Deborah L Nichols (editor) - Oxford Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology

THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF
MESOAMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Edited by
DEBORAH L. NICHOLS

and
CHRISTOPHER A. POOL

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Oxford handbook of Mesoamerican archaeology / edited by
Deborah L. Nichols and Christopher A. Pool.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9780195390933
1. ArchaeologyMexico. 2. ArchaeologyCentral America. 3. Indians of Mexico
Antiquities. 4. Indians of Central AmericaAntiquities.
5. Excavations (Archaeology)Mexico. 6. Excavations (Archaeology)Central America.
7. MexicoAntiquities. 8. Central AmericaAntiquities. I. Nichols, Deborah L.
II. Pool, Christopher A. III. Title: Handbook of Mesoamerican archaeology.
F1219.O88 2012
972.01dc23
2011047914

ISBN 9780195390933

1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper

GUILLERMO ACOSTA OCHOA (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mxico) RANI T. ALEXANDER (New Mexico State University) FABIO ESTEBAN AMADOR (National Geographic Society) PHILIP J. ARNOLD III (Loyola University, Chicago) BRBARA ARROYO (Museo Popol Vuh Universidad Francisco Marroqun, Guatemala) ANTHONY F. AVENI (Colgate University)

JAIME J. AWE (Institute of Archaeology, Belize) CHRISTOPHER S. BEEKMAN (University of Colorado, Denver) FRANCES F. BERDAN (California State University, San Bernardino) GEORGE J. BEY III (Millsaps College)

RONALD L. BISHOP (Smithsonian Institution)

RICHARD E. BLANTON (Purdue University)

JEFFREY P. BLOMSTER (George Washington University) GREG BORGSTEDE (University of Pennsylvania)

ELIZABETH M. BRUMFIEL (Northwestern University) MARCELLO A. CANUTO (Yale University)

DAVID M. CARBALLO (Boston University)

THOMAS H. CHARLTON (University of Iowa)

ARLEN F. CHASE (University of Central Florida) DIANE Z. CHASE (University of Central Florida) OSWALDO CHINCHILLA MAZARIEGOS (Museo Popol Vuh Universidad Francisco Marroqun, Guatemala) JOHN CLARK (Brigham Young University)

ROBERT H. COBEAN (Instituto Nacional de Antropologa e Historia, Mexico) GEORGE L. COWGILL (Arizona State University)

ANNICK DANEELS (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mxico) CARRIE DENNETT (University of Calgary)

LORI BOORNAZIAN DIEL (Texas Christian University) CHRISTINA ELSON (American Museum of Natural History) SUSAN TOBY EVANS (Pennsylvania State University) GARY M. FEINMAN (Field Museum)

JAMES L. FITZSIMMONS (Middlebury College)

PATRICIA FOURNIER G. (Instituto Nacional de Antropologa e Historia, Mexico) MANUEL GNDARA (Escuela Nacional Antropologa y Historia, Mexico) SERGIO GMEZ CHVEZ (Instituto Nacional de Antropologa e Historia, Mexico) NIKOLAI GRUBE (Universitt Bonn)

DAN M. HEALAN (Tulane University)

JOHN S. HENDERSON (Cornell University)

KENNETH HIRTH (Pennsylvania State University) KATHRYN M. HUDSON (Cornell University)

EDUARDO DE JESS DOUGLAS (University of North Carolina) ROSEMARY A. JOYCE (University of California, Berkeley) JOHN JUSTESON (State University of New York at Albany) DOUGLAS J. KENNETT (Pennsylvania State University) REX KOONTZ (University of Houston)

MICHAEL LOVE (California State University, Northridge) BLANCA MALDONADO (Colegio de Michoacan)

PATRICIA A. MCANANY (University of North Carolina) GEOFFREY MCCAFFERTY (University of Calgary)

SHARISSE MCCAFFERTY (University of Calgary)

EMILY MCCLUNG DE TAPIA (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mxico) RANDALL MCGUIRE (State University of New York at Binghamton) DEBORAH L. NICHOLS (Dartmouth College)

MICHAEL A. OHNERSORGEN (University of Missouri, St. Louis) MICHEL R. OUDIJK (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico) SHOSHAUNNA PARKS (University of North Carolina) JEFFREY R. PARSONS (University of Michigan)

DOLORES R. PIPERNO (Smithsonian Institution)

JOHN M. D. POHL (University of California, Los Angeles) HELEN PERLSTEIN POLLARD (Michigan State) CHRISTOPHER A. POOL (University of Kentucky)

MARY E. PYE (New World Archaeological Foundation) KATHRYN REESE-TAYLOR (University of Calgary) F. KENT REILLY III (Texas State University) PRUDENCE M. RICE (Southern Illinois University) WILLIAM M. RINGLE (Davidson College)

CYNTHIA ROBIN (Northwestern University)

EUGENIA ROBINSON (Montgomery College)

NELLY M. ROBLES GARCA (Instituto Nacional de Antropologa e Historia, Mexico) ROBERT M. ROSENSWIG (State University of New York at Albany) SILVIA SALGADO GONZLEZ (University of Costa Rica) VERNON L. SCARBOROUGH (University of Cincinnati) EDWARD SCHORTMAN (Kenyon College)

MALLE SERGHERAERT (Universit Paris, Panthon-Sorbonne) ALFRED H. SIEMENS (University of British Columbia) BRUCE D. SMITH (Smithsonian Institution)

MICHAEL E. SMITH (Arizona State University)

MICHAEL W. SPENCE (Western Ontario University) TRAVIS W. STANTON (Universidad de las Americas Puebla) REBECCA STOREY (University of Houston)

YOKO SUGIURA Y. (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mxico) SABURO SUGIYAMA (Aichi Prefectural University and Arizona State University) KARL A. TAUBE (University of California, Riverside) EMILY UMBERGER (University of Arizona)

PATRICIA URBAN (Kenyon College)

JAVIER URCID (Brandeis University)

MARCIE L. VENTER (Missouri State University)

DAVID WEBSTER (Pennsylvania State University) E. CHRISTIAN WELLS (University of South Florida) JASON YAEGER (University of Texas at San Antonio)

DEBORAH L. NICHOLS AND CHRISTOPHER A. POOL

Where the Rockies meet the northern outliers of the Andes, Middle America rises out of the sea: its plateaus form one of the roofs of the world. Their ground still pulses with the seismic shocks that gave them birth... and the ancient prophets of this land spoke of five great periods of time, each destined to end in disaster. (Wolf 1959: 1)

WITH its mountain highlands, snow-capped volcanic peaks, and tropical lowlands, Mesoamerica is a land of geographic and cultural contrasts first settled by humans in the distant past of the last ice age. Like the Andes of South America; Egypt and Mesopotamia; and China and the Indus River Valley, Mesoamerica became a setting for major evolutionary transformations: the development of agriculture and the formation of cities and states, traditional hallmarks of civilization. Mesoamerica also was one of the places where encounters with Europeans most dramatically shaped the course of history and the modern world (Carrasco 2001a: ix).