This paper argues that what we and others have termed a “cult of Quetzalcoatl” is more properly viewed as a set of imagery, beliefs, and practices associated with an ideology of leadership. Examination of the architecture and iconography of Chichen Itza and related sites with feathered serpent iconography suggests that these practices were similarly structured and played a similar role in many of Mesoamerica's Tollans, specifically in the investiture of client elites. Many of the structures of the Gran Nivelación of Chichen Itza, particularly the Great Ballcourt, were the loci of such rituals of investiture, especially its military aspect. This common ritual structure supports the idea that Quetzalcoatl may have been central to institutions unifying Mesoamerica from the time of Teotihuacan onward, if not earlier.

How does state-level political organization develop in small polities located in peripheral areas? The Pusilha Archaeological Project, which has completed two field seasons, is studying political and economic development at the ancient Maya city of Pusilha, Toledo District, Belize. Pusilha emerged in the Early Classic period (a.d. 250–600) as a small regional polity, but throughout much of the Late Classic period (a.d. 600–800) it may have been influenced by larger neighbors such as Copan and Caracol. Our goals are to study both the political and economic trajectories of the site to better understand processes of integration and state formation from the perspective of a marginal, second-order polity. Our research entails (1) the detailed epigraphic and iconographic study of the 46 monuments known from the site, (2) systematic mapping of the entire 6- to 9-km2 city, (3) test-pitting operations in non-architectural contexts, (4) excavation and consolidation of select structures, and (5) artifact analyses. During the 2001 and 2002 field seasons, described in this report, we conducted systematic survey of a 1.5-km–long transect through the site core, mapped many additional groups at the site, excavated 24 test pits in various architectural groups, excavated and consolidated a partially destroyed structure occupied during the Postclassic period, developed a multi-phase ceramic chronology, and analyzed the many hieroglyphic inscriptions that describe Pusilha's 700-year–long dynastic and mythological history.

This paper summarizes more than a decade of excavations in the monumental core precinct of the Maya center of Blue Creek in northwestern Belize. Extensive and intensive excavations at Blue Creek have been undertaken since 1992. Consequently, a large database has been accumulated, particularly regarding the Early Classic period. Although occupation at Blue Creek dates to the Early Preclassic period (900 b.c.), complex society and, probably, the installation of Blue Creek's first king occurred at about a.d. 100, in the Late Preclassic period. For the next several hundred years, Blue Creek grew in population and complexity, finally being abandoned at some time in the ninth century a.d.

This paper examines the stone-tool assemblage recovered from excavations of six Classic-period residential terraces at El Palmillo, a terraced hilltop community in the eastern arm of the Valley of Oaxaca. Based on this analysis, stone-tool production and the processing of xerophytic plants—most important, maguey—were found to be important household craft industries at the site. Yet certain craft activities were practiced in only a few households, while others were enacted more widely but in varying intensities or degrees. This house-to-house variability in production implies a reliance on a system of economic integration in which domestic units at El Palmillo exchanged specific goods with other households at the site as well as more broadly. Through comparison of domestic units, we also found that exotic obsidian and semiprecious stone artifacts were distributed differentially between households, although the extent of the differentiation was less marked than might have been expected at one of the largest Classic-period settlements in the Valley of Oaxaca. Together, these findings point toward a high degree of horizontal, socioeconomic interconnection and integration among household units at El Palmillo.

The names of many pictorial manuscripts from ancient Mesoamerica honor collectors, politicians, scholars, or institutions of the “Western” world or the national elite, alien to the people who created them and the region to which they refer. Different usages in designating these codices and lienzos have introduced some confusion in the nomenclature. Here, a new set of names is proposed that is more in conformity with the contents of the documents and closer to the Mesoamerican culture.

Mathews, Jennifer, and James Garber, 2004 Models of Cosmic Order: Physical Expression of Sacred Space among the Ancient Maya. Ancient Mesoamerica 15:49–59.

On page 50, last paragraph, fourth sentence, William R. Coe (1965) was mistakenly cited. Michael D. Coe is in fact the author of the work that was cited. The publisher apologizes for the error.