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The expedition led by Francisco Vázquez de Coronado from west-central Mexico into the American Southwest from 1540 to 1542 had a profound and lasting impact on everybody involved. The exploration sought an overland route to Asia and to establish trade relations. The enterprise was also the first major contact between foreigners/others and Indigenous peoples of northern Mexico and the American Southwest. Research at Piedras Marcadas Pueblo, an ancestral village of the Southern Tiwa in central New Mexico, has material evidence and artifact patterns reflecting the cultural groups on the exploration and those with whom the expeditionaries ultimately fought. Geophysics surveys and metal detection have found evidence of a major battlesite at the pueblo. Specific artifact types, such as European metal items, slingstones hurled by their Mexican allies, and piles of rocks thrown back by Pueblo defenders all attest to the conflict and the hard-fought Tiwa resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into the archeology of the battlefields of the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) began just a few years ago in Peru. In this sense, it is necessary to evaluate and implement a series of methodological procedures focusing on the postulates of the archeology of the conflict and bearing in mind that many of these sites have a monument adjacent to the war event. Therefore, this article analyzes and describes the work system both in the field and in the laboratory, based on the experiences of the excavations of the Alto de la Alianza battlefield (Tacna-1880), the Olaya Mártir Battery (Chorrillos - 1881), and the prospecting of other scenarios, taking into consideration that each battlefield is unique, and presents its peculiarities. Therefore, the research approach for the battlefields of this war must start from theoretical premises, the examination of material culture in the context of the war context, the appreciation of military strategy and tactics from the cultural landscape, the series of postbattle processes, the transformation of the landscape of the conflict, the role of historical memory, commemoration, and historical documentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we report the results of the osteological analysis of a Peruvian officer who died in the Alto de la Alianza battle (May 26th, 1880, Tacna, Peru). The biological profile and the nature of their lesions were addressed by using standardized osteological methods. The results indicate that he was a male, between 27 and 37 years old, with a mean stature of 1.64 m (with a possible range between 1.58 and 1.72 m), with some morphoscopic craniofacial traits that suggest probable European ancestry. His lesions show that he was seriously wounded by at least two firearm projectiles, and then, executed by enemy troops with another gunshot. The results presented herein are a general example of the combat practices of the late 19th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]