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1. Pottery production and Granular White imports at Late Formative San José Cuautitlan

   https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.70014  

   Stoner, Wesley D; Hernández_Sariñana, Daniela (July 2025, Archaeometry)

   Abstract This study centers on a sample of ceramics (n = 37) from the site of San José Cuautitlan and contextualized within a much larger database of Formative ceramics (n = 1242), mostly from greater central Mexico. The sample was assayed through neutron activation analysis (NAA), with a subsample made into thin sections for petrographic analysis. In this article, we (1) situate the sample from San José within the longer history of ceramic traditions over the Formative period in the Basin of Mexico, (2) assess the pottery production recipe employed at San José in comparison to the composition of ceramics from neighboring segments of the Basin, and (3) source a sample of 10 Granular White amphora that were imported into the site. We demonstrate a low level of ceramic trade among sites within the Basin of Mexico. We also tentatively source Granular White amphora recovered at the site to central Morelos. Further, we show through a comparison of these Late Formative Granular White specimens to later Classic period Granular Ware from Teotihuacan and other sites that the source of this trade ware changed over time. 

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2. Flooded mangrove landscapes hide ancient Maya coastal sites in Belize

   https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2022.2163323  

   McKillop, Heather I (February 2023, The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology)

   Evidence of ancient Maya exploitation of salt, other marine resources, settlement, and sea trade is hidden in flooded mangrove landscapes on the cays, mainland, and in shallow offshore locations on the south coast of Belize. This paper includes a discussion of the coastal economy from the Middle Preclassic through the Postclassic periods (600 B.C.-A.D. 1500). Data from sites discovered and excavated since 1982 in the coastal area of the Port Honduras and Paynes Creek National Park support a model of coastal reliance marine resources and tree crops. The need for a regular supply of coastal salt to inland cities may have expanded the market for other marine resources. Obsidian imported from volcanic highlands documents long-distance trade throughout prehistory in the area. The island of Wild Cane Cay expanded its role in long-distance coastal trade after the abandonment of inland cities in southern Belize at the end of the Classic period. Inundation of the region documented from the depths of radiocarbon-dated archaeological deposits below the water table and from a sediment core indicates sea-level rise of at least 1m that submerged the coastal sites. The waterlogged deposits provided an ideal matrix for preservation of vertebrate material at Wild Cane Cay. The red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) peat below the sea floor in a shallow lagoon preserved wooden buildings. 

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3. The Belize Coast in Ancient Maya Society

   McKillop, Heather (July 2020, Research Reports in Belizean Archaeology)

   Ancient Maya mariners used the sea as a transportation highway that provided access around the Yucatan and to inland rivers, and offshore, for trade, travel, and seafood. In contrast, the inland Maya viewed the sea as hazardous, with unmarked shoals, dangerous marine life, and underworld symbolism. The mercantile Maya on offshore islands such as Wild Cane Cay did not put their financial resources into monumental architecture on the scale of inland cities, but the coastal Maya did display their wealth by burying expensive and imported goods with their deceased citizens. Gold, turquoise, jadeite, imported pottery from Pacific Guatemala, from Honduras, and Mexico, and other goods, were transported along the coast and taken out of circulation and buried in graves at coastal trading ports. Salt was brokered from surplus household production as standard units in the form of salt cakes at the Paynes Creek Salt Works in southern Belize and elsewhere along the coast. The salt cakes were transported by boat and traded at inland markets, where there was a demand for dietary salt. Because of their standard size and non-perishable packaging, salt cakes were used as tokens for keeping track of financial transactions at marketplaces. Sea-level rise has submerged ancient Maya coastal sites, which are hidden from modern view, underwater or in the modern mangrove landscape, making the coastal Maya less visible in modern times compared to antiquity. The coastal Maya of southern Belize from the Middle Preclassic through the Postclassic are reviewed, with broader discussion of the ancient maritime Maya in general. 

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4. Surplus Household production in the Classic Maya economy

   McKillop, Heather (April 2022, Seven Millennia of Salt making)

   Plata, Alberto (Ed.)

   Survey and excavation of wooden buildings and associated briquetage at the Paynes Creek Salt Works indicate salt was produced by households in salt kitchens at sites that were submerged by sealevel rise. The sites are underwater in a salt-water lagoon system on the southern coast of Belize, Central America. The wood was preserved in red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) peat that provided an anaerobic matrix for building posts that were driven into the ground when the pole and thatch salt kitchens were built. Brine was increased in salinity by pouring it over salty soil in canoes, as evidenced by piles of discarded soil at the only two sites above water in the mangroves, as well as a wooden canoe. The brine was boiled in pots over fires in the salt kitchens. Salt cakes and salted fish were transported by canoe up nearby rivers to inland communities where salt was scarce. As salt cakes, they became commodities that could be stored, traded, or kept for subsequent transactions, as currency equivalencies. The implications for salt production in the Maya area during the Classic period civilization (A.D. 300-900) are discussed with reference to other salt works lacking wooden buildings. 

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5. The persistence of household energy insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac90d7  

   Konisky, David M.; Carley, Sanya; Graff, Michelle; Memmott, Trevor (September 2022, Environmental Research Letters)

   Abstract This study analyzes household energy insecurity in the United States during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous research is limited by mostly cross-sectional research designs that do not allow scholars to study the persistency of this specific type of material hardship. We fill this gap by analyzing data from an original, nationally-representative, panel survey of low-income households. We find high levels of energy insecurity during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the initial months when the economic dislocation was at its height, and that many low-income households experienced it on multiple occasions during this period. We also identify disparities: households with people of color, very low-income, children aged five years and younger, with someone who relies on an electronic medical device, and those living in deficient housing conditions were more likely to experience energy insecurity. Households with these characteristics were also more likely to suffer from energy insecurity on a persistent basis through the first year of the pandemic. 

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