We explore social and imperial relations in the western lower Papaloapan Basin, especially along the lower Blanco River, using statistical analyses of ceramic rims from recent surveys. This region is sandwiched between two known tributary provincial centers of the Aztec empire, but its relationship to the empire is uncertain in colonial documentary materials. Our analyses illuminate changes in social relations from the Middle (A. D. 1150–1350) to Late Postclassic (A. D. 1350–1520) periods and shed light on the impact of Aztec imperialism. We use a ceramic unmixing procedure to assign collections to the Middle and Late Postclassic periods for assessment of settlement patterns. Next we use cluster analyses to examine vertical wealth and status differentiation. In the Middle Postclassic period, we observe a concentric gradation of wealth and status away from the small center of El Sauce. Late Postclassic changes include the decline of El Sauce and the founding of a new center at Callejón del Horno. The concentric model does not apply to the Late Postclassic period, however, and wealth and status became more highly concentrated at Callejón del Horno compared to its hinterland. We also investigate sparse collections-those with few Postclassic rims-to evaluate whether these collections represent poor residences or, rather, sherd scatter from possible field manuring. The lower Blanco region was likely integrated into the Aztec empire on the basis of changes in vertical social differentiation from Middle to Late Postclassic times and percentages of Aztec-style ceramics compared to known Aztec provincial centers, especially Cotaxtla.

Archaic state formation simultaneously involved political integration and socioeconomic differentiation, which many archaeologists consider mutually reinforcing processes. Differentiation is considered to have consisted primarily of status and specialization, forms of heterogeneity that ultimately supported state integration. This paper addresses the role of differentiation in the Andean polity of Tiwanaku (A. D. 500–1150). Specifically, it evaluates expressions of social identity in relation to differences in status and specialized production in the urban settlements of Tiwanaku and Lukurmata. Patterns of ceramic style are compared with other types of material culture and residential activities. Multiple lines of evidence suggest that, in the context of a potent and ubiquitous state culture, significant social boundaries persisted at multiple social scales, ranging from urban corporate groups to more encompassing regional affiliations. At larger scales identity potentially involved some degree of political autonomy, as it did in later sociopolitical organizations in the south-central Andes. For several hundred years, Tiwanaku rulers, facing profound social diversity and enduring local identities, emphasized incorporative strategies of integration, leaving a great deal of productive management and sociopolitical organization in the hands of local groups. Social boundaries played critical roles in state formation and centralization, and ultimately may have precipitated its disintegration.

Investigations of the civic architecture at the Lowland Maya site of Blue Creek, Belize, have documented an Early Classic building with a colonnaded superstructure. Although one of only six such buildings reported from the Maya Lowlands, this architectural form appears to be a variant of a more common type of colonnaded building. An examination of such structures from a site-planning perspective indicates that columns may have been used by the Maya to create buildings that were conducive to movement, and for the conduct and/or viewing of public activities. The present study refutes the commonly held assumption that the use of columns in Maya architecture was limited in both spatial and temporal distribution, and instead shows them to have been widely distributed throughout the Maya Lowlands by the middle of the Classic Period.

Spouted vessels are diagnostic forms of Middle Preclassic (1000–400 B. C.) and Late Preclassic (400 B. C.-A. D. 250) Maya ceramic assemblages. Mayanists have traditionally called these vessels “chocolate pots,” but until recently there has been little direct evidence to support this interpretation. In fact, few studies have focused on the role these specialized forms played in the daily social and ritual activities of the ancient Maya. This paper provides a contextual and functional analysis of Preclassic spouted vessels found across the Maya lowlands and highlands. Additionally, the results of chemical analyses on residues collected from spouted vessels found in Middle and Late Preclassic burials at Colha, Belize are provided. Preliminary data reveal that some of the vessels from Colha contained substantial amounts of theobromine, a distinct marker for cacao or chocolate. The significance of the discovery of chocolate in Maya spouted vessels is discussed as well as its implications for the rest of Mesoamerica.

Despite three decades of obsidian studies in the Andes, the extraction zones for this raw material remain poorly understood. The extent and geology of the sources, their intra-source chemical compositional variation, and the means by which the sources were exploited prehistorically, have largely escaped study. This report describes the results of a geoarchaeological survey of the Alca obsidian source in the Cotahuasi Valley, Peru. The survey documented 16 discrete outcrops of obsidian across an area of 50 km2. The obsidian in these outcrops can be found both as volcaniclastic flows and nodules in poorly consolidated volcanic tuff. Neutron activation analyses on samples from these outcrops suggest that all obsidian came from the same parent magma. Five small quarries were found during the course of the survey. No evidence of control over the resource zone was found and we suggest that tight control over obsidian extraction in the valley would have been logistically difficult due to the size and nature of the deposits.