- Adams, R. E. W., 1991
- "Nucleation of Population and Water Storage among the
Ancient Maya," Science 251(4994):632. [848] notebook
- Adams, Richard E. W., W. E. Jr Brown, and T. Patrick Culbert,
1981
- "Radar Mapping, Archaeology and Ancient Maya Land Use,"
Science 213(4515):1457-1463. [252] notebook
- Blanton, Richard E., Stephen A. Kowalewski, Gary Feinman, and
Laura M. Finsten, 1993
- Ancient Mesoamerica: A Comparison of Change in Three
Regions, (2nd Edition) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. [644]
reserve
First edition ('81) reviewed by J. R. Parsons: AA 48(3):261-263.
- Clark, John E., 1986
- "From Mountains to Molehills: a Critical Review of
Teotihuacán's Obsidian Industry," in Economic Aspects of
Prehispanic Highland Mexico, edited by Barry L. Isaac,
Research in economic anthropology, vol. supplement 2, pp.
23-74, JAI Press, Greenwich, CN. [437] notebook
Critical review of literature about obsidian mining,
prismatic blade manufacture and related trade in
Teotihuacán. Strongly suggests that the magnitude and
economic importance of this activity has been exaggerated
beyond what existing data will support. Good discussion
of the technology of prismatic blade manufacture and how
the remains of various stages of this process can be
identified archaeologically.
- Cobean, Robert H., Michael D. Coe, Edward A. Jr Perry, Karl K.
Turckian, and Dinkar P. Kharkar, 1971
- "Obsidian Trade at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, Mexico,"
Science 174:666-671. [381] notebook
- Coe, Michael D., 1964
- "The Chinampas of Mexico," Scientific American 211:90-98.
[261] notebook
- Coe, Michael D., 1981
- "San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan," in Archaeology, edited by
Jeremy A. Sabloff and with the assistance of Patricia A.
Andrews, Supplement to the handbook of Middle American
Indians, vol. 1, pp. 117-146, University of Texas
Press, Austin, TX. [1402]
- Drennan, Robert D., 1976
- "Religion and Social Evolution in Formative Mesoamerica,"
in The Early Mesoamerican Village, edited by Kent V.
Flannery, Studies in Archaeology, pp. 345-368, Academic
Press, New York, NY. [1002] notebook
- Flannery, Kent V., 1972
- "The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations," Annual Review
of Ecology and Semantics 3:399-426. [445] notebook
Discusses stages of social development -- bands, tribes,
chiefdoms, states --with graphic display of
characteristics and examples. Examines alternative
accounts of "prime movers" for social development --
irrigation, warfare, population growth and social
circumscription, trade and symbiosis, and others.
Concludes that a multivariate model is better. Sketches
model using environmental mechanisms, pathologies and
socio-environmental conditions listing ways these
interact.
- Flannery, Kent V., 1983
- "Precolumbian Farming in the Valleys of Oaxaca, Nochitlan
and Cuicatlan: A Comparative Study," in The Cloud People:
Divergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec
Civilizations, edited by Kent V. Flannery and Joyce
Marcus, A School of American Research Book, pp. 323-338,
Academic Press, New York, NY. [1006]
- Grove, David C., Kenneth G. Hirth, David E. Bug‚, and Ann M. Cyphers, 1976
- "Settlement and Cultural Development at Chalcatzingo,"
Science 192(4245):1203-1210. [657] notebook
- Hanson, Richard D., 1991
- "The Maya Rediscovered: The Road to Nakbe," Natural
History :8-14. [1406] notebook
Popular discussion of UCLA excavationa at Nakbe treating
the evidence provided for formative social complexity
(2300-1700 BP). A bit "gee whiz" but useful
introduction.
- Harris, Marvin, 1983
- "Kinship, Locality and Descent," in Cultural
Anthropology, pp. 103-119, Harper & Row, New York, NY.
[1586] reserve
- Hassig, Ross, 1985
- "Introduction (pp. 2-8); Transport (pp. 28-40, 56-66);
Summary of Pre-Columbian System (pp. 145-150)," in Trade,
Tribute and Transportation: The sixteenth-Century
Political Economy of the Valley of Mexico, University of
Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK. [1282]
- Hassig, Ross, 1988
- "Introduction (pp. 3-13); Arms, Armor and Combat (pp.
75-109)," in Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and
Political Control, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman,
OK. [1304]
- Heizer, Robert F., 1960
- "Agriculture and the Theocratic State in Lowland
Southeastern Mexico," American Antiquity 23(2):215-222.
[428] notebook
Discusses the productivity of milpa agriculture in
general and in the La Venta area. Argues that the
population supported by this agricultural technology
would have been sufficient to build and rebuild the
structures at La Venta. Contains detailed calculations of
labor required and labor available. Does not mention
earlier calculations of the same kind for later sites
(Cook, 1947). Clearly written, good background material
provided.
- Hosler, Dorothy and Guy Stresser-Pean, 1992
- "The Huastec Region: A Second Locus for the Production of
Bronze Alloys in Ancient Mesoamerica," Science
257(5074):1215-1220. [1269] notebook
Contains good review of metallurgy literature.
- Kolb, Charles L., 1986
- "Commercial Aspects of Classic Period Teotihuacán Period
"Thin Orange" Wares," in Economic Aspects of Prehispanic
Highland Mexico, edited by Barry L. Isaac, Research in
Economic Anthropology, vol. supplement 2, pp. 155-206,
JAI Press, Greenwich, CN. [116] notebook
- MacNeish, Richard S., 1964
- "Ancient Mesoamerican Civilization," Science
143(3606):531-537. [447] notebook
- Marcus, Joyce, 1980
- "Zapotec Writing," Scientific American 242:46-60. [318]
notebook
Good, somewhat popular, discussion of interpretation of
Zapotec texts. Lots of photographs and diagrams.
- Morell, Virginia, 1991
- "New Light on Writing in the Americas," Science 251:268-
270. [850] notebook
- Pasztory, Esther, 1984
- "The Function of Art in Mesoamerica," Archaeology
37(1):21-35. [320] notebook
- Pendergast, David M., 1962
- "Metal Artifacts in Prehispanic Mesoamerica," American
Antiquity 27(4):520-545. [43]
Provides a functional typology of all Precolumbian
Mesoamerican metal objects of known provenience, pictures
of representative types, maps showing the source of metal
objects in general and various types. Offers hypotheses
about origin and spread of various types among different
regions. Clear, thorough.
- Pendergast, David M., 1990
- "Engineering Problems in Ancient Maya Architecture: Past,
Present and Future," Environmental Geology and Water
Sciences 16(1):67-73. [847] notebook
The ancient Maya faced a number of architectural
engineering problems that they were unable to solve,
except in the short term. Modern expectations for and
use of Maya sites pose additional problems, and neither
these nor the ancient ones have yet been fully resolved.
- Pollock, Harry H. D., 1965
- "Architecture of the Maya Lowlands," in Archeology of
Southern Mesoamerica, Part one, edited by Gordon R.
Willey, Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. Vol. 2,
pp. 378-440, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX.
[1381]
- Rice, Prudence M., 1987
- "Pottery and its History," in Pottery Analysis: a
Sourcebook, edited by Prudence M. Rice, pp. 3-27,
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. [1014] notebook
- Scarborough, V. L. and Gary G. Gallopin, 1991
- "A Water Storage Adaptation in the Maya Lowlands,"
Science 251(4994):658-662. [849] notebook
Prehispanic water management in the Maya Lowlands
emphasized collection and storage rather than
canalization and diversion accentuated in highland
Mexico. Reexamination of site maps of the ancient Maya
city of Tilal, Guatemala, has revealed an important,
overlooked factor in Maya centralization and urban
settlement organization. In a geographical zone affected
by an extended dry season and far away from permanent
water sources, large, well-planned reservoirs provided
resource control as well as political leverage.
- Stark, Barbara L., 1981
- "The Rise of Sedentary life," in Archaeology, edited by
Jeremy A. Sabloff and Patricia A. Andrews, Supplement to
the Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. Vol. 1, pp.
345-372, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX. [865]
reserve
- Weaver, Muriel Porter, 1993e
- Chapter 5: Códices, Calendrics, and Maya Writing in The
Aztecs, Maya and their Predecessors: Archaeology of
Mesoamerica. (3rd Edition) Studies in Archaeology, Academic
Press, New York, NY. [1017]
This is pershaps the standard testbook on
Mesoameriacn archaeology. It is detailed and
up-to-date. The bibliography is excellent.
- Weaver, Muriel Porter, 1993g
- Chapter 7, pp. 413-420: The Postclassic in Oaxaca in The
Aztecs, Maya and their Predecessors: Archaeology of
Mesoamerica. (3rd Edition) Studies in Archaeology, Academic
Press, New York, NY. [1017]
- Zeitlin, Robert N., 1985
- "Review of Mining and Mining Techniques in Ancient
Mesoamerica (Eds.) P. C. Weigand & G. Gwynne.
Anthropology. 6(1 & 2)," American Antiquity 50(4):929-
930. [1021] notebook
