Abstract The site of Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico, is well known for its distinctive architecture and
sculpture that came to light in excavations initiated some 70 years ago. Less well known is�…

Economic growth is rarely examined for ancient states and empires despite its prominence
as a topic in modern economies. The concept is debated, and many measures of growth are�…

Studies of materials' value in past societies have examined a wide variety of causes for
value including, but not limited to, labor, skill, access, cultural associations, and scarcity and�…

The role of craft producers in past economies provides information that helps contextualize
the role of economies in broader sociopolitical systems. Through this examination of lowland�…

We use ceramic and obsidian data from the ancient Maya port site of Vista Alegre to discuss
long-distance exchange during the Terminal Classic (c. AD 850–1100) period. This is a time�…

Recent studies of post-collapse regeneration of early state societies have explained the
renewed growth of social complexity using the concepts of template regeneration and�…

In this study, we present evidence for the use of slingstones and other projectile stones
among the ancient Maya peoples of the Usumacinta River region. Rounded stones are�…

Bloodletting was one of the most commonly shared ritual practices among ancient
Mesoamerican societies. However, ethnohistoric accounts, epigraphic records, and the�…

In this paper, I examine how indigenous residents of the community of Achiutla—located in
the Mixtec region of Oaxaca, Mexico—utilized long-distance trade routes between central�…

Presenting the results of six years of archaeological survey and excavation in and around
the Maya kingdom of El Zotz, An Inconstant Landscape paints a complex picture of a�…