Characterization of Archaeological Sediments Using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) and Portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF): An Application to Formative Period Pyro-Industrial Sites in Pacific Coastal Southern Chiapas, Mexico.

Archaeological sediments from mounds within the mangrove zone of far-southern Pacific coastal Chiapas, Mexico, are characterized in order to test the hypothesis that specialized pyro-technological activities of the region's prehistoric inhabitants (salt and ceramic production) created the accumulations visible today. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) is used to characterize sediment mineralogy, while portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) is used to determine elemental concentrations. Elemental characterization of natural sediments by both instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and pXRF also contribute to understanding of processes that created the archaeological deposits.

Correlating the ancient Maya and modern European calendars with high-precision AMS 14C dating.

The reasons for the development and collapse of Maya civilization remain controversial and historical events carved on stone monuments throughout this region provide a remarkable source of data about the rise and fall of these complex polities. Use of these records depends on correlating the Maya and European calendars so that they can be compared with climate and environmental datasets. Correlation constants can vary up to 1000 years and remain controversial.

Olmec pottery production and export in ancient Mexico determined through elemental analysis.

The first Mesoamerican civilization, the Gulf Coast Olmec, is associated with hierarchical society, monumental art, and an internally consistent ideology, expressed in a distinct style and salient iconography. Whether the Olmec style arose in just one area or emerged from interactions among scattered contemporaneous societies remains controversial. Using elemental analysis, we determined the regional clay sources of 725 archaeological ceramic samples from across Mesoamerica.