Jon Hageman | Northeastern Illinois University (original) (raw)
Database by Jon Hageman
The Mesoamerican Ethnobotanical Database is a collaborative project between The Searle Herbarium ... more The Mesoamerican Ethnobotanical Database is a collaborative project between The Searle Herbarium of the Field Museum of Natural History and the Department of Anthropology at Northeastern Illinois University, with support from the National Science Foundation (Grant No. BCS-1321469). Over 4000 images from 2522 vouchers represent 140 plant families in this database. Searchable fields include scientific name, family, country, collector, collector number, common name, and use. Additional images and data will be uploaded in by the end of 2015.
Refereed Publications by Jon Hageman
Building Honors Contracts: Insights and Oversights, 2020
Contributors to this landmark volume demonstrate that ancestor veneration was about much more tha... more Contributors to this landmark volume demonstrate that ancestor veneration was about much more than claiming property rights: the spirits of the dead were central to domestic disputes, displays of wealth, and power and status relationships. Case studies from China, Africa, Europe, and Mesoamerica use the evidence of art, architecture, ritual, and burial practices to explore the complex roles of ancestors in the past. Including a comprehensive overview of nearly two hundred years of anthropological research, The Archaeology of Ancestors reveals how and why societies remember and revere the dead. Through analyses of human remains, ritual deposits, and historical documents, contributors explain how ancestors were woven into the social fabric of the living.
Archaeology of Food: An Encyclopedia, edited by Karen Bescherer Metheny and Mary C. Beaudry, 2015
Archaeology and Bioarchaeology of Population Movement among the Prehispanic Maya, edited by Andrea Cucina. Springer, New York., 2015
Though most archaeologists agree that no single model of social organization was likely present i... more Though most archaeologists agree that no single model of social organization was likely present in the Precolumbian past, modeling social organization has been a topic of often heated discussion. For the Maya, the house-lineage debate hinges in part on the role of biological kinship in society. In this chapter we review Mesoamerican intracemetery analyses, focusing on the Maya area, and on what, if any, insight they might offer on the house-lineage debate.
Pre-Columbian Foodways: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food, Culture, and Markets in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by J. Staller and M. Carrasco. Springer, New York., 2010
This report presents results of a study examining the ancient use of plants at four Late Classic ... more This report presents results of a study examining the ancient use of plants at four Late Classic (CE 600-900) Maya rural farmsteads in northwestern Belize. Our research specifically targeted residential middens for macrobotanical recovery. Samples yielded the remains of more than a dozen plant families, representing some genera that do not currently grow in the area. These plants were used in the Late Classic, countering the idea that ancient botanical remains do not survive in Neotropical archaeological contexts. We also evaluated two macrobotanical sample processing methods vis-à-vis one another: flotation and dry screening. Our results indicate that flotation recovered 58% more seeds than dry screening, while dry screening yielded almost twice as much charcoal and other wood as flotation. The divergent quantities in the types of material recovered suggest a comprehensive macrobotanical recovery program should include the use of both processing methods.
Ruins of the Past: Use and Perception of Abandoned Structures in the Maya Lowlands, 2008
The site of Say Ka, less than 4 km from the major center of La Milpa, has generated a large degr... more The site of Say Ka, less than 4 km from the major center of
La Milpa, has generated a large degree of interest among
researchers in northwestern Belize in part because of its
elusiveness. After being recorded by archaeologists in 1990,
Say Ka was "lost"; attempts to relocate it failed for nearly a
decade. It was fortuitously rediscovered in 1999, and three seasons of excavation began in 2004. This paper considers the history of Say Ka, its rediscovery, the results of initial excavations, and the possible implications of this minor
center for studying the La Milpa suburban zone.
Central topics of anthropological study from the 1940s through the 1970s, kinship and lineage bec... more Central topics of anthropological study from the 1940s through the 1970s, kinship and lineage became largely discredited during the 1980s. Recent scholarship, however, has indicated that kinship and lineage, when considered as the products of social activity, can make important contributions to studies of living and past populations. This paper explores lineage as a model of social organization distinguished by specific activities practiced by members of Late Classic Maya social groups. This model is derived
from cross-cultural literature on lineages, but practices associated with lineage organization are historically and culturally specific. A suite of archaeological correlates, based on practices endemic to the Late Classic Maya, is evaluated against a test case from northwestern Belize. The implications of a landscape populated by lineages during the Classic period argue that archaeological investigations of hinterland areas are an important complement to more traditional studies focused on nucleated site centers.
Heterarchy, Political Economy, and the Ancient Maya: the Three Rivers Region of the east-central Yucatán Peninsula, 2003
In the 1970s scholars began to accept Maya terracing as the manifestation of ancient intensive a... more In the 1970s scholars began to accept Maya terracing as the manifestation of ancient intensive agriculture and large populations. We examine many ancient terraces and berms excavated in the Three Rivers region of Belize, synthesize the geography and suggest the intent of terracing across the Maya Lowlands, and analyze the history of terracing and soil erosion. Terraces occur in several slope positions and diverted and slowed runoff, to build up planting surfaces that could maximize soil moisture. The first accelerated soil erosion occurred during the Preclassic period (1500 b.c.-a.d. 250). Maya terracing started in the Early Classic period (a.d. 250–600) and spread across the Lowlands with the great population expansion of the Late/Terminal Classic period (a.d. 600–900). Thereafter, the Maya would largely forsake terracing. Though abandoned for a millennium, many terraces still function in today's tropical forests and burning milpas.
Practical Applications of GIS for Archaeologists: A Predictive Modelling Toolkit, 2000
The use of interpolation in archaeology is becoming common. As archaeologists incorporate geograp... more The use of interpolation in archaeology is becoming common. As archaeologists incorporate geographic information systems (GIS) and computer mapping programs into their research, questions of interpolation become fundamental considerations in the representation and manipulation of topographic data. To date, however, few archaeologists have dealt with these questions. Uncritical use of interpolation algorithms can result in unrealistic representations of the landscape in a mapping program or can result in an inaccurate digital elevation model (DEM) used in a GIS. This, in turn, can lead to an ineffective predictive model of site location. By carefully selecting an interpolation algorithm that is well suited to the data, statistical pitfalls and wasted effort can be avoided.
Field Reports by Jon Hageman
Research Reports from the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project, Volume Four, 2010
Research Reports from the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project, Volume Two, 2008
Research Reports from the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project, 2007
Journal Articles by Jon Hageman
Papers by Jon Hageman
Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State
In May 1988, archival research was initiated to evaluate the archaeological potential of New City... more In May 1988, archival research was initiated to evaluate the archaeological potential of New City Block 102, Lots 10 through 15, in downtown San Antonio, Texas, proposed site of the new Bexar County Justice Center parking garage. The research indicated that the southern portion of Lots 10 and 11 would required further investigation at the 1874 site of Vollrath's blacksmith shop. Field excavations were conducted in August 1988. This report discusses the archival research and the results of the field excavations.
The Mesoamerican Ethnobotanical Database is a collaborative project between The Searle Herbarium ... more The Mesoamerican Ethnobotanical Database is a collaborative project between The Searle Herbarium of the Field Museum of Natural History and the Department of Anthropology at Northeastern Illinois University, with support from the National Science Foundation (Grant No. BCS-1321469). Over 4000 images from 2522 vouchers represent 140 plant families in this database. Searchable fields include scientific name, family, country, collector, collector number, common name, and use. Additional images and data will be uploaded in by the end of 2015.
Building Honors Contracts: Insights and Oversights, 2020
Contributors to this landmark volume demonstrate that ancestor veneration was about much more tha... more Contributors to this landmark volume demonstrate that ancestor veneration was about much more than claiming property rights: the spirits of the dead were central to domestic disputes, displays of wealth, and power and status relationships. Case studies from China, Africa, Europe, and Mesoamerica use the evidence of art, architecture, ritual, and burial practices to explore the complex roles of ancestors in the past. Including a comprehensive overview of nearly two hundred years of anthropological research, The Archaeology of Ancestors reveals how and why societies remember and revere the dead. Through analyses of human remains, ritual deposits, and historical documents, contributors explain how ancestors were woven into the social fabric of the living.
Archaeology of Food: An Encyclopedia, edited by Karen Bescherer Metheny and Mary C. Beaudry, 2015
Archaeology and Bioarchaeology of Population Movement among the Prehispanic Maya, edited by Andrea Cucina. Springer, New York., 2015
Though most archaeologists agree that no single model of social organization was likely present i... more Though most archaeologists agree that no single model of social organization was likely present in the Precolumbian past, modeling social organization has been a topic of often heated discussion. For the Maya, the house-lineage debate hinges in part on the role of biological kinship in society. In this chapter we review Mesoamerican intracemetery analyses, focusing on the Maya area, and on what, if any, insight they might offer on the house-lineage debate.
Pre-Columbian Foodways: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food, Culture, and Markets in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by J. Staller and M. Carrasco. Springer, New York., 2010
This report presents results of a study examining the ancient use of plants at four Late Classic ... more This report presents results of a study examining the ancient use of plants at four Late Classic (CE 600-900) Maya rural farmsteads in northwestern Belize. Our research specifically targeted residential middens for macrobotanical recovery. Samples yielded the remains of more than a dozen plant families, representing some genera that do not currently grow in the area. These plants were used in the Late Classic, countering the idea that ancient botanical remains do not survive in Neotropical archaeological contexts. We also evaluated two macrobotanical sample processing methods vis-à-vis one another: flotation and dry screening. Our results indicate that flotation recovered 58% more seeds than dry screening, while dry screening yielded almost twice as much charcoal and other wood as flotation. The divergent quantities in the types of material recovered suggest a comprehensive macrobotanical recovery program should include the use of both processing methods.
Ruins of the Past: Use and Perception of Abandoned Structures in the Maya Lowlands, 2008
The site of Say Ka, less than 4 km from the major center of La Milpa, has generated a large degr... more The site of Say Ka, less than 4 km from the major center of
La Milpa, has generated a large degree of interest among
researchers in northwestern Belize in part because of its
elusiveness. After being recorded by archaeologists in 1990,
Say Ka was "lost"; attempts to relocate it failed for nearly a
decade. It was fortuitously rediscovered in 1999, and three seasons of excavation began in 2004. This paper considers the history of Say Ka, its rediscovery, the results of initial excavations, and the possible implications of this minor
center for studying the La Milpa suburban zone.
Central topics of anthropological study from the 1940s through the 1970s, kinship and lineage bec... more Central topics of anthropological study from the 1940s through the 1970s, kinship and lineage became largely discredited during the 1980s. Recent scholarship, however, has indicated that kinship and lineage, when considered as the products of social activity, can make important contributions to studies of living and past populations. This paper explores lineage as a model of social organization distinguished by specific activities practiced by members of Late Classic Maya social groups. This model is derived
from cross-cultural literature on lineages, but practices associated with lineage organization are historically and culturally specific. A suite of archaeological correlates, based on practices endemic to the Late Classic Maya, is evaluated against a test case from northwestern Belize. The implications of a landscape populated by lineages during the Classic period argue that archaeological investigations of hinterland areas are an important complement to more traditional studies focused on nucleated site centers.
Heterarchy, Political Economy, and the Ancient Maya: the Three Rivers Region of the east-central Yucatán Peninsula, 2003
In the 1970s scholars began to accept Maya terracing as the manifestation of ancient intensive a... more In the 1970s scholars began to accept Maya terracing as the manifestation of ancient intensive agriculture and large populations. We examine many ancient terraces and berms excavated in the Three Rivers region of Belize, synthesize the geography and suggest the intent of terracing across the Maya Lowlands, and analyze the history of terracing and soil erosion. Terraces occur in several slope positions and diverted and slowed runoff, to build up planting surfaces that could maximize soil moisture. The first accelerated soil erosion occurred during the Preclassic period (1500 b.c.-a.d. 250). Maya terracing started in the Early Classic period (a.d. 250–600) and spread across the Lowlands with the great population expansion of the Late/Terminal Classic period (a.d. 600–900). Thereafter, the Maya would largely forsake terracing. Though abandoned for a millennium, many terraces still function in today's tropical forests and burning milpas.
Practical Applications of GIS for Archaeologists: A Predictive Modelling Toolkit, 2000
The use of interpolation in archaeology is becoming common. As archaeologists incorporate geograp... more The use of interpolation in archaeology is becoming common. As archaeologists incorporate geographic information systems (GIS) and computer mapping programs into their research, questions of interpolation become fundamental considerations in the representation and manipulation of topographic data. To date, however, few archaeologists have dealt with these questions. Uncritical use of interpolation algorithms can result in unrealistic representations of the landscape in a mapping program or can result in an inaccurate digital elevation model (DEM) used in a GIS. This, in turn, can lead to an ineffective predictive model of site location. By carefully selecting an interpolation algorithm that is well suited to the data, statistical pitfalls and wasted effort can be avoided.
Research Reports from the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project, Volume Four, 2010
Research Reports from the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project, Volume Two, 2008
Research Reports from the Programme for Belize Archaeological Project, 2007
Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State
In May 1988, archival research was initiated to evaluate the archaeological potential of New City... more In May 1988, archival research was initiated to evaluate the archaeological potential of New City Block 102, Lots 10 through 15, in downtown San Antonio, Texas, proposed site of the new Bexar County Justice Center parking garage. The research indicated that the southern portion of Lots 10 and 11 would required further investigation at the 1874 site of Vollrath's blacksmith shop. Field excavations were conducted in August 1988. This report discusses the archival research and the results of the field excavations.
Index of Texas Archaeology: Open Access Gray Literature from the Lone Star State, 1990
In May 1988, archival research was initiated to evaluate the archaeological potential of New City... more In May 1988, archival research was initiated to evaluate the archaeological potential of New City Block 102, Lots 10 through 15, in downtown San Antonio, Texas, proposed site of the new Bexar County Justice Center parking garage. The research indicated that the southern portion of Lots 10 and 11 would required further investigation at the 1874 site of Vollrath's blacksmith shop. Field excavations were conducted in August 1988. This report discusses the archival research and the results of the field excavations.
Archaeologists agree that ancestors figured prominently in the lives of the Classic (CE 250-900),... more Archaeologists agree that ancestors figured prominently in the lives of the Classic (CE 250-900), particularly in the Late Classic (600-900), the period for which we have a wealth of epigraphic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence. Most data are from monumental site centers where royalty were lavishly interred in large pyramids. Much less is known, however, of the roles ancestors buried in small, often rural, shrines played in the lives of commoners--the remaining 90-98% of the Classic era population. Still less is known regarding the origins and development of ancestral practices int he Lowland Maya area. In this chapter I review archaeological evidence for ancient Maya ancestors rather than the deceased in general. I approach this from a chronological perspective, beginning with the earliest evidence of ancestor during the Preclassic (1000 BCE- CE 250). In so doing I emphasize changes in burial practices, including body position, architecture, and symbolic elements of grave goods. I also evaluate practices of kings and commoners in the Classic era, with a focus on the ongoing use of various Preclassic symbols and practices in the continued creation of ancestors. My emphasis is on the material manifestation of these ancestors, the practices associated with them, and the resulting implications for our understanding of ancient Lowland Maya society.
Chapter 2 of the edited volume The Archaeology of Ancestors, this essay reviews the lines of evid... more Chapter 2 of the edited volume The Archaeology of Ancestors, this essay reviews the lines of evidence archaeologists have employed to argue for ancestor veneration in the past. Taking a global perspective, Hill and Hageman discuss examples from China, Africa, and the Americas.
Chapter 1 of the edited volume The Archaeology of Ancestors, this essay reviews the historiograph... more Chapter 1 of the edited volume The Archaeology of Ancestors, this essay reviews the historiography of ancestors in anthropology. Hageman and Hill discuss the foundational works on ancestors in China and Africa and review the many and varied definitions of "ancestor" that have been proposed.