Traci Ardren

THE MIDDLE FORMATIVE OF YUCATAN IN CONTEXT: The view from Yaxuna

Assumptions concerning the late dating of Middle Formative ceramics in the northern Maya lowlands and similarities between this region and areas to the south underlie mainstream interpretations that the northern Maya lowlands was slower to develop cultural complexity. This paper is a re-evaluation of these assumptions and their impact on interpretations of Formative interaction. Recent research at Yaxuna, Yucatan, Mexico is discussed in light of alternative approaches to the study of sociopolitical interaction among early complex societies.

Mending the past: Ix Chel and the invention of a modern pop goddess

For modern communities, she is the moon goddess and protectress of Maya culture and women; for scholars she is one of a number of deities with different roles in the Postclassic period. Which is the real Ixchel? The author excavates the story of the Maya goddess and her re-invention by myth-makers � including archaeologists.

Little Artefacts: Rethinking the Constitution of the Archaeological Infant

Abstract The following paper seeks to reconsider traditional and often comfortable approaches towards understanding infants, the infant body and infancy in archaeological contexts. In doing so, the paper considers the nature of the body, and draws upon a wide range of resources, including the wider anthropological record, child development theory and the social sciences. The paper speci fically seeks to identify the constitution of infancy in the past. Infancy has generally not bene fited from the recent attention afforded to older children in the archaeological record. Rather, infancy has become bounded by osteological methodology and terminology, and a limited range of associated archaeological interpretations. While recognising the importance of the biological approach, the paper seeks to challenge osteological control over the infant body and argue that bodies are never only biological in nature. The authors build upon recent research into human objecti fication in Iron Age southern England, and provide a case study of difference, relating to the treatment of liminal and objecti fied infant bodies in the Classic period Maya lowlands. The paper concludes by considering the future of infant research, suggesting that archaeologists must become more critical when exploring the archaeology of infancy and when working with the remains of past infants, who, despite being dead, continue to be alive with social agency.

Cloth production and economic intensification in the area surrounding Chichen Itza

Recent investigations at the site ofXuenkal on the plains north of Chichen Itzd provide evidence of the changing regional political environment during the Terminal Classic Period (A.D. 900-1000). This paper examines a collection of spindle whorls recovered during the 2005, 2006, and 2007 field seasons of the Proyecto Arqueologico Xuenkal (PAX) as evidence for intensification of craft production. Through this analysis and comparison with spindle whorl collections from other Low land Maya sites, we suggest the inhabitants ofXuenkal rapidly adapted to changing economic demands by increasing the amount of cloth produced in their residential settings, perhaps in response to increased tribute demands that emanated from the dominant political power of the region. Spinning and weaving is associated with the female gender during the Classic Period in Mesoamerica. Thus, intensification of this gendered activity not only produced excess materials for the state, but also reinforced its gender ideology. Analysis of these artifacts adds to the knowledge of Maya cloth production and addresses the nature of Chichen Itzds influence on regional sites during the height of its influence in the Terminal Classic period.

A Taphonomic Approach to Late Classic Maya Mortuary Practices at Xuenkal, Yucatán, Mexico

Abstract Following a brief introduction to mortuary practices in Prehispanic Maya society, we outline the analytical procedures followed during the excavation and laboratory investigation of five burial assemblages from the Late Classic period site of Xuenkal, Yucatán, Mexico. A detailed account of a sequence of primary and secondary interments is provided with a focus on taphonomic and biovital information, emphasizing the importance of an interdisciplinary approach, especially human taphonomy, for the reconstruction of complex Maya mortuary treatments. Our results show that bodies of the dead or their parts followed surprisingly long and complex funerary paths.

The travels of Maya merchants in the ninth and tenth centuries ad: investigations at Xuenkal and the Greater Cupul Province, Yucatan, Mexico

Abstract The region between the Maya capital of Chichen Itza and its port site on the Gulf of Mexico was one of the most heavily traversed landscapes during the Classic period. Vast quantities of trade goods were conveyed inland from the coast on the backs of long-distance traders. This study explores the experiences of these traders as they transported raw materials such as shell and obsidian as well as finished ornaments to the urban center in exchange for salt from the northern salt beds of Yucatan. We utilize archaeological data from sites along this trade route with a focus on Xuenkal, where we have conducted excavations into the nature of regional changes during the expansion of Chichen Itza since 2004. Archaeological data coupled with view-shed and travel-time analyses provide a nuanced perspective on the travel experiences of the traders who maintained one important component of the Classic Maya economy.

Empowered Children in Classic Maya Sacrificial Rites

Abstract Sacrifice is a basic component of human religious experience, and well documented in many ancient cultures. In Mesoamerica, sacrifice took many forms although perhaps the most dramatic was the offering of human children. In Maya studies this topic has largely been overlooked despite data from a variety of sources. This paper explores the perspective that children were not the subject of sacrifice due to their marginal status as less than adult, but rather the opposite – that due to their very young age which afforded them proximity to the ancestors and the gods, they were one of the most precious offerings available. When children are understood to have held a numinous power related to their recent time on earth, child sacrifice is revealed to be a religious rite of profound emotion and loss, consistent with the nature of the spiritual contract held by ancient Maya people.

Prehistoric human impact on tree island lifecycles in the Florida Everglades

The current study provides a fine-grained analysis of evidence for sustained pre-Columbian human occupation and socio-ecological interaction within Everglades National Park. Utilizing archaeological data on dietary and cultural patterns recovered from recent excavations at a prehistoric tree island site, we argue the role of ancient human populations in the formation or augmentation of tree islands should be incorporated into environmental models of the tree island lifecycle. High phosphorus levels in human waste, especially the largely organic waste of prehistoric populations, as well as other anthropogenic factors have not been adequately factored into current environmental models of tree island formation or the ecological evolution of the Everglades. More broadly, while socio-ecological modeling is at the core of current scholarly and restoration paradigms, expanded collaboration between environmental scientists and archaeologists will lead to more accurate identification of anthropogenic environmental impacts over time.

New Histories of Pre-Columbian Florida

New Histories of Pre-Columbian Florida is an exciting new edited volume. It is also an important volume that contributes significantly to a number of ongoing conversations within archaeology and social history. New Histories situates the extremely rich archaeological materials of the Pre-Columbian Floridian peninsula into broader global discussions of monumentality, memory, seascapes, and maritime ritual processes. This important theoretical turn both enriches those conversations with lesser known but extremely compelling data and advances our understanding tremendously of Florida indigenous culture prior to contact. This is a volume that all archaeologists working in the state will want to own and it should be widely read by scholars working in coastal prehistoric settings around the world for its rich application of archaeological theory to new empirical data. Deftly edited by Wallis and Randall, the chapters are concise and accessible to non-specialists in the region. Many of the chapters would make excellent additions to courses that deal broadly with topics such as inland/coastal relations, histories of material practice, and/or the emergence

Everything Old Is New Again

In someways it is comforting thatMesoamerican archaeologists, especially Mayanists, return time and again to the same topics of investigation. Perhaps it is the embarrassment of riches we steward, the complex architecture and breathtaking art of Classic urban centers. Perhaps we are too overwhelmed with the task of cataloging this amazing inventory of material culture to venture far from the central questions of research that have characterized our discipline from its inception. As our archaeological colleagues in North America or Europe strive to squeeze data from a less urbane material record, they are forced to create bridging theories and explore new areas of inquiry, slippery topics for the archaeologist such as identity or colonialism. NotMayanists (or most Mesoamericanists), though. Perfectly content to continue digging the astounding urban capitals and outlying settlements