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

Pathways to Prismatic Blades: A Study in Mesoamerican Obsidian Core-Blade Technology

The obsidian prismatic blade is one of the sharpest cutting implements ever produced in the prehistoric world. This volume explores the social and economic processes involved in its manufacture in ancient Mesoamerica. Contributors examine the variation in the way obsidian prismatic blades were manufactured across Mesoamerica and the causes behind this variation. The volume contributes to a broader understanding of prehistoric stone tool production and craft specialization in the ancient world