Jeffrey Blomster - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Jeffrey Blomster

Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Feb 23, 2022

Early urban societies feature specialized processes that integrate disparate populations as part ... more Early urban societies feature specialized processes that integrate disparate populations as part of their social construction. One such process is commensalism and the associated display of exotica from interregional interaction. Hosts of a feast between 400 and 300 BCE at the early urban centre of Etlatongo, in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico, displayed pottery that manifested relationships with urban elites at Monte Albán and other regions of Oaxaca, but also expressed connections with something fundamentally different. The hosts sacrificed a greenstone sculpture in the Mezcala style from Guerrero state, located to the west and previously unknown in Oaxaca aesthetics. The discovery of this figure contributes to reassessing the extent of interaction during a time often marked by regionalism in Oaxaca as well as providing information on the little-known Mezcala civilization. A relational ontology explores how the discovery of this agentive object and the alterity of its aesthetics facilitates understanding perceptions of distant others or imaginaries, and how such entanglements facilitated processes of status differentiation for nascent urban elites, particularly their role as mediators.

Ancient Mesoamerica demonstrates we’ve been ballgame lovers for more than 3000 years

TheScienceBreaker, 2021

Foodways and Human-Animal Relations at Early Formative Etlatongo: An Ontology of Differentiation

Building Social Complexity: Differences in Bedrock Use at Early Formative Etlatongo in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca

Changing/Rearranging

Identities, Experience, and Change in Early Mexican Villages

Anales de Antropología, 2020

Este estudio busca comprender el comportamiento y las prácticas culturales que rodean el tratamie... more Este estudio busca comprender el comportamiento y las prácticas culturales que rodean el tratamiento funerario en la Mixteca Alta durante el Formativo. El tratamiento funerario implica todo el proceso que el cuerpo de un individuo tuvo durante y después de su entierro. Actualmente, los datos de los sitios de Etlatongo y Cerro Jazmín, localizados en ésta región, nos permiten entender las interacciones sociales a través de la muerte. Desde la bioarqueología, observamos como el estudio detallado del tratamiento funerario brinda información sobre la organización social, incluyendo las creencias religiosas, relaciones sociales, y la memoria social. Por lo tanto, analizamos los datos disponibles del Formativo medio (850–400 a.C.), el Formativo tardío (400 a.C.–50 d.C.), Formativo terminal (50–200/300 d.C.) y Transición (200–300 d.C.), enfocándonos en tres aspectos: a) la ubicación del entierro; b) el espacio funerario utilizado; y c) la posición del cuerpo. De esta forma, con una muestra ...

The Early Olmec and Mesoamerica

Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2017

Identity, gender, and power: Representational juxtapositions in Early Formative figurines from Oaxaca, Mexico

Mesoamerican Figurines: Small-Scale Indices of Large …, 2009

About the Use of Lead and Strontium Isotopes as Tracers in Pottery Provenance Studies

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 2017

2005 Please do not cite in any context without explicit permission from one of the authors. 2 A r... more 2005 Please do not cite in any context without explicit permission from one of the authors. 2 A recent study of Early Formative Mesoamerican pottery by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) yielded surprising results that prompted two critiques in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The INAA study indicated that the Olmec center of San Lorenzo was a major exporter of carved-incised and white pottery and that little if any pottery made elsewhere was consumed at San Lorenzo. The critiques purport to “overturn ” the INAA study and demonstrate a more balanced exchange of pottery among Early Formative centers. However, the critiques rely on a series of mistaken claims and misunderstandings that are addressed here. New petrographic data

The Impact of Diet and Dental Health among the Mixtec Urban Societies from the Formative Period of Oaxaca, Mexico

Taphonomic Examination of the Skeletal Collection from Etlatongoa, Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca

Early Formative Public Architecture and Corporate Identity in the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca

In Mesoamerica, public space first appears during the Early Formative period (1500-900 BCE), a ti... more In Mesoamerica, public space first appears during the Early Formative period (1500-900 BCE), a time of emerging socio-political complexity at sites such as San Lorenzo, San Jose Mogote, and Paso de la Amada. Public space often reflects emerging communal identity and/or socio-political complexity; its construction, and subsequent maintenance and renovations, reflect the collective effort of different social actors and corporate entities. The arrangement and orientations between platforms and plazas or open space lay the foundations for later innovations in public and ceremonial space throughout Mesoamerica. Recent excavations at the site of Etlatongo, in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico, document the presence of public space during the later portion of the Early Formative. We compare and contrast examples of early public space at Etlatongo with contemporaneous examples across Mesoamerica, recognizing variations in layout, style, contextual and construction history of these spaces.

The Materiality and Creation of Constructed Space at Etlatongo, Oaxaca, Mexico

This paper explores the ontological relationality between humans and the creation of space during... more This paper explores the ontological relationality between humans and the creation of space during the Cruz B phase (1150-850 uncal BCE) in the late Early Formative Etlatongo, in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca. In particular, we focus on how the use of bedrock afforded the construction of a ‘lived’ place. By looking at the materiality of its intrinsic properties, we argue that the Mixtecs of Etlatongo intentionally used bedrock as part of construction episodes in the formation of a public space so that its symbolic properties were able to emerge with the building’s form and history. Considering that ethnographic accounts mention that Mixtecs understood reality as an indivisible whole animated with sacred life forces, we examine the ways in which this existential unity manifested during construction events and through the life histories of buildings; we link our Cruz B example with ethnographic practice through subsequent construction episodes at Etlatongo that illustrate the abiding interest in certain attributes of bedrock. Furthermore, we contemplate how the relational co-constitution of sediments, structures, and humans afforded the articulation of new relationships during the formation of Early Formative Etlatongo.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2017

We explore burials from the first of a series of Mixtec households at Etlatongo, Oaxaca, Mexico, ... more We explore burials from the first of a series of Mixtec households at Etlatongo, Oaxaca, Mexico, that appear to have been located in the same space for several generations, shifting both horizontally and vertically through time. These burials, dating from between 500 and 300 BCE (the later part of the Middle Formative period) represent a variety of positions, including extended and seated, as well as placements, from features dug below the house to features placed directly on the house floor. The health of these individuals was generally robust, with the exception of dental attrition and caries. The presence of corporeal modification, in the form of cranial manipulation, is also evinced from the Etlatongo sample. Exploring the placements of these burials, it is possible to reconstruct the sequence in which they were interred. We argue that parallel burials placed on the house floor belonged to the founders of this household. Upon their death and interment, the house was terminated and occupation shifted. Prior to this space being filled in, however, a shaft was built that provided access, both physical and spiritual, to one of the burials. Successive generations lived on their ancestors, who played an important foundational role in establishing this lineage or House.

Procurement and consumption of obsidian in the Early Formative Mixteca Alta: a view from the Nochixtlan Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico

Latin American Antiquity, 2006

We are glad that Sharer et al. (this issue) have dropped their original claim that the INAA data ... more We are glad that Sharer et al. (this issue) have dropped their original claim that the INAA data demonstrate multidirectional movement of Early Formative pottery. Beyond this, however, they offer nothing that might enhance understanding of Early Formative ceramic circulation or inspire new insights into Early Formative cultural evolution in Mesoamerica. Instead, their response contains fresh distortions, replications of mistakes made in their PNAS articles, and lengthy passages that are irrelevant to the issues raised by Neff et al. (this issue). We correct and recorrect their latest distortions and misunderstandings here. Besides showing why their discussion of ceramic sourcing repeatedly misses the mark, we also correct a number of erroneous assertions about the archaeology of Olmec San Lorenzo. New evidence deepens understanding of Early Formative Mesoamerica but requires that some researchers discard cherished beliefs.

Latin American Antiquity, 2006

A recent study of Early Formative Mesoamerican pottery by instrumental neutron activation analysi... more A recent study of Early Formative Mesoamerican pottery by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) yielded surprising results that prompted two critiques in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The INAA study indicated that the Olmec center of San Lorenzo was a major exporter of carved-incised and white pottery and that little if any pottery made elsewhere was consumed at San Lorenzo. The critiques purport to "overturn" the INAA study and demonstrate a more balanced exchange of pottery among Early Formative centers. However, the critiques rely on a series of mistaken claims and misunderstandings that are addressed here. New petrographic data on a small sample of Early Formative pottery (Stoltman et al. 2005) are potentially useful, but they do not overturn INAA of nearly 1000 pottery samples and hundreds of raw material samples.

This paper on Structure One of Liberty Hall was written by a student taking an archaeology class ... more This paper on Structure One of Liberty Hall was written by a student taking an archaeology class at Washington and Lee Univrsity.

Cambridge Archaeological Journal, Feb 23, 2022

Early urban societies feature specialized processes that integrate disparate populations as part ... more Early urban societies feature specialized processes that integrate disparate populations as part of their social construction. One such process is commensalism and the associated display of exotica from interregional interaction. Hosts of a feast between 400 and 300 BCE at the early urban centre of Etlatongo, in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico, displayed pottery that manifested relationships with urban elites at Monte Albán and other regions of Oaxaca, but also expressed connections with something fundamentally different. The hosts sacrificed a greenstone sculpture in the Mezcala style from Guerrero state, located to the west and previously unknown in Oaxaca aesthetics. The discovery of this figure contributes to reassessing the extent of interaction during a time often marked by regionalism in Oaxaca as well as providing information on the little-known Mezcala civilization. A relational ontology explores how the discovery of this agentive object and the alterity of its aesthetics facilitates understanding perceptions of distant others or imaginaries, and how such entanglements facilitated processes of status differentiation for nascent urban elites, particularly their role as mediators.

Ancient Mesoamerica demonstrates we’ve been ballgame lovers for more than 3000 years

TheScienceBreaker, 2021

Foodways and Human-Animal Relations at Early Formative Etlatongo: An Ontology of Differentiation

Building Social Complexity: Differences in Bedrock Use at Early Formative Etlatongo in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca

Changing/Rearranging

Identities, Experience, and Change in Early Mexican Villages

Anales de Antropología, 2020

Este estudio busca comprender el comportamiento y las prácticas culturales que rodean el tratamie... more Este estudio busca comprender el comportamiento y las prácticas culturales que rodean el tratamiento funerario en la Mixteca Alta durante el Formativo. El tratamiento funerario implica todo el proceso que el cuerpo de un individuo tuvo durante y después de su entierro. Actualmente, los datos de los sitios de Etlatongo y Cerro Jazmín, localizados en ésta región, nos permiten entender las interacciones sociales a través de la muerte. Desde la bioarqueología, observamos como el estudio detallado del tratamiento funerario brinda información sobre la organización social, incluyendo las creencias religiosas, relaciones sociales, y la memoria social. Por lo tanto, analizamos los datos disponibles del Formativo medio (850–400 a.C.), el Formativo tardío (400 a.C.–50 d.C.), Formativo terminal (50–200/300 d.C.) y Transición (200–300 d.C.), enfocándonos en tres aspectos: a) la ubicación del entierro; b) el espacio funerario utilizado; y c) la posición del cuerpo. De esta forma, con una muestra ...

The Early Olmec and Mesoamerica

Cambridge University Press eBooks, 2017

Identity, gender, and power: Representational juxtapositions in Early Formative figurines from Oaxaca, Mexico

Mesoamerican Figurines: Small-Scale Indices of Large …, 2009

About the Use of Lead and Strontium Isotopes as Tracers in Pottery Provenance Studies

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 2017

2005 Please do not cite in any context without explicit permission from one of the authors. 2 A r... more 2005 Please do not cite in any context without explicit permission from one of the authors. 2 A recent study of Early Formative Mesoamerican pottery by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) yielded surprising results that prompted two critiques in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The INAA study indicated that the Olmec center of San Lorenzo was a major exporter of carved-incised and white pottery and that little if any pottery made elsewhere was consumed at San Lorenzo. The critiques purport to “overturn ” the INAA study and demonstrate a more balanced exchange of pottery among Early Formative centers. However, the critiques rely on a series of mistaken claims and misunderstandings that are addressed here. New petrographic data

The Impact of Diet and Dental Health among the Mixtec Urban Societies from the Formative Period of Oaxaca, Mexico

Taphonomic Examination of the Skeletal Collection from Etlatongoa, Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca

Early Formative Public Architecture and Corporate Identity in the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca

In Mesoamerica, public space first appears during the Early Formative period (1500-900 BCE), a ti... more In Mesoamerica, public space first appears during the Early Formative period (1500-900 BCE), a time of emerging socio-political complexity at sites such as San Lorenzo, San Jose Mogote, and Paso de la Amada. Public space often reflects emerging communal identity and/or socio-political complexity; its construction, and subsequent maintenance and renovations, reflect the collective effort of different social actors and corporate entities. The arrangement and orientations between platforms and plazas or open space lay the foundations for later innovations in public and ceremonial space throughout Mesoamerica. Recent excavations at the site of Etlatongo, in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico, document the presence of public space during the later portion of the Early Formative. We compare and contrast examples of early public space at Etlatongo with contemporaneous examples across Mesoamerica, recognizing variations in layout, style, contextual and construction history of these spaces.

The Materiality and Creation of Constructed Space at Etlatongo, Oaxaca, Mexico

This paper explores the ontological relationality between humans and the creation of space during... more This paper explores the ontological relationality between humans and the creation of space during the Cruz B phase (1150-850 uncal BCE) in the late Early Formative Etlatongo, in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca. In particular, we focus on how the use of bedrock afforded the construction of a ‘lived’ place. By looking at the materiality of its intrinsic properties, we argue that the Mixtecs of Etlatongo intentionally used bedrock as part of construction episodes in the formation of a public space so that its symbolic properties were able to emerge with the building’s form and history. Considering that ethnographic accounts mention that Mixtecs understood reality as an indivisible whole animated with sacred life forces, we examine the ways in which this existential unity manifested during construction events and through the life histories of buildings; we link our Cruz B example with ethnographic practice through subsequent construction episodes at Etlatongo that illustrate the abiding interest in certain attributes of bedrock. Furthermore, we contemplate how the relational co-constitution of sediments, structures, and humans afforded the articulation of new relationships during the formation of Early Formative Etlatongo.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2017

We explore burials from the first of a series of Mixtec households at Etlatongo, Oaxaca, Mexico, ... more We explore burials from the first of a series of Mixtec households at Etlatongo, Oaxaca, Mexico, that appear to have been located in the same space for several generations, shifting both horizontally and vertically through time. These burials, dating from between 500 and 300 BCE (the later part of the Middle Formative period) represent a variety of positions, including extended and seated, as well as placements, from features dug below the house to features placed directly on the house floor. The health of these individuals was generally robust, with the exception of dental attrition and caries. The presence of corporeal modification, in the form of cranial manipulation, is also evinced from the Etlatongo sample. Exploring the placements of these burials, it is possible to reconstruct the sequence in which they were interred. We argue that parallel burials placed on the house floor belonged to the founders of this household. Upon their death and interment, the house was terminated and occupation shifted. Prior to this space being filled in, however, a shaft was built that provided access, both physical and spiritual, to one of the burials. Successive generations lived on their ancestors, who played an important foundational role in establishing this lineage or House.

Procurement and consumption of obsidian in the Early Formative Mixteca Alta: a view from the Nochixtlan Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico

Latin American Antiquity, 2006

We are glad that Sharer et al. (this issue) have dropped their original claim that the INAA data ... more We are glad that Sharer et al. (this issue) have dropped their original claim that the INAA data demonstrate multidirectional movement of Early Formative pottery. Beyond this, however, they offer nothing that might enhance understanding of Early Formative ceramic circulation or inspire new insights into Early Formative cultural evolution in Mesoamerica. Instead, their response contains fresh distortions, replications of mistakes made in their PNAS articles, and lengthy passages that are irrelevant to the issues raised by Neff et al. (this issue). We correct and recorrect their latest distortions and misunderstandings here. Besides showing why their discussion of ceramic sourcing repeatedly misses the mark, we also correct a number of erroneous assertions about the archaeology of Olmec San Lorenzo. New evidence deepens understanding of Early Formative Mesoamerica but requires that some researchers discard cherished beliefs.

Latin American Antiquity, 2006

A recent study of Early Formative Mesoamerican pottery by instrumental neutron activation analysi... more A recent study of Early Formative Mesoamerican pottery by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) yielded surprising results that prompted two critiques in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The INAA study indicated that the Olmec center of San Lorenzo was a major exporter of carved-incised and white pottery and that little if any pottery made elsewhere was consumed at San Lorenzo. The critiques purport to "overturn" the INAA study and demonstrate a more balanced exchange of pottery among Early Formative centers. However, the critiques rely on a series of mistaken claims and misunderstandings that are addressed here. New petrographic data on a small sample of Early Formative pottery (Stoltman et al. 2005) are potentially useful, but they do not overturn INAA of nearly 1000 pottery samples and hundreds of raw material samples.

This paper on Structure One of Liberty Hall was written by a student taking an archaeology class ... more This paper on Structure One of Liberty Hall was written by a student taking an archaeology class at Washington and Lee Univrsity.