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The Sotuta pottery complex has been used in the archaeology of the northern Maya lowlands to identify the Terminal Classic period and cultural association with Chichen Itza. The Sotuta complex, however, is made up of many pottery types, the majority of which are inappropriate markers of elite sociopolitical history. It is argued here that Sotuta-complex slate wares developed out of previous local slate wares regardless of the elite sociopolitical changes taking place with the arrival of the Itza. The wares produced and distributed by commoners were independent of elites and have been artificially chained to questions of elite political expansion for which they are inappropriate correlates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Upper Neoproterozoic successions in the North China and nearby Chaidam blocks are poorly documented. North China successions typically consist of a diamictite unit overlain by siltstone, sandstone, or slate. Similar successions occur in Chaidam, although a cap carbonate lies atop the diamictite Unit. The diamictites in both blocks have been variously interpreted as Cryogenian, Ediacaran, or Cambrian glacial deposits. In this paper, we describe problematic macrofossils collected from slate of the upper Zhengmuguan Formation in North China and sandstone of the Zhoujieshan Formation in Chaidam; both fossiliferous formations conformably overlie the aforementioned diamictites. Some of these fossils were previously interpreted as animal traces. Our study recognizes four genera and five species—Helanoichnus helanensis Yang in Yang and Zheng, 1985, Palaeopascichnus minimus n. sp., Palaeopascichnus Ineniscafus n. sp., Horodyskia moniliformis? Yochelson and Fedonkin, 2000, and Shaanxilithes cf. ningqiangensis Xing et al., 1984. None of these taxa can be interpreted as animal traces. Instead, they are problematic body fossils of unresolved phylogenetic affinities. The fundamental bodyplan similarity between Horodyskia and Palaeopascichnus, both with serially repeated elements, indicates a possible phylogenetic relationship. Thus, at least some Ediacaran organisms may have a deep root because Horodyskia also occurs in Mesoproterozoic successions. Among the four genera reported here, Palaeopascichnus Palij, 1976 and Shaanxilithes Xing et al., 1984 have been known elsewhere in upper Ediacaran successions, including the Dengying Formation (551–542 Ma) in South China. If these two genera have biostratigraphic significance, the fossiliferous units in North China and Chaidam may be upper Ediacaran as well. Thus, the underlying diamictites in North China and Chaidam cannot be of Cambrian age, although their correlation with Ediacaran and Cryogenian glaciations remains unclear. As no other Neoproterozoic diamictite intervals are known in North China and Chaidam, perhaps only one Neoproterozoic glaciation is recorded in that area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 84 two-liter soil samples from Proyecto Arqueológico Tlajinga Teotihuacan (PATT) sites 17:S3E1, 18:S3E1, and the Street of the Dead excavations were fine-screened through 1-mm mesh and were sorted to retrieve tiny artifacts. The raw lapidary stone and marine shell material was then analyzed to assess the presence and intensity of artifact production. These data were also compared with the lapidary material of nearby 33:S3W1. A robust multicraft lapidary production was revealed. Sequins and stemmed trapezoid pendants were manufactured from slate, greenstone, marine shell, and mica, with slate being the predominant raw material being worked. A reduction sequence for slate sequins was developed based on the various shapes of slate materials that indicated the stages of production. Importantly, this lapidary craft production was not recognized from surface collections prior to excavation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anterior end of a lower jaw bearing long slender teeth, from the Bathonian Stonesfield Slate of Oxfordshire, was hitherto referred to the crocodilian Teleosaurus. It is reinterpreted as belonging to a ctenochasmatid pterosaur reminiscent of Gnathosaurus. It is the earliest known representative of the Ctenochasmatidae, and one of the earliest known pterodactyloids. The diversity of pterosaurs from the Stonesfield Slate is higher than previously recognized, comprising at least three taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction The ancient Maya built and maintained their numerous population centres with large-scale masonry architecture and intensive agriculture, using a technology limited to stone tools. They created masterpieces in cut [...]