Primates are mammals with high cultural significance in ancient societies. The objective of this research is to explore the material culture and biological remains of primates found in Teotihuacan, one of the largest pre-Hispanic urban areas of Mexico. Remains of Mesoamerican spider monkeys (Ateles cf. A. geoffroyi) were found in the Pyramid of the Moon, Xalla, and the Plaza of the Columns. Portable material culture that resembles primates was recovered elsewhere within Teotihuacan, but mostly in Tetitla and La Ventilla. Murals with representations of monkeys were found at these last two Teotihuacan sites. Possibly, primates reached Teotihuacan because of relationships with peoples from more distant lands such as the Mayan region as well as the Oaxacan province ruled by Monte Albán. The rise of the presence of primates in Teotihuacan occurred during the Classic period (~200–550 CE); however, it is relatively scarce considering the large size of the city and the long period of time in which Teotihuacan had been researched. Nevertheless, the existence of monkeys in Teotihuacan, either as exotic animals or as portable objects, does also seem to indicate that they were disseminated within different parts of the city. Thus, living primates and their representations circulated with their symbolic value in Teotihuacan, particularly among members of the ruling elite, and likely among members of other neighboring Mesoamerican societies.

After a rapid survey of the contents of the Baboon Catacomb at Saqqara in Egypt, most of the remains of an estimated 180 monkey individuals (the surviving 40%) were temporarily removed for further study. The predominant species is Papio anubis, but 21 Macaca sylvanus and 2 Chlorocebus aethiops were present. Late Dynastic Egyptians employed a unique method of encasing linen-wrapped baboon mummies in plaster at the catacomb, but most of the monkey corpses were probably macerated before interment. Most of the skulls show symptoms of dietary deficiency or sunlight deprivation; some show signs of violence. The disproportionate male representation indicates that little breeding occurred. Males were probably preferred because of human reverence for the characteristic sitting posture, often with penis erect, that monkeys adopt when advertising land occupancy. Humans once displayed in a similar manner, later using effigies as stand-ins, but as civilization developed, this territorial behavior was suppressed.

This chapter emphasizes understanding and appreciation of “woody plants” – trees, shrubs, subshrubs, and more – as biological organisms, environmental lifeforms. The central point being that such an understanding bears directly on any interpretation of archaeological wood. The details provided concerning the basic morphological features and gross anatomical characteristics of woody plants serve in part also as a prelude to more in-depth discussion of wood structural and anatomical traits and variation in later chapters. Woody plants grow, rest, mature, age, flower, bear fruit, interact with neighbors, react to environmental circumstances, and respond to signals from a host of external influences. Wood, technically secondary xylem, serves major roles as part of an integrated, dynamic system of tissues that together are integral to plant physiology, health, and longevity. Trees express juvenile, mature, and senescent stages of wood development; “reaction” wood forms mainly in response to gravitational forces and is useful to distinguish branch from stem wood. The details of growth rings and other anatomical traits provide insights into important life-history events and long-term growth circumstances affecting trees. These details in turn may serve as proxy evidence of past forest structure and the bioclimatic conditions to which once living trees responded, with relevance also to human well-being and culture. Archaeological wood is thus a richly textured source of information about the past, relating the lives of ancient trees, potentially also including human influences.

This chapter outlines the main steps in the process of archaeological wood analysis for taxonomic assessment. Preparation of specimens and sampling for anatomical characterization, followed by microscopy and anatomical data collection, then the identification process leading to a taxonomic assignment. Difficulties and problems unique to working with wood in fragmentary, degraded, and/or distorted conditions are examined, including how to deal with these and a variety of related issues. Several new frontiers in wood identification and analysis such as automated systems, DNA methods, high-resolution microscopy, and more are also described. The overall aim is to provide readers and students of the subject with an improved understanding of the potential along with the limitations involved in assigning woods taxonomically, both modern and ancient. A thorough comprehension of wood anatomy and its relationship to biological systematics and taxonomy is essential, necessary both to accuracy of assignment and to valid reporting. This in turn ensures that archaeological results are suitable for incorporation into broader archaeological and paleoecological frameworks, thus made more accessible and widely relevant across historical and scientific disciplines.

This chapter begins by overviewing the history of discoveries and related circumstances involving archaeological wood, with emphasis on developments since the mid-18th-century emergence of archaeology as a scientific discipline. The prominent role of environmental contexts that afford exceptional organic preservation is explicit, with material from perpetually moist, or conversely, quite arid settings having been dominant themes from the beginning. The relevance and variety of archaeological contexts, site formation processes, and the dominant forms of wood preservation (carbonized, waterlogged, desiccated, mineralized), as well as the different classes or categories of wooden remains and objects that may be found archaeologically are explained in detail. Choices, procedures, and issues related to excavation, field sampling, field recovery, and immediate handling of archaeological wood are also described.

This chapter details and explains wood anatomy, including the fundamental distinctions between hardwoods, or flowering plants, and softwoods, mainly the conifers. The principal cell types and defining characteristics of secondary xylem are described, with emphasis on the details and traits most relevant to wood identification and work with archaeological wood. The second half of the chapter reviews well-documented variability in anatomical expression that may result from a wide range of internal and external stimuli, including delving further into functional and ecological variation (i.e., juvenile wood, reaction wood, such as were initially described in Chapter 3). The deliberate and secondary effects of human activities influencing wood development and woodland resources generally are also examined.