“…We performed anthracological analyses of samples from on‐ and off‐site contexts, and petrographic analyses of horizons rich in tephra. Our chronology rests on 31 radiocarbon dates (Table ) and the analysis of collected artifacts, in particular time‐diagnostic sherds (García & Merino, ; Lesure et al., ,b).…”
We combine on‐ and off‐site research in a 9 km2 drainage in the Mexican highlands to reconstruct its settlement and land use history. We examine colluvial, alluvial, and volcanic sediments, as well as charcoal assemblages from alluvium and test pits excavated at the village of Calaveras, settled by 500 B.C. Between that date and A.D. 1000 swiddening practices stripped the drainage of its pre‐agricultural soil cover, filling streams with deposits up to 12 m thick. This transformation favored the replacement of oak by pine as the dominant species in old fields. There is no archaeological site dated to A.D. 100–1000, but continued human presence is attested by the charcoal‐rich alluvium, and isolated features, artifacts, and ecofacts in off‐site contexts. Around A.D. 1050 ash erupted from Popocatepetl volcano rejuvenated the soil cover. Slopes were terraced and occupied by dispersed farmsteads. Soon after Spanish Conquest epidemics decimated the rural population. The resulting terrace abandonment and collapse led to widespread gullying, the exposure of underlying duripans, and the formation of a ubiquitous colluvial mantle. Erosion and grazing likely favored the expansion of juniper. Agriculture was intensified and disintensified several times in the last 3000 years, but its effects are cumulative and irreversible, rather than cyclical.
“…We performed anthracological analyses of samples from on‐ and off‐site contexts, and petrographic analyses of horizons rich in tephra. Our chronology rests on 31 radiocarbon dates (Table ) and the analysis of collected artifacts, in particular time‐diagnostic sherds (García & Merino, ; Lesure et al., ,b).…”
We combine on‐ and off‐site research in a 9 km2 drainage in the Mexican highlands to reconstruct its settlement and land use history. We examine colluvial, alluvial, and volcanic sediments, as well as charcoal assemblages from alluvium and test pits excavated at the village of Calaveras, settled by 500 B.C. Between that date and A.D. 1000 swiddening practices stripped the drainage of its pre‐agricultural soil cover, filling streams with deposits up to 12 m thick. This transformation favored the replacement of oak by pine as the dominant species in old fields. There is no archaeological site dated to A.D. 100–1000, but continued human presence is attested by the charcoal‐rich alluvium, and isolated features, artifacts, and ecofacts in off‐site contexts. Around A.D. 1050 ash erupted from Popocatepetl volcano rejuvenated the soil cover. Slopes were terraced and occupied by dispersed farmsteads. Soon after Spanish Conquest epidemics decimated the rural population. The resulting terrace abandonment and collapse led to widespread gullying, the exposure of underlying duripans, and the formation of a ubiquitous colluvial mantle. Erosion and grazing likely favored the expansion of juniper. Agriculture was intensified and disintensified several times in the last 3000 years, but its effects are cumulative and irreversible, rather than cyclical.
“…This decrease in decorated serving vessels is accompanied by the disappearance of the more elaborate design motifs of the Tlatempa phase white wares (Figure 5), and a decrease in the overall diversity of design motifs depicted on serving vessels. General motifs in the Tzompantepec through Tenexac assemblages of our Tlaxcalan sample are presented in Figure 6 (for detailed illustrations of design motifs and descriptions of pottery types see J. Carballo [2011] and Lesure et al [2012, 2014a, 2014b]). The most common design (Design Code 1) is the presence of one to four horizontal, parallel lines (incised, grooved, or excised) that typically run along the rims of vessels and often serve to connect other, more elaborate design motifs on vessels, but our focus is on motifs involving more than just simple horizontal lines.…”
Section: Style and Consumption Viewed Through Ceramic Vesselsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Illustrations by Pedro Cahuantzi Hernández.Figure 6.Common design motifs from Amomoloc, Tetel, Mesitas, and La Laguna. Modified from Lesure et al (2014b:Figure 9.2). Note: design codes are numbered and referenced in Figure 7.…”
Section: Style and Consumption Viewed Through Ceramic Vesselsmentioning
The households of Formative period central Mexico represent critical loci for understanding major social transformations during a millennium (900 b.c.– a.d. 100) that witnessed the expansion and contraction of several macro-regional stylistic and economic networks, formalization of enduring political and religious institutions, and initial urbanization and state formation. Households and their constituent members used style to articulate important elements of their identity through practices of group consumption and personal adornment. In this study we consider style within the context of ceramic serving vessels and portable adornments primarily from sites in the state of Tlaxcala. We evaluate the manner in which dimensions of stylistic expression in these material goods contributed to shifting conceptualizations of household and individual identity and their articulation with community and supra-community social networks, noting the generally collective or affinitive manipulation of styles with means of socially differentiating age, status, and other dimensions of identity.
“…Relative ceramic phases often span hundreds of years, however, and distinguishing ceramic types can overlap several phases preventing precise temporal assignments for discrete events that are essential for documenting patterns of culture change. Independent chronological controls, such as high-resolution accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating, can be combined with relative ceramic-based date estimates to help improve site chronologies in the Maya region, and in Mesoamerica more generally (LeCount et al 2002; Webster et al 2004; Rosenswig and Kennett 2008; Prufer et al 2011; Culleton et al 2012; Inomata et al 2013, 2014; Hoggarth et al 2014; Overholtzer 2014; Lesure et al 2014; Huster and Smith 2015).…”
Archaeologists have traditionally relied upon relative ceramic chronologies to understand the occupational histories of large and socially complex polities in the Maya lowlands. High-resolution accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating can provide independent chronological control for more discrete events that reflect cultural change through time. This article reports results of AMS 14 C dating of stratified sequences at the residential group Tzutziiy K'in, associated with the major Maya polity of Cahal Pech in the Belize Valley. Cahal Pech is one of the earliest permanently settled sites in the Maya lowlands (1200 cal BC), and was continuously occupied until the Terminal Classic Maya "collapse" (~cal AD 800). We use Bayesian modeling to build a chronology for the settlement, growth, and terminal occupation of Tzutziiy K'in, and compare our results to chronological data from the monumental site core at Cahal Pech. The analyses indicate that Tzutziiy K'in was first settled by the Late Preclassic period (350-100 cal BC), concurrent with the establishment of several other large house groups and the growth of the Cahal Pech site core. Terminal occupation by high-status residents at this house group occurred between cal AD 850 and 900. This study provides a framework for interpreting patterns of spatial, demographic, and sociopolitical change between households and the Cahal Pech site core.
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