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Author ORCID Identifiers
Rani Alexander: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6762-035X
Description
With the permission of the Consejo de Arqueología, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, and under the authority of the Centro INAH Campeche intensive archaeological survey, instrument mapping, and test excavations were carried out at Isla Cilvituk, Campeche, Mexico, from 1994 to 1996. Isla Cilvituk is a large aggregated site, 50 hectares in size, located on an island in Laguna Silvituc and situated in a lacustrine zone that runs to the south from Lake Mocu, Campeche, to the Peten Lakes, Guatemala.
We completed a 100 percent full-coverage survey of the entire island and mapped an area of 60 hectares. Over 300 structures and features were recorded, and a systematic unaligned random sample of 280 test pits, 50x50 cm in size, was excavated. Four larger test excavations, 2x2m in size, were also placed in contexts that yielded stratigraphic and chronological information. All earth was screened through a 6mm mesh. Recovered material included ceramics, chert, obsidian, freshwater and marine shell, zooarchaeological remains, and metal.
All physical artifact collections with the exception of the zooarchaeological assemblage, were curated at the Centro INAH Campeche. The zooarchaeological remains were loaned to the PI's laboratory in New Mexico State University for detailed study with the permission of the Consejo de Arqueologia, INAH. A subset of avian and fish remains was sent to the Florida Museum of Natural History for specialized zooarchaeological analyses.
Results of the investigation and analysis have been published as peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, technical reports, New Mexico State University Master's theses and research reports, and as presentations and posters at professional archaeological conferences in Mexico and the US.
This dataset provides additional documentation for the final technical report.
Document Type
Dataset
Publication Date
2025
Publisher
New Mexico State University
Keywords
Archaeology, Mexico, History and archaeology, Campeche, Chert, Isla Cilvituk, Lowland Maya
Disciplines
Anthropology | Archaeological Anthropology
Department / Organizational Unit
Department of Anthropology
Funder
National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, H. John Heinz III Charitable Trust 1994
Grant / Award Number
SBR-9408326, 5493-95
Recommended Citation
Alexander, Rani T. and Burleson, Richard L., "Archaeological Inventories of Chert and Obsidian Artifacts, Isla Cilvituk, Campeche, Mexico" (2025). Anthropology: Datasets. 1.
https://digitalcommons.nmsu.edu/anthropology-data/1
Comments
Related Master's Thesis by Richard L. Burleson: Lithic Analysis of the Postclassic Maya Site, Isla Cilvituk: Utilizing Microwear and Experimental Approaches to Evaluate Anthropological Problems at a Regional Scale.