High-resolution chronology for the Mesoamerican urban center of Teotihuacan derived from Bayesian statistics of radiocarbon and archaeological data

Beramendi‐Orosco, Laura; González-Hernández, Galia; Urrutia‐Fucugauchi, J.; Manzanilla, Linda; Soler-Arechalde, A. M.; Goguitchaishvili, Avto; Jarboe, N. A.

doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2008.10.003

Cited by 54 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…We refer to this period as a coup to maintain consistency with the dominant explanation in the existing archaeological research on Cantona (18). We also note that recent research suggests that Teotihuacan was abandoned at ∼550 CE, possibly as a result of internal revolt (19).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 69%

Cultural implications of late Holocene climate change in the Cuenca Oriental, Mexico

Bhattacharya¹,

Byrne²,

Böhnel

et al. 2015

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

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There is currently no consensus on the importance of climate change in Mesoamerican prehistory. Some invoke drought as a causal factor in major cultural transitions, including the abandonment of many sites at 900 CE, while others conclude that cultural factors were more important. This lack of agreement reflects the fact that the history of climate change in many regions of Mesoamerica is poorly understood. We present paleolimnological evidence suggesting that climate change was important in the abandonment of Cantona between 900 CE and 1050 CE. At its peak, Cantona was one of the largest cities in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, with a population of 90,000 inhabitants. The site is located in the Cuenca Oriental, a semiarid basin east of Mexico City. We developed a subcentennial reconstruction of regional climate from a nearby maar lake, Aljojuca. The modern climatology of the region suggests that sediments record changes in summer monsoonal precipitation. Elemental geochemistry (X-ray fluorescence) and δ18O from authigenic calcite indicate a centennial-scale arid interval between 500 CE and 1150 CE, overlaid on a long-term drying trend. Comparison of this record to Cantona’s chronology suggests that both the city’s peak population and its abandonment occurred during this arid period. The human response to climate change most likely resulted from the interplay of environmental and political factors. During earlier periods of Cantona’s history, increasing aridity and political unrest may have actually increased the city’s importance. However, by 1050 CE, this extended arid period, possibly combined with regional political change, contributed to the city’s abandonment.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 69%

Cultural implications of late Holocene climate change in the Cuenca Oriental, Mexico

Bhattacharya¹,

Byrne²,

Böhnel

et al. 2015

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

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“…This updated database contains selected results of archeomagnetic samples (Wolfman, 1990 andHueda et al, 2004;Rodríguez, 2003;Guerrero, 2003 andSanchez, 2005), volcanic rocks (Urrutia-Fucugauchi, 1996) and well dated stalagmites (Latham, et al 1989). These data are supported by 31 new radiocarbon ages (Beramendi-Orosco et al, 2009). As an intent of archeomagnetic dating, we used software RENDATE (see Lannos, 2004 for more details) based on Bayesian statistics.…”

Section: Main Results and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Rock-magnetic and archeomagnetic survey from some classical settlements at Chapultepec archeological site (western Mesoamerica)

et al. 2011

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Many archaeological artifacts contain magnetic minerals that may record the direction and strength of the Earth's magnetic field. The geomagnetic field parameters (declination, inclination and intensity) change through time and then may be used asa dating tool. Over the last three decades, the archeomagnetic method was successfully applied in Europe. Still, no systematic studies are devoted to the American sites. We report here, a detailed rock-magnetic and archeomagnetic investigation of some preColumbian settlements at Chapultepec archeological site (western Mesoamerica). Continuous low-field susceptibility vs. temperature curves performed in air point to Ti-poor titanomagnetites as remanence carriers. Hysteresis ratios fall essentially in the pseudo-single-domain region. The twelve oriented samples taken from the furnace located in the habitation area were demagnetized applying pick alternative fields. In most cases, a stable uni-vectorial remanent magnetization was found yielding a reasonably well defined mean characteristic direction: inclination I = 32.8, declination D = 353.4°, and parameters of Fisherian statistics  95 = 10.4° and k = 14. Still poorly defined directional master curves for Mesoamerica, together with relatively dispersed mean directions obtained in this study, make dating targets difficult. Archaeomagnetic dating was carried out on the basis of Bayessian statistics. This established a most probable time interval from 512 to 634 A.D. with an average of 573  61 A.D. K e y w o r d s : archeomagnetism, Mesoamerica, secular variation Continuation of LATINMAG Special Issue #4, Stud. Geophys. Geod., 54 (2010) V. López-Delgado et al. 330 Stud. Geophys. Geod., 55 (2011)

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“…In the absence of such data, 14 C values, sometimes in combination with other dating strategies such as provided by archaeomagnetic data, are the principal means of deriving a detailed chronology. A detailed review of the existing suite of 30 wood and charcoal 14 C values specifically associated with specific construction phases evaluated in terms of the calibration intervals, combined with Bayesian statistical modeling, has yielded a result that the last major construction phase at Teotihuacan ended as much as a century earlier than previously determined (Beramendi-Orosco et al 2009). …”

Section: Mesoamericamentioning

confidence: 99%

Six Decades of Radiocarbon Dating in New World Archaeology

Taylor

2009

Radiocarbon

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ABSTRACT. Radiocarbon ( 14 C) dating provided New World archaeological research with the first continent-wide common chronometric scale that transcended the mostly relative site-and region-specific chronological sequences that had been assembled during the preceding century of fieldwork. 14 C data continue to play a critical role in establishing a chronometric framework for the 5-century-long debate concerning the timing of the initial peopling of the New World. Other issues where 14 C results have been of particular importance include the origins and development of New World agriculture and determination of the relationship between the Western and Classic Maya long-count calendar. The introduction of a third-generation measurement technology of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) beginning in the late 1970s has provided a means of obtaining analyses on milligram and microgram amounts of carbon permitting more detailed critical approaches to increasing the accuracy of 14 C values on certain sample types-particularly human skeletal materials. It also provided a more effective means of allowing greater dating precision in situations where such data had an important bearing on the validity of inferences about the rates of cultural evolutionary change in New World societies.

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High-resolution chronology for the Mesoamerican urban center of Teotihuacan derived from Bayesian statistics of radiocarbon and archaeological data

Cited by 54 publications

References 13 publications

Cultural implications of late Holocene climate change in the Cuenca Oriental, Mexico

Cultural implications of late Holocene climate change in the Cuenca Oriental, Mexico

Rock-magnetic and archeomagnetic survey from some classical settlements at Chapultepec archeological site (western Mesoamerica)

Six Decades of Radiocarbon Dating in New World Archaeology

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