Donald Slater | Brandeis University (original) (raw)

Papers by Donald Slater

The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2015

University Press of Colorado eBooks, May 15, 2023

This volume on the earliest lowland Maya pottery began without a name and remained nameless until... more This volume on the earliest lowland Maya pottery began without a name and remained nameless until it was nearly completely written. Like the pre-Mamom era itself, even now a better moniker eludes us, and the reader will note that, while the participating authors agree there is something called pre-Mamom, we cannot yet reach consensus on exactly how to define it, set parameters on it, or place it precisely in absolute or relative time. In fact, we are not yet certain whether we have one pre-Mamom component or multiple, sequential pre-Mamoms, nor are we clear about exactly how many ceramic spheres we have encountered in our collective surveys and excavations. There is, however, substantial agreement among the authors on one point: the first potters in the Maya lowlands may not have been recognizably Maya when they started firing ceramics about 1000 BC, but they were by the time the pre-Mamom period ended around 600 BC. This evolution is evident in the ensuing Mamom ceramic sphere (600-300 BC), which constituted a broadly recognizable tradition in the Maya lowlands, materialized in the collective acceptance of waxy ware ceramic technology, monochrome slips, common vessel forms, and inferred similar functionality that undergirded

Latin American Antiquity, 2014

In the Maya region scholars have long noted the connection between solar alignments and radial py... more In the Maya region scholars have long noted the connection between solar alignments and radial pyramids at sites such as Chickén Itzá, Dzibilchaltún, and Uaxactún. Just. 26.5 km west-southwest of Chichén Itzá, the site of Ikil also contains a massive radial pyramid, known as Structure 1. In May 2011 investigations at Ikil revealed that this pyramid also figures in a solar hierophany-the sunrise over the pyramid's summit on the days of the solar zenith transit. What is unique, however, is that the observation point for this event is situated inside of a cave to the west of the pyramid. In this paper, evidence is presented that suggests the location of Structure 1 was dictated by the orientation of the cave, and that the physical and ceremonial linkage of these two landscape features created the cosmic hub of Ikil. Furthermore, it is argued that ceremonies marking the solar zenith-a day largely ignored in Euro-Christian calendars-would have been enacted by the ruling class as a wa...

Ancient Mesoamerica, 2011

Throughout the deep history of Mesoamerica, the dart-thrower (a.k.a. atlatl) played a vital utili... more Throughout the deep history of Mesoamerica, the dart-thrower (a.k.a. atlatl) played a vital utilitarian and symbolic role. Although it was a highly effective tool exploited for practical purposes such as hunting and warfare, ample evidence exists which reveals its association with themes of authority, power, and prestige. The survival of ornamented dart-throwers, as well as the context in which the implement appears in Mesoamerican material culture and forms of graphic communication, reveal its role in the production and assertion of high social status. This argument will be supported by archaeological and ethnographic evidence which demonstrates that the dart-thrower served as a pan-Mesoamerican symbol of power beginning no later than the Middle to Late Formative period and continuing through the Conquest.

Throughout the deep history of Mesoamerica, the dart-thrower (a.k.a. atlatl) played a vital utili... more Throughout the deep history of Mesoamerica, the dart-thrower (a.k.a. atlatl) played a vital utilitarian and symbolic role. Although it was a highly effective tool exploited for practical purposes such as hunting and warfare, ample evidence exists which reveals its association with themes of authority, power, and prestige. The survival of ornamented dart-throwers, as well as the context in which the implement appears in Mesoamerican material culture and forms of graphic communication, reveal its role in the production and assertion of high social status. This argument will be supported by archaeological and ethnographic evidence which demonstrates that the dart-thrower served as a pan-Mesoamerican symbol of power beginning no later than the Middle to Late Formative period and continuing through the Conquest.

The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2015

University Press of Colorado eBooks, May 15, 2023

This volume on the earliest lowland Maya pottery began without a name and remained nameless until... more This volume on the earliest lowland Maya pottery began without a name and remained nameless until it was nearly completely written. Like the pre-Mamom era itself, even now a better moniker eludes us, and the reader will note that, while the participating authors agree there is something called pre-Mamom, we cannot yet reach consensus on exactly how to define it, set parameters on it, or place it precisely in absolute or relative time. In fact, we are not yet certain whether we have one pre-Mamom component or multiple, sequential pre-Mamoms, nor are we clear about exactly how many ceramic spheres we have encountered in our collective surveys and excavations. There is, however, substantial agreement among the authors on one point: the first potters in the Maya lowlands may not have been recognizably Maya when they started firing ceramics about 1000 BC, but they were by the time the pre-Mamom period ended around 600 BC. This evolution is evident in the ensuing Mamom ceramic sphere (600-300 BC), which constituted a broadly recognizable tradition in the Maya lowlands, materialized in the collective acceptance of waxy ware ceramic technology, monochrome slips, common vessel forms, and inferred similar functionality that undergirded

Latin American Antiquity, 2014

In the Maya region scholars have long noted the connection between solar alignments and radial py... more In the Maya region scholars have long noted the connection between solar alignments and radial pyramids at sites such as Chickén Itzá, Dzibilchaltún, and Uaxactún. Just. 26.5 km west-southwest of Chichén Itzá, the site of Ikil also contains a massive radial pyramid, known as Structure 1. In May 2011 investigations at Ikil revealed that this pyramid also figures in a solar hierophany-the sunrise over the pyramid's summit on the days of the solar zenith transit. What is unique, however, is that the observation point for this event is situated inside of a cave to the west of the pyramid. In this paper, evidence is presented that suggests the location of Structure 1 was dictated by the orientation of the cave, and that the physical and ceremonial linkage of these two landscape features created the cosmic hub of Ikil. Furthermore, it is argued that ceremonies marking the solar zenith-a day largely ignored in Euro-Christian calendars-would have been enacted by the ruling class as a wa...

Ancient Mesoamerica, 2011

Throughout the deep history of Mesoamerica, the dart-thrower (a.k.a. atlatl) played a vital utili... more Throughout the deep history of Mesoamerica, the dart-thrower (a.k.a. atlatl) played a vital utilitarian and symbolic role. Although it was a highly effective tool exploited for practical purposes such as hunting and warfare, ample evidence exists which reveals its association with themes of authority, power, and prestige. The survival of ornamented dart-throwers, as well as the context in which the implement appears in Mesoamerican material culture and forms of graphic communication, reveal its role in the production and assertion of high social status. This argument will be supported by archaeological and ethnographic evidence which demonstrates that the dart-thrower served as a pan-Mesoamerican symbol of power beginning no later than the Middle to Late Formative period and continuing through the Conquest.

Throughout the deep history of Mesoamerica, the dart-thrower (a.k.a. atlatl) played a vital utili... more Throughout the deep history of Mesoamerica, the dart-thrower (a.k.a. atlatl) played a vital utilitarian and symbolic role. Although it was a highly effective tool exploited for practical purposes such as hunting and warfare, ample evidence exists which reveals its association with themes of authority, power, and prestige. The survival of ornamented dart-throwers, as well as the context in which the implement appears in Mesoamerican material culture and forms of graphic communication, reveal its role in the production and assertion of high social status. This argument will be supported by archaeological and ethnographic evidence which demonstrates that the dart-thrower served as a pan-Mesoamerican symbol of power beginning no later than the Middle to Late Formative period and continuing through the Conquest.