Marcus Winter

Smokescreens in the Provenance Investigation of Early Formative Mesoamerican Ceramics

We are glad that Sharer et al. (this issue) have dropped their original claim that the INAA data demonstrate multidirec tional movement of Early Formative pottery. Beyond this, however, they offer nothing that might enhance understanding of Early Formative ceramic circulation or inspire new insights into Early Formative cultural evolution in Mesoamerica. Instead, their response contains fresh distortions, replications of mistakes made in their PNAS articles, and lengthy pas sages that are irrelevant to the issues raised by Neff et al. (this issue). We correct and recorrect their latest distortions and misunderstandings here. Besides showing why their discussion of ceramic sourcing repeatedly misses the mark, we also correct a number of erroneous assertions about the archaeology of Olmec San Lorenzo. New evidence deepens understanding of Early Formative Mesoamerica but requires that some researchers discard cherished beliefs.

Exchange Implications of Obsidian Source Analysis from the Lower Rio Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico

excavations at four archaeological sites in the lower Rio Verde valley on the Pacifc coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. Determinations of source locations of these artifacts permit the examination of changes in obsidian exchange patterns spanning the late Middle Formative to the Classic period. The results show that through most of this period the importation of obsidian into the lower Verde region was dominated by sources in the Basin of Mexico and Michoacan. The data allow us to evaluate previous models of interregional relations during the Formative and Classic periods, including interaction with the highland centers of Monte Alban and TeotEhuacan.

Ecological Theory and Cultural Evolution in the Valley of Oaxaca [and Comments and Reply]

A number of researchers have recently challenged the usefulness of cultural ecology for explaining pre-Hispanic ultural evolution in the Valley of Oaxaca. We address those criticisms and attempt to show how a rather traditional ecological model is at least consonant with the data. Our aim is not so much to demonstrate the greater explanatory power of our model in comparison with the arguments of the researchers of the Valley of Oaxaca projects as to show that the published data do not permit he rejection of either.

Ceramic Production and Exchange in Late/Terminal Formative Period Oaxaca

Patterns of Late/Terminal Formative period (ca. 500 B.C.-A.D. 300) ceramic exchange in Oaxaca are examined through instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Samples of 453 Late/Terminal Formative period sherds were submitted to the Missouri University Research Reactor for INAA to determine elemental composition. The sherds came from 20 exca vated sites and two surveys in the following regions: the Valley of Oaxaca, MixtecaAlta, Mixteca Baja, lower R?o Verde Val ley, and Cuicatl?n Ca?ada. Selected for the study were vessel fragments from three recognized paste categories: grayware (gris), fine brownware (caf? fino), and creamware (crema). We also sampled clays and sherds from known sources in four modern pottery-making towns in the Oaxaca Valley. The research adds to the INAA database for Oaxaca by identifying the chemical signatures of six source groupings that we can link to specific regions and, in two cases, to particular source zones within regions. The evidence from chemical composition and typology indicates continuity in resource use and production practices in bothAtzompa and Coy otepec from pre-Hispanic into modern times. The data show that the exchange of ceram ics in Late/Terminal Formative Oaxaca was multidirectional, with ceramics imported both to and from the Oaxaca Valley.

The Economic Systems of Ancient Oaxaca: A Regional Perspective [and Comments and Reply]

Archaeological data from a regional settlement pattern survey of the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, are used to monitor how scarce goods and resources were allocated to members of society through eight phases from 600 B.C. to A.D. 1520. The goal is to determine how distinct historical social structures performed economically in terms of the goods and resources recoverable archaeologically. Measures utilized include land use and settlement characteristics, domestic architectural space, public architecture, pottery, obsidian, and a number of other artifact classes. The results show consistent linkages between specific land use and population variables and specific artifactual items in ways suggesting that political control, or lack thereof, structured the economy in patterned ways. Other factors, including urbanization and boundary permeability, are influential but not as persistently involved as political power. These results show how regional-scale archaeological data can be used to sharpen theoretical understanding of the evolution of political/economic systems.

Archaeological Residues and Recipes: Exploratory Testing for Evidence of Maize and Cacao Beverages in Postclassic Vessels from the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico

As dates of earliest use of Theobroma cacao in ancient Mesoamerica are established, interest is shifting to how cacao was used. One approach is to consider combinations of ingredients—the recipes for ancient cacao use. Beverages made from cacao seeds and maize have a long history in Mesoamerica. We began testing the hypothesis that there is qualitative evidence of this beverage type in the Postclassic archaeological record in a region where such a beverage, tejate, is a culturally significant food today. We looked for evidence of tejate ingredients in residue samples from eight Postclassic and one contemporary vessel from the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Detection of morphologically specific maize phytoliths was accomplished by taxonomic analysis and comparison with a reference collection. Tejate ingredients Pouteria sapota and Quararibea funebris were also processed for phytolith detection. Testing for methylxanthines characteristic of Theobroma species used high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Four vessels were positive for maize phytoliths; three were positive for theobromine; two were positive for both maize and cacao. No diagnostic phytoliths were identified for the other tejate ingredients. Our hypothesis was supported; still, many challenges are present in the search for a deeper understanding of ancient cacao usage in this region of Mesoamerica.

Building J at Monte Alban: A Correction and Reassessment of the Astronomical Hypothesis

A remeasurement that corrects the previously reported orientation of Building J at Monte Alban, Mexico, suggests that the “pointer” angle did not point to any prominent star or group of stars. New data, however, do strongly relate this structure to both astronomy and the calendar. We propose that the principal function of the building was as a calendar temple.