Beginnings of Village Life in Eastern Mesoamerica

Joyce, Rosemary A.; Henderson, John S.

doi:10.2307/971754

Cited by 75 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…1), where excavation of deeply stratified deposits, buried under several meters of later occupation debris, has revealed indications of domestic activity beginning before 1500 B.C., near the beginnings of settled village life in Mesoamerica, and extending through the 1st millennium A.D. (14). Thirteen pottery sherds, from early levels in two widely separated excavation areas in different groups of buildings, were selected for chemical analysis.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(14). These vessels were designed for pouring and drinking liquids; they are comparable to vessels in which cacao was served and consumed in later Mesoamerica.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The shared features of the Chotepe-phase serving vessels include shapes, surface treatments, and decorative motifs that mark Puerto Escondido's participation in the interaction sphere that embraced much of Mesoamerica in the late Early Formative period (14,15). Earlier (Ocotillo phase) serving vessels share a different set of features with other Mesoamerican communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chemical and archaeological evidence for the earliest cacao beverages

Henderson

Joyce

Hall

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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166

114

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Chemical analyses of residues extracted from pottery vessels from Puerto Escondido in what is now Honduras show that cacao beverages were being made there before 1000 B.C., extending the confirmed use of cacao back at least 500 years. The famous chocolate beverage served on special occasions in later times in Mesoamerica, especially by elites, was made from cacao seeds. The earliest cacao beverages consumed at Puerto Escondido were likely produced by fermenting the sweet pulp surrounding the seeds.archaeology ͉ chemistry ͉ Honduras ͉ Mesoamerica

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(14). These vessels were designed for pouring and drinking liquids; they are comparable to vessels in which cacao was served and consumed in later Mesoamerica.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Chemical and archaeological evidence for the earliest cacao beverages

Henderson

Joyce

Hall

et al. 2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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166

114

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“…The Archaic and Early Formative Periods are well studied in the Near East (Simmons 2007;Zeder 2009), the U.S. Southwest (Simmons 2006;Wills 1995Wills , 2001), the U.S. Southeast (Gibson 2006;Smith 2007), and Mesoamerica (Joyce and Henderson 2001;Voorhies 2004). The accumulation of knowledge from these regions demonstrates that whether it be climate change, demographic stress, ideological factors, or social striving -no single prime mover is capable of fully explaining the shift from mobile hunting groups to more sedentary farming villages.…”

Section: A Comparative Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural dynamics, climate, and landscape in the South-Central Andes during the mid-late holocene: A consideration of two socio-natural perspectives

Craig

2011

Chungará (Arica)

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Dinámica cultural, climática y paisajista en los anDes sur-centrales Durante el holoceno meDio y tarDío:análisis De Dos perspectivas socio-naturales nathan craig 1Through a case study focusing on the Rio Ilave, Lake Titicaca Basin, Peru, this paper examines the Mid-Late Holocene climatic transition and the Archaic-Formative cultural transition as a means to evaluate two seemingly competing socio-natural theories for accelerated cultural change: resource stress and abundance. Stress based approaches emphasize the principle that experimentation, that may lead to behavioral adaptations, arises out of attempts to solve specific problems. Alternatively, abundance based approaches assert that rates of cultural change accelerate when material constraints or limits are eased. Results from the present case study indicate that during the relatively resource stressed arid Mid-Holocene, several new cultural practices developed: reduced residential mobility, storage, domestication, and intensified plant processing. During the succeeding moist and relatively resource abundant Late-Holocene, these new cultural practices greatly intensified. These intensified economic activities resulted in deforestation, and this in turn created new forms of environmental stress. Thus, experimentation occurred during a period of stress. This was followed by a relaxation of material constraints that led to intensification of the new economic activities. This intensification in turn appears to have generated new kinds of stress. This case study shows that, rather than forming competing theories, stress and abundance approaches explain different kinds and contexts of accelerated cultural change.

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“…The construction history of Structure IV was first investigated by Claude Baudez and Pierre Becquelin (1973:49-51). through the end of the Middle Formative (Joyce 2007;Joyce and Henderson 2001, 2007, 2010.…”

Section: Plant Use At Middle Formative Los Naranjosmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-Proxy Analysis of Plant use at Formative Period Los Naranjos, Honduras

Morell-Hart¹,

Joyce²,

Henderson

2014

Latin Am. antiq.

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Paleoethnobotanical analyses of samples excavated at Los Naranjos, Honduras, provide an unprecedented record of the diversity of plants used at an early center with monumental architecture and sculpture dating between 1000 and 500 B.C. and contribute to understandings of early village life in Mesoamerica. Los Naranjos is the major site adjacent to Lake Yojoa, where analysis of an important pollen core suggests very early clearing of the landscape and shifts in the relative prevalence of certain plants over time, including increases in maize. Our results from starch grain, phytolith, and macrobotanical analysis complicate interpretation of previous pollen core dates, suggesting that maize was not as central as expected to the early inhabitants of the settlement. Moreover, with identification of macrobotanical remains recovered from flotation of sediments and extraction of microbotanical remains from adhering sediments and the surfaces of obsidian tools, we can compare the potential of each analysis in interpretations of plant use. No single method would have allowed recovery and identification of all the plants documented across sample types. The presence of botanical residues on the obsidian tools provides direct evidence of processing. Even in the small sample analyzed, we can recognize tools used exclusively for culinary processing, tools used only for non-culinary tasks, and multi-purpose tools.

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Beginnings of Village Life in Eastern Mesoamerica

Cited by 75 publications

References 16 publications

Chemical and archaeological evidence for the earliest cacao beverages

Chemical and archaeological evidence for the earliest cacao beverages

Cultural dynamics, climate, and landscape in the South-Central Andes during the mid-late holocene: A consideration of two socio-natural perspectives

Multi-Proxy Analysis of Plant use at Formative Period Los Naranjos, Honduras

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