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RADIOCARBON DATING OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL RECOVERED FROM THE BASIN OF MEXICO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2021

Francisco Antonio Balcorta Yépez ,
Montserrat Alavez Ortúzar ,
Zulema Berenice Flores Montes de Oca ,
Miguel Ángel Martínez-Carrillo Open the ORCID record for Miguel Ángel Martínez-Carrillo [Opens in a new window] ,
Corina Solís ,
María Rodríguez-Ceja  and
María Esther Ortiz
Francisco Antonio Balcorta Yépez
Affiliation:
Dirección de Salvamento Arqueológico, INAH, Córdoba 45, Col. Roma, 06700, CDMX, México
Montserrat Alavez Ortúzar
Affiliation:
Dirección de Salvamento Arqueológico, INAH, Córdoba 45, Col. Roma, 06700, CDMX, México
Zulema Berenice Flores Montes de Oca
Affiliation:
Dirección de Salvamento Arqueológico, INAH, Córdoba 45, Col. Roma, 06700, CDMX, México
Miguel Ángel Martínez-Carrillo
Affiliation:
Facultad de Ciencias. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Circuito Exterior S/N, 04510 CDMX, México
Corina Solís*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 CDMX, México
María Rodríguez-Ceja
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 CDMX, México
María Esther Ortiz
Affiliation:
Instituto de Física, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 CDMX, México
*
*Corresponding author. Email: corina@fisica.unam.mx.
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Abstract

The Mexico City Basin has had exceptional plant and animal diversity since ancient times due to its varied orography and benign climate. This environment attracted diverse human groups, from hunter-gatherers to one of the most influential pre-Hispanic cultures of Mesoamerica: the Mexica, also known as the Aztec. The subsoil of Mexico City hides a rich and varied cultural heritage. The Archaeological Rescue Department works to preserve cultural heritage, review archaeological studies, and expand archaeological information with new findings. We report on archaeological rescue works carried out at two sites in the Mexico City Basin prior to the beginning of new construction projects. The first one is the Reforma Hidalgo Complex Office in Teocaltitlán, one of the neighborhoods of ancient Mexica City, Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Some wooden post samples were selected for accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dating, believed to have been used as chinampa supports. We seek to determine their temporality and possible reuse by Hispanic builders. The second one, the La Otra Banda Site, is part of the human settlements that were founded around Cuicuilco, one of the main ancient urban centers of the highlands of Central Mexico. Some human bones and coal samples were selected to be dated, aiming to establish the site’s occupation time.

Keywords

AMS radiocarbon datingarchaeological rescueMexico BasinTenochtitlan
Type
Conference Paper
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 63 , Issue 4: Featuring: CLARa Proceedings of the 1st Latin American Radiocarbon Conference , August 2021 , pp. 1123 - 1131
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 1st Latin American Radiocarbon Conference, Rio de Janeiro, 29 Jul.–2 Aug. 2019

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