In Search of an Ancient Maya Market

@article{Dahlin2007InSO,
  title={In Search of an Ancient Maya Market},
  author={Bruce H. Dahlin and Christopher T. Jensen and Richard E. Terry and David R. Wright and Timothy P. Beach},
  journal={Latin American Antiquity},
  year={2007},
  volume={18},
  pages={363 - 384}
}
Market economies are notoriously difficult to identify in the archeological record. This is particularly true in the subtropical Maya lowlands of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize because most utilitarian items and consumables were made of highly perishable materials. We explore the hypothesis that ancient marketplaces can be identified through analysis of chemical residues in soils from open and easily accessible spaces in and about ancient Maya cities. We compared soil chemical signatures from a… 
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