This volume describes and illustrates the ceramic figurines excavated at the Maya site of Tikal, Guatemala, from 1956 through 1969. The collection includes both hand modeled and mold-made figures, human and animal, as well as related ceramic objects including figurine molds, flutes, and panpipes. The figurines are classified by subject matter, and the site distribution and dating discussed. These figurines are the largest excavated collection of ceramic figurines from a Maya site, and one of the major artifact categories from the site of Tikal. Most of the classifiable pieces are illustrated at a scale that allows comparison with similar objects from other Maya sites. The purpose of this volume is the presentation of the material from the site of Tikal; comparative material is limited.

The two volumes of the central Tikal ceramic reports (Tikal Reports 25A and 25B) present the information gathered from the analysis of all ceramics recovered by the University of Pennsylvania research project at Tikal between 1956 and 1970. Tikal Report 25A (Culbert 1993) contains illustrations and brief descriptive captions for all whole vessels recovered from burials, caches, and problematical deposits. Because Tikal Report 25A illustrates the often-spectacular decorated vessels from major burials, it is of the most general interest for comparative purposes. This volume, Tikal Report 25B, presents the Tikal sequence of nine ceramic complexes (the analysis of the small sample of Postclassic Caban ceramics was not completed), describes the ceramics from each complex, presents the data for all counted lots, and illustrates the material from sherd collections. It is a specialist volume, primarily of interest to those actively involved in research with Maya ceramics. The material is complemented by data in the Tikal Reports devoted to excavations and by the analysis of nonceramic artifactual material in Tikal Reports 27A and 27B (Moholy-Nagy and Coe 2008; Moholy-Nagy 2003).

The pre-Columbian city we call Tikal was abandoned by its Maya residents during the tenth century A.D. and succumbed to the Guatemalan rain forest. It was not until 1848 that it was brought to the attention of the outside world. For the next century Tikal, remote and isolated, received a surprisingly large number of visitors. Public officials, explorers, academics, military personnel, settlers, petroleum engineers, chicle gatherers, and archaeologists came and went, sometimes leaving behind material traces of their visits. A short-lived hamlet was established among the ancient ruins in the late 1870s. In 1956 the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology initiated its fourteen-year-long Tikal Project. This report chronicles documented visits to Tikal during the century following its modern discovery, and presents the post-Conquest material culture recovered by the Tikal Project in the course of its investigation of the pre-Columbian city. Further research on the nineteenth-century settlement was carried out in 1998 in its southern part by the Lacandon Archaeological Project (LAP) under the direction of Joel W. Palka of the University of Illinois at Chicago. The material culture recovered by the LAP supplements the Tikal Project collection and is referenced here. Historical Archaeology at Tikal, Guatemala is intended as a contribution to nineteenth and early twentieth century Lowland Mesoamerican research. It is rounded out with several appendices that will be of interest to historians and historical archaeologists. The printed volume includes many black and white photographs and drawings. A gallery of color photographs, several from Palka's 1998 excavations, is included on the accompanying CD.

Tikal Report 27 presents artifacts and associated unworked materials recovered by the University of Pennsylvania Museum's Tikal Project of 1956-1969.

The sixteen-volume Handbook of Middle American Indians, completed in 1976, has been acclaimed the world over as the most valuable resource ever produced for those involved in the study of Mesoamerica. When it was determined in 1978 that the Handbook should be updated periodically, Victoria Reifler Bricker, well-known cultural anthropologist, was selected to be series editor. This first volume of the Supplement is devoted to the dramatic changes that have taken place in the field of archaeology. The volume editor, Jeremy A. Sabloff, has gathered together detailed reports from the directors of many of the most significant archaeological projects of the mid-twentieth century in Mesoamerica, along with discussions of three topics of general interest (the rise of sedentary life, the evolution of complex culture, and the rise of cities).

This monograph contains the illustrations and descriptions of ceramics from special deposits (the burials, caches, and problematical deposits) from the central area of Tikal. These include the best-preserved whole vessels and elaborate polychrome painted and stuccoed cylinders, urns, and tripod vessels with appliquéd and painted ornament, and figural representations. Glyphs painted on some of these ceramics provide insights into the potentially royal lineage of the individuals. The ceramic sequence includes ten complexes dating between 800 B.C. (Middle Preclassic) and ca. A.D. 1200 (Postclassic). University Museum Monograph, 81

"This volume describes and illustrates the ceramic figurines excavated at the Maya site of Tikal, Guatemala, from 1956 through 1970. These figurines are the largest excavated collection of ceramic figurines from a Maya site, and one of the major artifact categories from the site of Tikal. The collection includes both hand modeled and mold-made figures, human and animal, as well as related ceramic objects including figurine molds, flutes, and panpipes. The figurines are classified by subject matter, and their relation to distribution and dating within the site is discussed. Most of the classifiable pieces are illustrated at a scale that allows comparison with similar objects from other Maya sites. The purpose of this volume is the presentation of the material from the site of Tikal; comparative material is limited"--

This volume offers a full review of the work of the Tikal Project of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Topics include initial motivations and theoretical concerns, procedures and standards used in excavation, a complete inventory of all excavations undertaken, a list of anticipated publications, and a Project bibliography.

Excavations in Residential Areas of Tikal—Nonelite Groups Without Shrines is a two-volume presentation of the excavations carried out in and near small residential structures at Tikal, Guatemala, beginning in 1961. These reports show that Tikal was more than a ceremonial center; in addition to its numerous temples, the great Maya city was home to a large population of people. These volumes look at the residential structures themselves as well as domestic artifacts such as burials, ceramic test pits, chultuns. Tikal Report 20A is a descriptive presentation of the excavation data and includes nearly two hundred illustrations. Together with Tikal Report 20B, which reviews and interprets this data, this report augments the data presented in Tikal Reports 19 and 21.

Pre-Mamom Pottery Variation and the Preclassic Origins of the Lowland Maya summarizes archaeological researchers’ current views on the adoption and first use of pottery across the Maya lowlands. Covering the early Middle Preclassic period, when communities began using and producing pottery for the first time (roughly 1000–600 BC), through to the establishment of a recognizably Maya tradition, termed the Mamom ceramic sphere (about 600–300 BC), the book demonstrates that the adoption was broadly contemporary, with variation in how the new technology was adapted locally. Analyzing ceramics found at sites in Belize, Petén (Guatemala), and Mexico, the contributors provide evidence that the pre-Mamom expansion of pottery resulted from increased dependence on maize agriculture, exploitation of limestone caprock, and greater reliance on a preexisting system of long-distance exchange. The chapters describe the individual experiences of new potting communities at various sites across the region. They are supplemented by appendixes presenting key chronological data as well as the principal types and varieties of pre-Mamom ceramic complexes across the various spheres: Xe, Eb, Swasey, Cunil, and Ek. A significant amount of new material has been excavated in the last decade, changing what is known about the early Middle Preclassic period and making Pre-Mamom Pottery Variation and the Preclassic Origins of the Lowland Maya a first read of the early ceramic prehistory of the Maya lowlands. It will be a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in the archaeology of the Maya lowlands, Mesoamerican social complexity, and ceramic technology. Contributors: E. Wyllys Andrews V, Jaime Awe, George J. Bey III, Ronald L. Bishop, Michael G. Callaghan, Ryan H. Collins, Kaitlin Crow, Sara Dzul Góngora, Jerald Ek, Tomás Gallareta Negrón, Bernard Hermes, Takeshi Inomata, Betsy M. Kohut, Laura J. Kosakowsky, Wieslaw Koszkul, Jon Lohse, Michael Love, Nina Neivens, Terry Powis, Duncan C. Pring, Kathryn Reese-Taylor, Prudence M. Rice, Robert M. Rosenswig, Kerry L. Sagebiel, Donald A. Slater, Katherine E. South, Lauren A. Sullivan, Travis Stanton, Juan Luis Velásquez Muñoz, Debra S. Walker, Michal Wasilewski, Jaroslaw Źrałka