Preclassic Ceramics from Chalchuapa, El Salvador, and Their Relationships with the Maya Lowlands

1970 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Sharer ◽  
James C. Gifford
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Ceramic Material ◽  
Analytical Procedure ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
East Central ◽  
Analytic Procedure ◽  
Maya Area ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Lowland Maya

AbstractApplication of the type-variety analytical procedure to Preclassic ceramic material excavated from mound-fill deposits at Chalchuapa, El Salvador, has provided important indications of possible ceramic relationships between this site-zone and the Maya Lowlands. Of the five ceramic complexes, the earliest (the Tok ceramic complex) seems related to the Early Preclassic (Cuadros phase) of south coastal Guatemala and Mexico. Pottery of the early Middle Preclassic (the Colos and Kal ceramic complexes) appears to involve certain direct type-variety relationships with the Lowland Maya Xe and Mamom ceramic spheres. Late Middle Preclassic pottery (the Chul ceramic complex) is evidently almost exclusively affiliated with Highland Guatemala (the Providencia phase at Kaminaljuyu). Pottery of the Late Preclassic and "Protoclassic" (the Caynac ceramic complex) at Chalchuapa continues to reflect these ties (now with the Miraflores, Arenal, and Santa Clara phases at Kaminaljuyu). Apart from such ties, however, there are also significant indications of renewed ceramic connections with the Maya Lowlands during this time interval that we believe might have been of some consequence for the development of the Classic Lowland Maya. The implications of these ceramic relationships for the problem of the initial occupation of the east-central Maya Lowlands and the later intrusive Floral Park ceramic sphere at Barton Ramie are discussed. The paper also considers the implications of this evidence for the type-variety analytic procedure and proposes a tentative outline of Preclassic ceramic relationships in the Maya area.

The Analysis and Distribution of Volcanic Ash-Tempered Pottery in the Lowland Maya Area

1979 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Simmons ◽  
Gerald F. Brem
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
Petrographic Analysis ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
Maya Area ◽  
Lowland Maya

Petrographic analysis of potsherds from Dzibilchaltun and other Maya sites conclusively establishes the presence of volcanic ash temper in ceramics from northern Yucatan. The distribution of ash-tempered ceramics in time and space suggests import of ash in bulk from sources in highland Guatemala or El Salvador in exchange for salt. The homogeneous nature of the ash in northwestern Yucatan supports the idea that certain trading organizations enjoyed exclusive access to that region, while competing for markets in other lowland areas.

Relationships between Early Preclassic and Early Middle Preclassic Phases in Northern Belize: A Comment on “Lowland Maya Archaeology at the Crossroads”

1984 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 628-631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Potter ◽  
Thomas R. Hester ◽  
Stephen L. Black ◽  
Fred Valdez
Keyword(s):  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Maya Archaeology ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Lowland Maya

In a recent paper, Marcus (1983) provides a timely synthesis of the rapidly accumulating body of data from various projects in the Maya Lowlands. One of the specific problems discussed by Marcus is that of temporal and cultural definition of the Swasey phase at the sites of Cuello and Colha, and its relationship to other early components. Our comment presents new data from Colha that were not available to Marcus. These data have significantly expanded our understanding of the earliest occupations at the site and have important implications for intersite comparisons.

The Isthmian Origins of the E Group and Its Adoption in the Maya Lowlands

Maya E Groups ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeshi Inomata
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Construction Methods ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Diverse Groups ◽  
Lowland Maya

Recent investigations at Ceibal (Seibal) and other Preclassic Period (1000 BCE–250 CE) sites indicate that the E Group assemblage was originally developed around 1000-900 BCE as an element of a standardized site plan called the Middle Formative Chiapas pattern (MFC) through interactions among diverse groups inhabiting the Isthmian region, including the southern Gulf Coast, Chiapas, the southern Pacific Coast, and the southwestern end of the Maya lowlands. The Maya in the central and eastern lowlands began to adopt the E Group after 800 BCE and to create their own cultural tradition by applying their construction methods, by developing new symbolism and ritual, and by discarding most other elements of the MFC pattern. After many of the Isthmian centers collapsed at the end of the Middle Preclassic Period (ca. 350 BCE), the lowland Maya became the most avid builders of E Groups in Mesoamerica.

The Genesis of Maya Complexity in the Northwestern Region of the Yucatan Peninsula

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Robles Castellanos ◽  
Teresa Ceballos Gallareta
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Social Complexity ◽  
Yucatan Peninsula ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Monumental Architecture ◽  
Yucatán Peninsula ◽  
Northwestern Region ◽  
Maya Area ◽  
Middle Preclassic

In this chapter the evidence for the rise of social complexity in the Maya area is reviewed and re-considered in light of recent evidence provided by the authors and their colleagues in the northern Maya lowlands. A detailed analysis of Middle Preclassic ceramics is presented as well as analyses of the monumental architecture of Poxila and Xocnaceh. The ceramics indicate a rapid dispersion of Maya-Yucatecan groups in the northern lowlands during the Middle Preclassic. The authors also argue that Xocnaceh and Poxila provide evidence of emerging regional statehood during the latter part of this period.

The E Group as Timescape

Maya E Groups ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prudence M. Rice
Keyword(s):  
Central Mexico ◽  
The South ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Community Renewal ◽  
Small Hand ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Lowland Maya

Small, hand-modeled, anthropomorphic figurines of fired clay are abundant in Middle Preclassic (1000–350 BCE) Mesoamerica, especially Central Mexico, the Isthmus, and regions to the south. They are variably present in the southern Maya lowlands and virtually absent in the northern lowlands, raising many questions about their meanings and uses. I propose that Middle Preclassic lowland Maya ceramic figurines: 1) were manipulated in integrative community renewal rituals associated with females and maize, and celebrated in early versions of E Groups; and, more speculatively, 2) were icons related to development of head-variant glyphs used in the script-iconography of the 260-day sacred almanac.

THE FIRST MAYA TRADE WARE? NEW DATA ON MIDDLE PRECLASSIC-PERIOD MARS ORANGE PASTE WARE FROM HOLTUN, GUATEMALA

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 821-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael G. Callaghan ◽  
Daniel E. Pierce ◽  
William D. Gilstrap
Keyword(s):  
Neutron Activation Analysis ◽  
Activation Analysis ◽  
Neutron Activation ◽  
Short Distance ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
The West ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Combined Data

This study reports on type: variety-mode classification, digital stereomicroscopy, petrography, neutron activation analysis, and previously published reports and characterizes production and distribution of Mars Orange Paste Ware in the Middle Preclassic-period Maya Lowlands. The sample consists of 2028 sherds of Mars Orange Paste Ware from Holtun, Guatemala, and 4105 sherds reported from sites in Central Belize and Peten Guatemala. The combined data suggest Mars Orange Paste Ware was a “short-distance” trade ware produced in the northeastern Maya Lowlands and distributed from Central Belize to the west.

El Achiotal

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Jane Acuña
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Location ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
Conventional Models ◽  
And Control

This chapter summarizes the archaeological and iconographic evidence from Structure 5C-01 that indicate rulership was established at the small center of El Achiotal in the Late Preclassic period. The symbolic vocabulary at El Achiotal suggests rulers were knowledgeable of the widespread ideology that was being institutionalized in the southern Maya lowlands as well as the more ancient symbolic vocabulary that represented the institution of kingship developed by the Middle Preclassic at La Venta and other centers in Mexico. Variables such as geographic location and control over knowledge provided Late Preclassic centers with leverage to negotiate their status and power within the broader regional geopolitics, thus challenging conventional models used to understand early political authority and its organization over the landscape.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kathryn Brown ◽  
George J. Bey
Keyword(s):  
Social Complexity ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Classic Maya ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Time Period ◽  
New Information ◽  
Preclassic Maya ◽  
Middle Preclassic ◽  
First Time

This introduction to the edited volume by Brown and Bey summarizes past research on the Preclassic Maya and discusses an explosion of new information from the last fifteen years pushing back the origins of social complexity into the Middle Preclassic. This chapter highlights the fact that this volume brings together important archaeology and research considering the Middle and Late Preclassic periods from both the southern and northern Maya lowlands for the first time. The Late Preclassic was long thought to be the time period by which archaeologists could explain the rise and nature of Classic Maya culture. However, as the fifteen chapters in this volume argue, any discussion of the development of social complexity must be focused on the Middle Preclassic (1000-300 B.C.).

The Site of Noh K'uh, Chiapas, Mexico: A Late Preclassic Settlement in the Mensäbäk Basin

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Juarez ◽  
Sebastián Salgado-Flores ◽  
Christopher Hernández
Keyword(s):  
Complex Societies ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
River Region ◽  
Western Frontier ◽  
Maya Area

In this report we introduce the site of Noh K'uh, a Late Preclassic (400 BC–AD 250) community in the western frontier of the Maya Lowlands. This new body of data contributes to the study of how complex societies emerged both within the Usumacinta River region and the Maya area overall.

CLIMATE-CHANGE STUDIES IN THE MAYA AREA

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel D. Gunn ◽  
Ray T. Matheny ◽  
William J. Folan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Annual Meeting ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Change Models ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cultural Paradigms ◽  
Physical Forces ◽  
Maya Area

The series of papers on climate change published in this issue are the result of the symposium “Environmental Change in Mesoamerica: Physical Forces and Cultural Paradigms in the Preclassic to Postclassic,” held at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in March 2000 in Philadelphia. The authors bring their expertise in paleoclimatological studies to bear on the Maya Lowlands and Highlands from the beginning of the Holocene to the Postclassic and modern times. The studies reveal that climate has changed during the past 4,000 years to a considerable degree that correlates in a reasonable way with archaeological periodizations. Several climate-change models are presented as an effort to understand better past cultural and natural events.

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