This article analyzes the assemblages of humans and other-than-humans that animated the sacred landscape of Cerro de la Virgen, a hilltop site occupied during the Formative period (1800 BC–AD 250) in the lower Río Verde Valley of coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. Commensalism in the region increased markedly in scope and complexity throughout the Formative period, culminating in the region's first polity at AD 100. Feasting practices became relatively standardized, but the placement of objects and bodies in public architecture—a set of collective practices associated with the vital forces that animated the cosmos—varied considerably from site to site during the late Terminal Formative period (150 BC–AD 250). Lower Verde scholars have argued that these idiosyncrasies reflect the myriad collective identities of the region's hinterland communities, a pattern rooted in local affiliations that may have conflicted with an expanding regional identity centered at the urban center of Río Viejo. I augment this discussion by highlighting the role that the materiality of the landscape, present before humans even occupied the region, played in the construction of collective identity. I develop an interpretive approach that pays special attention to Indigenous concepts of ontology, particularly those related to animacy and its transference, and uses the semiosis of American philosopher Charles Peirce to elucidate meaning from deposits of cached objects. The animate qualities assembled through fired clay and chiseled stone at Cerro de la Virgen afforded a ritual pattern that was unique in coastal Oaxaca at the end of the Formative period.

In the area along the southern Gulf Coast in Mexico, a large number of previously unrecorded archaeological sites have recently been detected with the aid of lidar data, which also allowed us to determine the orientations of hundreds of structures and architectural assemblages, including many standardized complexes dated to the Early-to-Middle Formative transition. As revealed by our analyses, most orientations were based on astronomical and calendrical principles, occasionally combined with certain concepts of sacred geography. While the results of these analyses were presented in a recently published article, here we explore the potential of alignment data for addressing other questions of archaeological relevance. The distribution of particular building types and regional variations in alignment patterns in the study area suggest the existence of two somehow different cultural spheres, loosely corresponding to the areas conventionally called the Gulf Olmec region and the western Maya Lowlands. Examining pertinent evidence, we argue that it was in this area where some of the most prominent orientation groups materialized in later Mesoamerican architecture originated. We also attempt to reconstruct the paths of their diffusion, which are expected to contribute to understanding the dynamics of long-distance cultural interaction in Mesoamerica.

Este artículo analiza la arquitectura del período Clásico de Pahñú, un centro ceremonial en el noreste del valle del Mezquital, México. Esta arquitectura se distingue porque desarrolló un estilo local, integrando elementos de distintas tradiciones culturales. Por un lado, los conjuntos arquitectónicos de patio hundido siguen los estándares de la tradición del Bajío. Por otra parte, los edificios muestran rasgos de la arquitectura monumental teotihuacana y zapoteca. A partir de esta evidencia se concluye que Pahñú definió su identidad étnica estableciendo filiaciones políticas con las culturas del centro y el Bajío. Esta interpretación pone a prueba varias explicaciones previas que conciben el desarrollo regional durante el período Clásico como aculturación o resistencia a Teotihuacán. Asimismo, pone a prueba las interpretaciones que sostienen que la fusión cultural entre los grupos del centro y el Bajío comenzó hasta el Epiclásico. Finalmente, Pahñú es importante porque representa un pequeño centro político que mantuvo su liderazgo por unos seiscientos años, aprovechando su posición fronteriza entre el centro y el Bajío.

Although much research has been conducted on the Late Postclassic period Maya, there has been relatively less study of the role of economic activities in political management during this period. Many such studies focused on obsidian analysis and technology as proxies for trade and exchange. This article builds on that research, using a legacy collection of obsidian implements collected during archaeological surveys in the 1970s to examine Late Postclassic period (AD 1200–1524) economic networks in the K'iche’ region. Obsidian collections from the site of Q'umarkaj and the surrounding region were examined through technological and geochemical analyses. I find that during the Late Postclassic period, K'iche’ elites had more access to nonlocal obsidian sources than did non-elites, but that access to locally available sources was managed through independent and diverse acquisition networks. Thus, the K'iche’ elite were not dependent on local economies as a main source of political power.

This article examines the urban layout and development of the ancient city of Angamuco (AD 250–1530)—a populated urban center located within the core area of the Purépecha Empire in Michoacán, Mexico—through the lens of its complex road network. Image and network analysis of lidar datasets revealed more than 3,000 roads distributed throughout the site, identified the main patterns of road arrangement, and documented variable accessibility within the city. After presenting a summary of these results, I propose that road networks are fundamental components of urban centers that can help reveal social configurations, local interactions, and models of governance. The study of the road network at the site of Angamuco suggests that this city developed organically without the strong influence of political hierarchy a few centuries prior to the formation of the Purépecha Empire. Angamuco inhabitants organized and negotiated space and settlement within their immediate community and had access to virtually all areas of the city.

This study investigates the impact of the Aztec Triple Alliance on trade and economic activity in the region of Puebla-Tlaxcala during the Late Postclassic period (AD 1200–1519). Ethnohistorical sources describe the Aztec Triple Alliance as constantly at war with settlements in the Tlaxcala region. To weaken their Tlaxcalteca rivals, the Aztecs imposed a trade blockade to reduce the flow of resources into Puebla-Tlaxcala. This article uses archaeological evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of this blockade. It compares the types of obsidian used to manufacture lithic tools from Aztec-controlled sources with those used within Puebla-Tlaxcala. Information from the large center of Tepeticpac and the small obsidian workshop site of Cinco Santos II, both in the Tlaxcala domain, are compared to other sites in Central Mexico prior to and during the height of Aztec influence. The results show little difference in regional trade patterns: obsidian from Sierra de las Navajas and Otumba was used in proportions in the Tlaxcala region in the Late Postclassic similar to those used during earlier periods. If an embargo was attempted, it was largely unsuccessful in isolating Tlaxcala from broader regional distribution networks.

This article examines large-scale spatial and temporal patterns in the agricultural demographic transition (ADT) of Mesoamerica and southwestern North America (“the Southwest”). An analysis of published settlement and subsistence data suggests that the prolonged ADTs of these regions involved two successive eras of rapid population growth. Although both periods of growth were fueled by the introduction or development of more productive domesticates, they had distinctive demographic and social consequences. The first phase of the ADT occurred only in a scattering of favorable regions, between 1900 and 1000 BC in Mesoamerica and 1200 BC–AD 400 in the Southwest. Its demographic consequences were modest because it was underwritten by still rather unproductive maize. During this phase, increased population was confined mainly to a few agricultural heartlands, whereas surrounding regions remained sparsely populated. The second phase of the ADT was more dramatic in the spatial scale of its impact. This “high productivity” phase unfolded between 1000 and 200 BC in Mesoamerica and AD 500–1300 in the Southwest, and it was fueled by more productive maize varieties and improving agricultural technologies. It was accompanied by sweeping social, economic, and political changes in both regions.

The Terminal Classic period (ca. AD 800–1000) in the Southern Maya Lowlands witnessed a precipitous decline in the erection of carved stone monuments, a decline that corresponds to shifts in political ideologies and the disappearance of many prominent royal dynasties. Although Southern Lowland sites are often considered peripheral to the events and innovations occurring elsewhere in Mesoamerica during this time, a recently discovered stela, Stela 29, at the site of Ucanal in Peten, Guatemala, underscores the active role of the site in broader political movements in the ninth century. Our iconographic, textual, and stylistic analysis of this stela, in concert with other Terminal Classic monuments from the site, reveals a vernacular cosmopolitan aesthetic whereby local Classic Maya styles were infused with images and elements that referenced connections with peoples from northern Yucatan, the Gulf Coast, and Central Mexico.

During the Epiclassic period (AD 600–900), the northern frontier of Mesoamerica consisted of a regional network of polities focused on large, hilltop centers, including the site of La Quemada in the Malpaso Valley of Zacatecas, Mexico. Although extensive archaeological research has been conducted at the site, the refinement of its chronology is essential for two reasons: (1) to establish the chronological control necessary to characterize social processes diachronically and (2) to ensure that the occupational history of La Quemada is accurately integrated into the regional chronology of the northern frontier. A combination of frequency seriation, correspondence analysis, and discriminant function analysis results in the recognition of three occupational phases across the areas excavated by the La Quemada-Malpaso Valley Archaeological Project (LQ-MVAP). Our three-phase chronology independently confirms both the intra-context ordering of analytic units and the previously proposed growth trajectory of the site: beginning in the monumental core, expanding into the western flank, and later retracting back into the core. The separation of the LQ-MVAP material record into chronological phases means it is now possible to track changes in the social processes that may have contributed to the formation, maintenance, and decline of La Quemada and other northern frontier polities.

Rosenswig's discussion of the sculptural chronology of Izapa contains some inaccuracies that require correction. The dates of the monuments at Izapa also require further evaluation.

The morphological study of architectural features, the building arrangement within urban spaces, and multiscalar variation are critical for understanding urbanism as a process. Building types and architectural typologies form the foundational blocks of urban morphology and are essential for identifying architectural patterning. We use a process-typological approach to present an architectural typology from the ancient Purépecha (Tarascan) city of Angamuco, located in the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin, Michoacán, Mexico. Using archaeological survey, lidar analysis, and excavation, we analyze building foundations from houses and public structures; storage facilities; monumental architecture such as pyramids, altars, and public buildings; and landscape features such as plazas, roads, terraces, and raised roadways locally known as huatziri. Our typology enhances understanding of the dense urban environment of this important prehispanic city during and after the formation of the Purépecha Empire.

El objetivo de este trabajo es examinar la presencia o ausencia de una ideología colectiva en la expresión iconográfica de la cerámica polícroma de Tepeticpac, asentamiento fundador y miembro activo de Tlaxcallan durante el Posclásico tardío (1250–1519 dC). De acuerdo con la teoría de acción colectiva recientemente aplicada para Tlaxcallan, hipotetizamos que estas vasijas deberían carecer de íconos ligados a nobles, gobernantes o personajes particulares, promoviendo más bien la unidad colectiva. Para evaluar esta hipótesis, analizamos materiales procedentes de diversas excavaciones realizadas en plazas, conjuntos arquitectónicos, terrazas y templos. Concluimos que, lejos de privilegiar a personajes, individuos o incluso a una deidad en particular, la cerámica polícroma más bien muestra temas que no fueron regulados por las élites políticas y que están centrados en alusiones al sacrificio, la guerra, las festividades, los dioses, la jerarquía noble y probablemente, los méritos por conquista, temas y actividades en los que cualquier individuo, a cualquier rango, pudo involucrarse.

I thank my colleagues for their comments, but I disagree with their assessment.

This article presents new settlement survey data from the Izapa center of southern Mesoamerica, a site long known for its corpus of low-relief stelae. These data, which track the changing distribution of population from 1000 BC–AD 100, indicate that the city's population peaked at 5,725 inhabitants. Izapa was the capital of a regional kingdom with more than 40 lower-order monumental centers and a territory that covered at least 450 sq. km. Recent AMS dates confirm the apogee of the kingdom at 300–100 BC, and volcanological reconstruction suggests that a Tacaná volcano eruption corresponds with archaeological evidence of political and demographic disruptions to the kingdom. Patterns at Izapa are contextualized in terms of Inomata and colleagues’ (2014) call for redating Kaminaljuyu, placing the erection of stelae there to after 100 BC, as well as Love's (2018) and Mendelsohn's (2018) responses in this journal. Izapa was an integrated kingdom from 700–100 BC, and “Izapa-style” sculptures were a novel medium of political communication introduced after the polity had been functioning without them for centuries. If Inomata and colleagues' (2014) proposal is correct that low-relief stelae were erected only after 100 BC at other centers in southern Mesoamerica, this was centuries after the practice was established at Izapa.