Activités humaines reflétées dans les sols d'unités d'habitation contemporaine et préhispanique du Yucatan (Mexique) : études chimiques, ethnoarchéologiques et archéologiques

Abstract

L'archéologie de l'habitation et la recherche d'aires d'activité connaissent une ampleur croissante et l'analyse chimique des sols s'est révélée extrêmement utile pour déterminer les espaces où se réalisaient des activités humaines spécifiques. Le travail présenté ci-dessous envisage une analyse comparative de deux unités d'habitation, l'une abandonnée trente ans avant les fouilles et l'autre préhispanique. Basé également sur une étude ethnoarchéologique, il montre que la juxtaposition de données archéologiques et de dosages géochimiques variés permet de déterminer l'articulation fonctionnelle de l'espace domestique et d'identifier des aires d'activité.

An evaluation of the site specificity of soil elemental signatures for identifying and interpreting former functional areas

“…Often, interpretations are limited to the location of areas of interest, or tentative identifications of activities are made based on element associations and groupings from a known context or ethnographic site (for example, Barba and Ortiz Butrón, 1992;Barba et al, 1995;Fernández et al, 2002;Knudson et al, 2004;Middleton and Price, 1996;Terry et al, 2004). One reason interpretation of soil element concentrations is so difficult is the effect of post-depositional soil processes, such as differential leaching and adsorption of metals (Ottaway and Matthews, 1988;Wilson et al, 2008).…”

Kaleidoscopes, Palimpsests, and Clay: Realities and Complexities in Human Activities and Soil Chemical/Residue Analysis

“…Studies taking the first approach measure the values of multiple chemicals or residues, plot the distributions of single data values in space as isopleths, visually identify areas of highs and lows, and then produce a composite map of anomalies (e.g., Barba et al 1995Barba et al , 1996Barba and Ortiz 1992;Ortiz Butrón and Barba 1993;Fernández et al 2002;Manzanilla and Barba 1990). This approach typifies the majority of past research and is also the approach taken by Pecci and Ortiz, as mentioned above, for their activity area research in Cuentepec.…”

The story in the floors: chemical signatures of ancient and modern Maya activities at Aguateca, Guatemala

“…They compared individual activities with the chemical concentrations found at various activity areas. They presented specific chemical patterns that correspond to known activities such as sleeping areas, food preparation areas, consumption areas, as well as animal confines and heavily used paths [10]. One important aspect of the research of Barba, Manzanilla, and associates is that their soil chemical analyses have been applied to a number of archaeological sites in Mexico, including Templo Mayor at Tenochititlan, Oztoyahualco at Teotihuacan, and Coba in Quintana Roo [4][5][6][7][8][67][68][69].…”