A Prehispanic Maya Pit Oven? Microanalysis of Fired Clay Balls from the Puuc Region, Yucatán, Mexico

This is a postprint (author's final draft) version of an article published in Journal of Archaeological Science in 2013. The final version of this article may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.10.014 (login may be required). The version made available in OpenBU was supplied by the author.Excavations of a kitchen at Escalera al Cielo in the Puuc Maya region of Yucatán, Mexico uncovered a concentration of fired clay balls (ca. 3–5 cm in diameter), in addition to other de facto domestic refuse. The kitchen pertains to an intensively excavated elite residential group that was rapidly abandoned sometime near the end of the Terminal Classic period (A.D. 800–950), resulting in floor assemblages that provide an opportunity to explore the types and distribution of daily household activities. The results of experimental replications and a suite of analyses comprising modal analysis, ceramic petrography, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and microbotanical residue analysis reveal aspects of clay preparation, firing temperatures, repeated use of the balls, firing conditions, and specific plant food or fuel residues adhering to them. We show that the fired clay balls were manufactured with local, clay-rich soil and employed by the inhabitants of Escalera al Cielo as heating elements; relatively high concentrations of microbotanical residues from edible plants adhering to them support the hypothesis that they were involved in kitchen activities related to food processing

Trowels, Trenches, and Transformation: A Case Study of Archaeologists Learning, Teaching, and Enacting Environmentally-Friendly, Community-Inclusive Practices

Guided by the framework of “critical transformative learning,” this study explores archaeologists as adult learners and seeks to understand how they are learning to practice a new vision of archaeology in Mexico. In this project, personal transformation is linked to disciplinary and social transformation

Evidence from Escalera al Cielo: Abandonment of a Terminal Classic Puuc Maya Hill Complex in Yucatán, Mexico

This is a postprint (author's final draft) version of an article published in Journal of Field Arhcaeology in 2012. The final version of this article may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/0093469012Z.00000000025 (login may be required). The version made available in OpenBU was supplied by the author.Excavations at the hilltop site of Escalera al Cielo, located in the Puuc Maya region of Yucatán, Mexico, have uncovered evidence of a planned abandonment at the end of the Terminal Classic period (A.D. 800–950). Six buildings investigated among three residential groups contain rich floor assemblages similar to those known from only a few rapidly abandoned sites in the Maya area. Through an analysis of de facto refuse—most of which was recovered in locations of storage and provisional discard—and midden refuse, this paper illustrates how the assemblages represent an example of household-level abandonment with anticipated return. We also consider Escalera al Cielo in light of our present understanding of the political and environmental history of the Puuc region during the late 9th century A.D

Proyecto Arqueológico Regional de Bolonchén, Temporada de Campo 2009

Annual field report for the Bolonchén Regional Archaeology Project. Principal Investigators: Tomás Gallareta Negrón, George J. Bey, III, and William M. Ringle

Proyecto Arqueológico Regional de Bolonchén, Temporada de Campo 2010

Annual field report for the Bolonchén Regional Archaeology Project. Principal Investigators: Tomás Gallareta Negrón, George J. Bey, III, and William M. Ringle

Proyecto Arqueológico Regional de Bolonchén, Temporada de Campo 2011

Annual field report for the Bolonchén Regional Archaeology Project. Principal Investigators: Tomás Gallareta Negrón, George J. Bey, III, and William M. Ringle

Proyecto Arqueológico Regional de Bolonchén, Temporada de Campo 2008

Annual field report for the Bolonchén Regional Archaeology Project. Principal Investigators: Tomás Gallareta Negrón, George J. Bey, III, and William M. Ringle

Invasão tolteca em Chichén Itzá? Uma nova leitura da questão a partir da cultura material das Terras Maias Baixas do Norte

Este artigo trata de uma das questões mais controversas da Arqueologia do México: uma possível invasão tolteca na cidade de Chichén Itzá. O assunto divide opiniões. Para um grupo de pesquisadores, Chichén Itzá é fruto da invasão dos habitantes de Tula, uma cidade do altiplano mexicano, a mais de 100 de distância dela. Já para outros pesquisadores, esta invasão não ocorreu e Chichén Itzá tem seu desenvolvimento dentro de uma tradição maia. Neste texto, mostramos algumas evidências arqueológicas em favor da segunda linha de pesquisa apresentada acima

O período Epiclássico na Mesoamérica: implicações para a questão tolteca e o sítio arqueológico de Chichén Itz The Epiclassic period in Mesoamerica: implications to the toltec question and the archaeologycal site of Chichén Itzá

A Arqueologia de Chichén Itzá sugere que sua construção data fundamentalmente do período Clássico Terminal ou Epiclássico (700-950 d.C.), ao invés do Pós-Clássico Inicial (950-1100 d.C.). Esta afirmação chama a atenção para as implicações de cronologia para o muito conhecido problema tolteca. Estamos trabalhando com a premissa que a ocupação de Chichén Itzá é, em sua maior parte, anterior à fase Tollán de Tula (900-1200 d.C.), o que nos leva a crer que o que geralmente é identificado como iconografia tolteca e, portanto, de origem das terras altas centro-mexicanas, de fato data do horizonte Epiclássico.<br>The Archaeology of Chichén Itzá suggests that its construction fundamentally date of the period Classic Terminal or Epiclassic (700-950 AD), instead of the Post-Classic Periodo (950-1100 AD). This draws attention to the implications of chronology for the well known problem tolteca. We are working with the assumption that the occupation of Chichén Itzá is, in the most part, prior to the stage Tollán of Tula (900-1200 AD), which leads us to believe that what is usually identified as tolteca iconography and therefore uplands of origin of the center-Mexican, in fact date Epiclassic horizon