EL FORMATIVO EN EL VALLE DEL RÍMAC: HUACHIPA – JICAMARCA

En los meses de setiembre, octubre y noviembre de 1978 se efectuó un reconocimiento de superficie en Huachipa y Jicamarca, en el sector de la quebrada de Jicamarca (Huayco Loro) que ingresa al río Rímac por su margen norte, a la altura de Vitarte (kilómetro 10 de la carretera central), Huachipa norte, Pueblo Nuevo de Jicamarca y Cajamarquilla. Esta área está rodeada naturalmente por Cuello de Huachipa en el norte, cerro Matabuey en el este, cerro Balcón, Ventana y Pedreros en el oeste y el Rímac en el sur

Excavation of an obsidian craft workshop at Teotihuacan, Mexico

The original research by the Teotihuacan Mapping Project (TMP) identified a large number of obsidian workshops within Teotihuacan based on surface concentrations of production debris. Clark (1986b) questioned the validity of these identifications and called for subsurface excavation to confirm the presence of in situ workshop locales. This article summarizes the results from the excavation of one of the obsidian workshops identified in the Tlajinga district of Teotihuacan at Compound 17:S3E1 (Compound 17). We describe the excavations, discuss the lithic technology, and examine the subsurface contexts in terms of what they tell us about in situ obsidian craft activity. Excavations confirm that Compound 17 was a locus of large-scale obsidian craft production during the Classic period. While only a single test case, these results suggest that surface remains at Teotihuacan can be a useful guide in identifying craft production areas when they are confirmed through subsurface testing.Accepted manuscrip

New research at Teotihuacan’s Tlajinga district, 2012–2015

Teotihuacan's Tlajinga district is a cluster of neighborhoods on the southern periphery of the city best known for earlier investigations at Compound 33:S3W1. New research includes excavations at two other apartment compounds and along the southern extension of the Street of the Dead. Excavation contexts, major finds, chronology, and preliminary interpretations are the subject of this article. We highlight evidence attesting to a major obsidian-blade workshop at Compound 17:S3E1, offerings, and other features at that compound and Compound 18:S3E1, and the tempo and processes of urbanization viewed through well-recorded stratigraphic sequences of the compounds and the Street of the Dead. We conclude that significant occupation began in the Miccaotli phase, but it was not until some point in the Early Tlamimilolpa phase that the dominant housing type became apartment compounds; the continuation of the axis of Street of the Dead in the district was accomplished by excavating in the volcanic tuft substrate (tepetate) and could have been undertaken by the inhabitants of the district themselves; and the presence of items such as a sculpted stone face, marine shell, and polychrome pottery demonstrates that commoners at Teotihuacan enjoyed some access to finer items within the interregional economy.Accepted manuscrip

Archaeological Central American maize genomes suggest ancient gene flow from South America

Maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) domestication began in southwestern Mexico ∼9,000 calendar years before present (cal. BP) and humans dispersed this important grain to South America by at least 7,000 cal. BP as a partial domesticate. South America served as a secondary improvement center where the domestication syndrome became fixed and new lineages emerged in parallel with similar processes in Mesoamerica. Later, Indigenous cultivators carried a second major wave of maize southward from Mesoamerica, but it has been unclear until now whether the deeply divergent maize lineages underwent any subsequent gene flow between these regions. Here we report ancient maize genomes (2,300–1,900 cal. BP) from El Gigante rock shelter, Honduras, that are closely related to ancient and modern maize from South America. Our findings suggest that the second wave of maize brought into South America hybridized with long-established landraces from the first wave, and that some of the resulting newly admixed lineages were then reintroduced to Central America. Direct radiocarbon dates and cob morphological data from the rock shelter suggest that more productive maize varieties developed between 4,300 and 2,500 cal. BP. We hypothesize that the influx of maize from South America into Central America may have been an important source of genetic diversity as maize was becoming a staple grain in Central and Mesoamerica

The El Gigante Rockshelter: Preliminary Observations on an Early to Late Holocene Occupation in Southern Honduras.

The El Gigante rockshelter in highland Honduras was occupied as early as 10,000 years B.P and provides information previously lacking about the earliest periods of Honduran and Central American prehistory. Three distinct cultural horizons were identified and dated at the site using conventional and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dates that correspond to the Early Archaic, the Middle Archaic, and the Formative to Classic periods. Dry conditions within the rockshelter resulted in excellent archaeological preservation across all time periods. Excavations documented a clear sequence of residential activity represented by well-defined cultural strata containing hearth and pit features as well as dense deposits of lithic, macrobotanical, and faunal remains. The variety of food items found throughout the transition from foraging to food production suggests the long-term maintenance of diet breadth in the context of a mixed and flexible subsistence economy. The El Gigante site reveals key information regarding the early occupation of Central America, the flora and fauna resources by middle Holocene forages, and the domesticated plant species cultivated during the late Holocene occupation of the rockshelter. La cueva de El Gigante en las tierras altas de Honduras fue ocupada tan temnprano como 10,000 anos a.P. y da informatión previamente desconocida sobre la prehistoria de Honduras. Las condiciones climaticas secas resultan en una ecelente prevación de esta area residencial. Las excavaciones documentaron una clara secuencia de ocho estratoes culturales bien definidos fechamiento de radiocarbon convencional y AMS, se identificaron tres horizontes culturales distintos. La ocupación mas antigua es de la fase Experanza, la cual representa ocupación del Arcaico Temprano que se extiende entre 10,040-9100 a.P. La sequenda es la fase Marcala que coresponde al periodo Arcaico Medio, entre 7350-6050 a.P. La tercera y mas reciente ocupación en estas cuevas es en la fase Estanzuela, entre 3900-1500 a.P. El Giange fue usado como residencia durante los dos periods del Arcaico. Varias puntas de proyectil largas fueron recuperadas en niveles estratigraficos claramente identificados como del Paleoindio. El examen de los datos faunisticos muestra que, mientras disminuyen los hueso de maniferos grandes, aumentan los de maniferos de menor tamano y los de animales no mamiferos. Una gran cantidad de maiz (Zea sp.) esta presente en el sitio durante el periodo Estanzuela. La variedad de materials de comida entre la transición sugiere el mantenimiento a largo plazo de una amplitud dietetica en el contexto de una economia flexible y mezclada. El Giante es un sitio que revela informacion clave en relación a la colonización inicial de Centroamerica y la incorporación de especies domesticada dentro de una base de forrajeo que acompana a la transición a la argicultura. Open Access - Permission by Author(s) See Extended description for more information