labour, and resources to fulfill shared social and economic objectives. One approach to better understand the role of socioeconomic institutions in the organization of ancient Maya market economies, how they changed over time, and how their structure varied from region-to-region, is to employ analytical models that deconstruct these institutions into their constituent parts to allow evaluation and comparison of their properties and mechanics.

Drawing on a growing database of published archaeological and ethnohistoric data on Maya markets and marketplaces, this paper applies a behavioral analytical approach to identifying and categorizing the variable traits or elements that, together, characterize these socioeconomic institutions. I examine ancient Maya market institutions not as immaterial abstractions, but rather as tangible organizations that are defined by the actions and practices of people, are diverse in their organization, and which have material outcomes that are observable in the archaeological record

Based on written and pictographic sources, we know that the Mexica assigned particular attributes and symbolic associations to a wide range of animal species. In particular, wild carnivorous species like golden eagles and gray wolves played an important role in Mexica myths and religious cosmovision. For instance, the golden eagle was associated with the sun, while the wolf was linked to the day/night transition. While there is knowledge that the Mexica kept exotic animal species in a vivarium at Tenochtitlan, questions remain about the length of captivity and overall treatment of these animals prior to their use in Mexica sacrificial/oblatory rituals. In this paper, we present the osteological, paleopathological, and phosphate oxygen isotope results of an adult golden eagle and three Mexican wolves recovered from three offerings within Tenochtitlan’s sacred precinct. Our findings indicate that the Mexica kept these animals in captivity at Tenochtitlan for a prolonged period, took care of them, and in the case of the gray wolves, bred them in captivity. As such, this study provides new insights to better our understanding of the interactions between the Mexica and these exotic animal species at their most sacred precinct.

During the sixteenth century, the Mesoamerican territory experienced a series of changes in its social, political, economic and religious structure. In accordance with population size and the specific characteristics of each area, it developed its own dynamics of contact, interaction and evangelization. This resulted in a new conformation of the territory and its inhabitants that was necessary for the establishment of the viceregal government. This presentation will address the particular case of the archaeological site located to the north of Guerrero state, Mexico, named Oztuma, ranging from the period of contact to the end of the sixteenth century. My analysis will focus on the secular clergy and their evangelizing activities, the strategies they used in the area and the relationship developed with both Indigenous groups and Spanish authorities to accomplish the relocation of Oztuma’s inhabitants.

Artificial cranial modification (ACM) was a widespread practice in the Americas at European contact. Previous research indicates that the pressure and tension exerted during ACM induced functional and structural changes between soft and hard tissues. The impressions left by the vascular system on the surface of the skull are a unique source of evidence when working with bioarchaeological collections. Craniovascular features have been investigated in multiple populations; however, no information is available on artificially modified pre-Hispanic Caribbean skulls. To shed light on this matter, this case study provides a reference for the craniovascular traits using a bioarchaeological collection of fronto-occipital tabular oblique artificially shaped pre-Columbian crania from Cuba. Results suggest that changes produced by intentional head-shaping may have affected the pattern and direction of endocranial vascular structures, while emissary foramina placed in less-affected areas appear to be less influenced by changes in cranial morphology. Future work will investigate the consequences of ACM on the vascular systems and compare them with unmodified pre-Columbian specimens. Also, the effects of head-shaping in endocranial thermoregulation should be explored in the future. Providing new knowledge about the prevalence and variation of the craniovascular traits may be useful in research based on bioarcheological collections and medicine.

This presentation discusses the results of a survey project conducted in 2018 and 2019 on the North coast of Peru at Las Colmenas (V-157), a site within the Gallinazo Group. The project addresses two main research questions: (1) What remote sensing technique(s) worked best to identify buried features at Las Colmenas? (2) What combinations of techniques proved to be optimal for identifying buried features, and what are the benefits and limitations of the use of an integrated approach? This project incorporated two scales of analysis: macroscale optical and thermal Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) surveys and microscale Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), magnetic susceptibility, and magnetometry surveys. A side-by-side comparison proved the thermal UAV, GPR, and magnetic susceptibility surveys were most successful at Las Colmenas. However, by integrating these methods, we noted that a multi-faceted approach documents more features than any one method. But integrating a smaller subset of these methods can still be beneficial depending on the resources available and the goals of the project.