Walter W. Taylor, especially through his 1948 monograph A Study of Archeology, has been a major influence on the theory and methods of American archaeology. His contribution has recently been assessed in a book by a number of students and colleagues, but none of them had first-hand experience with Walt in a fieldwork setting. This is an account of personal experiences with Walt Taylor, beginning in the graduate program at Southern Illinois University (SIU), but focused on a summer National Science Foundation (NSF) project in Zacatecas in 1964 that was designed to study Chalchihuites/Chichimec interactions in a frontier area, and what that fieldwork experience revealed about Walt Taylor as an archaeologist and as a person.

This study deals with pottery production in Huáncito, a Tarascan or Purepecha community in Michoacán, Mexico. The information I have obtained by direct observation during a quarter-century of ethnoarchaeological fieldwork in this town allows me to generate hypotheses to aid in the interpretation of the archaeological record. The main goal of this study is to assist in the interpretation of the material record of ceramic production by means of ethnographic analogy. The observations conducted over a long period of time have given me an invaluable diachronic perspective for understanding many aspects of social change and cultural continuity, including patterns of ceramic manufacture, use, and discard, as well as the use of domestic space and the archaeological visibility of potting activities in the context of the households.

Flat and curved sticks with longitudinal facial grooves were dredged from the Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza in the early 1900s. They are similar to specimens recovered from the North American Southwest, where a suggested function was for defense against atlatl darts. By accepting this interpretation, Mesoamerican archaeologists identified such artifacts as fending sticks. Hassig (1992:112–114, 126–127, 2001:810–811) disputes this role, arguing that the sticks were specialized short swords for close fighting. This sword interpretation is not supported by my analysis of the Chichen Itza artifacts or the mural evidence at that site. Defense against atlatl darts is possible but unlikely to have occurred in warfare and, in any case, Maya/Toltec warriors carried shields to protect themselves against darts and other weapons. Fending darts in ritual fights such as an atlatl duel is a plausible scenario, perhaps to prove warrior mettle or as a gladiatorial blood sport. Another possible use is for subduing captives after military victory: a throwing stick to disable humans for later sacrifice.

Los habitantes de Monte Albán estaban organizados en una sociedad jerárquica compleja; la integración a la sociedad estuvo determinada por factores sociales, económicos, políticos, así como de género y edad. El objetivo central del estudio radica en identificar la posición social de los niños y su integración como miembros de la comunidad. Con este fin analizamos los patrones funerarios y el uso del espacio en dos unidades domésticas de estatus medio/alto del periodo clásico (200–750 d.C.). De acuerdo con el análisis e interpretación de los resultados, los niños más pequeños fueron enterrados en los patios centrales, algunos en fosas y otros sobre cajetes cubiertos con otro plato. A partir de los cuatro a cinco años se inhumaban bajo el piso de los cuartos y sólo unos cuantos al interior de la tumba familiar. Esta metodología permite conocer las diferencias sociales y de género al interior del grupo social y quizá como reflejo también en la sociedad zapoteca.

We systematically compare methods used for topographical mapping of the archaeological site of Matacanela, located in the Tuxtla Mountains of Veracruz. Specifically, we compare the results of ArcMap 10.2–processed, publically accessible LiDAR-derived data, collected and distributed for no charge by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI) in Mexico–with the results of traditional topographical mapping, undertaken using a Sokkia total station. These INEGI data are coarse-grained in comparison to many of the pay-for-service LiDAR datasets that have been generated for Mesoamerican sites and regions, such as Caracol (Chase et al. 2011, 2012, 2014), Izapa (Rosenswig et al. 2013), and Tres Zapotes (Loughlin et al. 2016). Here, we consider the two approaches and the type and quality of data achieved by each, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of using either approach alone. We strongly encourage scholars working in Mexico to avail themselves of these data whenever appropriate.

This paper reviews the limited evidence for the classification of the script attested at the site of Izapa. Sufficient data for assessing the nature of key formal traits exists, thanks to the more recent documentation of the sculptural corpus (Clark and Moreno 2007). After a review of the archaeological and historical linguistic context, the paper examines the history of research on the classification of the writing systems of Mesoamerica (Justeson 1986; Justeson and Mathews 1990; Justeson et al. 1985; Prem 1973), focusing on the Southeastern Tradition. Three diagnostic traits allow for a narrow assignation of Izapa's script, perhaps unsurprisingly, to the Greater Izapan or Maya-Izapa sub-tradition (Justeson and Mathews 1990; Justeson et al. 1985) of the Southeastern Tradition: the superfixed placement of the bar-and-dot numeral with respect to the day sign cartouche, positional notation for counting, and the use of day sign pedestals. Other traits include the conflation and embedding of signs. The paper concludes that the evidence is, at present, insufficient to distinguish between the two likely options, Mixe-Zoquean and Mayan. Finally, a preliminary signary is provided in the Appendix.

The importance of emblem glyphs to Maya studies has long been recognized. Among these are emblems that have yet to be conclusively matched to archaeological sites. The Water Scroll emblem glyph is one such example, although it appears numerous times in the Classic Maya written corpus between the sixth and the eighth centuries. These many references are found at a variety of sites across the lowlands, attesting to the importance of this ancient kingdom and the kings who carried this title. In the present paper, we review the epigraphic and archaeological evidence and propose that this may be the royal title of the kings who reigned from Altun Ha, in the east central Maya lowlands, in what is now Belize. In so doing, we also begin to reconstruct the dynastic history of the Water Scroll kings, from the vantage of both local and foreign sources.

This paper addresses activities carried out in a late-sixteenth or seventeenth century Maya council house (popol nah) just before its abandonment. Structure 719 at the site of Zacpeten in the central Peten lakes district is considered a noble residence remodeled into a council house with an adjacent temple. Excavations revealed quantities of de facto refuse inside the structure's two rooms and around the exterior; recent studies focused on ceramics, lithics, faunal remains, and net sinkers. The back room held abundant lithics and diverse fauna, with evidence of grinding red pigment and snapping obsidian prismatic blades into segments for fashioning arrow points. Pottery and faunal remains indicate feasting, as well as possible use of animal parts in ritual and in making ceremonial objects. The Group 719 complex served as a center of production of various goods and community ritual until its abrupt abandonment, likely in the first decade or so of the eighteenth century.

In this article, we consider how the Postclassic Kowoj Maya of the central Peten lakes region of El Petén, Guatemala utilized mana in conjunction with their ritual objects and spolia to mediate between the natural and supernatural worlds. In many cultures worldwide and throughout time, mana (magical or spiritual powers that provide people and objects with a living force) transforms the ordinary into the spiritually powerful. The Kowojs imbued incense burners and buildings with mana, thus facilitating a connection with their ancestors. We examine the manufacturing recipe of a group of incense burners and the civic-ceremonial buildings at Zacpeten to argue that the Kowoj used these objects to mediate among the living, the dead, and the supernatural realms. Ultimately, by empowering these objects with mana, the Kowoj constructed a universe where they regularly communicated with their ancestors and built structures that ensouled their historical consciousness.

This paper presents new evidence for hierarchy and power among the Classic Maya (a.d. 300–1000) from the northern lowlands. It expands the list of identified emblem glyphs, and, more particularly, focuses on emblems with numerals by questioning their meaning and function in terms of political organization. Furthermore, the paper centers on syntax, especially on the practice of structuring personal names and titles in order to isolate titles and emblem glyphs, as well as to rank individuals and further advance our understanding of ancient Maya political organization. Finally, a dynastic sequence of rulers and noblemen from the Chan or Kan kingdom (most probably Jaina) is proposed, as well as divergent monumental traditions within the northern region and a re-evaluation of interpolity relationships.

Multiple studies conducted over the past few decades have recognized the necessity of rainwater collection and storage as a critical aspect in the evolution of Maya civilization. Few of these efforts, however, have emphasized the importance of managing water resources at the household level. Data are presented from two central lowland sites—the dispersed hinterland community of Medicinal Trail and the urban center of Yaxnohcah—that elucidate the function of small reservoirs and associated landscape modifications in residential water management. Despite differing physical geographies and trajectories of urban development, residents of both communities were clearly engaged in water management activities based, at least in part, on the creation and use of small reservoirs. Decentralized household water management practices appear to have been temporally and spatially widespread components of Maya civilization beginning in the Preclassic period.

The “eclipse glyph,” as it is called by most people in our field, is not referring to eclipses, but rather to the darkened sun and moon associated with heavy rainfall or darkened skies. This glyph is composed of the sun sign or moon sign (occasionally others) between two flanking fields, usually one light and one dark, and is found principally in the Postclassic divinatory almanacs of the Maya codices. Evidence for this proposal comes from iconography as well as texts. Rain pours from “eclipse glyphs” in pictures accompanied by hieroglyphic captions explicitly dealing with rain; they also appear in calendrical sequences that could not possibly be referring to eclipses. Even in the lunar or eclipse pages in the Dresden Codex that deal with solar eclipses, the texts that accompany the “eclipse glyphs” are about rain. A search of Classic-period antecedents suggests a linguistic value yihk'in, meaning “darkened” or “darkening.”