En este trabajo se discute sobre la práctica mesoamericana de la colocación de piedra verde en la boca de los muertos y en el techo de los templos del área maya. Además de la piedra verde, identificamos dos variantes más asociadas a la deposición de maíz y cerámica en la boca de entierros mayas y zoques del periodo Clásico en el estado de Chiapas. Finalmente, ofrecemos nuevas aproximaciones teóricas para interpretar estas prácticas culturales desde la arqueología de la personeidad.

The Chicha Soras valley on the boundary of Ayacucho with Apurimac in south-central Peru sees the introduction of intensive irrigated terraced agriculture in the Middle Horizon. The control over the water sources and the terracing systems fell to corporate lineage groups laying claim to common ancestors, viewed as being the founders of the local irrigation systems. The control over these systems and the rights of the respective lineages to land and water was expressed in the placement of ancestral tomb locations across the local landscape. This article demonstrates that ancestor-based organization of water sources was long lived across the area and survived the large-scale demographic and sociopolitical disruptions resulting from the Spanish conquest and the imposition of Christian belief systems.