The Artifacts Of Tikal Utilitarian Artifacts And Unworked Material

Tikal Report 27 presents artifacts and associated unworked materials recovered by the University of Pennsylvania Museum's Tikal Project of 1956-1969.

TR27A reports on goods used as markers of social status and goods used in ritual. It describes the splendid ornaments and insignia of jade, shell, pearls, and inscribed bone shown in representations on monuments and pottery vessels and recovered from the burials of Tikal's elites. Each artifact is described in the text, tabulated, and richly illustrated with drawings and photographs. An accompanying CD-ROM includes updated databases for all recovered objects, enabling the reader to discover detailed relationships between artifact, date, and context. It also includes William R. Coe's drafts of reconstructions of destroyed offerings and typologies for ceremonial lithics and shell "Charlie Chaplin" figurines. Content of the book's CD-ROM may be found online at this location: http://core.tdar.org/project/376586. University Museum Monograph, 127

TR27A reports on goods used as markers of social status and goods used in ritual. It describes the splendid ornaments and insignia of jade, shell, pearls, and inscribed bone shown in representations on monuments and pottery vessels and recovered from the burials of Tikal's elites. Each artifact is described in the text, tabulated, and richly illustrated with drawings and photographs. An accompanying CD-ROM includes updated databases for all recovered objects, enabling the reader to discover detailed relationships between artifact, date, and context. It also includes William R. Coe's drafts of reconstructions of destroyed offerings and typologies for ceremonial lithics and shell "Charlie Chaplin" figurines. Content of the book's CD-ROM may be found online at this location: http://core.tdar.org/project/376586. University Museum Monograph, 127

This volume draws attention to recent obsidian studies in the Americas and acts as a reference for archaeologists and scholars interested in material culture and exchange. Moreover, it provides a wide range of case studies in obsidian characterization, material application, and theoretical interpretations in the Americas.

A comprehensive series of reconstructed views rendered in colors approximating the original finishes of polished plaster and paint, with 42 different stages of development in three-dimensional form, show what the Acropolis looked like at various times from ca. 330 BCE to CE 600. On an accompanying CD-ROM 112 color plates include constructions of individual structures and some photos of Acropolis fabric at the time of excavation and consolidation. The text accompanying the color plates provides a rationale for the sequences illustrated and an interpretation of ancient Maya intentions in developing the architectural forms that were found, including ideas of rulership and monumental architecture. Content of this book's CD-ROM may be found online at this location: http://core.tdar.org/project/376585. University Museum Monograph, 128

The primary question addressed in this book focuses on how the ancient Maya in the northern Petén Basin sustained large populations during the Late Classic period.

The ancient Maya shaped their world with stone tools. Lithic artifacts helped create the cityscape and were central to warfare and hunting, craft activities, cooking, and ritual performance. 'The Technology of Maya Civilization' examines Maya lithic artefacts made of chert, obsidian, silicified limestone, and jade to explore the relationship between ancient civilizations and natural resources. The volume presents case studies of archaeological sites in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. The analysis draws on innovative anthropological theory to argue that stone artefacts were not merely cultural products but tools that reproduced, modified, and created the fabric of society.

The two volumes of the central Tikal ceramic reports (Tikal Reports 25A and 25B) present the information gathered from the analysis of all ceramics recovered by the University of Pennsylvania research project at Tikal between 1956 and 1970. Tikal Report 25A (Culbert 1993) contains illustrations and brief descriptive captions for all whole vessels recovered from burials, caches, and problematical deposits. Because Tikal Report 25A illustrates the often-spectacular decorated vessels from major burials, it is of the most general interest for comparative purposes. This volume, Tikal Report 25B, presents the Tikal sequence of nine ceramic complexes (the analysis of the small sample of Postclassic Caban ceramics was not completed), describes the ceramics from each complex, presents the data for all counted lots, and illustrates the material from sherd collections. It is a specialist volume, primarily of interest to those actively involved in research with Maya ceramics. The material is complemented by data in the Tikal Reports devoted to excavations and by the analysis of nonceramic artifactual material in Tikal Reports 27A and 27B (Moholy-Nagy and Coe 2008; Moholy-Nagy 2003).