Tarascan Elite Island Site Includes Conquest-Era Chapel

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/05/090513-mexico-ritual-island.html

The little note about the colonial chapel is obviously of interest to me. I do not know why they're claiming it to be specifically within the first twenty years of the Conquest (so, about 1540), but I'm interested to find out.

Ebay Curtails Archaeological Looting

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090504193641.htm

Great story. Based on the research of Charles Stanish of UCLA's Cotsen Institute, Ebay harms archaeological looting.

In essence, Ebay and the internet in general has made it easier for people around the world to market "fakes"/replicas of archaeological artifacts for low prices. In turn, this has satisfied many customers who want something "authentic" and either prefer replicas due to ethics/costs, or don't know the difference and are simply amazed that an "ancient" Maya bowl markets for $35. This has lessened the demand for actual looted antiquities, and has flooded the market with excellent replicas, making the entire issue of buying and selling the real deal more difficult and risky.

Looting hasn't even remotely gone away. But it's nice to see the internet, which had initially been pegged as making the problem worse, actually making the problem better and encouraging a new market in ethically positive replicas sold more directly by local artisans not beholden to smuggling networks.

Aztec Burials from Spanish Conquest w. elements of Spanish Culture

A recently excavated mass grave in Mexico City dates to roughly the time of the Spanish Conquest of the Aztec Empire.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iPF6IUn8CskP1_rkiUjuU-UZ3mXgD9690QB02

Some elements in particular are of note

"The men also were carefully buried Christian-style, lying on their backs with arms crossed over their chests, though many appear to have been wrapped up in large maguey cactus leaves, rather than placed in European coffins.

The mass grave contained evidence of an Aztec-like ritual in which offerings such as incense and animals were set alight in an incense burner, but Spanish elements including buttons and a bit of glass also were present."

This mix of goods and especially practices suggests a number of possibilities, though speculating further based on the limited information here is not the best course of action.

Update: More details (in Spanish)

Chocolate spread from Ancient Mesoamerica into the US Southwest

Testing of Chaco cylinder vessels shows chocolate consumption, another important Mesoamerican domesticate and social practice to filter at some point into the Southwest.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/04/us/04cocoa.html?_r=1&em

The Anikythera Device - Replicated

The Antikythera Device, discovered over a century ago in the wreckage of a Greek ship that sank around 150 BC, has long fascinated scholars and other interested parties alike. You probably know it to look like this, it's geared mechanisms leading to it being called the world's oldest computer.




But since its likely use as an astronomical calculator was discovered two years ago, it has since been replicated with a working model. Michael Wright, curator at the Imperial College London, built and demonstrates the replica below

Roman Battle in Germany Not When or Where it is Supposed to Be

The Roman colonization, conflict, and co-existence with northern European people is a topic that interested me as a young student, and after using Peter Wells' [i]The Barbarians Speak[/i] in my graduate seminar on hybrid material culture, has come to interest me again.

So it is timely that a recent discovery suggests the history of that interaction is still open to change. Archaeologists have uncovered a third-century A.D. battlefield, involving what appear to have been well-equipped Roman soldiers, in Germany long after they had been thought to have drawn back to defensive lines farther south.

Jeb Card CV

Jeb Card CV Keeping my CV here for future reference

Jeb J. Card

Research Interests

Historical archaeology in Mesoamerica (before and after the Spanish conquest); Archaeology of the conquest of the Americas; Ceramic analysis; Colonial ethnogenesis; Material culture hybridization; Archaeology of invasion and empire; Indigenous conquistadores in the Spanish Conquest; Classic Maya political history and organization


Education

University of Pittsburgh, 1991-1994
Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology (Summa cum laude); Minors in Spanish and Classics

Tulane University 1994-2007
Masters of Arts in Anthropology – 1995
PhD in Anthropology – May 2007
PhD Dissertation: The Ceramics of Colonial Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador: Culture Contact and Social Change in Mesoamerica.


Teaching Experience
All classes taught as sole instructor

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

Anthropology 513 Hybrid Material Culture and the Origins of Style (Fall 2008). Description: Graduate seminar in methods and theory for investigating and understanding hybridity in archaeological evidence.


Tulane University

Anthropology 102 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Tulane University School of Liberal Arts (Fall 2006) and Tulane University College (Spring 2001). Description: Overview of culture and anthropological tools.

Anthropology 201 Man Before History (World Prehistory). Tulane University Liberal Arts and Sciences (Fall 2001, Spring 2002, Fall 2004) and Tulane University Summer School (Summer 2002). Description: Global archaeology and prehistory from Homo erectus to the Spanish Conquest of the Americas.

Anthropology 291 Monster Hunters, Ufologists, and Vampire Slayers: Alternative Methods of Knowledge Production. Tulane University School of Continuing Studies (Summer 2007). Description: Examination of modern and historical subcultures defined by belief in the paranormal.

Anthropology 301 Hunters and Gatherers. Tulane University Liberal Arts and Sciences (Spring 1998). Description: Ethnography-based overview of foraging societies and strategies.

Anthropology 309 Ancient Cities and States. Tulane University Summer School (Summer 1996). Description: Archaeology of four state-level and urban societies: Pharonic Egypt, Sumer, Teotihuacán, and the Classic Maya.

Anthropology 334 Introduction to Archaeology, Tulane University School of Liberal Arts (Spring 2007). Description: Methods and theory of archaeology, utilizing case studies and primary data.


Seminars as Part of a Course or Series

February 2002: Adult Seminar on Precolumbian Art in Mesoamerica, New Orleans Museum of Art. In conjunction with the traveling exhibit, The Sport of Life and Death: The Mesoamerican Ballgame.

September 1993: Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh. Lecture and seminars on Maya hieroglyphic writing, under the direction of Jeremy Sabloff.


Field and Lab Experience

Archaeological Research

Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador – Project Ceramicist and Assistant Archaeologist (1999 – 2004)
Assistant archaeologist and project ceramicist in excavation and analysis at Spanish contact period site of Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador. Project directed by Dr. William Fowler (Vanderbilt University).
· Two seasons of field excavation, directing field crew of 2 – 4 excavators in household excavations
· Creation and management of ceramic laboratory in San Salvador
· Twenty months of ceramic laboratory analysis.
· Taught (in Spanish) archaeological laboratory methods and ceramic analysis to undergraduate archaeology students, Universidad Tecnologica de El Salvador. In collaboration with Dr. Frederick Lange and Dr. William Fowler

San Andrés, El Salvador – Assistant Archaeologist (January – June 1997)
Assistant archaeologist in excavations of large-scale Classic Maya architecture at San Andrés, El Salvador. Directed field crew of 4 – 16 excavators in excavation of masonry platform, adobe brick pyramid, and possible ritual deposit. Project directed by Christopher Begley (University of Chicago).

Ek Balam, México – Student (June 1995)
Housemound test excavations at Ek Balam, Yucatan, México. Project directed by Dr. George Bey (Millsaps College), Dr. William Ringle (Davidson College), and Craig Hanson (Tulane University).

Thomas-Lucky Site, New York - Volunteer (June – July 1994)
Volunteer excavation for Binghamton University field school at Thomas-Lucky site, near Elmira, NY. Test-pitting and soil-scraping. Project directed by Timothy Knapp (Binghamton University).

Carman Site, New York - Student (June – July 1993)
University of Pittsburgh Archaeological Field School. Excavation at protohistoric Carman Site, Mecklenburg, NY. Project directed by Dr. Kathleen Allen (University of Pittsburgh).


Cultural Resource Management

Public Archaeology Facility (Binghamton University) – Senior Field Technician
(July – December 2007, April – July 2008): Three months of Phase I, two months of Phase II, and two months of Phase III

Earth Search, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana – Field Technician (July 2006, July 1998)
Field Technician (Phase I)

Public Archaeology Facility (Binghamton University) – Field Technician (July – August 1994)
Field Technician (Phase I & II)


Other Experience

Center for Archaeology (Tulane University) – Assistant to the Director (2005 – 2006, 1999 – 2000)
Assistant to the Director (Dr. Robert Hill: August 2005 – May 2006; Dr. T. R. Kidder September 1999 – May 2000). Management of research center and computer lab, management of archaeological and image collections, supervising and coordinating graduate research assistants and undergraduate workstudy students.

Torre Design Consortium – Maya Hieroglyphic Translator (2003)
Translation from English to Classic Maya hieroglyphs for the Torre Design Consortium. Monument to be placed in the Tropics of the Americas exhibit, West Palm Beach Zoo, West Palm Beach, Florida.


Publications

Card, Jeb J.
2006 Excavaciones y arquitectura de la Estructura 6F4. In W. R. Fowler, Jr. (ed.) Arqueología Histórica de la Villa de San Salvador, El Salvador: Informe de las Excavaciones (1996-2003), pp. 84 – 92. Historical Archeology in Latin America, No. 17, series edited by Stanley South. The South Carolina Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina. Columbia, S.C.

2002 Excavaciones y arquitectura de la Estructura 6F4. In W.R. Fowler & R. Gallardo (eds.)
Investigaciones arqueológicas en Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador: La primigenia villa de San Salvador. CONCULTURA & Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional, San Salvador

1996 Classic Mayan Dynastic Records in Light of Paleodemography. Human Mosaic 29:31-44



Presented Papers

Card, Jeb J.
2008a Ethnogenesis in Colonial San Salvador: Ceramic Evidence from Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador. Presented at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

2008b Archaeology and the Spanish Conquest of Mesoamerica: Invasion and Ethnogenesis in Early San Salvador, El Salvador. Presented as part of the Binghamton University Anthropology Department Brown Bag Series, Vestal, New York.

2008c The Indigenous Population of Early Sixteenth-Century San Salvador, El Salvador: Archaeological Ceramic Evidence. Presented at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association.

2006 Evaluating Ceramic Evidence of the European Invasion of Mesoamerica. Presented at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

2005a Cultural Innovation During the Invasion and Conquest of Mesoamerica: Hybrid Ceramic Tablewares from Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador. Presented at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

2005b Setting a Table at the End of the World: A Preliminary Report of Ceramic Analysis from Colonial Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador. Presented as part of the Tulane University Anthropology Colloquium Series, Middle American Research Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana.

2005c The Ceramics of Colonial Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador. Presented as part of the Binghamton University Anthropology Department Brown Bag Series, Vestal, New York.

2004 La ceramica de Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador: Una guia preliminar. Presented at the Museo
Nacional de Antropología "David J. Guzman", San Salvador, El Salvador, June 30, 2004

2003 The Ceramics of Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador: The Economics of a Conquest Period Settlement. Presented at the 68th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

2002 Early Colonial Society and the Use of Ceramic Vessels at Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador. Presented at the 100th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association.

2001 Investigation of Structure 6F4 at Colonial Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador. Presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This presentation is available at http://studentweb.tulane.edu/~jcard/saa/saa1.html

1999 After the Fall: The End of the Classic at San Andrés, El Salvador. Presented as part of the Tulane University Anthropology Colloquium Series, Middle American Research Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Card, Jeb J. and Christopher T. Begley
1998 The Classic-Postclassic Transition at San Andrés, El Salvador: A Re-examination. Presented at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Fowler, William R., Jr. and Jeb J. Card
2007 An Early Sixteenth-Century Tavern at Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador. Presented at the 40th Annual Chacmool Conference – Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: the Archaeology of Foodways. University of Calgary.

2005 Presencia nahua y cambio cultural en la primera villa de San Salvador: Evidencias arqueológicas de Ciudad Vieja. Presented at the I Congreso centroamericano de arqueologia en El Salvador: Cultura nahua en centroamerica. Museo nacional de antropologia “David J. Guzman,” San Salvador, El Salvador


Other Presentations

February 1 - 15, 2008 – Photos and information provided for museum exhibition “La vida cotidiana de la antigua villa de San Salvador, a través de la cerámica,” Alcaldía Municipal de San Salvador, San Salvador, El Salvador. Exhibit sponsored by La Alcaldía de San Salvador and PROMOCULTURA, directed by Arqlg. Liuba Moran and Arqlg. Miriam Mendez

October 8 – 13, 2007 – Photos and information provided for museum exhibition “La vida cotidiana de la antigua villa de San Salvador, a través de la cerámica,” Teatro Roque Dalton, San Salvador, El Salvador. Exhibit sponsored by PROMOCULTURA, directed by Arqlg. Liuba Moran and Arqlg. Miriam Mendez


Unpublished Reports

Begley, Christopher and Jeb J. Card
1997 Chapter 2: Excavation and Restoration on Structure 5, the Campana. Part of San Andres Archaeological Project report to CONCULTURA.

Card, Jeb J.
1997 Chapter 3: Excavations on Mound B. Part of San Andres Archaeological Project report to CONCULTURA.

Fowler, William R., Jr. (with contributions by Jeb J. Card)
2005 The End of Pre-Columbian Pipil Civilization, Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador. Final report to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. http://www.famsi.org/reports/02091/index.html


Other Research

Bricker, Harvey M., Jeb J. Card, and Katrina Kubicek, Compilers
“Selected Bibliographical References on Mesoamerican Archaeoastronomy”
http://www.Tulane.EDU/~anthro/other/archastro.html (site no longer available)


Honors and Awards

· Graduate Studies Student Association and Graduate and Professional Student Association Travel Grants, Tulane University – 2005 ($600)
· Graduate Fellowship for Dissertation Writing, Tulane University - 2005 ($7400)
· Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, Research Grants - 2004 ($1360); 2000 ($1156); 1999 ($874)
· National Science Foundation Archaeology Program, Dissertation Improvement Grant #0331533 “The Ceramics of Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador: Culture Contact and Social Adaptation in Mesoamerica,” by E. Wyllys Andrews and Jeb J. Card – 2003 ($12,000)
· Graduate Student Support Fund Travel Grant, Anthropology Department, Tulane University – 1997 ($600)
· Mellon Grant, Stone Center for Latin American Studies, Tulane University – 1995 ($600)
· Graduate Fellowship and Research Assistantship, Tulane University – 1994 – 1997 ($10,000/year, $30,000 total)
· Lambda Alpha (Anthropology Honorary) – 1993
· Undergraduate Teaching Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh – 1993 ($700)
· University Scholarship, University of Pittsburgh – 1991 – 1994 ($4000/year, $12,000 total)


Professional Service

· Organizer of the Center for Archaeology’s Visiting Scholar Conference 2009 Hybrid Material Culture: The Archaeology of Syncretism and Ethnogenesis, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, March 28 & 29, 2009
· Session Co-Organizer (with Conard Hamilton), The Archaeology of Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador, 68th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 11, 2003
· Aided in distribution of books donated to Tulane University Anthropology students and faculty severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina, 2006
· Information coordinator, Tulane Anthropology Student Association, 1995 – 1996

Languages

Spanish
Experience reading and writing Classic Maya hieroglyphs

Xibalba Update: INAH Article

INAH, Mexico's National Institute for Anthropology and History, has released an English-language short release on the cave complex discussed in my previous post. It's a lot more interesting than I thought, with not just one building within the caves, but several.

Particularly interesting is the presence of a sacbe. These white limestone raised roads radiate out between and within Maya settlements, and are particularly well-documented in western Yucatan. Roads are an important aspect of Maya thought, similar to the idea of one's path or journey having a lot more significance than literally where one will travel. The equivalent in Yukatek to "How's it going?" is "How's your road?," which come to think of it is a fairly similar sentiment. When one gets married, it is said "their road came to an end." While this is humorously close to the English colloquialism "End of the road, pal," it would be better understood as meaning that the married people began a new road together as a pair.

There has long been debate on whether the roads were primarily for ritual pilgrimages and processions, for transportation of goods and people, to demonstrate political allegiance, or some combination. The discovery of one inside a heavily sacralized cave complex will likely give some heft to arguments for ritual.

Subterranean Maya Temple Complex Suggested as Road to Xibalba

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN1442474520080815?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

The image of the building constructed within the cavern is impressive. The article doesn't mention where specifically this is, other than in Mexico and the Yucatan peninsula. Apparently it dates to the Classic.

The Dowser and the Legendary Gypsies

From my soon to be local paper, a story that suggests psychic or dowsing techniques can be used to do the work of bioarchaeology.

The Mayor of Sesser, Illinois has asked a local dowser to investigate folklore concerning a Gypsy mass grave. Not only does the dowser suggests she can use some mix of energy (related to her Christian beliefs concerning souls) and DNA to detect graves, but also to determine age and sex.

While excavations won't be based on the "findings" of the psychic investigation, a historical plaque may be placed there based on further historical research prompted by the dowsing.

In my reading on pseudo and alt-archaeology, a big deal has always been made of psychic archaeology. Something I had never really heard of in new reports or personal experience (in contrast with other pseudo topics like ancient astronauts or Phoenicians in Utah). But I guess now I have, and I am amazed at it, and the relatively straightforward media coverage of it.