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Over the last five years global positioning systems (GPS) and electronic total stations (ETS) have become viable tools for use in archaeological field mapping. When used in conjunction GPS and ETS can generate precise, accurate, and georeferenced three-dimensional digital data sets in real time. As survey work proceeds, associated attribute tables incorporating field measurements and commentary can also be created, and the entire dataset can be imported directly into a geographic information system (GIS). This technique may be called precision digital mapping, and produces accurate, high density data sets of unprecedented richness. The revolutions in data management, visualization, and analysis made possible by GIS are now being mirrored by a revolution in field mapping techniques.

AbstractThe 1989 and 1990 field seasons at the Wari provincial site of Pikillacta in the valley of Cuzco, Peru, comprised the first extensive excavation of the second-largest existing Wari architectural complex. Occupied between A.C. 600 and 900, Pikillacta was built in three successive construction phases and finally abandoned before completion of the final one. Excavations revealed well-preserved architecture in the center of the site, including such features as gypsum-plastered floors and walls; superimposed floor remains collapsed on one another, demonstrating the existence of multi-storied buildings; plastered staircases; plaster-lined niches; and a variety of sub-floor offering pits. Although the interiors of the buildings were largely devoid of artifacts, excavations in the site's principal midden produced an abundance of material: large quantities of ceramic remains, including such foreign styles as Nazca and Cajamarca, as well as objects of bone, shell, metal, obsidian, and worked stone. Evidence...

This rapid communication describes a lithic blade that was recently recovered during excavations in the Velondriake Marine Protected Area in southwest Madagascar. This represents the only recorded archaeological lithic blade recovered from southwest Madagascar. The blade was recovered in situ at a depth of 1.66 m, a deposit dating to between 750 and 1200 BP at site G134, adjacent to the modern village of Antsaragnasoa. While similar in material choice (translucent-brown chert) and morphology (parallel-sided blade) to other lithics recovered at the northern sites of Ambohiposa and Lakaton’i Anja, it is significantly larger than other recorded lithics on Madagascar. More research is required but this finding suggests that lithic technology may have been more widespread on the island, particularly among coastal communities, than previously thought.

The site of Ceibal was founded around the beginning of sedentary life in the Maya lowlands. Excavations at the Karinel Group within the site reveal domestic structures and ritual deposits dating to the Middle Preclassic, Late Preclassic, and Terminal Preclassic periods (c. 1000 BC–AD 300). The results complement data from Ceibal's Central Plaza and publications on early households in other regions of the lowlands, inviting future investigations of temporal and geographic variation in Preclassic Maya domestic rituals.

The Postclassic period (ca. AD 1150–1450) in the Mimbres region is diverse and variable. Excavation data from Las Animas Village (LA3949) is used to explore this variability and better delineate th...

ABSTRACTRecent work at the Qijia Culture type-site of Qijiaping in the Tao River valley of Gansu Province, China, has shed light on the complex nature of this early Bronze Age site. Situated at the intersection between the mixed pastoralists of eastern central Asia and the agriculturalists of China’s northern Central Plain, Qijia peoples absorbed, evolved, and transmitted products and technologies that shaped cultural developments in both directions. The Tao River Archaeological Project (TRAP) used a combination of surface survey, geophysics, digital mapping, and targeted excavation to expand our understanding of the multicomponent nature of Qijiaping. This included identifying potential habitation, mortuary, and production locales; examining site-wide ceramic use; mapping anomalies through geophysics; and further exploring these through targeted excavations. The results have expanded our knowledge of the site structure of Qijiaping and its place in the wider Qijia interaction sphere, while also confirmin...

Abstract Chemical analysis was undertaken at Chan b'i, an Early Classic (300–600 CE) ancient Maya submerged salt works to find activity areas not apparent from artifactual materials recovered from excavations. Chan b'i is one of 105 salt works located underwater in Paynes Creek National Park, Belize where wooden buildings are preserved due to mangrove peat matrix. The acidic peat (pH 6) preserved wood and other botanical remains, but is not conducive to the preservation of bone. Consequently, the artifactual record may be biased against the preservation of animal food remains and human burials, which are typically found at Maya settlements. In this study, we use inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) to evaluate if there is evidence of other activities in addition to the salt production. The present study extends soil chemistry research to underwater archaeological sites. The results of chemical patterns indicate activity locations inside and outside of wooden architecture not shown by the artifactual remains.

Abstract High-resolution airborne lidar has been employed in the Maya lowlands to examine landscape modifications, detect architectural features, and expedite and expand upon traditional settlement surveys. Another potentially beneficial—and to-date underutilized—application of lidar is in the analysis of water management features such as small reservoirs and household storage tanks. The urban center of Yaxnohcah, located within the Central Karstic Uplands of the Yucatan Peninsula, provides an ideal test case for studying how the residents of this important Maya community managed their seasonally scarce water resources at the household scale. We employ an integrative approach combining lidar-based GIS analysis of 24 km 2 of the site area, ground verification, and excavation data from five small depressions to determine their function and the role they may have played in water management activities. Our research shows that some, but not all, small depressions proximate to residential structures functioned as either natural or human-made storage tanks and were likely an adaptive component of expanding Middle Preclassic to Classic period urbanization at the site. Thus, while lidar has revolutionized the identification of topographical features and hydrologic patterns in the landscape, a combination of ground verification and archaeological testing remains necessary to confirm and evaluate these features as potential water reservoirs.