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Meso America

Cerro Portezuelo

in
Theme: 
Societies and Their Natural Environments

Description:

Team Members: 
  • George Cowgill, SHESC, Co-Principal Investigator 
  • Deborah Nichols, Dartmouth College, Co-Principal Investigator
  • Sarah Clayton
  • Destiny Crider 

    •  

    Urbanization and Empire at the Aztec City of Calixtlahuaca (Toluca Valley, Mexico)

    in
    Theme: 
    Urban Societies

    Description

    Publications: 

    Smith, Michael E. (2003)
    Postclassic Urbanism at Calixtlahuaca: Reconstructing the Unpublished Excavations of José García Payón. Report to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. Posted on the internet at: http://www.famsi.org/reports/01024/.

    Smith, Michael E., Jennifer Wharton, and Melissa McCarron (2003)
    Las ofrendas de Calixtlahuaca. Expresión Antropológica 19:35-53.

    Smith, Michael E. (2005)
    Los materiales arqueológicos de Calixtlahuaca y la sociedad posclásica de Matlatzinco. Paper presented at the VII Coloquio Internacional sobre Otopames, El Colegio Mexiquense, Toluca, Mexico. 

    Smith, Michael E., Juliana Novic, Peter C. Kroefges, and Angela Huster (2007)
    A New Map of the Aztec-Period City of Calixtlahuaca in Central Mexico. Antiquity 81:"Project Gallery" online: http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/ProjGall/smith1/index.html. 

    Tomaszewski, Brian M. (2006)
    A Cost-Effective Approach to GPS/ArcGIS Integration for Archaeological Surveying. ArcUser Fall 2006.  http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall06articles/a-cost-effective.html.

    Umberger, Emily (2007)
    Historia del arte e Imperio Azteca: la evidencia de las esculturas. Revista Española de Antropología Americana 37:165-202.

    Team Members: 
    • Michael E. Smith (PI)
    • Lawrence B. Conyers, University of Colorado, Denver (participant)
    • Charles D. Frederick, University of Texas, Austin (participant)
    • Cynthia Heath-Smith, Arizona State University (participant)
    • Dorothy Hosler, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (participant)
    • Susan M. Norris, Fordham University (participant)
    • Brian Tomaszewski, Pennsylvania State University (participant)
    • Emily Umberger, Arizona State University (participant)
    • Juliana Novic, Arizona State University
    • Angela Huster, Arizona State University
    • Caitlin Guthrie, Arizona State University
    • Various unnamed graduate and undergraduate students from other universities in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe.
    Funding Sources: 

    National Science Foundation ($252,000)

    Partnerships: 

    Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Consejo de Arqueología (Mexico City, Mexico)
    Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Centro INAH Estado de México (Toluca, Mexico)
    Colegio Mexiquense (Toluca, Mexico)
    Instituto Mexiquense de Cultura (Toluca, Mexico)

    Proyecto Arqueologico La Mixtequilla

    in
    Theme: 
    Global Dynamics and Regional Interactions

    Description
    Since 1984 Dr. Barbara Stark has directed survey and mapping in the western Lower Papaloapan basin to investigate settlement patterns, economy, and political organization from a long-term regional perspective in south-central Veracruz.

    Publications: 

    Download publications list

    Team Members: 

    Barbara L. Stark (Principal Investigator)
    The team has included students and researchers from the Universidad
    Veracruzana, the Escuela Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Tulane
    University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Arizona.
    ASU participants are listed below:

      Current ASU Graduate Students

    • Oralia Cabrera
    • Erin Chase
    • Chris Garraty
    • Alanna Ossa
    • Neil Miller
    • Kristin Sullivan

      • Former ASU Undergraduate and Graduate Students

    • Mark Brodbeck
    • Simon Bruder
    • L. Antonio Curet
    • Bradley Ensor
    • Robert Gasser
    • Carol Griffith
    • Lynette Heller
    • Todd Howell
    • Kevin Johns
    • Ellie Large
    • Suzanne Lewenstein
    • Michael Ohnersorgen
    • Ian Robertson
    • Thanet Skoglund
    Funding Sources: 

    National Science Foundation
    National Geographic Society
    Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research

    Population Affinity Assessment of Glen Canyon and Navajo Reservoir Prehistoric Skeletal Remains

    in
    Theme: 
    Human Origins, Evolution and Diversity

    Description Monument Valley
    The ultimate objective of the project is synthesis and interpretation of the physical anthropology data from skeletal remains excavated from the following Southwestern regions:

    1) Glen Canyon Project (Kayenta Anasazi and northern San Juan Anasazi);

    2) Navajo Reservoir Project (northern San Juan Anasazi).

    Team Members: 
    • Diane Hawkey, Co-Principal Investigator
    • Christy G. Turner II Co-Principal Investigator
    • Kristen Hartnett Research Associate
    Funding Sources: 

    Bureau of Reclamation ($57,000)

    The Mixtec Noble House in Colonial Mexico

    in
    Theme: 
    Culture, Heritage and Identity

    documentThis project employs Lévi-Strauss's model of the "house society" to study the colonial indigenous nobility of the Mixteca region of Oaxaca, Mexico. The focus is on noble status and noble estates, and the associated practices of inheritance, succession, and marriage alliance. Data come from various archives in the cities of Oaxaca, Puebla, Mexico City, and Seville, Spain.

    Publications: 

    John K. Chance (2004)

    "La casa noble mixteca: Una hipótesis sobre el cacicazgo prehispánico y colonial," in Estructuras políticas en el Oaxaca antiguo.
    Memoria de la Tercera Mesa Redonda de Monte Albán. Nelly M. Robles
    García, ed. Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia.
    Pp. 1-26.

    Team Members: 

    John K. Chance, Principal Investigator

    Funding Sources: 

    Fulbright-Hays ($41,000)

    Long-Term Coupled Socioecological Change in the American Southwest and Northern Mexico

    in
    Theme: 
    Societies and Their Natural Environments

    Description

    Team Members: 
    • Margaret C. Nelson, Principal Investigator, SHESC
    • Michelle Hegmon, Principal Investigator, SHESC
    • Keith W. Kintigh, Principal Investigator, SHESC
    • Ben A. Nelson, Principal Investigator, SHESC
    • John M. Anderies, Principal Investigator, School of Life Sciences
    • Dave Abbott, SHESC
    • Charles Redman, SHESC
    • Arleyn Simon, SHESC
    • Katherine Spielmann, SHESC
    • Sander van der Leeuw, SHESC
    • Ann Kinzig, School of Life Sciences
    • Peter McCartney, International Insitute for Sustainability
    • Charlene Saltz, International Institute for Sustainability
    • Brenda Shears, International Institue for Sustainabiloty
    • Nikol Grant, Internaitonal Institute for Sustainability
    • Gregson Schachner, graduate student, SHESC
    • Karen Schollmeyer, graduate student, SHESC
    • Scott Ingram, graduate student, SHESC
    • M. Jansson
    Funding Sources: 

    National Science Foundation, Submission Pending

    Landscape Reconstruction in the Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico

    in
    Theme: 
    Societies and Their Natural Environments

    Description

    Publications: 

    Elliott, Michelle (2002)

    Paleoethnobotanical Perspectives on Land Use and Environment in
    Mesoamerica's Northern Frontier. Paper presented at the 66th Annual
    Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans,
    Louisiana.

    Elliott, Michelle, Christopher T. Fisher, Roberto S. Molina Garza, Blanca Mata and Ben A. Nelson (2003)
    An Interdisciplinary Approach to Landscape Evolution
    in the Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico. Poster presented at the 68th
    Annnual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Milwaukee.

    Nelson, Ben A. and Vincent W. Schiavitti (2003)
    Survey in Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico. Poster
    presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the Society for American
    Archaeology, Milwaukee.

    Mata-González, Blanca M., Roberto S. Molina-Garza, Christopher T. Fisher, and and Ben A. Nelson Michelle Elliott (2002)
    Evidencia de Cambio Climático-Ambiental Reciente en
    la Mesa Central, Zacatecas: Geomorfología, Estratigrafía del
    Cuaternario y Magnetismo de Rocas. GEOS 2(22):1100-1101.

    Team Members: 
      Principal Investigators:

    • Ben A. Nelson
    • Chris Fisher

      • Faculty Associate:

    • Roberto Molina Garza

      • Participants:

    • Michelle Elliott
    • Blanca M. Mata-González
    Funding Sources: 

    National Science Foundation

    Partnerships: 

    Kent State University
    Colorado State University
    Universidad Autónoma Nacional de México, Unidad de Geociencias

    Curation of Archaeological Materials in Cuernavaca, Mexico

    in
    Theme: 
    Culture, Heritage and Identity

    This project will construct an archaeological storage facility in Cuernavaca, Mexico, for archaeological artifacts excavated at sites in the Mexican state of Morelos.

    Publications: 

    Team Members: 
    • Michael E. Smith, Principal Investigator
    • David C. Grove (participant), University of Florida
    • Kenneth G. Hirth (participant), Pennsylvania State University
    Funding Sources: 

    National Science Foundation ($128,427)

    Partnerships: 

    Instituto Nacional de Anthropología e Historia (Mexico) 



    Bioarchaeology of Copán, Honduras

    in
    Theme: 
    Culture, Heritage and Identity

    This project focuses on the life histories and population biology of individuals interred within the Copán Pocket during the first millennium after Christ. 

    Publications: 

    Jane E. Buikstra, T.D. Price, J.H. Burton, and L.E. Wright. Tombs from Copan’s Acropolis: A Life History Approach. In Understanding Early Classic Copan. Ellen E. Bell, Marcello A. Canuto, and Robert J. Sharer, eds., Chapter 1. pp. 191-212. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (2004).

    Kenneth C. Nystrom, Jane E. Buikstra, and Ethan M. Braunstein. Radiographic Evaluation of Early Classic Elites from Copán, Honduras. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 5: 196-207 (2005).

    Kenneth C. Nystrom, and Jane E. Buikstra. Trauma induced changes in Diaphyseal Cross-Sectional Geometry in Elites from Copán, Honduras. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. (in press) 

    Team Members: 
    • Jane E. Buikstra
    • Robert Sharer
    • William Fash
    • Loa Traxler
    • Douglas Price
    • James Burton
    • Jennifer Piehl
    • E. Wyllys Andrews V
    • Katie Miller
    • Allan Maca
    Funding Sources: 

    NSF
    National Geographic Society
    FAMSI
    Ahua Foundation 

    Partnerships: 

    Instituto Hondureño de Antropología y Historia

    University of Wisconsin Laboratory of Archaeological Chemistry
    University of Pennsylvania, Museum of Archaeology
    Harvard University, Dept. Anthropology
    Tulane University

    Colgate University

    Archaeological Investigations at La Quemada, Zacatecas, Northern Mexico

    in
    Theme: 
    Global Dynamics and Regional Interactions

    For over 15 years, Mexican and American archaeologists and students have dug ancient ruins, walked the high desert landscape, and worked in laboratories to understand the rise and fall of La Quemada, Zacatecas. We want to know why societies become complex, developing social hierarchies with specialized economic, political, and religious roles for their members. Why do civilizations expand?

    Publications: 

    Berney, Christine (2002)
    Trade on the Mesoamerican Frontier: Evaluating the Significance of Blue-green Stones at La Quemada, Zacatecas, Mexico. M.A. Thesis, University of British Columbia.

    Darling, J. Andrew (1993)
    Notes on Obsidian Sources of the Southern Sierra Madre Occidental. Ancient Mesoamerica 4(2):245-253.

    Dvorak, Sara Anne (2000)
    Faunal Consumption at La Quemada, Zacatecas, Mexico. M.A. Thesis, Arizona State University.

    Elliott, Michelle (2005)
    Evaluating Evidence for Warfare and Environmental Stress in Settlement Pattern Data from the Malpaso valley, Zacatecas, Mexico. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology (in press, corrected proof available online as of 14 June 2005).

    Kantor, Loni (1995)
    Lithic Specialization and Exchange at La Quemada, Zacatecas, Mexico. M.A. Thesis, State University of New York.

    Millhauser, John K. (1999)
    Ritual, Social, and Economic Dimensions of Obsidian Use in the Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico, A.D. 500-900. Unpublished M.A. Thesis, Arizona State University.

    Nelson, Ben A. (1990)
    Observaciones Acerca de la Presencia Tolteca en La Quemada, Zacatecas. In Mesoamérica y Norte de México Siglos IX-XI, edited by F. Sodi Miranda, pp. 521-540. vol. 2. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.

    Nelson, Ben A. (1992)
    El Maguey y Nopal en la Economía de Subsistencia de La Quemada, Zacatecas. In Origen y Desarollo de la Civilización en el Occidente de México, edited by B. Boehm de Lameiras and P. C. Weigand. Colegio de Michoacán, Zamora, Michoacán.

    Nelson, Ben A. (1995)
    Complexity, Hierarchy, and Scale: A Controlled Comparison Between Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, and La Quemada, Zacatecas. American Antiquity 60(4):597-618.

    Nelson, Ben A. (1996)
    La Quemada. In Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, edited by B. A. Tennenbaum, pp. 364. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.

    Nelson, Ben A. (1997)
    Chronology and Stratigraphy at La Quemada, Zacatecas, Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 24(1):85-109.

    Nelson, Ben A. (2003)
    A Place of Continued Importance: The Abandonment of Epiclassic La Quemada. In The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America, edited by T. Inomata and R. W. Webb, pp. 77-89. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.

    Nelson, Ben A. (2004)
    Elite Residences in West Mexico. In Ancient Palaces of the New World: Form, Function, and Meaning, edited by J. Pillsbury and S. T. Evans, pp. 60-81. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C.

    Nelson, Ben A. (2004)
    Urbanism Beyond the City: La Quemada, Zacatecas, Paper presented at the Fourth Meeting of the Project of Investigation on Urbanization in Mesoamerica, jointly sponsored by the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia and the Department of Anthropology at Pennsylvania State University, September 19-25, 2004.

    Nelson, Ben A., J. Andrew Darling and David A. Kice (1992)
    1992 Mortuary Patterns and the Social Order at La Quemada, Zacatecas. Latin American Antiquity 3(4):298-315.

    Perez, Ventura (2002)
    Tool-Induced Bone Alterations: Cutmark Differences. Archaeology Southwest 16(1):10.

    Schiavitti, Vincent W. (1994)
    La Minería Prehispánica de Chalchihuites. Arqueología Mexicana 1(6):48-51.

    Strazicich, Nicola M. (1998)
    Clay Sources, Pottery Production, and Regional Economy in Chalchihuites, Mexico, A.D. 200-900. Latin American Antiquity 9(3):259-274.

    To, Denise (1999)
    Bioarchaeology of a Disarticulated Multiple Burial, Los Pilarillos, Zacatecas, Mexico. M.A. Thesis, Arizona State University.

    Turkon, Paula (2004)
    Food and Status in the Prehispanic Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 23:225-251.

    Wells, E. Christian (2000)
    Pottery Production and Microcosmic Organization: The Residential Structure of La Quemada, Zacatecas. Latin American Antiquity 11(1):21-42. 

    Team Members: 
    • Ben A. Nelson, Principal Investigator

      •   Faculty Associates:

    • Peter Jiménez Betts
    • Chris Fisher
    • Debra Martin
    • Roberto Molina
    • Margaret Nelson

      Participants:

    • Marisol Aranda
    • Christine Berney
    • Jeffrey Bonneville
    • David Bild
    • Oralia Cabrera
    • John Carpenter
    • Andrew Darling
    • Sandra Dunavan
    • Sandra Norvell
    • Sara Dvorak
    • Michelle Elliott
    • Bradley Ensor
    • Glenn Stuart
    • Maren Hopkins
    • Odile Hoogzaad
    • Loni Kantor
    • David Kice
    • Kolleen Kralick
    • John Millhauser
    • Hugo Moedano (ck.)
    • Ramón Ortiz
    • Ventura Perez
    • Michael Rizo
    • Ian Robertson
    • Pablo Sereno
    • Vincent Schiavitti
    • Nicola Strazicich
    • Victoria Quiroz
    • Carl Shields
    • Steve Swanson
    • Denise To
    • Paula Turkon
    • Federico Vargas
    • Victoria Vargas
    • Christian Wells


    Funding Sources: 

    National Science Foundation
    National Endowment for the Humanities
    Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research
    Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies
    Faculty of Social Sciences of the State University of New York at Buffalo
    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences of Arizona State University
    and an anonymous donor. 

    Partnerships: 

    Centro Regional Zacatecas, Institución Nacional de Antropología e Historia
    Hampshire College
    Escuela de Antropología, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas
    Unidad de Geosciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
    Kent State University
    Colorado State University, Ft. Lewis 



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