Agricultural and residential space were integrated in prehistoric lowland Mesoamerica for productive and domestic activities to produce distinctive patterns of settlement and land use visible in the archaeological record. Ethnoarchaeological studies provide information on the behavioral component of site formation in such contexts. Contemporary residential refuse treatment and the use of infield agricultural land are examined here from a sample of farming households in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas of southern Veracruz, Mexico. A model of site structure (the House-Lot model) relates the maintenance of refuse-free (clear area) and refuse-laden (intermediate area) spaces within the house lot to household farming activities outside of the residential lot. Variation in the intensity of cultivation on infield plots is shown to correlate with variability in the size of areas within house lots. This research suggests that the distribution of prehistoric residential debris might be used to diagnose factors of ancient agriculture and settlement in contexts commonly encountered during archaeological excavation and survey.

A recent systematic archaeological survey in the Ejutla Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico, enables us to examine long-term settlement-pattern changes in this small region and its shifting Prehispanic relation with the larger, adjacent Valley of Oaxaca. Throughout the sequence, Ejutla was settled less densely than Oaxaca, though the degree of difference varied through time. Ejutla was not a simple microcosm of Oaxaca; rather the former region shifted from a sparsely inhabited frontier to a more-dependent periphery that maintained different degrees of autonomy over time. Through a multiscalar examination of this contiguous area larger than a single valley, new perspectives are gained concerning political and economic relations and processes at the macroregional scale for the southern highlands of ancient Mesoamerica.

The presence of cacao has been discovered in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. Cacao in this region has been mentioned since Prehispanic times by diverse chroniclers and investigators. Nonetheless, until the present, there did not exist concrete evidence of the existence of cacao in this area. Apparently, the climate and soil of Yucatan are not adequate for the natural growth of this species, which requires great humidity throughout the year and deep soils. Cacao was found in three sinkholes (k'o'op) to the south of Valladolid. The trees found are of a rare form of cacao only known in the Lacandon region in Chiapas: Theobroma cacao L. subspecies cacao forma lacandonica Cuatrecasas. A discussion of the importance of this discovery from the perspectives of biology, ecology, and history is presented. This discovery reinforces the importance of the present-day flora for understanding the management of vegetation in the past.

The fall of the Early Postclassic capital of Chichen Itza is generally described in native chronicles as the result of a widespread revolt of native Yucatec Maya against the Itzá rulers of northern Yucatan. This historic event was the outcome of complex social, economic, and ecological processes that ultimately led to the weakening and dissolution of the Itzá polity. The historic legends that trace the fall of the Itzá are a superficial manifestation of deeper problems, which likely included tense relations with subjugated peoples, excess economic and human tribute, overpopulation, scarcities of land and agricultural resources, and possible climatological changes resulting in drought. The Itzá economy was linked to all these processes, but as they primarily were focused on the exploitation of coastal resources and long-distance trade, they failed to establish a viable economic system in the interior. This failure, coupled with the overexploitation of a declining social and economic resource base, led to the Itzá collapse. This essay presents a preliminary discussion of these processes.

In Mesoamerica concentrations of stone debitage from archaeological contexts frequently are regarded as being in primary contexts and marking production loci or “workshops.”

Ethnoarchaeological observations of stone- and glass-artifact manufacture and disposal of the resulting waste indicate that in sedentary societies debitage does not remain in primary context at workshops, but rather enters secondary context when it is moved into workshop dumps. Microdebitage, which often is left in place at the production locus, appears to be the most reliable indicator of workshop location.

An awareness of ethnoarchaeological data can facilitate more plausible constructions of past behavior at different stages of the use-life trajectories of durable materials. Present evidence suggests that concentrations of stone debitage from archaeological settlements are secondary deposits and represent workshop dumps, not workshops.