Methods of empirical Bayesian statistical inference can help archaeologists deal with problems inherent in variably-sized and, particularly, small artifact samples. The desirability of systematically controlling random effects of sampling error when mapping estimates of artifact type proportions is emphasized in this paper, and concrete examples are provided using ceramic data from the Central Mexican city of Teotihuacan. A Bayesian approach also may be beneficial for pretreating data destined for other kinds of quantitative analysis, such as exploratory multivariate analysis. Correspondence analysis using observed proportions of different types of pottery in assemblages pertaining to the Xolalpan and Metepec phases produces vague results that suggest little in the way of interpretable structure. However, a parallel analysis using posterior estimates of proportions reveals meaningful associations of ceramic categories that appear to relate to more general dimensions of behavioral variability.

Although in modern societies fermented beverages are associated with socializing, celebration, and ritual, in ancient times they were also important sources of essential nutrients and potable water. In Mesoamerica, pulque, an alcoholic beverage produced from the fermented sap of several species of maguey plants (Agavaceae; Fig. 1) is hypothesized to have been used as a dietary supplement and risk-buffering food in ancient Teotihuacan (150 B.C. to A.D. 650). Although direct archaeological evidence of pulque production is lacking, organic residue analysis of pottery vessels offers a new avenue of investigation. However, the chemical components of alcoholic beverages are water-soluble, greatly limiting their survival over archaeological timescales compared with hydrophobic lipids widely preserved in food residues. Hence, we apply a novel lipid biomarker approach that considers detection of bacteriohopanoids derived from the ethanol-producing bacterium Zymomonas mobilis for identifying pulque production/consumption in pottery vessels. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry selected ion monitoring (m/z 191) of lipid extracts of >300 potsherds revealed characteristic bacteriohopanoid distributions in a subset of 14 potsherds. This hopanoid biomarker approach offers a new means of identifying commonly occurring bacterially fermented alcoholic beverages worldwide, including palm wine, beer, cider, perry, and other plant sap-or fruit-derived beverages [Swings J, De Ley J (1977)

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In the 1960s, the Teotihuacan Mapping Project (TMP) focused an ambitious, multiyear survey program on the pre-Columbian urban center of Teotihuacan. In addition to creating a highly detailed map, the TMP made systematic records of surface remains and collected nearly one million artifacts from roughly 5,000 provenience tracts. Taken together, the spatial, descriptive, and artifactual data collected by the TMP still constitutes one of the most extensive and most detailed records in existence for any ancient city. This paper characterizes and provides an update on TMP surface observations, particularly as they exist in digital format. Several analytical case studies illustrate substantive ways in which these data have been used in the decades since the TMP survey to investigate the culture and history of ancient Teotihuacan. The utility of extensive surface survey data for investigating key urban organizational elements such as neighborhoods and social districts is briefly considered, along with the growing importance of the TMP collections and records as increasingly large parts of Teotihuacan are lost to urban sprawl and destructive agricultural practices.

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