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Articles 1 - 15 of 15
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Life-Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology Of Maya Metates [Review], Jennifer P. Mathews
The Life-Giving Stone: Ethnoarchaeology Of Maya Metates [Review], Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
This volume attempts to get at the interpretations of the archaeological record from the back-end by studying the modern Maya metate life cycle, including procurement, production, acquisition, use and discard. The author spent two years in Guatemala conducting ethnographic research with metate producers and users in three Maya communities. It is through this rich research that he greatly expands our understanding of metates by providing background of their complexity through several avenues. For example, he documents contemporary gifting traditions, noting that families still give metates as wedding gifts to couples, even as their use decreases with the presence of electric …
Jungle Rails: A Historic Narrow-Gauge Railway In Quintana Roo, Jennifer Mathews, Lilia Lizama-Rogers
Jungle Rails: A Historic Narrow-Gauge Railway In Quintana Roo, Jennifer Mathews, Lilia Lizama-Rogers
Jennifer P Mathews
Whereas much of this volume is focused on the ancient Maya, this chapter will highlight the historic chicle industry; the associated railway that traversed the northern corner of Quintana Roo, Mexico; and the recent documentation of the feature through archaeological fieldwork. We believe this to be an important slice of history in Quintana Roo because the lives of the modern Maya often lie in the shadow of their ancient ancestors. Since 1997, members of the Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project have been studying the 40 km railway, which runs between the modern pueblos of Leona Vicario and Puerto Morelos (Mathews …
Wetland Manipulation In The Yalahau Region Of The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, Bethany A. Morrison, Bente Juhl Andersen, Sylviane Boucher, Jorge Ceja Acosta, Jennifer P. Mathews
Wetland Manipulation In The Yalahau Region Of The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, Bethany A. Morrison, Bente Juhl Andersen, Sylviane Boucher, Jorge Ceja Acosta, Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
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 …
The Hidden World Of The Maritime Maya: Lost Landscapes Along The North Coast Of Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jeffrey Glover, Dominique Rissolo, Jennifer Mathews
The Hidden World Of The Maritime Maya: Lost Landscapes Along The North Coast Of Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jeffrey Glover, Dominique Rissolo, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
At the northeast tip of the Yucatán Peninsula - where the Caribbean meets the Gulf of Mexico - lies a wild and largely unexplored coastline that bore witness to one of the greatest seafaring traditions of the ancient New World (Fig. 11.1). Maya traders once plied the waters of the Laguna Holbox in massive dugout canoes filled with goods from across Mesoamerica (Thompson 1949; Edwards 1973, p. 201; Romero 1991; Romero and Gurrola Briones 1991, 1995; Leshikar 1996). Each port was a link in a chain connecting people and ideas, and supporting the ambitions of city and state. Maritime trade …
Cenotes As Conceptual Boundary Markers At The Ancient Maya Site Of T’Isil, Quintana Roo, México, Scott L. Fedick, Jennifer P. Mathews, Kathryn Sorensen
Cenotes As Conceptual Boundary Markers At The Ancient Maya Site Of T’Isil, Quintana Roo, México, Scott L. Fedick, Jennifer P. Mathews, Kathryn Sorensen
Jennifer P Mathews
Ancient Maya communities, from small village sites to urban centers, have long posed problems to archaeologists in attempting to define the boundaries or limits of settlement. These ancient communities tend to be relatively dispersed, with settlement densities dropping toward the periphery, but lacking any clear boundary. At a limited number of sites, the Maya constructed walled enclosures or earthworks, which scholars have generally interpreted as defensive projects, often hastily built to protect the central districts of larger administrative centers during times of warfare (e.g., Demarest et al. 1997; Inomata 1997; Kurjack and Andrews 1976; Puleston and Callender 1967; Webster 2000; …
Uaxactun, Jennifer Mathews
Uaxactun, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
Sylvanus Morley of the Carnegie Institution of Washington discovered the ancient Maya site of Uaxactun (17.4° N, 89.6° W) in 1916 (see also Map 3). He soon encountered a stela (upright stone monument) with the Long Count date 8.14.10.13.15, April 11, AD 328 (see also Calendar). Since this was the first monument with a cycle 8 glyph ever found, he named the site "Uaxactun" from the Maya uaxac, meaning "eight," and tun, meaning "stone." In addition to Morley, a number of notable Carnegie Institution archaeologists worked at the site, including Frans Blom, Oliver Ricketson, A. Ledyard Smith, and Edwin Shook. …
San Bartolo, Jennifer Mathews
San Bartolo, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
The ancient Maya site of San Bartolo (17.5° N, 89.4° W) was a regional capital located approximately 30 km northeast of Uaxactun in the Department of the Petén, Guatemala (see also Map 3). It is located within the 430 km² San Bartolo-Xultun Territory, which is dominated by bajos (seasonally inundated swamps or wetlands), forming a natural boundary around the area. These bajos are filled with stunted vegetation, including the palo de tinte tree, which the Maya harvested and used as a natural dye. The territory also contains many aguadas (ponds that have been modified by humans) and chert sources, which …
Archaeologists Working With The Contemporary Yucatec Maya, Dominique Rissolo, Jennifer Mathews
Archaeologists Working With The Contemporary Yucatec Maya, Dominique Rissolo, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
The nature of an archaeological project often requires that researchers establish a temporary residence in a local community. Concern for conditions that affect, and are affected by, their presence in this new place and space is often considered peripheral to the task of realizing research objectives. In fact, many archaeologists would admit to enjoying a certain sense of security in their perceived temporal, and therefore legitimized, dislocation from their object of study. In the most extreme cases, an archaeologist might resemble a geologist – extracting, observing, or examining symbolically inert physical material with little regard to contemporary cultural contexts.
Radiocarbon Dating Of Architectural Mortar: A Case Study In The Maya Region, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jennifer P. Mathews
Radiocarbon Dating Of Architectural Mortar: A Case Study In The Maya Region, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
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 …
Archaeology Meccas Of Tourism: Exploration, Protection, And Exploitation, Quetzil Castañeda, Jennifer Mathews
Archaeology Meccas Of Tourism: Exploration, Protection, And Exploitation, Quetzil Castañeda, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
This chapter is divided into two distinct sections that are positioned in a point-counterpoint structure of dialogue. These two position statements invoke the etymological meanings of the word essay: to attempt, put to the test, trial, to act out, to explore, travel, or to travail. The first is an historical analysis written in the third person by an anthropologist whose expertise includes the ethnography of archaeology and the anthropology of tourism. The second is a counterpoint commentary written by an anthropologist whose specializations include Pre-Columbian and historical archaeology. Both of us have significant research experience in the same area of …
Preliminary Evidence For The Existence Of A Regional Sacbe Across The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, Dawn Reid, Jennifer P. Mathews
Preliminary Evidence For The Existence Of A Regional Sacbe Across The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, Dawn Reid, Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
Ancient road systems have often been used by archaeologists to reconstruct interaction and political ties among prehistoric settlements. Roads built by the ancient Maya offer many insights into the political geography of the area, particularly in the northern lowlands where hieroglyphic texts are rare. This study examines ethnohistoric, historic, and archaeological data that suggest that a regional road, some 300 km in length, once spanned the northern lowlands from the modern location of Mérida to the east coast facing the island of Cozumel. The political implications of such a road, if it once existed, are discussed.
Houses In A Landscape: Memory And Everyday Life In Mesoamerica [Review], Jennifer P. Mathews
Houses In A Landscape: Memory And Everyday Life In Mesoamerica [Review], Jennifer P. Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
Using the material remains found in and around ancient Maya domestic spaces in three settlements in Honduras, Hendon examines how aspects of everyday life, rather than ritual and commemoration, transform these shared spaces into ‘places of memory’. She argues that social memory is a reconstructive process and that human groups re-envision the past in light of present circumstances. Social memory – or what she refers to as ‘memory communities' – would have involved an interaction with the remains of the dead, buried within the context of their social spaces. In other words, memory is an active process that binds people …
Late Formative And Early Classic Interaction Spheres Reflected In The Megalithic Styles, Jennifer Mathews, Rubén Cárdenas
Late Formative And Early Classic Interaction Spheres Reflected In The Megalithic Styles, Jennifer Mathews, Rubén Cárdenas
Jennifer P Mathews
Interpreting the politics of the Late Formative and Early Classic periods has special challenges. This chapter examines the topic in the Yucatán Peninsula through the concept of the interaction sphere, as reflected in shared architectural styles.
Yalahau Region, Jennifer Mathews
Yalahau Region, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
This 3,000-km² region is located in northern Quintana Roo, Mexico, in the northeastern corner of the Yucatan Peninsula. The boundary of this region runs from the north coast 75 km southward, is 40 km wide, and is defined primarily by its unique water resources. It is characterized by a karstic limestone platform that contains only a few small lakes and no surface rivers. Despite this, it has the most abundant water sources of the entire peninsula. First, it receives the greatest annual rainfall of the northern Maya lowlands (up to 2,000 mm), which recharges an underground aquifer and contributes …
Quintana Roo Archaeology, Justine Shaw, Jennifer Mathews
Quintana Roo Archaeology, Justine Shaw, Jennifer Mathews
Jennifer P Mathews
Mexico’s 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 …