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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PRECLASSIC AND PROTOCLASSIC BURIAL PRACTICES AT IZAPA AND IN SOUTHEASTERN MESOAMERICA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2019

Rosemary Lieske*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37325
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]

Abstract

Extensive investigation at the archaeological site of Izapa in southern Chiapas, Mexico, by the New World Archaeological Foundation yielded few burials at the site's core ceremonial precinct. Those found were located on the acropolis that supports Mound 30a and defines the north side of Izapa Group B. The majority of caches found in this zone date to the Protoclassic Hato and Itstapa phases (100 b.c.a.d. 250). The shift in mortuary practices ca. 100 b.c. was accompanied by several changes to the site's occupation and architectural patterns. Study of these mortuary traditions provides important insights regarding the reconfiguration of Izapa's political organization at the turn of the millennium. Comparisons of mortuary practices at Izapa with those of neighboring civic-ceremonial centers El Ujuxte, Takalik Abaj, and Kaminaljuyu during the Preclassic and Protoclassic transitions contextualizes the practices found at Izapa at a regional level.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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References

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