Precolumbian Cultures

Daily life in a Mayan kingdom was a complex, multi-faceted -- and often times difficult -- way of life.  Their geographic area encompassed a portion of Mesoamerica, from Southeastern Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula down into Northern Central America.  Mayan territory included Pacific coastline, mountainous highlands, and forested lowlands.  Scholars today believe the total area covered approximately 125,000 square miles.  Each area had its own unique challenges, from the fertile Pacific side, with warm, tropical conditions, to the highlands, with cooler, more temperate-like zones.  Volcanoes, rivers, mountains and forests fill Mayan Mesoamerica, each with its own sub-zone and micro climate.  Unlike North American tribal societies, where large animals were followed seasonally, the food sources of the Maya -- fish, small animals, deer, and birds -- remained mostly stationary, permitting earlier members of Mayan society to establish deep roots in particular locales.

Winner of the 2022 Edmund Keeley Prize
https://mgsasymposium.org/anno-kb.html

In the middle of the fifteenth century, ominous portents like columns of fire and dense fog were seen above the skies of Constantinople as the Byzantine capital fell under siege by the Ottomans. Allegedly, similar signs appeared a few decades later and seven thousand miles away, forecasting the fall of the Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan—Tlatelolco to the Spanish and their indigenous allies. After both cities had fallen, some Greeks and Mexica turned to poetry and song to express their anguish at the birth of what has come to be called the “modern” era.

This study probes issues of collective memory and cultural trauma in three sorrowful poems, the “Lament for Constantinople,” the “Huexotzinca Piece,” and the “Tlaxcala Piece.” Composed by anonymous authors soon after the conquest of the two cities, these texts describe the fall of an empire as a fissure in the social fabric and an open wound on the body politic. They are the workings of creators who draw on tradition and historical particulars to articulate, in a familiar language, the trauma of the conquered.

The Manuscript of Huarochiri is currently a very relevant document or having registered the myths, the rites and the traditions of the preColumbian people of the central Andes during the evangelization period. Social scientists interested in the Andean studies have developed multiple interpretations about it, especially from anthropology and linguistics. This text pretends to propose the first lights or a spatial interpretation that permits to elaborate both a territorial and imaginary landscape reading of the pre-Columbian Andes. In this way, this article encourages Geography to venture on the reading of landscapes of ancient Peru.

The geographic information system (GIS) has become a very popular and useful tool to aggregate and process spatial data. In this paper, the implementation of data obtained during survey seasons at the El Fuerte de Samaipata (Bolivia) archaeological site and results of data analysis on the GIS platform are presented. In addition to the thematic layers, a description of the sectors and archaeological relics was added to the whole system. The implemented layers are related to orthoimages created from terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and from close range photogrammetry (in visual, spectral, and infrared light), raw photos of petroglyphs, a highly detailed vector plan of the site, conservation risk maps, new spatial divisions, description layers, and a digital terrain model (DTM) based on the results of TLS. Such a system, with an implemented DTM, allows rainwater runoff and its impact on the archaeological site to be analysed. Thus, the paper presents a study on some hydrological condit...

https://difusion.ulb.ac.be/vufind/Record/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/280822/Holdings
SUMMARY
Since man’s arrival on the American continent, pre-Columbian civilizations came in contact with other societies, whether neighbors or distant ones. This work aims to study the links, the contact phenomena and the transmission models between the pre-Hispanic cultures. This matter is tackled not in a general way but through the ceramic shape of the stirrup spout bottle. Why this vessel ? Because it was produced over a large portion of the American continent for more than three millennia. It is therefore an essential feature of the material culture of these civilizations, especially for those of South America. Few elements make it possible to observe these phenomena on a large scale and particularly between the two major cultural zones of South and Central America. The stirrup spout bottle is yet one of those elements that has crossed time and space.
Three factors are analyzed to fully comprehend this vast topic: the geography, the chronology and the technology.
The first two factors are addressed together. The method consists in drawing up an exhaustive inventory of pre-Columbian cultures that produced this unique ceramic shape as well as to list its morphological characteristics. These data allow to better understand the degrees of relationship uniting these cultures. This will enable to map its diffusion at micro or macro regional level throughout the pre-Hispanic era, from the first copies found in Ecuadorian Amazon to the ones produced under the Inca Empire in Peru.
The third factor addresses the technology. It is approached through the notion of "operational chain". The research focuses on the construction stages of the bottle with an emphasis on the analysis of the macro-traces found on its inner surface. The study is based on a sample of sixty three stirrup spout bottles of which forty-nine were specifically analyzed for the purpose of this thesis via archaeometry and its medical imaging techniques (CT scan and X-ray radiography) as well as with the naked eye observations. The analyzed bottles mainly belong to the cultures of the Peruvian North Coast. The collected data enables to compare the manufacturing processes, identify convergences and divergences, and better understand the transmission and the technical know-how of this unique form.

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, in Washington, DC, is an institute of Harvard University dedicated to supporting scholarship internationally in Byzantine, Pre-Columbian, and Garden and Landscape Studies through fellowships, meetings, exhibitions, and publications. Located in Georgetown and bequeathed by Robert Woods Bliss and Mildred Barnes Bliss, Dumbarton Oaks welcomes scholars to consult its books, images, and objects, and the public to visit its garden, museum, and historic house for lectures and concerts.

Analyzing and understanding the Aztec view of the cosmos is critical to extracting meaning from their texts, symbols, and belief system.  The entire Aztec world view is constructed from that foundation, with myriad variations and overlapping concepts.  The fullness and intricacy of Mexica spirituality linked the world of heaven to the success (or failure) of mankind; it could "web the space between the mundane and the supramundane, lacing the world of ritual to the world of the everyday, and each to the sacred."  Religious symbolism, published to the population of the Central Valley of Mexico through art, literature, and ceremony, was an attempt to unify the people behind the central authority.

Among the lizards in the Lesser Antillean Islands, iguanas are undoubtedly the most emblematic, especially the endemic species, Iguana delicatissima. However, although much effort is currently made for the conservation of this species as a result of the present biodiversity crisis, nearly nothing is known of the history of this animal on these islands during the last millennia. Here we present the first data relating to the distribution, morphology, and interaction of past iguanas with human populations in the Lesser Antilles. To do so, we review the archaeological Iguana remains collected over the past 15 years on the Guadeloupe Islands. Our results show that the only Iguana species occurring in pre-Columbian archaeological deposits is Iguana delicatissima. Moreover, we demonstrate that this species occurred on all the islands of Guadeloupe during pre-Columbian times and then suddenly became extinct between 1960 and 1990 on most of these islands. We also confirm the modern introduction of I. iguana to the Guadeloupe Islands. In addition, zooarchaeological research demonstrates that pre-Columbian human populations occasionally used iguanas as a source of food, but with no apparent impact on the native population. However, the first data relating to past size variations of I. delicatissima on the Guadeloupe Islands indicate that archaeological iguanas were much larger than the largest remnant modern specimens and that a marked decrease in body length (more than 20%) occurred in these lizards after contact with European populations. This evidence of widespread extinction and morphological change during modern times is another demonstration of the extensive effects of disturbance and selection induced by modern human societies on endemic insular faunas.

Recent archaeological research on Cayenne Island (French Guiana) showed that maize was a very important crop during the late pre-Columbian period (AD 900-1500), at least among the coastal population of this part of the Guianas. In contrast, the post-Columbian or Modern Times (AD 1500-1900) of this particular region are dominated by reports of the consumption of manioc, notably cassava, manioc beer and later on of farinha. This dichotomy makes sense when discussing various events during the 17th century by means of careful reading of the historical documents, the comparison of material culture and the interpretation of local Amerindian oral tradition. In this manner, it is proposed that the introduction of metal graters by Europeans has favored the consumption of manioc over maize in the Guianas.

Published an earlier version about 5 years ago in Portuguese but gathered in the mean time more information and translated it into English. Obrigado à Goeldi and merci à Americae

Poco o nada se ha escrito sobre el aprecio de las élites gobernantes incas hacia la actividad artística y sus ejecutantes. Esta ponencia revela una consideración privilegiada de la práctica artística dentro del escalafón de la estructura de la sociedad inca. Lo artístico fue una labor productiva de absoluta dedicación de grupos familiares especializados, pero también con la posibilidad de que personas pertenecientes a las clases altas lo practicaran. El proceso de creación artística en el Tahuantinsuyo estuvo supervisado por quienes dirigían el culto, quienes a su vez sostenían ideológicamente el poder real. Como los artistas incas se hallaron siempre al lado del poder, viviendo en los templos o cerca a ellos, fueron adquiriendo conocimiento preferente, convirtiendo la práctica artística en eslabón de primera importancia entre el poder terrenal y el poder del más allá. (Ponencia expuesta en el V Congreso Nacional de Historia del Perú)

El presente ensayo pretende realizar una comparativa entre algunos rasgos arquitectónicos similares de Mesoamérica y Sudamérica, específicamente con Caral, localizado en Perú, con el objetivo de incentivar futuras investigaciones que pudieran generar hipótesis sobre el origen del ser humano en América.

In 1998 and 2001 an archaeological excavation was carried out at El Cabuyo, site located within the San Agustín culture area, in the upper course of the river Magdalena (Colombia). The settlement remains present here are mainly concentrated on hillocks of alluvial nature (montículos I-III), in its majority modi$ed by human activity. The oldest archaeological evidences in this area were registered within the tomb 1, situated on the top of the hillock II (montículo II, tumba 1), that contained skeletal remains and lithic artefacts, dated by 14C analysis (Beta 144081) to the 10th century BC.
The ceramic material obtained from the site is largely related to the three main phases of San Agustín culture development: Upper Formative, Regional Classic and Recent (Duque, Cubillos 1975). Furthermore, its major part dates back from the Recent Period.
Apart from the material typical for San Agustín culture area some fragments of pottery, which point out in"uences from Amazonia, specifically Putumayo and Caquetá basins, were found.
Keywords:
South of Colombia. Magdalena River. Putumayo- and Caquetá River. San Agustín Cultur. Prehispanic complex. Amazonia. Funeral customs.

CIUDADES INCAS, LLACTAS APUS Y FORMAS EN LA GEOGRAFIA SAGRADA.
Inca cities. Llactas, Apus and forms in Sacred Geography

Inca cities presents the fundamental considerations for the comprehension of Incas planning, such as the conditioning of the environment and the elements of the andean worldview.
It was assumed, that those principal hypothesis for the Inca planning were: the conditioning of the environment and the elements of the andean worldview.
This research describes Inca sites in the Urubamba Valley, the major infrastructure projects, urban layout linked to the Apus (sacred mountains), and schematizes the form in the Incas llactas territory.
Finally shown the designs of the territory in the studied llactas.
Ciudades Incas presenta las consideraciones fundamentales para comprender el planeamiento inca, como el acondicionamiento del medio natural y los principales elementos de la cosmovisión andina.
Se asumió como hipótesis principal de esta investigación que las consideraciones fundamentales para el planeamiento inca fueron: el
acondicionamiento del medio natural y los elementos de la cosmovisión andina.
Esta investigación describe sitios incas del valle del Urubamba, las principales obras de infraestructura, la disposición urbana relacionada con los Apus (montañas sagradas), y esquematiza la forma en el
territorio de las llactas incas. Finalmente se presentan los diseños del territorio de las llactas estudiadas.

CIUDADES INCAS, LLACTAS APUS Y FORMAS EN LA GEOGRAFIA SAGRADA. Por Carlos Enrique Guzmán. Publicado en revista Investigaciones en Ciudad y Arquitectura. Ed. INIFAUA – UNI, Lima. 2012.

English Summary:


This remarkable book is the fruit of 30 years of investigations of two archaeologists, husband and wife, Maria Magdalena and Andrzej Antczak, on the pre-Hispanic archaeology of the majestic Los Roques Archipelago, Venezuela. The uniqueness of the Los Roques Archipelago within the panorama of insular pre-colonial archaeology in the Americas centers on the discovery of more than 400 human clay figurines on one small island, Dos Mosquises, along with elaborate primary ritual contexts and the remains of a gargantuan queen conch (lobatus gigas) exploitation enterprise. This book is the winner of two of the highest scientific publication awards in Venezuela (2006 & 2009).


Resumen en Español:


Desde el título de este volumen de indiscutible valor, la palabra “prometidas” aplica oportunamente a nuestro maravilloso archipiélago venezolano de Los Roques la alegoría bíblica que coloca al final de un exigente camino hermosas tierras, donde corren ríos de leche y miel. Hacia estas islas con abundantes recursos marinos, entre los cuales destaca el gran caracol marino llamado ‘botuto’, se dirigían las canoas indígenas durante al menos cuatro siglos antes de la conquista europea. Las campañas de explotación de los recursos en las islas dependían del éxito de la actividad ceremonial, testimoniada por centenares de figurinas humanas, incensarios, ocarinas y pipas cerámicas, flautas de hueso y silbatos de concha, recuperados por los arqueólogos en complejos contextos primarios.

La presencia de esta diversidad de objetos en los campamentos temporales de las pequeñas islas oceánicas es un fenómeno excepcional en la arqueología del Caribe. En este sentido, la publicación de esta monografía es el cumplimiento de un prolongado esfuerzo y de un caro anhelo por proporcionar al lector una explicación sólida y coherente de este fenómeno arqueológico único. Es también el final de una importante etapa de ese camino verdaderamente exigente de la investigación arqueológica. A través de sus páginas, con un soporte teórico documental de inusual solidez y pertinencia, se difunde el fruto de muchos años de perseverante dedicación para sus autores, María Magdalena Mackowiak de Antczak y Andrzej Antczak, arqueólogos y antropólogos vinculados desde hace tiempo con la Universidad Simón Bolívar.

Se trata, sin duda, de una obra mayor, enriquecida por 1500 ilustraciones y más de 200 tablas, que describe hallazgos arqueológicos excepcionales recuperados de manera sistemática durante más de 60 campañas de trabajo de campo, y desarrolla propuestas verdaderamente seminales para el entendimiento del significado y la valoración del legado prehispánico en Venezuela y, en especial, en sus territorios insulares.

Este volumen ha sido concebido no solamente como lectura referencial para profesionales y estudiantes de arqueología y antropología, sino también esta dirigido al lector no especializado que puede sentirse atraído por el vibrante, colorido y desconocido pasado prehispánico presentado en estas páginas. También, a través de esta monografía los autores aspiran a infundir El Orgullo por el Pasado, el lema que orienta sus trabajos de investigación y docencia.

Este vasto y complejo proyecto editorial ha sido posible gracias a la concertación de un gran equipo profesional y una venturosa alianza de nuestra Universidad con Banesco y Petrozuata, confluencias que celebramos también como promesas felizmente cumplidas.

El libro ha recibido numerosos premios nacionales incluyendo:

IV Premio Nacional del Libro 2006, Mejor Libro Científico otorgado por el Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Cultura.

2009 Premio Alterno por Mejor Investigación en Ciencias Sociales, otorgado por la ASOVAC (Asociación Venezolana para el Avance de la Ciencia).

2007 Premio Andrés Bello para la Mejor Investigación en Ciencias Sociales otorgado por la Universidad Simón Bolívar.

Toro Muerto (valle del río Majes, Arequipa-Perú), es uno de los sitios arqueológicos más grandes del mundo y con mayor cantidad de expresiones petrográficas: en un área de 10 km2 se han registrado 2.584 bloques de rocas grabadas con representaciones geométricas, zoomórficas y antropomórficas. En el 2017, al realizarse las prospecciones de acuerdo con el Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológica Toro Muerto (PIA-TM), en el extremo norte del sitio, se halló una colina con 92 petroglifos aun no estudiados (Sector X). En el 2018, se realizó un registro integral y preciso de todo el yacimiento: cada roca cuenta con fichas, fotografías calibradas, dibujos y algunos modelos 3D de rocas. Asimismo, se realizaron levantamientos geodésicos, fotogrametría del terreno, ortofotos, tecnomorfología y modelo 3D del sector y también excavaciones. El presente artículo trata sobre el estudio y la virtualización integral del patrimonio cultural rupestre del referido sector.

This paper presents the results of research conducted at the Inca site of El Tigre, situated in the upper basin of the river Aconcagua,
in the northern area of Central Chile. Its monumental architecture and material context and analysis of its relationship with other
Inca remains in nearby areas all suggest a multipurpose character for the site. This is found primarily in its association with the
Inca road network and evidence of ritual expressions originating in Cuzco implanted in the area during the Late Period (1.400-
1.542 BC). These antecedents are discussed in relation to the mechanisms held by the presence of Tawantinsuyu in the area.

The portrait-vessels of the Moche culture are one of the most enigmatic categories of prehispanic Andean ceramics. They were produced mainly between the 3rd and 7th centuries A.D., in workshops located in the Santa, Virú, Moche, and Chicama valleys of coastal Peru. The marked physical and psychological individualization of the faces and the naturalist manner of representing them--something rare in contexts of societies with no writing--have intrigued scholars for more than a century. Why did Moche society create these artifacts? Are they in fact portraits, in the modern sense of the word? Who were the individuals represented? These are some of the questions this book tries to answer. In Spanish.

Los Rostros Silenciosos" deals with one of the best known, yet at the same time most enigmatic categories of pre-Hispanic Andean ceramics – the Moche culture's huaco portraits.

Los rostros silenciosos esta dedicado a una de las mas conocidas y al mismo tiempo mas enigmaticas categorias de la ceramica andina prehispanica: la de los huacos retrato de la cultura Moche. Producidos en su mayoria entre los siglos III y VII de nuestra era, en talleres ubicados en los valles de Santa, Virú, Moche y Chicama, representan un fenomeno muy particular en la historia del arte mundial.

La marcada individualizacion fisica y psicologica de las caras y la manera naturalista de representarlas – caracteres sumamente raros en el contexto de sociedades agrafas – han despertado el interes de los investigadores (arqueologos, historiadores del arte, artistas e incluso medicos y patologos) desde hace ya mas de un siglo. ¿Por que en la sociedad moche surgio la necesidad de crear tales artefactos?, ¿efectivamente eran retratos en el sentido moderno de la palabra?, ¿quienes eran los sujetos representados? Estas son algunas de las principales interrogantes a que este libro trata de responder.

“Los rostros silenciosos. Los huacos retrato de la cultura Moche” de Janusz Z.Woloszyn, editado por el Fondo Editorial de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) en el 2008 intenta responder ¿por qué en la sociedad moche surgió la necesidad de crear tales artefactos? ¿efectivamente eran retratos en el sentido moderno de la palabra? ¿quienes eran los representados?. El libro que viene con un gran despliegue de imágenes, símbolos, fotografías se basa en el análisis de 778 piezas de cerámica desde una perspectiva semiológica y además de ofrecer sugerentes respuestas también plantea nuevas interrogantes.

El polaco Janusz Z. Woloszyn ha publicado una investigación donde las enigmáticas vasijas moches con forma de cabeza humana son el objeto de estudio. Los rostros silenciosos. Los huacos retrato de la cultura moche (Fondo Editorial de la PUCP, 2009) es una publicación que cuenta con una variedad de ilustraciones, figuras, esquemas, cuadros y patrones decorativos, adornos y detalles, que sumergirán al lector en el apasionante mundo del arte y la representación mochica.  Asimismo, establece un conjunto de criterios de análisis en los que estética, análisis iconográfico, arqueología y bioantropología conviven en una fructífera interdisciplinariedad.

Ancient people used architectural space to track the movement of heavenly astronomical bodies and, in the process, create hierophanies. In particular, where and when is visual information dramatized by the hierophantic play of light and shadow on Maya buildings? A famous example can be seen at the Castillo pyramid at Chichén Itzá, where the sun illuminates a north serpent balustrade on March 20–21, the spring equinox, and on September 21–22, the fall equinox. The building may have been built to commemorate the close of the tenth baktun, 7 Ahaw 18 Sip, on March 13, A.D. 830 in our Gregorian calendar (Coggins 1987, 427; Krupp 1997, 267; Stuart 2011, 242). This baktun ending fell a week before the spring equinox. The range of events displayed in the context of architectural space, such as solstice sunrise and sunset or solar zenith and nadir passages in Group E–type complexes, will be discussed to show how and why agents, architects, or audiences observed and celebrated solar movements in urban planning.

The inhabitants of the Pre-Columbian world created numerous religious belief systems, many of which included huge pantheons of deities, human sacrifice, and state controlled worship.  The Andeans, and the Incas in particular, had a unique world view in which natural features -- mountains, springs, rivers, and hills -- were sacred.  The entire universe was considered "an animate being, a living entity," created by higher powers that exercised continual control. (Jones, p.124, 2010)
The Inca "worshiped their ancestors and features of the landscape;" weather and natural phenomena were logical foci of prayers and offerings.

Objectives: This study examines violence-related cranial trauma frequencies and wound characteristics in the pre-Hispanic cemetery of Uraca in the lower Majes Valley , Arequipa, Peru, dating to the pre-and early-Wari periods (200-750 CE). Cranial wounds are compared between status and sex-based subgroups to understand how violence shaped, and was shaped by, these aspects of identity, and to reconstruct the social contexts of violence carried out by and against Uracans. Materials and Methods: Presence, location, and characteristics (lethality, penetration, and post-traumatic sequelae) of antemortem and perimortem cranial fractures are documented for 145 crania and compared between subgroups. Cranial wounds are mapped in ArcGIS and the locational distribution of injuries is compared between male and female crania. Results: Middle adult males were disproportionately interred at Uraca, particularly in the elite Sector I. The Uraca mortuary population presents the highest rate of cranial trauma reported for pre-Hispanic Peru: 67% of adults present trauma, and among those, 61.1% present more than one cranial injury. Males exhibit significantly more cranial trauma than females and present a higher mean number of injuries per person. Elite males show the highest mean number of injuries per person, more antemortem injuries, and are the only ones with perimortem cranial trauma, bladed injuries, penetrating injuries, and post-traumatic sequelae. Both sexes were most frequently injured on the anterior of the cranium, while the proportion of posterior injuries was higher for females. Discussion: The rate, intensity, and locational patterns of cranial trauma suggests the community was engaged in raids and/or war with enemy groups, some of which may have increased physical violence between community members. Engaging in violence was likely a prerequisite for burial in the elite sector and was bound up with the generation and maintenance of social status differences linked to male social life.

Esta tesis estudia las dinámicas de continuidad y cambio entre la cultura material procedente del período prehispánico, en diversas sociedades que habitaron en las regiones que hoy conforman Venezuela y proximidades, con las del presente amerindio. Para ello, se ha elaborado un análisis que parte desde la historia del arte, pero que a su vez incorpora las contribuciones de la arqueología, la etnografía y la historia. De este modo, el estudio se
enfoca en el desarrollo de las formas simbólicas que se ha producido en estas sociedades, a través del lenguaje visual abstracto, teniendo en cuenta las variaciones existentes en el
período prehispánico, así como los cambios que se sucedieron a partir de la Colonia. Este trabajo considera, igualmente, la valoración de esta cultura material como objeto estético
desde Occidente, los valores de autenticidad y las distintas perspectivas tomadas a partir de la relación de estas sociedades con sus concepciones religiosas y mitológicas, así como su
adaptación al mundo laico y contemporáneo occidental.