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Map
Data Category DescriptionsHow to use the Map Data feature and interpret the figure legend.
Note: The data from the above categories are also viewable in table form in the Site Explorer under DATA - Compare Sites.
Architecture
Obsidian
Figurines
Imports
Painted Serving Vessels
Decorated Serving Vessels
Large Painted Jars
Size of Site Timeline
In addition to displaying
the locations of 70 archaeological sites, the Map Tool can graphically show
selected data from these sites. There are 8 data types that can be mapped and
each data type has from 2 to 4 categories. Data is represented by colored circle
quadrants.
The Map
Data panel allows you to choose a category that represents site-specific data.
When you choose a type of data, the Legend will automatically display the appropriate
categories (see below). The "Size of Site" timeline works differently
than the others. When this choice is selected you will be able to "map"
the size of sites through time.
After you select a category from the Map Data panel the respective Legend appears
with sub-categories. You can select from one to four subcategories to map by
checking or un-checking the boxes next to the legend colors. The colors in the
legend correspond to the colors on the circles.
Color indicate presence of the object. No color indicates that the object hasn't
been found.
Note: These categories of data are also viewable in table form in Site Explorer - Compare sites.
Features of construction and stone sculptures reflect special, non-domestic activities - administrative, economic, or ritual - that distinguish some communities as having special functions.
Dressed Stone Construction
Use of shaped stone blocks in construction; marks special structures including religious buildings (temples), buildings associated with political institutions (palaces and other administrative buildings), and elite residences.
Architectural Ornamentation
Carved stones or modeled plaster used to embellish building facades with geometric or representational designs.
Ball Court
One of the distinctive features of Mesoamerican societies is a game played with a solid rubber ball. The game had strong religious and political functions as well as qualities we associate with sports. The game was played in formal architectural settings which in their simplest form consist of two long parallel platforms that define an alley-like playing area between them. Some courts have vertically mounted rings on the side platforms through which players tried to propel the ball, but this was not a universal feature of the game. Elaborate courts, built of carefully shaped stones often have elaborate decoration in stucco or carved stone. Ball courts can often be recognized from the basic layout of platforms, without excavation.
Stella
An upright stone shaft set in plazas or other public spaces. In much of the Maya world, stelae are elaborately carved portraits of rulers in their regalia. Ulúa valley stelae are either plain or have only very simple carved designs (CR129 - Calabazas), but a few (from CR035 - Travesía) have traces of plaster and paint, suggesting that they may have carried imagery originally.
Obsidian, a natural volcanic glass, was the preferred material in Mesoamerica for fine cutting tasks that require sharp edges. These menu items show the rough proportions of obsidian from different geological sources in surface collections from sites in the Ulúa valley. These sources are the ones that provided more than trace amounts of obsidian.
Obsidian from Pachuca, a much more distant source in central Mexico, is found only in tiny quantities. The Imports menu includes Pachuca and Guatemalan obsidian in terms of presence/absence.Obsidian from some sources can be identified by visual inspection, but reliable identification of source areas requires chemical analysis. Note that frequencies of obsidians in surface collections from sites occupied in more than one period will reflect "average" frequencies which may obscure very different patterns of procurement at different times. Single-period occupations are likely to reveal such differences much more clearly.
overwhelmingly local (>80%)
At least 50% of the obsidian in all surface collections from sites in the Ulúa valley came from two nearby sources, La Unión and El Venado. This category marks sites with very high frequencies of local obsidian (more than 80%). These obsidians occur in small chunks and have many impurities; they are harder to work and produce less sharp edges than obsidian from more distant sources. Local obsidians were used for simpler tools and tasks that required less precision.
some La Esperanza (<10%)
The closest non-local source. Obsidian from La Esperanza is much more uniform than the local obsidians, and thus more suitable for precision cutting. It occurs in modest quantities (less than 10%) at many sites.
some Guatemalan (<20%)
substantial Guatemalan (>20%)
These categories differentiate between some use (up to 20% of the obsidian in surface collections) and substantial use (more than 20%).
Ceramic effigies, usually of people or animals. Their functions are uncertain, but varied. Sometimes they were used to accompany the dead in burials or placed in special caches, but they are common in domestic garbage, perhaps reflecting their use in household ritual.
solid fancy hairdo
Small, solid, hand-made figurines representing humans, usually female, with fine incising marking elaborate hair styles. The figures are often seated with legs crossed. These figurines are typical of the Playa de los Muertos style, which was in vogue in the valley between about 800 and 400 BC.
other solid hand-modeled
Small, solid, hand-made figurines in a variety of other styles, representing humans and animals, were made in the Ulúa valley from at least 1500 BC (Early Formative) until AD 400 (Early Classic).
large hollow hand-modeled
Large hand-made figurines representing humans were popular in the valley during the early centuries of settled life and pottery-making (Early Formative, ~1500 - 900 BC). The heads and parts of the body are hollow, presumably a reflection of the difficulty of successfully firing solid figurines this size.
mold-made
Figurines representing a variety of animals and humans were made in the Ulúa valley using molds during the Late Classic period (AD 500/600 - 850). The majority are small and solid, but a substantial number have hollow sections, air vents, and mouthpieces that allow them to function as whistles. Large hollow figurines, mostly representing women with elaborate costumes, were also made in molds in this period.
These materials were imported from substantial distances outside the Ulúa valley. Their distributions within the valley are tabulated in terms of presence absence.
Pachuca obsidian
A very fine obsidian from a source in central Mexico, more than 1000 kilometers from the Ulúa valley. Its very distinctive green color makes it easy to identify without chemical analysis. Pachuca obsidian was extensively used in western Mesoamerica from at least the Classic period on and played a major role in the Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztec economies. Its presence in the Maya world reflects long-distance relationships - presumably with social as well as economic dimensions; in some cases, it might reflect the political influence of central Mexican states on the Maya world.
Guatemalan obsidian
This category combines obsidian from El Chayal and Ixtepeque, in what is now Guatemala. These obsidians are very uniform; they can be worked with precision and produce very sharp cutting edges. Even though obsidian from these sources had to be brought more than 200 kilometers to the Ulúa valley, making it relatively "expensive" (at least in terms of labor required), it was extensively used.
Petén pottery
Pottery serving vessels manufactured elsewhere in the Maya world. Their presence in the Ulúa valley may or may not reflect exchange. They might be the residue of social events: either in the valley (to which foreigners came with their own serving vessels); or in distant places (where visitors from the Ulúa valley might have acquired them).
jade
Jade (including a variety of green, and blue-green minerals that are not technically jade) was the material that ancient Mesoamericans valued most highly. It was used for jewelry, costume ornaments, other regalia, and for a variety of small sculptures. The jade found in Ulúa valley sites came mainly (perhaps exclusively) from the Motagua river valley to the west in what is now Guatemala.
red-rimmed very small
Very small bowls and jars with red bands painted around the rim
red-on-orange
Bowls and small jars with red-painted designs over orange slip ("base coat," usually covering the entire exterior and/or interior surface)
Ulúa Polychrome
Bowls, cylinders, plates, and small jars with elaborate designs painted in multiple colors (black, red, orange, maroon, brown, white) over a light orange slip
Naco Polychrome
Bowls, usually with tripod feet, with designs painted in red and black over a white slip (often powdery or chalky)
Pattern-Burnished
Vessels with designs formed by thin polished lines on a matte surface (also called stick-polished, after one possible technique of producing this effect)
Spouted Bottles
Medium to large bottles with narrow necks and vertical spouts coming from the vessel body; the spout is often connected to the neck with a slab of clay.
Usulután
"Negative" designs formed by preventing the background color from appearing in the design area, usually blotchy patches or lines. Wavy parallel lines on bowl interiors are common. Sometimes called "resist" although it is not certain that a resist technique (covering the design area with wax or some other resist material before the slip is applied) was used to create these vessels.
Fine paste
Bowls, plates, and jars with very thin walls; the clay mixture was very fine, with little or no temper (non-plastic material added to the clay to prevent cracking during drying and firing).
Búfalo Red-on-Natural
Large jars with wide-line linear designs painted in red on smoothed (but unslipped) exterior surfaces.
Marimba Red-on-Natural
Large jars with red-painted designs on smoothed (but unslipped) surfaces; designs are more varied than those on Búfalo jars, with thinner lines and larger solid red-painted zones; unpainted areas sometimes have incised decoration.
Based on the size, number and type of structures and artifacts, archaeologists make assumptions about the "size" of an archaeological site. When you select this data type, you will be able to select the time period as well.
Large Center
Large centers have 90 or more residential and
special-purpose structures, several of which exceed 3
meters in height. The special-purpose structures,
which may include ball courts as well as large
buildings on tall platforms, reflect civic functions
that attest to the prominence of large centers in the
political, economic and social affairs of substantial
surrounding areas.Center
Centers have 20 to 90 residential and special-purpose
structures, several of which exceed 2 meters in
height, with a few exceeding 3 meters. The
special-purpose buildings reflect civic functions at a
morelocalized level, affecting smaller surrounding
2002 Cornell Univeristy
areas than in the case of large centers.
http://instruct6.cit.cornell.edu:13000/main.htm
Please direct comments about this web site to Marilyn Dispensa med33@cornell.edu
or to Professor John Henderson jsh6@cornell.eduVillage Special
Villages with a few large special-purpose structures
(exceeding 2 meters in height, with an occasional
structure over 3 meters) along with small residential
buildings. The large structures suggest that these
sites had very localized civic functions, presumably
as subordinates of centers.Village
Villages have only residential structures, with no
platform exceeding 2 meters in height.
2002 Cornell Univeristy
http://instruct6.cit.cornell.edu:13000/main.htm
Please direct comments about this web site to Marilyn Dispensa med33@cornell.edu
or to Professor John Henderson jsh6@cornell.edu
