In 1992 we conducted an intensive archaeological surface survey in and around the modern town of Yautepec, Morelos, Mexico. Our goals were to determine the size and extent of the Aztec-period city of Yautepec, and to gather data on its spatial organization. This article describes the methods used and the results obtained toward achieving the first goal. Aztec Yautepec covered approximately 209 ha; this area is partly covered by the modern town and partly by open fields. Late Postclassic settlement was clustered around a structure that today is the largest known Aztec palace in central Mexico. We generate ethnohistoric and archaeological population estimates for Yautepec and discuss the city in relation to other Aztec urban settlements in Morelos and the Basin of Mexico.

For too long, Mayanists working in northern Yucatan have retained a focus on the single site. Although a few recent papers have begun to examine this area in regional terms, the world-systems perspective has yet to be applied. In this paper the world-systems framework is used to examine the post-Teotihuacan core center of Chichen Itza and its hinterland. Various lines of information are combined to achieve the fullest possible picture, including new settlement-pattern data, related ethnohistoric material, and a brief consideration of existing iconographie studies. Comparative examples from contemporary sites in other parts of Mesoamerica are provided to illustrate the systemic interconnections that characterize a “world system.”

With systematic surface collections from the Mixtequilla region of Veracruz, Mexico, multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis distinguish two Postclassic complexes and permit examination of their associated settlement patterns. Comparison of pottery types to other assemblages provides cross dating and allows judgments about stylistic affinities. The earlier of the two complexes, assigned to the Middle Postclassic, ca. a.d. 1200–1350, exhibits characteristics of the “Mixteca-Puebla horizon.” The second complex dates to the Late Postclassic, a.d. 1350–1521, when the region was affected by imperial expansion of the Aztec Triple Alliance. Both complexes, but particularly the one from the Middle Postclassic, show marked changes in settlement pattern, material culture, and trade patterns. Changes in trade, stylistic emulation, or major population movement are insufficient to account for the evidence. Instead, political realignment, likely coupled with other factors, is a more promising interpretation.

The vividly painted “Battle Mural” of Cacaxtla (Tlaxcala, Mexico) depicts the gory results of a battle between racially distinct factions, characterized by their opposing jaguar and bird insignia. The two central Bird figures that remain standing are shown as captives, and in both cases they are attired in elaborate costumes that include diagnostic items of female clothing, including the quechquemitl cape and long skirt. Other figures are nude or are shown in simple male costumes, including the maxtlatl loincloth. This paper considers arguments of whether the two central figures were biological females, or rather, that the presence of female apparel on male actors was used within a context of conquest, symbolically transmitted through a gender ideology of male dominance and female subordination. While the evidence is inconclusive, we employ a contextual analysis of pre-Columbian pictorial manuscripts and Mexican cosmology to argue that these individuals were female. Furthermore, we suggest that the elaborate costume elements associated with these female figures, and their recurrence with the Jaguar Lord 3 Deer Antler “Tlaloc mask,” indicates that this was a noblewoman destined for marriage as a means of binding the Jaguar and Bird dynasties. Thus the Battle Mural depicts the capture of the “founding queen,” with the subsequent union demonstrated by the complementary depictions of Jaguar and Bird lords on Building A.

Excavation at the Late Postclassic (a.d. 1300–1520) site of Tehuacan Viejo, Puebla, Mexico revealed a room with a codex-style mural. The mural is divided into two zones. The lower zone is composed of white stucco and decorated with red circles. The upper zone is composed of mud plaster and decorated with seven and one-half shields behind which occur crossed lances and banners. Holes in the wall above the painted shields once held wooden pegs for hanging actual shields. The door jambs and circular columns of the eastern doorway are painted with horizontal bands representing the layers of heaven. Streamers hang from these bands. Included in the decoration on these streamers are stylized stars and blue butterflies. These may represent the souls of dead warriors. Symbolically, the room is the heavenly abode of these warriors. The most likely function of the room was as an armory.

Nearly 600 obsidian artifacts dating from about 200 b.c. to a.d. 950 at Quelepa, El Salvador, are assigned to geological source areas using visual criteria and an abbreviated neutron activation analysis (NAA) technique. This combined methodology affords highly accurate results, is inexpensive, and allows large collections to be sourced. Results of lithic analyses describe the evolution of procurement and production strategies at the site. Despite the location of the site on the far southeastern periphery of Mesoamerica, the lithic analyses indicate that Quelepa participated in a Mesoamerican rather than Central American transference network.

Two ballcourts at the major Classic site of La Milpa are of similar age but different design, a circumstance found only rarely elsewhere. Differences in playing surface and alley plan suggest that different kinds of ballgame were played during the Terminal Classic period on these courts.

The discovery at Joya de Cerén of the remains of a prehistoric village has presented archaeologists with an unprecedented view of pre-Columbian southern Mesoamerican earthen architecture. Twelve of the 17 known structures at the site have been partially or completely excavated to date. They include domestic dwellings, storehouses, and kitchens, as well as public and ritual buildings. These structures shared many architectural characteristics, yet each was unique. This paper draws upon the Cerén literature and personal field experience in order to present, in words and drawings, a comparison of form and function for these remarkably well-preserved structures, and suggests directions for further inquiry at Cerén.

Archaeologists have estimated the human energy costs of various undertakings. Confusion has arisen about the notion of energy “profits”–what must be included in their calculation and what we can learn from such calculations. When it comes to assessing the contribution to sociopolitical hierarchy building of energy profits derived from long-distance transport of food staples, it is the energy expended (both in transport and acquisition of the food staples) that matters. The source of the food that produces the human energy so expended is immaterial. What may be learned from such calculations is whether attempts to understand certain behaviors in terms of economic “rationality” succeed or not.

The C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of amber and jet beads found at Tipu, a Colonial-period Maya site in Belize, Central America, indicate that these materials are of European origin. The two jet beads were found in association with the burial of children in a Christian cemetery, and the single amber bead was in a midden from the early years of Spanish occupation. Both the cemetery and the midden probably date to the late sixteenth century. The amber is clearly of Baltic origin. The jet spectrum is consistent with a Spanish origin.

A regional investigation of the ancient Maya settlement patterns of the Puuc suggests that this region was occupied by increasing numbers of people seeking to maximize control over prime agricultural soils during the Late Classic period. During the Late Classic the eastern Puuc region was controlled by numerous autonomous major centers that carried on the Classic Maya tradition of divine kingship. During the late ninth century a.d., the city of Uxmal briefly emerged as the politically dominant center of the region and was involved in an important relationship with the city of Chichen Itza. By a.d. 950, however, Uxmal and the other major centers of the Puuc had ceased all important elite activities.

Despite an ancient history as rich as any in Mesoamerica, the archaeology of southern Veracruz, Mexico, remains underrepresented in both Spanish and English publications. This paper provides background information on southern Veracruz archaeology. Topical coverage includes the region's natural environment, its pre-Hispanic cultural traditions, and an overview of previous research in the area. In addition, this paper introduces and summarizes the four contributions to this special section. This collection of papers affirms that southern Veracruz archaeology is poised to make a significant contribution to our knowledge of ancient Mesoamerica.

This article reports on 1991 archaeological investigations at La Isla, a small site near the Olmec center of Laguna de los Cerros, Veracruz. Excavations of Mound D, the mound's possible association with three Olmec monument fragments found in the 1970s, and problems of site stratigraphy are discussed. The article concludes with comments on the western sector of the Olmec area. The overall distribution of major Olmec centers is then considered, and a “zonal complementarity” model associating the location of those centers with distinctive natural resources is introduced.

The southern Lowland Maya hilltop center of Kinal is shown to be a human-modified watershed. The broad paved surfaces of the elevated central precinct acted as runoff-catchment areas directing precipitation into gravity-fed channels and reservoirs. In a geographical zone affected by an extended dry season and away from permanent water sources, Kinal demonstrates the components of a rainfall-dependent water-management system characteristic of other large sites in the region.

Llano del Jícaro, Veracruz, is a workshop site where Olmec monuments were carved from exposed boulders of Cerro Cintepec basalt. The site, which lies in the hinterland of the major Olmec center of Laguna de los Cerros, was discovered in 1960 by Alfonso Medellín Zenil, who moved one of its unfinished monuments to the Museum of Anthropology in Jalapa. In 1991 more intensive archaeological investigations at Llano del Jícaro located nine additional boulders, including a tabletop altar, with evidence of carving. Excavations around four of these monoliths uncovered debitage and hammerstones from the manufacturing process. Survey also located the remains of the probable residences of the stonecarvers.

Recent archaeological surveys in the upper Belize River area have documented high overall settlement densities, albeit with an uneven distribution. Analyses have defined clear relationships between the distribution of land resources of varying agricultural capability and the density of ancient residential sites. However, these investigations did not provide direct physical evidence for cultivation techniques, particularly for the intensive methods that were probably employed in areas of prime land resources and high settlement density. The discovery in 1991 of terracing in direct association with a residential site prompted further investigations into the distribution of terrace systems throughout the area. The development of a computerized Geographic Information System (GIS) facilitated the prediction of terrace distributions on the basis of slope, soil type, and the parent material from which soils form. Initial field testing of the terrace-distribution model in 1992 resulted in the identification of 13 terrace systems, all situated on low slopes in soils developed on consolidated limestone. A variety of terrace systems were identified, including small, intricate patterns of “box terraces,” contour terraces, and cross-channel terraces. Locational data on these systems were used to modify the terrace-distribution model in anticipation of further field investigations. The results allow new insights into the structure of ancient Maya land use and settlement in the area, while illustrating a method that can be used to quantify landscape characteristics, thereby facilitating comparisons between local areas within a regional context.

The predominance of tree crops among abundant, well-preserved plant food remains from coastal sites in southern Belize suggests that these island Maya had a specialized subsistence focus. Limited arable land on offshore islands, together with a maritime economy, may have been important factors in the use of tree crops. The Wild Cane Cay Maya utilized a variety of native palm fruits – Orbignya cohune, Acrocomia mexicana, and Bactris major, as well as other wild tree fruits, in addition to corn. These coastal data support the view that specialized adaptation to diverse environments was a feature of ancient Maya subsistence.

In 1979 I initiated a program of archaeological fieldwork in the Tuxtlas Mountains in southern Veracruz, Mexico. One of the working hypotheses guiding this research was that Matacapan, the principal archaeological site in the area, headed a political economy dominated by persons from the great central Mexican center of Teotihuacan. In this paper I present evidence characterizing the economy that Matacapan dominated during the Classic period. My conclusion is that there was significant variation in system organization through time. Findings from the Tuxtlas indicate that the Early Classic regional system was small scale and organized most likely as a bounded hierarchical economy. In contrast, a dendritic political economy developed in Middle Classic times, in which the production of ceramics and/or their contents for distribution beyond the local region was emphasized. The Late Classic system was smaller scale, with most production destined for local clienteles, but apparently it was more commercialized, resembling an interlocking central-place system in several respects.