Jennifer P Mathews

Wetland Manipulation in the Yalahau Region of the Northern Maya Lowlands

Abstract Manipulation of wetlands for agricultural purposes by the ancient Maya of southern Mexico and Central America has been a subject of much research and debate since the 1970s. Evidence for wetland cultivation systems, in the form of drained or channelized fields, and raised planting platforms, has been restricted primarily to the southern Maya Lowlands. New research in the Yalahau region of Quintana Roo, Mexico, has recorded evidence for wetland manipulation in the far northern lowlands, in the form of rock alignments that apparently functioned to control water movement and soil accumulation in seasonally inundated areas. Nearby ancient settlements date primarily to the Late Preclassic period (ca. 100 B.C. to A.C. 350), and this age is tentatively attributed to wetland management in the area.

Models of Cosmic Order: Physical Expression of Sacred Space Among the Ancient Maya

The archaeological record, as well as written texts, oral traditions, and iconographic representations, express the Maya perception of cosmic order, including the concepts of quadripartite division and layered cosmos. The ritual act of portioning and layering created spatial order and was used to organize everything from the heavens to the layout of altars. These acts were also metaphors for world creation, world order, and establishing the center as a position of power and authority. This article examines the articulations of these concepts from the level of caches to the level of regions from the past and present in an attempt to understand these ancient perceptions. We emphasize that basic organizational notions of the cosmos permeate all societal levels and argue that scholars should expand their focus to include how the sacred landscape and its related ideology were reproduced in the lives of everyday people.

Radiocarbon Dating of Architectural Mortar: A Case Study in the Maya Region, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Abstract The use of radiocarbon dating to analyze mortar and charcoal inclusions within mortar or plaster is a useful way to date the construction of architecture, particularly when options for other chronometric methods are limited. In the Yalahau region of northern Quintana Roo, Mexico, members of the Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project have faced challenges in dating buildings made of large blocks of stone in the Megalithic architectural style. The Megalithic style poses serious problems for any analysis, as excavating into structures with stones weighing several tons can be dangerous, expensive, and time consuming. Additionally, there are no associated sculptures, texts with dates, or other traditionally accessible chronological markers. These factors have resulted in a reliance on a ceramic chronology despite the uncertainty of the dating of many ceramic types in this region, as well as the questionable contextual associations between recovered ceramics and architectural construction phases. Megalithic-style structures at the ancient Maya site of El Naranjal have residual mortar with charcoal inclusions left behind during the mortar-making processes that can be extracted and dated with AMS 14C methods. Several samples of mortar and charcoal were obtained from structures 1 and 10 from exposed exterior walls and an interior vault. The resulting dates confirm the date for the construction based on ceramics excavated from the same site.

Quintana Roo archaeology

Mexicos southern state of Quintana Roo is often perceived by archaeologists as a blank spot on the map of the Maya world, a region generally assumed to hold little of interest thanks to its relative isolation from the rest of Mexico. But salvage archaeology required by recent development along the ?Maya Riviera, along with a suite of other ongoing and recent research projects, have shown that the region was critical in connecting coastal and inland zones, and it is now viewed as an important area in its own right from Preclassic through post-contact times. The first volume devoted to the archaeology of Quintana Roo, this book reveals a long tradition of exploration and discovery in the region and an increasingly rich recent history of study. Covering a time span from the Formative period through the early twentieth century, it offers a sampling of recent and ongoing research by Mexican, North American, and European archaeologists. Each of the chapters helps to integrate sites within and beyond the borders of the modern state, inviting readers to consider Quintana Roo as part of an interacting Maya world whose boundaries were entirely different from todays. In taking in the range of the region, the authors consider studies in the northern part of the state resulting from modern development around Cancun; the mid-state sites of Muyil and Yookop, both of which witnessed continual occupations from the Middle Preclassic through the Postclassic; and new data from such southern sites as Cerros, Lagartera, and Chichmuul. The contributions consider such subjects as ceramic controversies, settlement shifts, site planning strategies, epigraphic and iconographic materials, the impact of recent coastal development, and the interplay between ancient, historic, and modern use of the region. Many of the chapters confirm the region as a cultural corridor between Coba and the southern lowland centers and address demographic shifts of the Terminal Classic through Postclassic periods, while others help elucidate some of Peter Harrisons Uaymil Survey work of the 1970s. Quintana Roo Archaeology unfolds a rich archaeological record spanning 2,500 years, depicting the depth and breadth of modern archaeological studies within the state. It is an important touchstone for Maya and Mesoamerican archaeologists, demonstrating the shifting web of connections between Quintanarooense sites and their neighbors, and confirming the need to integrate this region into a broader understanding of the ancient Maya.

The Hidden World of the Maritime Maya: Lost Landscapes Along the North Coast of Quintana Roo, Mexico

While the Postclassic period is most often associated with Maya seafaring, in fact, the strengthening of maritime economies and the establishment of circum-peninsular trade routes occurred during the preceding Terminal Classic period (ad 850–1100). It was during this time when the major city of Chichen Itza demonstrated an increased reliance on maritime commerce to maintain and extend its control over much of the Yucatan Peninsula. Coastal settlements, however, have a deeper history in the Maya area, with occupations dating back to at least the Middle Preclassic period (800–400 bc), and the Costa Escondida Project, a long-term, interdisciplinary research effort, is focusing on the dynamic relationship between the Maya and their coastal landscape over the past 3,000 years.

EL PROYECTO COSTA ESCONDIDA: ARQUEOLOGÍA Y COMPROMISO COMUNITARIO A LO LARGO DE LA COSTA NORTE DE QUINTANA ROO, MÉXICO

El Proyecto Costa Escondida iniciado en 2006 se diseno para investigar las culturas maritimas previas y posteriores al contacto espanol, asi como para estudiar el paisaje del norte de Quintana Roo, Peninsula de Yucatan, Mexico. Este proyecto no promueve una agenda de desarrollo “tradicional”, sino que se inserta en la critica del desarrollo para ampliar los limites del compromiso comunitario a traves del aprendizaje social. Al encontrarse lejos de los principales sitios turisticos de la costa del Caribe, el area cuenta con una industria de turismo en expansion asociada a la isla Holbox. En este articulo se discuten las experiencias de este proyecto arqueologico que integra a varios actores de la region y, mas importante aun, traza una estrategia de investigacion trans-parente que involucra activamente a estos individuos a medida que el proyecto avance.