This article offers a revision of the chronology and settlement history of Tula, Hidalgo, synthesizing information obtained from numerous investigations and 68 radiocarbon and seven archaeomagnetic dates. Tula Chico's earliest settlement appeared while the region was under the control of Teotihuacan as one of many hilltop Coyotlatelco settlements in the region. The monumental center at Tula Grande did not appear until after Tula grew to power, presumably with the consolidation of the other Coyotlatelco polities. Extensive exposure of residential structures in numerous localities have revealed a widespread pattern of barrios containing households exhibiting a wide range of social status that enjoyed access to a wide variety of luxury items including the first reported objects of gold. Tula Grande and the Tollan phase city appear to have already been abandoned and in ruins prior to the arrival of Aztec II peoples. The Late Aztec period occupation shows a preoccupation with Tula's ruins that parallels similar evidence from the Templo Mayor excavations suggesting it was indeed the place the Aztecs called Tollan.

Evidence from sites in the lower Ulua valley of north-central Honduras, occupied between a.d. 500 and 1000, provides new insight into the connections between households, craft production, and the role of objects in maintaining social relations within and across households. Production of pottery vessels, figurines, and other items in a household context has been documented at several sites in the valley, including Cerro Palenque, Travesía, Campo Dos, and Campo Pineda. Differences in raw materials, in what was made, and in the size and design of firing facilities allow us to explore how crafting with clay created communities of practice made up of people with varying levels of knowledge, experience, and skill. We argue that focusing on the specific features of a particular craft and the crafter's perspective gives us insight into the ways that crafting contributed to the reproduction of social identities, local histories, and connections among members of communities of practice who comprised multicrafting households.

Epigraphic and functional comparisons of carved monuments in highland and coastal Oaxaca are used to address questions concerning (1) the origin and development of writing in southwestern Mesoamerica, (2) macroregional interactions, and (3) past linguistic affiliations of coastal groups. Given the scarcity of known inscriptions, particularly along the littoral of Guerrero and Oaxaca, it is concluded that the writing system in the coast is derived from central (Zapotec) Oaxaca and that the littoral did not play a role in the origins of writing in Mesoamerica. Since most of the inscribed material presently available from the coast dates between a.d. 600 and 900, relatively few traces of interregional contacts can be detected by means of epigraphy. Discernible interactions include contact with post-Teotihuacan sites in the central highlands via Guerrero; central Oaxaca through intermediate regions like Sola de Vega and Miahuatlan; and Tabasco, the latter apparently the result of migrations. The close epigraphic similarities between the coast and central Oaxaca suggest that groups speaking Chatino and other languages of the Zapotecan family had a wider distribution along the littoral in former times.

Recent archaeological settlement pattern research in the 550 sq km Comayagua Valley in central Honduras has documented considerable variation in the political structure of one ranked society over a 2,500-year period of prehistory. Data presented suggest that this Lenca and proto-Lenca culture group underwent at least five major political restructurings during this time as a response to the local, regional, and interregional political climate on the southeast Mesoamerican periphery. Such variability calls into question traditional models postulating a lack of complexity or adaptive flexibility for indigenous cultures of lower Central America.

Survey and excavation conducted by Stoner and Nichols (2019) at Altica, located in the Basin of Mexico, recovered nearly 29,000 pieces of obsidian, most of which apparently came from the nearby Otumba source. Formal classification followed by attribute analysis revealed a number of distinct lithic industries represented in the collection, although most are represented by finished objects that do not appear to have been produced on site. Most of the material consists of flakes probably used as unmodified, informal tools and produced on expedient cores consisting of some nodules but mostly percussion blades, spent cores, and other artifacts recycled as secondary cores. I propose that Altica acquired its obsidian from workshops possibly located in an area where they apparently existed in later times and may have during the Early–Middle Formative, as well. Virtually all of the obsidian in the collection appears to have been used for domestic or subsistence activities and was not involved in production or exchange systems believed to have existed at that time. Two unusual caches containing macronodules provide some evidence to the contrary, suggesting that Altica may have been a transshipment center.

A single right fifth metatarsal found in Tomb 1 at Peligroso, Belize exhibited a small deformity in the form of a small (7 mm) accessory digit emanating from the plantar surface at mid-shaft. This Type A postaxial polydactyly is the first archaeological example of polydactyly reported for Mesoamerica. Polydactyly is one of the more commonly reported morphological anomalies and thus its appearance in Maya populations would have been prevalent enough to demand explanation. A review of related terminology in pertinent Amerindian languages is presented as a means of exploring the manners in which digits and the human body are conceptualized. Maya iconographic representations of polydactyly at Palenque have parallels to other Mesoamerican renderings of supernumerary digits used to identify divinities and deified ancestors. However, the Peligroso mortuary context comprised disarticulated and commingled bones, suggesting that the individual did not have a distinctive social role related to the presence of an extra digit.

Late/Terminal Classic Maya ballcourts from the upper Grijalva Basin (Chiapas, Mexico) are described and analyzed in a regional settlement and political context. The upper Grijalva Basin is found to have large numbers of ballcourts compared with other parts of the Maya area. The spatial distribution of ballcourts in the basin matches the distribution of civic-ceremonial centers, reflecting the key ritual and political roles of the ballcourt. Absence of a clear hierarchy in size or elaboration among the ballcourts reflects political decentralization. Ballcourt sizes, forms, alignments, and placements indicate their use for either Maya or Mexican hip ball games or more likely some combination of the two game types. Finally, three models that focus on elite factions, elite wealth building, and ritualized conflict are used to explore why the upper Grijalva Basin has so many more ballcourts compared with neighboring parts of the Maya area. An elite-factions model, incorporating a high degree of decentralization across the political landscape, is selected as most plausible for understanding the basin's proliferation of ballcourts.

Recent research into the Teuchitlan tradition continues to improve our understanding of western Mexico's relationship to the rest of Mesoamerica. The tradition is defined on the basis of its distinctive public architecture, yet little research has been done to explore the significance of these temples for political organization. I propose that a more emic analysis of the political system can clarify the relationship among architecture, ritual, and political elites in Late Formative (300 b.c.–a.d. 200) Jalisco. I make use of indigenous ceramic dioramas; recent excavation data from Llano Grande, Jalisco; ethnohistoric accounts of the Xocotl Huetzi festival of the Postclassic and Contact periods; and ethnographic accounts of similar celebrations to propose a maize-focused interpretation of ritual and rulership in the Teuchitlan tradition.

Colonialism came late to northern Guatemala. The Spanish began to establish missions in the Peten Lakes region in the early 1700s, nearly 200 years after initial contact with the Mayas. Excavations in 2011–2012 at the Mission San Bernabé revealed European goods, nonnative animal species, and burial patterns that marked a new lifestyle. Who lived at the Mission San Bernabé, and where did they come from? The Spanish resettled indigenous populations to facilitate the colonization process; however, isotopic data are inconsistent with large population movements. Instead, strontium and oxygen isotope values in the tooth enamel and bones of individuals buried at the mission suggest a mostly local population. The data suggest in-migration from Belize, a region under nominal Spanish control, but with pre-Hispanic ties to the Peten. Changes did not come from migrants crossing a border; instead, the border itself moved and brought the colonial world to the Peten Mayas.

Maya codex-style ceramics are among the most highly sought antiquities for collectors because of the fine art and extraordinary mythological scenes depicted on the pottery; yet the source of these ceramics has remained elusive. Recent archaeological explorations by the Regional Archaeological Investigation of the North Peten, Guatemala (RAINPEG) project at the site of Nakbe, Peten, have discovered codex-style ceramics in archaeological context. The hieroglyphs and painted scenes on the ceramics demonstrate the authenticity of the art style. Neutron activation analyses of the ceramics indicate that subtle differences in the ceramic corpus can be detected between proximal sites such as El Mirador and Nakbe. These data also indicate that codex-style ceramics were not manufactured in a site-specific workshop, but originate in a variety of production areas. While most codex-style vessels appear to have been manufactured within the immediate area of the extreme north-central Peten, several codex-style vessels that depict scribes are consistently similar in chemical composition to the codex-style pottery from Nakbe. The presence of fine painted codex-style pottery from modest plaza groups suggests a wider distribution of high-quality ceramic artifacts from among varied levels of economic, social, and political status of ancient Maya society. This accounts for the extensive looting of low-housemound complexes throughout the northern Peten.

The health of the Colonial-period Maya from Tipu, Belize, was evaluated using a skeletal series to explore differential effects of European contact by sex. Variables addressed were nutrition and disease patterns, reproductive patterns, and occupational stress. Results suggest that females enjoyed fewer childhood health disruptions, likely as a result of greater genetic buffering. No evidence of male preferential treatment was observed. Frequencies of indicators were similar to those reported for precontact Maya. Markers of adult activity patterns, including timing of parity, were also comparable to those of earlier groups. These findings support the cultural continuity with the Postclassic suggested by the archaeological and ethnohistorical records at Tipu.

Archaeological and epigraphic data have greatly increased our understanding of ancient Maya warfare in recent decades. Nevertheless, one of the aspects that has received relatively little attention is the disambiguation between the different types of wars waged. The procurement of human trophies as attested in the archaeological record and imagery, as well as the counts-of-captives and captive statements recorded textually, all provide tantalizing clues that raids formed an integral part of Classic Maya military tactics. This rings particularly true when we consider that the Classic Maya terms for “captive” and “bone” are one and the same, thereby betraying emic conceptions wherein captives were deemed to be an ideal source of bone; human trophies par excellence. The features identified for the Classic Maya have to be set within a larger perspective since these are also found among other Mesoamerican cultures, as well as indigenous societies in both North and South America. In so doing, it becomes clear that raiding and the acquisition of captives and human trophies served to foster and heighten prestige, especially among societies that cultivated the warrior ethos. Therefore, raiding emerges as a shared Amerindian trait, rather than being the product of diffusion or independent innovation.

Systematic flotation survey and spatial analysis of artifacts at the submerged salt work of Ek Way Nal reveal evidence of a residence, salt kitchens, and additional activities. Ek Way Nal is one of 110 salt works associated with a Late to Terminal Classic (A.D. 600–900) salt industry known as the Paynes Creek Salt Works. Wooden posts that form the walls of 10 buildings are remarkably preserved in a peat bog below the sea floor providing an opportunity to examine surface artifacts in relation to buildings. Numerous salt kitchens have been located at the Paynes Creek Salt Works by evidence of abundant briquetage—pottery associated with boiling brine over fires to make salt. As one of the largest salt works with 10 buildings, there is an opportunity to examine variability in building use. Systematic flotation survey over the site and flagging and mapping individual artifacts and posts provide evidence that the Ek Way Nal salt makers had a residence near the salt kitchens, along with evidence of salting fish for subsistence or surplus household production. The results are compared with ethnographic evidence from Sacapulas and other salt works.

Analysis of paleoethnobotanical remains from the Yaramela site in central Honduras has provided insights into subsistence activities, resource-extraction preferences from surrounding ecological zones, and the transfer of plant materials through interregional exchange networks during the Formative and Late Classic periods. Remains of maize (Zea mays) and squash (Cucurbita sp.) were found as well as the wood of a number of tree species, for example, pine (Pinus sp.), oak (Quercus sp.), fig (Ficus sp.), timber sweet (Licaria sp.), and guanacaste (Enterolobium cyclocarpum). These woods were obtained from the upland pine-oak savanna, the tropical deciduous forest of the Comayagua Valley, and the circum-riverine community along the Humuya River. In an unusual discovery, the wood of cashew (Anacardium cf. occidentale) was found in Middle Formative contexts. This, most likely an introduced domesticate from South America, appears to be the earliest record of Anacardium for Honduras. Paleoethnobotanical data along with root-processing artifacts indicate a diversified subsistence pattern based on domesticates of Mesoamerican and South American origin.

The Altica Project that began in 2014 is an important step in addressing over two decades of limited problem-oriented research at Formative sites in the Basin of Mexico. Through this research, we demonstrate that Altica is the earliest known settled village in the Teotihuacan Valley and one of the only first-farming village sites in the Basin of Mexico that has not been engulfed by the urban sprawl of Mexico City. It represents the northward spread of settled village life in a time that people of the region were transitioning from a mobile foraging lifestyle to one more reliant on food production. Despite its small size and remote location, Altica was an important part of Early and Middle Formative exchange networks, as it imported multiple types of goods from distant places in Mesoamerica and may have played a role in the early trade of Otumba obsidian. This paper leads the Special Section by framing the research project and outlining its major goals. Survey and excavation results are introduced. Finally, we preface each of the presentations to situate them within the framework. Altica spans a transitional period in Mesoamerica that began around 1000 cal b.c. We establish Altica as a proxy to understand broader Mesoamerican processes at that time.

The excavations of Frans Blom and Clarence Weiant at the small hilltop site of Moxviquil in the early 1950s represent one of the pioneering archaeological projects in highland Chiapas. The results of their excavations, which were minimally published, provide important data on one of the largest Late Classic-Early Postclassic communities in the region. In this paper, we reconsider Moxviquil in light of recent scholarship on Maya urbanism, and present new interpretations of the site as a small city that fulfilled a diversified set of urban functions for residents both within the monumental zone itself, and in the surrounding hinterland areas. Consistent with its likely role as the administrative center of a small, independent highland polity, the monumental center of Moxviquil likely served political, economic, and ritual functions; was an important nucleus of residential settlement; and supported a wide range of household-based craft production and food preparation activities.

In 1992 we conducted an intensive archaeological surface survey in and around the modern town of Yautepec, Morelos, Mexico. Our goals were to determine the size and extent of the Aztec-period city of Yautepec, and to gather data on its spatial organization. This article describes the methods used and the results obtained toward achieving the first goal. Aztec Yautepec covered approximately 209 ha; this area is partly covered by the modern town and partly by open fields. Late Postclassic settlement was clustered around a structure that today is the largest known Aztec palace in central Mexico. We generate ethnohistoric and archaeological population estimates for Yautepec and discuss the city in relation to other Aztec urban settlements in Morelos and the Basin of Mexico.

The earliest uses of Olmec greenstone (jadeite, greenstone, schist, green quartz, and others) accelerated the interregional exchange of technology and raw materials. These relationships provoked asymmetry between polities of different parts of Mesoamerica and within Olmec sites. There were stronger relationships between the Gulf Coast and Chiapas. In general terms, greenstone artifacts display an evolutionary process similar to ceramics and basalt sculpture in the emergence of complex society during terminal Early Formative times. This paper focuses on the exchange of technological choices and asymmetry between Gulf Coast of Mexico and the rest of Mesoamerica.

Differential access to faunal resources (meat) is one index of socioeconomic inequality that traditionally has been considered but rarely investigated in ancient Mesoamerica. Recent excavations in residential contexts at the Classic-period hilltop terrace site of El Palmillo, in the Valley of Oaxaca (Mexico), have produced a large faunal assemblage from a set of different households. Terrace-by-terrace comparisons reveal spatial variability in the distribution of faunal remains, with the gradient of access running from households near the base of the hill to contexts near the site's apex. Residents of households near the top not only had more overall access to meat but greater access to specific species. Nevertheless, these gradations in access to fauna are not as strikingly marked as architectural differences between various residential units at the site, nor do they coincide entirely with patterns of architectural variation or the distribution of portable wealth items such as obsidian and green stone. Socioeconomic inequality appears to have been manifested through multiple dimensions at pre-Hispanic El Palmillo, with the overarching variation not easily definable into two or three categorical divisions or classes.

Monument 65, thus far the largest sculpture discovered from the almost completely destroyed site of Kaminaljuyu, has much to tell us about the enigma of this ancient city. Carvings on two sides of the flat tablet resonate with the most sacred concepts of the “Miraflores” people of Late Preclassic Kaminaljuyu. Partly because of the highly problematical picture further field archaeology can provide of Kaminaljuyu—a picture already problematical—but also because of the inherent value of a comparative orientation, I employ an explicitly comparative approach in order to speculate about the ideology encoded on the monument. According to such a comparative perspective, the depictions identify Kaminaljuyu rulers as conventional world- or cosmos-creators and sustainers, functions realized by the sacrifices of royal proxy victims or “twins” of the ruler. The captive scenes, shown on Side A, represent the duality of rulership expressed in a twinship of first, immortal “priest” or administrator—the ruler in his religious role—sacrificing a victim representing a first ideal man or “king,” and, by virtue of this, representing the ever-dying or magical fertility of the polity. On Side B, the creation seems to be manifested or metaphorized by the axis mundi.