Volcanism, Ecology and Culture: A Reassessment of the Volcán Ilopango TBJ Eruption in the Southern Maya Realm

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Dull ◽  
John R. Southon ◽  
Payson Sheets
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Calendar Date ◽  
Population Crash ◽  
Volcanic Events ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
Biophysical Effects

The Tierra Blanca Joven (TBJ) eruption of the Ilopango caldera in central El Salvador was one of the largest Holocene volcanic events in Central America, and its ecological and cultural impacts were felt throughout El Salvador and adjoining areas of Guatemala and Honduras. Early radiocarbon measurements established a ca. A. D. 260 ± 114 calendar date for the eruption. However, a reevaluation of the original 14C dates, in addition to new AMS 14C assays, shows that the TBJ eruption occurred at least a century and a half later than originally estimated. The revised 14C composite supports an Early Classic Period calendar date for the eruption: 1 sigma = A. D. 421(429)526; 2 sigma = A. D. 408(429)536. A review of archaeological settlement, ceramic, and radiocarbon evidence from sites throughout the area of greatest devastation reveals a large-scale demographic collapse following the event. We believe that the population crash was caused both by the biophysical effects of the eruption and by the resulting disarticulation of the "Miraflores" cultural-economic sphere. The affected areas of El Salvador and south-eastern Guatemala did not completely recover until the seventh century A. D.

scholarly journals Drought, agricultural adaptation, and sociopolitical collapse in the Maya Lowlands

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (18) ◽  
pp. 5607-5612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. J. Douglas ◽  
Mark Pagani ◽  
Marcello A. Canuto ◽  
Mark Brenner ◽  
David A. Hodell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Isotope ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Agricultural Adaptation ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Paleoclimate Records ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
Plant Wax ◽  
Terminal Classic Period

Paleoclimate records indicate a series of severe droughts was associated with societal collapse of the Classic Maya during the Terminal Classic period (∼800–950 C.E.). Evidence for drought largely derives from the drier, less populated northern Maya Lowlands but does not explain more pronounced and earlier societal disruption in the relatively humid southern Maya Lowlands. Here we apply hydrogen and carbon isotope compositions of plant wax lipids in two lake sediment cores to assess changes in water availability and land use in both the northern and southern Maya lowlands. We show that relatively more intense drying occurred in the southern lowlands than in the northern lowlands during the Terminal Classic period, consistent with earlier and more persistent societal decline in the south. Our results also indicate a period of substantial drying in the southern Maya Lowlands from ∼200 C.E. to 500 C.E., during the Terminal Preclassic and Early Classic periods. Plant wax carbon isotope records indicate a decline in C4 plants in both lake catchments during the Early Classic period, interpreted to reflect a shift from extensive agriculture to intensive, water-conservative maize cultivation that was motivated by a drying climate. Our results imply that agricultural adaptations developed in response to earlier droughts were initially successful, but failed under the more severe droughts of the Terminal Classic period.

Linguistic Divergence and the Collapse of Preclassic Civilization in Southern Mesoamerica

1987 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce H. Dahlin ◽  
Robin Quizar ◽  
Andrea Dahlin
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Postclassic Period ◽  
Proximate Cause ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Ultimate Cause ◽  
Early Classic Period

Based on published lexicostatistical dates, two intervals in the prehistory of southern Mesoamerica stand out as fertile periods in terms of the generation of new languages: the Terminal Preclassic/early Early Classic Periods, and the Early Postclassic Period. After comparing archaeological evidence with language distributions within the subregions of southern Mesoamerica during the first of these periods, we conclude that the cultural processes during both periods had the same potential for producing rapid rates of linguistic divergences. Just as rapid proliferation of linguistic divisions was symptomatic of the well-known collapse of Late Classic Maya civilization, so it can be taken as a sign of a collapse of Terminal Preclassic civilization. Both collapses were characterized by severe population reductions, site abandonments, an increasing balkanization in material culture, and disruption of interregional communication networks, conditions that were contributory to the kind of linguistic isolation that allows language divergences. Unlike in the Terminal Classic collapse episode, small refuge zones persisted in the Early Classic Period that served as sources of an evolving classicism; these refuge zones were exceptions, however, not the rule. Although the collapse of each site had its own proximate cause, we suggest that the enormous geographical range covered by these Early Classic Period site failures points to a single ultimate cause affecting the area as a whole, such as the onset of a prolonged and devastating climatic change.

Refining Kaminaljuyu Chronology: New Radiocarbon Dates, Bayesian Analysis, and Ceramics Studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-497
Author(s):  
Bárbara Arroyo ◽  
Takeshi Inomata ◽  
Gloria Ajú ◽  
Javier Estrada ◽  
Hiroo Nasu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bayesian Analysis ◽  
Bayesian Statistics ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Environmental Data ◽  
Ceramic Analysis ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Construction Activity ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
Year 2000

Since Kaminaljuyu was first systematically excavated in the 1930s, the chronology of the site has been fraught with confusion and scholarly disagreement. In recent years, scholars generally adopted the chronology presented by Shook and Popenoe de Hatch (1999) as the most authoritative account. In 2014, however, Inomata and colleagues proposed a revision of this chronology by shifting its Preclassic portion (including the Las Charcas and Providencia phases) roughly 300 years later in time. In this article, we analyze a total of 108 radiocarbon dates with Bayesian statistics, tying them to detailed ceramic analysis. These dates include previously reported dates, measured after the year 2000, as well as 68 new radiocarbon dates obtained from Kaminaljuyu and nearby sites. The results largely support Inomata and coauthors’ (2014) revised Preclassic chronology, placing the Las Charcas–Providencia transition around 350 BC and the Providencia–Verbena transition around 75 BC. In addition, we present new dates on the Early Classic period, although some ambiguity remains for the Esperanza phase, when Teotihuacan-related elements were introduced to Kaminaljuyu. The revised chronology, combined with environmental data, suggests an explosive increase in population and construction activity during the Verbena and Arenal phases.

EXCAVATION OF AN OBSIDIAN CRAFT WORKSHOP AT TEOTIHUACAN, MEXICO

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth G. Hirth ◽  
David M. Carballo ◽  
Mark Dennison ◽  
Sean Carr ◽  
Sarah Imfeld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Lithic Technology ◽  
Craft Production ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Single Test ◽  
Production Areas ◽  
Teotihuacan Mexico

AbstractThe 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.

Ancient Maya Chert Workshops in Northern Belize, Central America

1983 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 519-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry J. Shafer ◽  
Thomas R. Hester
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
The North ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Archaeological Work ◽  
Main Center

Recent archaeological work at Colha and at other localities in the geographically restricted chert-bearing zone of northern Belize has revealed large-scale exploitation of chert for stone tool production. Workshops dated during the Late Preclassic period signal the beginning of craft specialization in chert working that continued in the Late Classic and into the Early Postclassic periods. Secular items such as large oval bifaces, tranchet bit tools and prismatic blades, as well as nonsecular eccentrics and stemmed macroblade artifacts are distinctive of the Late Preclassic and Late Classic workshops. The distribution sphere of Preclassic and Classic period chert tools has been traced to several contemporaneous sites that lie beyond the chert-bearing zone to the north. Colha has been identified as the primary production and distribution center during the Late Preclassic period; although it remained a production center in the Late Classic period, the main center for distribution may have shifted to Altun Ha.

Cacao Residues in Ancient Maya Vessels from Rio Azul, Guatemala

1990 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant D. Hall ◽  
Stanley M. Tarka ◽  
W. Jeffrey Hurst ◽  
David Stuart ◽  
Richard E. W. Adams
Keyword(s):  
Classic Period ◽  
New Method ◽  
Chemical Analyses ◽  
Ancient Maya ◽  
Clear Indication ◽  
Ceramic Vessels ◽  
Early Classic Period

Results of chemical analyses on residues collected from ceramic vessels found in an Early Classic period Maya tomb revealed that certain of the residues contained theobromine and caffeine, a clear indication that the corresponding vessels once contained cacao in some form. One of the vessels yielding cacao residues is decorated with hieroglyphs, two of which we believe have the phonetic values for the word “cacao” in the Mayan language. These findings are significant for three reasons: (1) a new method for recognizing ancient cacao use is demonstrated, (2) a novel way of verifying glyph interpretations is presented, and (3) data are generated that indicate what contents certain Maya vessels actually held, thus permitting useful functional interpretations.

THE MANY FACES OF FIGURINES

2008 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 311-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica Begun
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
Prehistoric Culture ◽  
Early Classic Period ◽  
The Many ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Cultural Structures ◽  
Ethnic Origins

AbstractFigurines offer archaeologists intriguing insights into many aspects of prehistoric culture. Beyond their utility as chronological markers, figurines offer information regarding the social and cultural structures of a society. This paper will demonstrate how the figurines of Michoacan can be used as markers of ethnic identity and ethnic continuity in the Lake Patzcauro Basin. The high degree of continuity in decorative and production styles throughout much of the sequence serves as evidence for ethnic continuity and the identity of the people who made the artifacts. A preliminary typology for the Michoacan figurines is presented to support the idea that a distinctly Michoacan style of figurine exists. The application of this figurine typology reveals a high degree of continuity in the figurine record. This supports the hypothesis that the ethnic origins of the Michoacan people may reach back as far as the Late Preclassic/Early Classic period.

Intensive Ceramic Production and Classic-Period Political Economy in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico

1993 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip J. Arnold ◽  
Christopher A. Pool ◽  
Ronald R. Kneebone ◽  
Robert S. Santley
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Ceramic Production ◽  
Los Tuxtlas ◽  
Prestige Goods ◽  
Local Elite ◽  
Production Area ◽  
Sierra De Los Tuxtlas

AbstractMatacapan, a Classic-period center in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico, is known for its strong stylistic affinities with Teotihuacan. The Comoapan complex is a ceramic-production area situated along the southern edge of Matacapan. Data from Comoapan indicate that pottery manufacture was large scale and intensive, with final products distributed outside of Matacapan and possibly beyond the Tuxtlas. These data suggest that models of Tuxtlas political economy emphasizing long-term Teotihuacan administration should be reconsidered. More reasonable is a perspective that views the Tuxtlas as a source of high-quality prestige goods whose distribution is administered by local elite.

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