2025 MEETINGS & PRESENTATIONS
Dr. Andrea Torvinen,
Collections Manager of the Florida Archaeology and Ceramic Technology Laboratory at the Florida Museum of Natural History/UF
The Role of Collective Action in Community Resilience in Northwest Mexico
Dating to the Epiclassic period (600-900 CE), La Quemada, Zacatecas, Mexico, was founded during the cultural florescence of the northern frontier of Mesoamerica, but the site was abandoned ca. 800-900 CE while neighboring hilltop centers persisted. Having previously ruled out climate change as a contributing factor to the site's decline, this research investigates whether internal social unrest or shifting political or economic networks may have played a role. Specifically, did a change in how the occupants of La Quemada identified with one another decrease the potential for collective action over time? Material proxies in the form of ceramic styles (i.e., decoration or vessel forms) and fabric classes (i.e., petrographic and chemical data) are used to assess the temporal and spatial consistency of social identification at multiple socio-spatial scales within the site of La Quemada. Despite fluctuations, there was a high potential for collective action preceding site abandonment, suggesting that a disruption in the social fabric of La Quemada did not contribute to its decline. Therefore, being cut off from social networks developing between West and Central Mexico likely impacted the long-term resilience of La Quemada.
Andrea is an anthropological archaeologist interested in community resilience and social identity, compositional and technological ceramic analysis, and collective action among middle-range societies. Her primary research areas are West Mexico and the U.S. Southwest but she has also engaged in fieldwork in northern Iceland and west-central Illinois.
Dr. Daniel Pullen from Florida State University
A Late Bronze Age “Naval Station” at Kalamianos (Saronic Gulf), Greece?
The Saronic Harbors Archaeological Research Project has documented the Late Bronze Age (14th-13th cent. BCE) harbor town at Kalamianos on the Saronic Gulf coast of the Corinthia, Greece. We suggest this site might be the Homeric town of “Eïones” which later Strabo identified as a “naval station.” The implications of this identification of Kalamianos as a naval station are evaluated in light of our current understanding of the archaeology of maritime culture, both commercial and military, of the Mycenaeans and other Late Bronze Age (LBA) peoples of the Aegean. The lack of identifiable maritime infrastructure – let alone that for specialized military activity – outside of Crete, including at Kalamianos, suggests that such installations were not essential for LBA maritime activities elsewhere in the Aegean.
Professor Pullen is an archaeologist with training in Anthropology and Classical Archaeology, working in the prehistoric Aegean region, especially the later Neolithic–Early Bronze Age and the Mycenaean/Late Bronze Age. His research interests lie in the emergence of complex societies (the state and political economy) as seen through changes in regional settlement patterns, monumental architecture, and political economy and administration; landscape archaeology; the interaction of coastal settlements with maritime and landbound areas; and agriculture in ancient societies. His current research projects include the Late Bronze Age (Mycenaean) harbor settlement at Kalamianos on the Saronic Gulf of southern Greece; the Final Neolithic period at Alepotrypa Cave in the Mani of southern Greece; and the Early Bronze Age in western Anatolia, especially around the ancient city of Sardis. His major publications include the co-authored Artifact and Assemblage: The Finds from the Southern Argolid Survey (Stanford 1995), The Early Bronze Age Village on Tsoungiza Hill (Nemea Valley Archaeological Project I) (American School of Classical Studies at Athens 2011), the edited volume Political Economies of the Aegean Bronze Age (Oxbow 2010) from one of the department's Langford conferences, and most recently the co-edited book Neolithic Alepotrypa Cave in the Mani, Greece (Oxbow 2018).
RECENT ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS
Lidar Survey Maps Zapotec City in Mexico
OAXACA, MEXICO—According to a Newsweek report, Pedro Guillermo Ramón Celis of McGill University and his colleagues spotted the remains of more than 1,000 structures built by the Zapotec in southern Mexico between 500 and 600 years ago during an aerial survey employing lidar equipment. “You can walk there in the jungle, and you find that houses are still standing—you can see the doors, the hallways, the fences that split them from other houses,” Ramón Celis said. Known as Guiengola, the fortified site was previously thought to have been a garrison for soldiers. Ramón Celis explained that the city was likely abandoned shortly before the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico. Descendants of the residents of Guiengola still live about 12 miles away, in the small city of Tehuantepec. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Ancient Mesoamerica. For more on the Zapotec, go to "Zapotec Power Rites."
1,000-Year-Old Food Storage Cache Discovered in Alaska
COOK INLET, ALASKA—Alaska Public Media reports that a food storage space similar to a root cellar was discovered at an archaeological site associated with the Dene people in south-central Alaska. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the cache is nearly 1,000 years old, said archaeologist Liz Ortiz of the 673rd Civil Engineer Squadron at the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The space, situated at the top of a hill, measures about three and one-half feet deep, and was lined with birch bark to keep out dirt, moisture, and rodents, added Margan Grover. It would have been a perfect spot to watch for beluga whales, she said. Testing of soil samples from the cellar showed traces of animals such as moose or caribou, Ortiz explained, but it is not yet clear if their meat had been stored in the cache, or if they just lived in the area. The researchers are consulting with Dena’ina and Ahtna elders to learn more about the history of the region. To read about migrations of speakers of the Dene language family to the American Southwest, go to "Walking Into New Worlds."
Papyrus Text Tells of Roman Trial for Forgery and Tax Fraud
VIENNA, AUSTRIA—Cosmos Magazine reports that the 133 lines of Greek text on a papyrus discovered in the Judean Desert have been translated and published. Anna Dolganov of the Austrian Academy of Sciences said that the text contains prosecutors’ notes for a trial to be held before Roman officials. “This papyrus is extraordinary because it provides direct insight into trial preparations in this part of the Roman Empire,” Dolganov said. The defendants, Gadalias and Saulos, were accused of tax evasion and the fraudulent sale and release of slaves in the Roman provinces of Judea and Arabia, and of forging documents to conceal their crimes. “Forgery and tax fraud carried severe penalties under Roman law, including hard labor or even capital punishment,” Dolganov noted. The papyrus shows that Roman institutions had been implemented in the region, and that the state was able to regulate private transactions, she added. The defendants had also been accused of rebellious activities during the visit of Emperor Hadrian to the region around A.D. 129 or 130, a time between two major Jewish uprisings against Roman rule. “Whether they were indeed involved in rebellion remains an open question, but the insinuation speaks to the charged atmosphere of the time,” Dolganov explained. The outcome of the trial remains unknown, she concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Tyche. To read more about evidence for Jewish resistance to Roman rule, go to "Cave of Swords," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2023.
CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY MAGAZINE
Click the cover image for more details
Top 10 Discoveries of 2024
ARCHAEOLOGY magazine reveals the year’s most exciting finds
Dancing Days of the Maya
In the mountains of Guatemala, murals depict elaborate performances combining Catholic and Indigenous traditions
Unearthing a Forgotten Roman Town
A stretch of Italian farmland concealed one of the small cities that powered the empire
Medieval England’s Coveted Cargo
Archaeologists dive on a ship laden with marble bound for the kingdom’s grandest cathedrals
Lost Greek Tragedies Revived
How a scholar discovered passages from a great Athenian playwright on a discarded papyrus