T Ardren
Biographic Data
| ID | 37167 |
|---|---|
| NAME | T Ardren |
| GIVEN NAMES | T |
| FAMILY NAME | Ardren |
| SIGNATURE | ARDREN T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Miami |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9944-2161 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 38 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 349 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 38 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 12 |
Sacbe 1 and Classic Maya Urban Culture
One of the most significant engineering accomplishments of Maya civilization is Sacbe 1, a raised road connecting the ancient urban centers of Yaxuna and Coba. Using new lidar data in concert with excavation, epigraphic inscriptions, and landscape reconnaissance, we show that settlement and an urban experience emanated westward from Coba along the sacbe. The leaders of Coba—in particular, an ambitious seventh-century queen—used the sacbe to expan…
Chronology building in the Ancestral Florida Keys
Provenance of pottery from the Florida Keys
Settlement Scaling in the Northern Maya Lowlands
Settlement scaling theory predicts that higher site densities lead to increased social interactions that, in turn, boost productivity. The scaling relationship between population and land area holds for several ancient societies, but as demonstrated by the sample of 48 sites in this study, it does not hold for the Northern Maya Lowlands. Removing smaller sites from the sample brings the results closer to scaling expectations. We argue that applic…
Wild fruits, forager children and secret treats in pre-Columbian South Florida
The archaeology of childhood has shown that research is possible on even the most ephemeral aspects of ancient human lives if we ask the correct questions of the material record. Children are now visible members of ancient societies and their impact on the physical environment in which they lived can be identified. This paper looks at food remains possibly recovered by children as a lens into one of the secret places and spaces of childhood. Frui…
Roads, Temples, and the Community Boundaries of Cobá, Quintana Roo
Inequality, urbanism, and governance at Coba and the Northern Maya Lowlands
Gini coefficients for residential groups at Coba for roofed surface area, volume of architecture, and houselot space range from 0.423 to 0.551, fitting well within the range of many ancient and modern state-level cities and societies and other Mesoamerican centers. These values are also similar to other large, Classic period, Northern Lowland cities, such as Dzibilchaltun and Chunchucmil. These data do not support the idea that autocratic regimes…
Soil biomarkers of cacao tree cultivation in the sacred cacao groves of the northern Maya lowlands
The Spanish wells
The Florida Keys comprise a unique ecological and archaeological setting in the southeastern United States yet have remained relatively understudied archaeologically for much of the twentieth century. Anecdotal accounts of “Spanish wells,” employed by sailors and settlers during the colonial and early modern eras, have long posed questions about the availability of freshwater resources to Indigenous communities in the islands and how this availab…
A space of One's own
Advertising and the Appropriation of Culture
Partaking in Culinary Heritage at Yaxunah, Yucatán during the 2017 Noma Mexico Pop-Up
In spring of 2017, celebrity chef René Redzepi opened a pop-up of his famed restaurant, Noma, on the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula. During its run, Noma Mexico worked closely with the town of Yaxunah, a Yucatec-Mayan speaking community in the peninsula’s interior, hiring women to make tortillas and acquiring local ingredients for the restaurant. For us—two archaeologists interested in past and present Maya food and agriculture who have worked in…
Household garden plant agency in the creation of Classic Maya social identities
Structure’ density, area, and volume as complementary tools to understand Maya Settlement
Famine Foods and Food Security in the Northern Maya Lowlands
Inequality and changing responses to food scarcity may create a stigmatization complex around certain foods. Here, we conduct a literature search to develop a working definition of “famine foods” in the Maya lowlands, centering qualities such as hardiness, productivity, nutrition, preparation, and stigmatization complexes. An analysis of the nutritional characteristics that might make up such a food yields the idea that famine foods are likely me…
Now Serving Maya Heritage
Despite centuries of colonialism, Yucatec Maya women and men retain a rich body of specialized culinary practices with roots in the pre-Columbian past. Recently this intangible heritage has become the focus of a variety of forms of culinary tourism, some of which are local enterprises that bring much needed cash into small rural communities. This article presents details about how a small group of women in the Yucatec-Maya speaking village of Yax…
Prehistoric human impact on tree island lifecycles in the Florida Everglades
The current study provides a fine-grained analysis of evidence for sustained pre-Columbian human occupation and socio-ecological interaction within Everglades National Park. Utilizing archaeological data on dietary and cultural patterns recovered from recent excavations at a prehistoric tree island site, we argue the role of ancient human populations in the formation or augmentation of tree islands should be incorporated into environmental models…
New Histories of Pre-Columbian Florida
Making Ancient Cities
This volume investigates how the structure and use of space developed and changed in cities, and examines the role of different societal groups in shaping urbanism. Culturally and chronologically diverse case studies provide a basis to examine recent theoretical and methodological shifts in the archaeology of ancient cities. The book's primary goal is to examine how ancient cities were made by the people who lived in them. The authors argue that …
Spatial and Physical Characteristics of Rejolladas in Northern Yucatán, Mexico
This study evaluates the importance of rejolladas to the Ancient Maya in and around the Classic Maya center of Xuenkal, Yucatán State, Mexico. Rejolladas are collapse sinkholes with bases above the local water table. We present a spatial and physical analysis of 186 rejolladas in a 10 × 10 km area centered on Xuenkal. Basal diameters range from ∼22 to 264 m, areas range from 0.04 to 5.48 ha, and depths range from 4 to 12 m. Spatial density ranges…
Household Organization and the Dynamics of State Expansion
While changing views of the sociopolitical history of the northern Maya lowlands now recognize that Chichen Itza's emergence as a major polity on an unprecedented scale occurred during the Terminal Classic period, rather than the Early Postclassic period, the ramifications of significant chronological overlap between Chichen Itza's rise and the demise of neighboring polities have been largely unexplored. The ancient Maya center of Xuenkal, locate…
Transformación en el tiempo
El antiguo centro maya de Xuenkal, ubicado en la región Cupul, aproximadamente a 45 km hacia el noreste de Chichén Itzá fue uno de los sitios tierra adentro que contaban con una ocupación Sotuta sustancial. La investigación del Proyecto Arqueológico Xuenkal (PAX) se enfoca en el estudio de la cultura material Sotuta y su relación con la ocupación Cehpech del Clásico Tardío-Terminal con el propósito de entender la naturaleza de tal transición. Uti…
The travels of Maya merchants in the ninth and tenth centuriesad
The region between the Maya capital of Chichen Itza and its port site on the Gulf of Mexico was one of the most heavily traversed landscapes during the Classic period. Vast quantities of trade goods were conveyed inland from the coast on the backs of long-distance traders. This study explores the experiences of these traders as they transported raw materials such as shell and obsidian as well as finished ornaments to the urban center in exchange …
Empowered Children in Classic Maya Sacrificial Rites
Sacrifice is a basic component of human religious experience, and well documented in many ancient cultures. In Mesoamerica, sacrifice took many forms although perhaps the most dramatic was the offering of human children. In Maya studies this topic has largely been overlooked despite data from a variety of sources. This paper explores the perspective that children were not the subject of sacrifice due to their marginal status as less than adult, b…
A Taphonomic Approach to Late Classic Maya Mortuary Practices at Xuenkal, Yucatán, Mexico
Following a brief introduction to mortuary practices in Prehispanic Maya society, we outline the analytical procedures followed during the excavation and laboratory investigation of five burial assemblages from the Late Classic period site of Xuenkal, Yucatán, Mexico. A detailed account of a sequence of primary and secondary interments is provided with a focus on taphonomic and biovital information, emphasizing the importance of an interdisciplin…
Manifesting Power
Manifesting Power: Gender and the Interpretation of Power in Archaeology. Tracy L. Sweety. ed. New York: Routledge, 1999.210 pp
Conversations about the production of archaeological knowledge and community museums at Chunchucmil and Kochol, Yucatán, México
The Pakbeh Regional Economy Program centered at the ancient Maya trading center of Chunchucmil in Yucatán, México, shifted research priorities from a processual program aimed at recovering indicators of ancient ethnic identification to a more community-based program that combines processual methodologies with a local desire for community-based tourism. Initial research goals concerned the elucidation of how a trading economy affected other aspect…
The Archaeology of Childhood
The Archaeology of Childhood: Children, Gender, and Material Culture. Jane Eva Baxter. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2005. 142 pp
Tourism in the Mundo Maya
The Chronology of Yaxuna
Research at the ancient Maya city of Yaxuna, located in the heart of the Yucatan Peninsula, has provided sufficient data to suggest a preliminary chronological framework for the cultural development of this large polity. Primary ceramic and stratigraphie data are presented to support a five-phase scheme of cultural history, encompassing the Middle Formative through Postclassic periods (500b.c.–a.d.1250). In addition to chronological significance,…
K'axob
Shortly after 800 B.C., a village was founded in the wetland and riverine habitat of northern Belize. Now called K’axob, this Maya community grew and prospered through Formative and Classic times. A millennial-long record of Formative life has been investigated archaeologically by peeling back the closely stratified layers of superimposed domiciles. These houses, their domestic and mortuary features, and associated artifacts reveal a conscious co…
Spatial and Physical Characteristics of Rejolladas in Northern Yucatán, Mexico
This study evaluates the importance of rejolladas to the Ancient Maya in and around the Classic Maya center of Xuenkal, Yucatán State, Mexico. Rejolladas are collapse sinkholes with bases above the local water table. We present a spatial and physical analysis of 186 rejolladas in a 10 × 10 km area centered on Xuenkal. Basal diameters range from ∼22 to 264 m, areas range from 0.04 to 5.48 ha, and depths range from 4 to 12 m. Spatial density ranges…
Empowered Children in Classic Maya Sacrificial Rites
Sacrifice is a basic component of human religious experience, and well documented in many ancient cultures. In Mesoamerica, sacrifice took many forms although perhaps the most dramatic was the offering of human children. In Maya studies this topic has largely been overlooked despite data from a variety of sources. This paper explores the perspective that children were not the subject of sacrifice due to their marginal status as less than adult, b…
The Middle Formative of Yucatan in Context
Assumptions concerning the late dating of Middle Formative ceramics in the northern Maya lowlands and similarities between this region and areas to the south underlie mainstream interpretations that the northern Maya lowlands was slower to develop cultural complexity. This paper is a re-evaluation of these assumptions and their impact on interpretations of Formative interaction. Recent research at Yaxuna, Yucatan, Mexico is discussed in light of …
The travels of Maya merchants in the ninth and tenth centuriesad
The region between the Maya capital of Chichen Itza and its port site on the Gulf of Mexico was one of the most heavily traversed landscapes during the Classic period. Vast quantities of trade goods were conveyed inland from the coast on the backs of long-distance traders. This study explores the experiences of these traders as they transported raw materials such as shell and obsidian as well as finished ornaments to the urban center in exchange …
Studies of Gender in the Prehispanic Americas
Cloth Production and Economic Intensification in the Area Surrounding Chichen Itza
Recent investigations at the site of Xuenkal on the plains north of Chichén Itzá provide evidence of the changing regional political environment during the Terminal Classic Period (A.D. 900-1000). This paper examines a collection of spindle whorls recovered during the 2005, 2006, and 2007 field seasons of the Proyecto Arqueológico Xuenkal (PAX) as evidence for intensification of craft production. Through this analysis and comparison with spindle …
Little Artefacts
The following paper seeks to reconsider traditional and often comfortable approaches towards understanding infants, the infant body and infancy in archaeological contexts. In doing so, the paper considers the nature of the body, and draws upon a wide range of resources, including the wider anthropological record, child development theory and the social sciences. The paper speci fically seeks to identify the constitution of infancy in the past. In…
Mending the past
For modern communities, she is the moon goddess and protectress of Maya culture and women; for scholars she is one of a number of deities with different roles in the Postclassic period. Which is the real Ixchel? The author excavates the story of the Maya goddess and her re-invention by myth-makers - including archaeologists
A Taphonomic Approach to Late Classic Maya Mortuary Practices at Xuenkal, Yucatán, Mexico
Following a brief introduction to mortuary practices in Prehispanic Maya society, we outline the analytical procedures followed during the excavation and laboratory investigation of five burial assemblages from the Late Classic period site of Xuenkal, Yucatán, Mexico. A detailed account of a sequence of primary and secondary interments is provided with a focus on taphonomic and biovital information, emphasizing the importance of an interdisciplin…
Famine Foods and Food Security in the Northern Maya Lowlands
Inequality and changing responses to food scarcity may create a stigmatization complex around certain foods. Here, we conduct a literature search to develop a working definition of “famine foods” in the Maya lowlands, centering qualities such as hardiness, productivity, nutrition, preparation, and stigmatization complexes. An analysis of the nutritional characteristics that might make up such a food yields the idea that famine foods are likely me…
The Unusual Sculptures of Telantunich, Yucatán
Recently discovered sculpture fragments from the area surrounding the important but little-studied site of Telantunich confirm a regional tradition of human portraiture quite distinct from the better-known canon of Maya stelae. Comparative material presented here shows connections between this tradition and a regional emphasis on depictions of masculine sexuality, especially depictions of human phalli. The authors present an analysis of this corp…
Structure’ density, area, and volume as complementary tools to understand Maya Settlement
Settlement Scaling in the Northern Maya Lowlands
Settlement scaling theory predicts that higher site densities lead to increased social interactions that, in turn, boost productivity. The scaling relationship between population and land area holds for several ancient societies, but as demonstrated by the sample of 48 sites in this study, it does not hold for the Northern Maya Lowlands. Removing smaller sites from the sample brings the results closer to scaling expectations. We argue that applic…
Household garden plant agency in the creation of Classic Maya social identities
Household Organization and the Dynamics of State Expansion
While changing views of the sociopolitical history of the northern Maya lowlands now recognize that Chichen Itza's emergence as a major polity on an unprecedented scale occurred during the Terminal Classic period, rather than the Early Postclassic period, the ramifications of significant chronological overlap between Chichen Itza's rise and the demise of neighboring polities have been largely unexplored. The ancient Maya center of Xuenkal, locate…
A space of One's own
Now Serving Maya Heritage
Despite centuries of colonialism, Yucatec Maya women and men retain a rich body of specialized culinary practices with roots in the pre-Columbian past. Recently this intangible heritage has become the focus of a variety of forms of culinary tourism, some of which are local enterprises that bring much needed cash into small rural communities. This article presents details about how a small group of women in the Yucatec-Maya speaking village of Yax…
Wild fruits, forager children and secret treats in pre-Columbian South Florida
The archaeology of childhood has shown that research is possible on even the most ephemeral aspects of ancient human lives if we ask the correct questions of the material record. Children are now visible members of ancient societies and their impact on the physical environment in which they lived can be identified. This paper looks at food remains possibly recovered by children as a lens into one of the secret places and spaces of childhood. Frui…
Prehistoric human impact on tree island lifecycles in the Florida Everglades
The current study provides a fine-grained analysis of evidence for sustained pre-Columbian human occupation and socio-ecological interaction within Everglades National Park. Utilizing archaeological data on dietary and cultural patterns recovered from recent excavations at a prehistoric tree island site, we argue the role of ancient human populations in the formation or augmentation of tree islands should be incorporated into environmental models…
The Chronology of Yaxuna
Research at the ancient Maya city of Yaxuna, located in the heart of the Yucatan Peninsula, has provided sufficient data to suggest a preliminary chronological framework for the cultural development of this large polity. Primary ceramic and stratigraphie data are presented to support a five-phase scheme of cultural history, encompassing the Middle Formative through Postclassic periods (500b.c.–a.d.1250). In addition to chronological significance,…
Manifesting Power
Manifesting Power: Gender and the Interpretation of Power in Archaeology. Tracy L. Sweety. ed. New York: Routledge, 1999.210 pp
Conversations about the production of archaeological knowledge and community museums at Chunchucmil and Kochol, Yucatán, México
The Pakbeh Regional Economy Program centered at the ancient Maya trading center of Chunchucmil in Yucatán, México, shifted research priorities from a processual program aimed at recovering indicators of ancient ethnic identification to a more community-based program that combines processual methodologies with a local desire for community-based tourism. Initial research goals concerned the elucidation of how a trading economy affected other aspect…
Everything Old Is New Again
Review Article| April 01 2004 Everything Old Is New Again Traci Ardren Traci Ardren Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Ethnohistory (2004) 51 (2): 415–420. https://doi.org/10.1215/00141801-51-2-415 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Traci Ardren; Everything Old Is New Again. Ethnohistory 1 April 2004; 51 (2): 415–420. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/00141801-51-2-4…
The Middle Formative of Yucatan in Context
Assumptions concerning the late dating of Middle Formative ceramics in the northern Maya lowlands and similarities between this region and areas to the south underlie mainstream interpretations that the northern Maya lowlands was slower to develop cultural complexity. This paper is a re-evaluation of these assumptions and their impact on interpretations of Formative interaction. Recent research at Yaxuna, Yucatan, Mexico is discussed in light of …
K'axob
Shortly after 800 B.C., a village was founded in the wetland and riverine habitat of northern Belize. Now called K’axob, this Maya community grew and prospered through Formative and Classic times. A millennial-long record of Formative life has been investigated archaeologically by peeling back the closely stratified layers of superimposed domiciles. These houses, their domestic and mortuary features, and associated artifacts reveal a conscious co…
The Unusual Sculptures of Telantunich, Yucatán
Recently discovered sculpture fragments from the area surrounding the important but little-studied site of Telantunich confirm a regional tradition of human portraiture quite distinct from the better-known canon of Maya stelae. Comparative material presented here shows connections between this tradition and a regional emphasis on depictions of masculine sexuality, especially depictions of human phalli. The authors present an analysis of this corp…
Mending the past
For modern communities, she is the moon goddess and protectress of Maya culture and women; for scholars she is one of a number of deities with different roles in the Postclassic period. Which is the real Ixchel? The author excavates the story of the Maya goddess and her re-invention by myth-makers - including archaeologists
The Archaeology of Childhood
The Archaeology of Childhood: Children, Gender, and Material Culture. Jane Eva Baxter. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2005. 142 pp
Studies of Gender in the Prehispanic Americas
Tourism in the Mundo Maya
Little Artefacts
The following paper seeks to reconsider traditional and often comfortable approaches towards understanding infants, the infant body and infancy in archaeological contexts. In doing so, the paper considers the nature of the body, and draws upon a wide range of resources, including the wider anthropological record, child development theory and the social sciences. The paper speci fically seeks to identify the constitution of infancy in the past. In…
A Taphonomic Approach to Late Classic Maya Mortuary Practices at Xuenkal, Yucatán, Mexico
Following a brief introduction to mortuary practices in Prehispanic Maya society, we outline the analytical procedures followed during the excavation and laboratory investigation of five burial assemblages from the Late Classic period site of Xuenkal, Yucatán, Mexico. A detailed account of a sequence of primary and secondary interments is provided with a focus on taphonomic and biovital information, emphasizing the importance of an interdisciplin…
Cloth Production and Economic Intensification in the Area Surrounding Chichen Itza
Recent investigations at the site of Xuenkal on the plains north of Chichén Itzá provide evidence of the changing regional political environment during the Terminal Classic Period (A.D. 900-1000). This paper examines a collection of spindle whorls recovered during the 2005, 2006, and 2007 field seasons of the Proyecto Arqueológico Xuenkal (PAX) as evidence for intensification of craft production. Through this analysis and comparison with spindle …
Transformación en el tiempo
El antiguo centro maya de Xuenkal, ubicado en la región Cupul, aproximadamente a 45 km hacia el noreste de Chichén Itzá fue uno de los sitios tierra adentro que contaban con una ocupación Sotuta sustancial. La investigación del Proyecto Arqueológico Xuenkal (PAX) se enfoca en el estudio de la cultura material Sotuta y su relación con la ocupación Cehpech del Clásico Tardío-Terminal con el propósito de entender la naturaleza de tal transición. Uti…
The travels of Maya merchants in the ninth and tenth centuriesad
The region between the Maya capital of Chichen Itza and its port site on the Gulf of Mexico was one of the most heavily traversed landscapes during the Classic period. Vast quantities of trade goods were conveyed inland from the coast on the backs of long-distance traders. This study explores the experiences of these traders as they transported raw materials such as shell and obsidian as well as finished ornaments to the urban center in exchange …
Empowered Children in Classic Maya Sacrificial Rites
Sacrifice is a basic component of human religious experience, and well documented in many ancient cultures. In Mesoamerica, sacrifice took many forms although perhaps the most dramatic was the offering of human children. In Maya studies this topic has largely been overlooked despite data from a variety of sources. This paper explores the perspective that children were not the subject of sacrifice due to their marginal status as less than adult, b…
Household Organization and the Dynamics of State Expansion
While changing views of the sociopolitical history of the northern Maya lowlands now recognize that Chichen Itza's emergence as a major polity on an unprecedented scale occurred during the Terminal Classic period, rather than the Early Postclassic period, the ramifications of significant chronological overlap between Chichen Itza's rise and the demise of neighboring polities have been largely unexplored. The ancient Maya center of Xuenkal, locate…
Making Ancient Cities
This volume investigates how the structure and use of space developed and changed in cities, and examines the role of different societal groups in shaping urbanism. Culturally and chronologically diverse case studies provide a basis to examine recent theoretical and methodological shifts in the archaeology of ancient cities. The book's primary goal is to examine how ancient cities were made by the people who lived in them. The authors argue that …
Spatial and Physical Characteristics of Rejolladas in Northern Yucatán, Mexico
This study evaluates the importance of rejolladas to the Ancient Maya in and around the Classic Maya center of Xuenkal, Yucatán State, Mexico. Rejolladas are collapse sinkholes with bases above the local water table. We present a spatial and physical analysis of 186 rejolladas in a 10 × 10 km area centered on Xuenkal. Basal diameters range from ∼22 to 264 m, areas range from 0.04 to 5.48 ha, and depths range from 4 to 12 m. Spatial density ranges…
Prehistoric human impact on tree island lifecycles in the Florida Everglades
The current study provides a fine-grained analysis of evidence for sustained pre-Columbian human occupation and socio-ecological interaction within Everglades National Park. Utilizing archaeological data on dietary and cultural patterns recovered from recent excavations at a prehistoric tree island site, we argue the role of ancient human populations in the formation or augmentation of tree islands should be incorporated into environmental models…
New Histories of Pre-Columbian Florida
Now Serving Maya Heritage
Despite centuries of colonialism, Yucatec Maya women and men retain a rich body of specialized culinary practices with roots in the pre-Columbian past. Recently this intangible heritage has become the focus of a variety of forms of culinary tourism, some of which are local enterprises that bring much needed cash into small rural communities. This article presents details about how a small group of women in the Yucatec-Maya speaking village of Yax…
Structure’ density, area, and volume as complementary tools to understand Maya Settlement
Famine Foods and Food Security in the Northern Maya Lowlands
Inequality and changing responses to food scarcity may create a stigmatization complex around certain foods. Here, we conduct a literature search to develop a working definition of “famine foods” in the Maya lowlands, centering qualities such as hardiness, productivity, nutrition, preparation, and stigmatization complexes. An analysis of the nutritional characteristics that might make up such a food yields the idea that famine foods are likely me…
Archaeology (32 works) · Geography (26 works) · Maya (23 works) · History (22 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (19 works) · History (19 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Latin American history and culture (12 works) · Ecology (10 works) · Anthropology (8 works)