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Refinement of the Chronology of La Quemada, Zacatecas, Mexico, Using Ceramic Seriation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2020

Andrea Torvinen Open the ORCID record for Andrea Torvinen [Opens in a new window]  and
Ben A. Nelson
Andrea Torvinen*
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, 900 S. Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ85287-2402, USA
Ben A. Nelson
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, 900 S. Cady Mall, Tempe, AZ85287-2402, USA
*
(atorvine@asu.edu, corresponding author)
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Abstract

During the Epiclassic period (AD 600–900), the northern frontier of Mesoamerica consisted of a regional network of polities focused on large, hilltop centers, including the site of La Quemada in the Malpaso Valley of Zacatecas, Mexico. Although extensive archaeological research has been conducted at the site, the refinement of its chronology is essential for two reasons: (1) to establish the chronological control necessary to characterize social processes diachronically and (2) to ensure that the occupational history of La Quemada is accurately integrated into the regional chronology of the northern frontier. A combination of frequency seriation, correspondence analysis, and discriminant function analysis results in the recognition of three occupational phases across the areas excavated by the La Quemada-Malpaso Valley Archaeological Project (LQ-MVAP). Our three-phase chronology independently confirms both the intra-context ordering of analytic units and the previously proposed growth trajectory of the site: beginning in the monumental core, expanding into the western flank, and later retracting back into the core. The separation of the LQ-MVAP material record into chronological phases means it is now possible to track changes in the social processes that may have contributed to the formation, maintenance, and decline of La Quemada and other northern frontier polities.

Durante el Epiclásico (600–900 dC), la frontera septentrional de Mesoamérica consistió en una red regional de grupos concentrados en sus respectivos centros ceremoniales, incluido el sitio de La Quemada, Zacatecas. Aunque se han llevado a cabo varios proyectos en este sitio, es esencial un refinamiento de su cronología por dos motivos: (1) establecer el control cronológico necesario para caracterizar los procesos sociales locales diacrónicamente y (2) asegurar que se integre con precisión la historia ocupacional de La Quemada a la cronología regional de la frontera septentrional. La combinación de seriación cerámica, análisis de correspondencia y análisis de funciones discriminantes permite identificar tres fases ocupacionales a través de las áreas excavadas por el Proyecto La Quemada-Valle de Malpaso (LQ-MVAP). Dicha cronología de tres fases confirma tanto el orden de unidades analíticas adentro de ciertos contextos, como la trayectoria de crecimiento del sitio propuesta previamente, empezando en el núcleo monumental, expandiéndose para abarcar la falda occidental del cerro y luego replegándose una vez más hacia el núcleo. El hecho de poder separar el registro arqueológico observado por el LQ-MVAP en fases cronológicas permite rastrear los procesos sociales que pudieron haber contribuido a la formación, el mantenimiento y la caída de La Quemada y otros centros de la región.

Keywords

Mesoamericanorthern frontierchronologyceramic seriationMesoaméricaFrontera Septentrionalcronologíaseriación cerámica
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 61 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 by the Society for American Archaeology

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