Inomata and Triadan to Present for AAHS
Date: Monday, September 20, 2021 - 19:00
SoA professors Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan will give an online talk titled “Early Formal Ceremonial Complexes and Olmec-Maya Interaction,” at the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society on Monday, September 20, at 7:00 p.m. The talk is open to the public, but preregistration is required.
Abstract: The origins of Maya civilization and its relation with Olmec civilization have long been debated. To examine this question, we have been conducting archaeological investigations at Ceibal, Guatemala, and in the Middle Usumacinta region in southeastern Mexico. In Mexico, we identified the site of Aguada Fénix, with a rectangular artificial plateau measuring 1,400 m in length and dating to 1,050–750 BC. This is the largest and oldest monumental construction in the Maya area. This find encouraged us to expand our study of similar formal ceremonial complexes by analyzing lidar data. By examining low-resolution lidar obtained by the Mexican government, we covered an area of 85,000 km2, including the Olmec region and the western Maya lowlands. The identifications of many complexes, most of which were not known to archaeologists before our research, transform our understanding of the emergence of Mesoamerican civilizations.
Anthro News Digest date: 09/17/2021