This study examines the relationship between the Long Count and emergent kingship in the central Maya Lowlands. The Long Count was instrumental in the prosperity of lowland Maya kingship during the Classic period (ca. a.d. 250–900), yet its initial application in relation to the emergence of kingship remains poorly understood. We conducted epigraphic, iconographic, and archaeological research at the Maya site of El Palmar, Campeche, Mexico. By integrating traditional and new techniques, including photogrammetry and high-resolution 3D scanning, we studied El Palmar Stelae 20, 45, and 46. Notably, our study of Stela 46 identified a Long Count 8.7.1.0.0 (a.d. 180), which is currently the earliest known Long Count in the Maya Lowlands. Unlike other early monuments, Stela 46 preserves royal events alongside calendar dates. The 3D models revealed previously unknown inscriptions that link royal succession to calendrical events, providing insights into the role of the 260-day divinatory calendar and the Long Count in asserting royal authority through ritual practices. By contextualizing these results within the broader framework of lowland Maya kingship, this research not only elucidates the emergence of El Palmar kingship but also enriches our understanding of regional dynamics during this transformative period.

The idea that nobles could embody deities through impersonation was crucial to representations of power among the Classic-period Maya (a.d. 250–900). The final section of the Sabana Piletas Hieroglyphic Stairway (Campeche, Mexico), featuring a tripartite record of deity impersonation, is one of the clearest Late Classic manifestations of this tradition. However, the third impersonation formula has remained difficult to read, hindering its integration into broader discussions. This article offers a new epigraphic analysis, focusing on the three impersonated deities and the prepositional constructions that mark the contexts of impersonation. This article identifies the third deity as a form of Jun Ajaw whose impersonation emphasizes the ballgame, complementing two other impersonations that foreground warfare (the Sun God) and lordship (the Water Serpent). Comparing this passage to parallels on the Cuychen vase (Belize) and the Xultun murals (Guatemala), I argue that such groupings of impersonation formulae serve to conceptually demarcate key aspects of rulership. With its unique triplet of extended impersonation formulae, the Sabana Piletas inscription exemplifies how Late Classic texts could use impersonation to articulate what it meant to be a ruler, notably placing the ballgame in the same ideological register as waging war and governing.

This article reinterprets the reverse of the Codex Cospi, a Postclassic Central Mexican manuscript. Challenging long-standing views that the iconography in its plates refers to hunting rituals or protective ceremonies against poisonous animals, the article argues that they instead record ritual protocols for the presentation of offerings to divine effigies enshrined in temples. Through a comparison with other codices, archaeological data, and historical sources, the article proposes that the anthropomorphic figures depict temple images of deities, while the surrounding elements encode offerings of blood, aromatic, and coloring substances intended to be deposited before these images in prescribed quantities and sequences. Situating this imagery within Mesoamerican practices of communication with the divine, the article suggests that the reverse of the Codex Cospi functioned as a ritual manual complementing its divinatory obverse. Finally, it considers the possibility that the reverse has been produced in the workshop of a modest, possibly rural community, thereby illuminating the social context of this rare manuscript.

The archaeological site of Edzna, located in the Peninsula of Yucatan, Mexico, provides insights into the ways in which ancient Maya used sound in ceremonial activities, and serves as evidence for the architectural and acoustic ability developed by ancient societies. This study employs data from acoustic measurements at key Edzna locations such as the Main Plaza, Great and Small Acropolises, to explore sound propagation in these areas. This research analyzes acoustic data using techniques to better understand this archaeological site as a dynamic space that offers profound insights into the interplay of sound, space, and society. The findings reveal that its architecture was probably designed to enhance auditory experiences, from public ceremonies to private meetings. The data show that sound played a crucial role in Maya societal and political functions, and archaeological evidence, including hieroglyphs, stelae, and sound-making instruments, supports this interpretation. The methodological approach, involving rigorous acoustic measurements and data analysis, underscores the impact of environmental factors such as wind and temperature on sound propagation. This research contributes to a broader understanding of ancient Maya culture and its integration of acoustics into architectural and ceremonial contexts.

Cruz de la Boca (CDB) is a major Epiclassic hilltop center in northern Mesoamerica, located in the transitional zone between sedentary and mobile lifeways. Fieldwork in 2001–2002 by an INAH Zacatecas team mapped architecture, construction techniques, and surface materials in the site’s nuclear zone. Systematic pedestrian survey, total station mapping, remote sensing, and GIS documented more than 15 hectares of monumental and domestic architecture. In a region where only a few hilltop centers—such as Alta Vista, La Quemada, and La Ferrería—have been mapped to comparable standards, this article places Cruz de la Boca among the best-documented sites on the northern frontier. We highlight sunken patio compounds and smaller, hut-like Loma San Gabriel (LSG)-type foundations on outer benches, treating their spatial relations as a form of social stratigraphy. Topography, architecture, and controlled excavation of a looting pit provide stratigraphic, funerary, ceramic, and lithic data situating CDB within the Alta Vista phase (ca. a.d. 600–900). We argue that CDB refocuses the Loma San Gabriel problem by showing how lighter-built peripheral residences related spatially and socially to a Chalchihuites-style monumental core.

Proponemos un ajuste a la secuencia cronológica del Laja Alto, establecida originalmente por Braniff (1972). El resultado del ajuste es una cronología que inicia cuatro siglos más tarde que la propuesta inicial. La principal implicación de este ajuste es que muestra la invalidez de las propuestas que han considerado al tipo San Miguel Rojo sobre Bayo del río Laja como un proto Coyotlatelco o proto tolteca, que funcionaría como indicador de migraciones masivas del norte al centro de Mesoamérica. El ajuste a la cronología del Laja Alto y el reciente ajuste a la cronología de la región de Tula (Healan et al. 2021) muestran que el San Miguel Rojo sobre Bayo y el Rojo sobre Bayo Coyotlatelco aparecen de manera sincrónica en ambas regiones y su presencia se debe no a una migración masiva norte–centro sino a otro tipo de interacción social entre regiones donde el factor clave parece ser Teotihuacan. Por otro lado, existe suficiente evidencia empírica para proponer la correlación de la zona arqueológica Cañada de la Virgen con Colhuacan Chicomoztoc, el lugar de origen nahua norteño y santuario de peregrinación multi-étnico referido en las fuentes históricas de diferentes pueblos.

In 2005, McCafferty and Steinbrenner presented new radiocarbon dates from Santa Isabel to challenge the traditional ceramic sequence for the Postclassic of Pacific Nicaragua. Since then, several projects have generated more data, such that a new chronology and cultural sequence can now be suggested. In this article we present 79 chronometric dates from 19 sites, representing a 1,500-year temporal span. This new scheme is divorced from the existing chronology of the “Greater Nicoya” region that includes both Pacific Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica because of perceived distinctions in ceramic types (and other cultural traits). It also facilitates better comparisons with cultural traditions of greater Mesoamerica, especially the development of the Mixteca-Puebla stylistic tradition.

Se presentan fragmentos de la biografía de la Estela 6 de Aguateca depositada desde hace casi 45 años en el Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, ubicado a 6.000 km de su lugar de origen en la selva de Guatemala. La investigación sintetiza la historia de la estela desde su descubrimiento hasta su estado actual a través del estudio de archivos inéditos, entrevistas, publicaciones y un análisis imagenológico. Los resultados muestran que la estela fue mutilada en varias partes y trozada de distintas maneras para sacarla desde el sitio arqueológico y transportarla hacia Chile mediante métodos y técnicas características de los “esteleros” locales y con la ayuda de las redes internacionales del mercado del arte precolombino. Se repasan las cicatrices y reparaciones de la estela en tanto evidencia material de dichas prácticas ligadas al coleccionismo. Los resultados invitan a reflexionar acerca de cómo ciertos museos ocultan la historia reciente de las piezas que resguardan y exhiben como una manera de omitir algunos de los capítulos más oscuros y reprochables de la historia del legado material de las culturas nativas de América.