Hasil untuk "Prehistoric archaeology"

Giuseppe Viterbo, Tobias Buck

Stellar streams offer one of the most sensitive probes of the Milky Way`s gravitational potential, as their phase-space morphology encodes both the tidal field of the host galaxy and the internal structure of their progenitors. In this work, we introduce a framework that leverages Flow Matching and Simulation-Based Inference (SBI) to jointly infer the parameters of the GD-1 progenitor and the global properties of the Milky Way potential. Our aim is to move beyond traditional techniques (e.g. orbit-fitting and action-angle methods) by constructing a fully Bayesian, likelihood-free posterior over both host-galaxy parameters and progenitor properties, thereby capturing the intrinsic coupling between tidal stripping dynamics and the underlying potential. To achieve this, we generate a large suite of mock GD-1-like streams using our differentiable N-body code \textsc{\texttt{Odisseo}}, sampling self-consistent initial conditions from a Plummer sphere and evolving them in a flexible Milky Way potential model. We then apply conditional Flow Matching to learn the vector field that transports a base Gaussian distribution into the posterior, enabling efficient, amortized inference directly from stream phase-space data. We demonstrate that our method successfully recovers the true parameters of a fiducial GD-1 simulation, producing well-calibrated posteriors and accurately reproducing parameter degeneracies arising from progenitor-host interactions. Flow Matching provides a powerful, flexible framework for Galactic Archaeology. Our approach enables joint inference on progenitor and Galactic parameters, capturing complex dependencies that are difficult to model with classical likelihood-based methods.

G. Catanzaro, A. Bhardwaj, V. Ripepi et al.

Context. While most chemical abundance studies of Cepheids rely on optical spectroscopy, near-infrared (NIR) observations offer advantages in terms of reduced extinction and access to new elemental tracers. Aims. We aim to validate NIR-based abundance determinations against optical results and to explore the diagnostic power of spectral lines inaccessible in the optical domain. The H and K bands allow us to trace elements such as P, K, and Yb, while also probing obscured Galactic regions and more distant Cepheids. Methods. We obtained high-resolution (R=45000) H- and K-band spectra for 21 Galactic and 2 LMC Classical Cepheids using IGRINS. Atmospheric parameters were derived from photometry and line-depth ratios (Teff), empirical calibrations (log g), and spectral fitting. Abundances of 16 elements were determined via LTE full spectral synthesis and compared with optical literature values. Results. We find excellent agreement between NIR and optical abundances, confirming the reliability of IGRINS-based measurements. The Fe, Mg, and Si gradients match previous optical determinations. We provide the first homogeneous NIR-based measurements of P, K, and Yb in Cepheids, consistent with chemical evolution models. The two LMC Cepheids in our sample, also studied optically, serve as extragalactic benchmarks for validating NIR abundances in low-metallicity regimes. Conclusions. High-resolution NIR spectroscopy yields accurate chemical abundances in Cepheids, consistent with optical results, and grants access to additional nucleosynthetic tracers. These results support future large NIR spectroscopic surveys with instruments such as MOONS, ELT, and JWST for Galactic and extragalactic archaeology.

Jia-Hui Wang, Maosheng Xiang, Meng Zhang et al.

Stellar age determination for large samples of stars opens new avenues for a broad range of astronomical sciences. While precise stellar ages for evolved stars have been derived from large ground- and space-based stellar surveys, reliable age determination for cool main-sequence dwarf stars remains a challenge. In this work, we set out to estimate the age of dwarf stars from the LAMOST spectra with a data-driven approach. We build a training set by using wide binaries that the primary component has reliable isochrone age estimate thus gives the age of the secondary. This training set is further supplemented with field stars and cluster stars whose ages are known. We then train a data-driven model for inferring age from their spectra with the XGBoost algorithm. Given a spectral signal-to-noise ratio greater than 50, the age estimation precise to 10% to 25% for K-type stars, as younger stars have larger relative errors. Validations suggest that the underlying information used for our age estimation is largely attributed to the LAMOST spectral features of chemical abundances. It means our result is a manifestation of stellar chemical clock effectively acted on LAMOST spectra ($R\simeq1800$). Applying our model to the LAMOST DR10 yields a massive age catalog for $\sim4$ million dwarf stars. Statistical properties, such as the age distribution, age-abundance and age-stellar activity relations of the sample stars are discussed. The catalog is publicly accessible and can be helpful for extensive sciences from detection and characterization of Earth-like planets to Galactic archaeology.

Peter Senchyna, Calum Hawcroft, Miriam Garcia et al.

A remarkable span of frontier astrophysics, from gravitational-wave archaeology to the origin of the elements to interpreting snapshots of the earliest galaxies, depends sensitively on our understanding of massive star formation and evolution in near-pristine, relatively enriched gas. From the surprisingly massive black holes detected by LIGO/Virgo to highly ionized nebulae with peculiar enrichment patterns observed in galaxies at Cosmic Dawn, evidence is mounting that our understanding of massive-star populations at very low metallicity remains critically incomplete. The fundamental limitation is the hand nature has dealt us: only a few star-forming galaxies within $\lesssim$1 Mpc can currently be resolved into individual stars, and none reach the extreme metallicities and star-formation intensities that characterized the early Universe. With an ultraviolet integral-field spectrograph aboard the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), this barrier will finally be broken. HWO will bring rare, actively star-forming, extremely metal-poor dwarf galaxies at $\sim$10-20 Mpc such as I Zw 18 within reach of resolved UV-optical spectroscopy, providing our first direct, statistical view of individual massive stars and the feedback they drive at $>$30 $M_\odot$ and $<$10% $Z_\odot$. This science is deeply synergistic with many next-generation facilities, yet requires the unique combination of spatial resolution and UV/optical sensitivity that only HWO can provide. The massive star science enabled by HWO within the Local Volume represents a transformational advance in our ability to probe the earliest stellar populations - those that seeded the Milky Way and other galaxies with the first heavy elements, and paved the way for life in the transparent, reionized Universe we inhabit today.

Felix Biermann, Christofer Herrmann, Arkadiusz Koperkiewicz

Na podstawie badań archeologicznych ustalono, że w średniowiecznym ośrodku Wartenberg (dziś Barczewko, gmina Barczewo) na Warmii przypuszczalnie istniał kościół ufundowany w latach 1325/1330 przez biskupa warmińskiego, zniszczony w 1354 r. podczas ataku Litwinów. Był to prosty, drewniany budynek, o konstrukcji szachulcowej. Znaleziono tylko negatywy drewnianej konstrukcji, zwęglone drewno, liczne żelazne elementy konstrukcyjne. Orientacja na linii wschód‒zachód i lokalizacja w centrum cmentarza świadczą, że sakralna funkcja tego obiektu jest wielce prawdopodobna. Położenie budowli na obrzeżach miasta i w pewnej odległości od rynku jest również typowe dla miast tego regionu. Byłby to pierwszy drewniany kościół z początkowej fazy zakładania średniowiecznego miasta na terenie państwa zakonu krzyżackiego w Prusach. Analizie jego reliktów i ich interpretacji poświęcony jest niniejszy artykuł. Rozważania te zaprezentowano na tle historii ośrodka i stanu jego rozpoznania archeologicznego oraz wniosków z dotychczasowych badań historycznych.

T. Matsuno, A. M. Amarsi, M. Carlos et al.

Magnesium is one of the important elements in stellar physics as an electron donor and in Galactic Archaeology as a discriminator of different stellar populations. However, previous studies of Mg I and Mg II lines in metal-poor benchmark stars have flagged problems with magnesium abundances inferred from one-dimensional (1D), hydrostatic models of stellar atmospheres, both with or without the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) approximation. We here present 3D non-LTE calculations for magnesium in FG-type dwarfs, and provide corrections for 1D LTE abundances. The 3D non-LTE corrections reduce the ionisation imbalances in the benchmark metal-poor stars HD84937 and HD140283 from $-0.16$ dex and $-0.27$ dex in 1D LTE, to just $-0.02$ dex and $-0.09$ dex respectively. We then applied our abundance corrections to 1D LTE literature results for stars in the thin disc, thick disc, $α$-rich halo, and $α$-poor halo. We find that the 3D non-LTE results show a richer substructure in [Mg/Fe]-[Fe/H] in the $α$-poor halo, revealing two subpopulations at the metal-rich end. These two subpopulations are also separated in kinematics, supporting the astrophysical origin of the separation. While the more magnesium-poor subpopulation is likely to be debris from a massive accreted galaxy, Gaia-Enceladus, the other subpopulation may be related to a previous identified group of stars, called Eos. The presence of additional separation in [Mg/Fe] suggests that previous Mg abundance measurements may have been limited in the precision by the 1D and LTE approximations, highlighting the importance of 3D non-LTE modelling.

Stephanie Monty, Vasily Belokurov, Jason L. Sanders et al.

We combine stellar orbits with the abundances of the heavy, $r$-process element europium and the light, $α$-element, silicon to separate in-situ and accreted populations in the Milky Way across all metallicities. At high orbital energy, the accretion-dominated halo shows elevated values of [Eu/Si], while at lower energies, where many of the stars were born in-situ, the levels of [Eu/Si] are lower. These systematically different levels of [Eu/Si] in the MW and the accreted halo imply that the scatter in [Eu/$α$] within a single galaxy is smaller than previously thought. At the lowest metallicities, we find that both accreted and in-situ populations trend down in [Eu/Si], consistent with enrichment via neutron star mergers. Through compiling a large dataset of abundances for 46 globular clusters (GCs), we show that differences in [Eu/Si] extend to populations of in-situ/accreted GCs. We interpret this consistency as evidence that in $r$-process elements, GCs trace the star formation history of their hosts, motivating their use as sub-Gyr timers of galactic evolution. Furthermore, fitting the trends in [Eu/Si] using a simple galactic chemical evolution model, we find that differences in [Eu/Si] between accreted and in-situ MW field stars cannot be explained through star formation efficiency alone. Finally, we show that the use of [Eu/Si] as a chemical tag between GCs and their host galaxies extends beyond the Local Group, to the halo of M31 - potentially offering the opportunity to do Galactic Archaeology in an external galaxy.

Haisu Guan, Jinpeng Wan, Yuliang Liu et al.

The earliest extant Chinese characters originate from oracle bone inscriptions, which are closely related to other East Asian languages. These inscriptions hold immense value for anthropology and archaeology. However, deciphering oracle bone script remains a formidable challenge, with only approximately 1,600 of the over 4,500 extant characters elucidated to date. Further scholarly investigation is required to comprehensively understand this ancient writing system. Artificial Intelligence technology is a promising avenue for deciphering oracle bone characters, particularly concerning their evolution. However, one of the challenges is the lack of datasets mapping the evolution of these characters over time. In this study, we systematically collected ancient characters from authoritative texts and websites spanning six historical stages: Oracle Bone Characters - OBC (15th century B.C.), Bronze Inscriptions - BI (13th to 221 B.C.), Seal Script - SS (11th to 8th centuries B.C.), Spring and Autumn period Characters - SAC (770 to 476 B.C.), Warring States period Characters - WSC (475 B.C. to 221 B.C.), and Clerical Script - CS (221 B.C. to 220 A.D.). Subsequently, we constructed an extensive dataset, namely EVolution Oracle Bone Characters (EVOBC), consisting of 229,170 images representing 13,714 distinct character categories. We conducted validation and simulated deciphering on the constructed dataset, and the results demonstrate its high efficacy in aiding the study of oracle bone script. This openly accessible dataset aims to digitalize ancient Chinese scripts across multiple eras, facilitating the decipherment of oracle bone script by examining the evolution of glyph forms.

Michael Unterkalmsteiner, Tony Gorschek

While in every organization corporate culture and history change over time, intentional efforts to identify performance problems are of particular interest when trying to understand the current state of an organization. The results of past improvement initiatives can shed light on the evolution of an organization and represent, with the advantage of perfect hindsight, a learning opportunity for future process improvements. The opportunity to test this premise occurred in an applied research collaboration with the Swedish Transport Administration, the government agency responsible for the planning, implementation, and maintenance of long-term rail, road, shipping, and aviation infrastructure in Sweden. This article is part of a theme issue on Process Improvement.

G. Kordopatis, M. Schultheis, P. J. McMillan et al.

Gaia DR3 provides radial velocities for 33 million stars and spectroscopically derived atmospheric parameters for more than five million targets. When combined with the astrometric data, these allow us to derive orbital and stellar parameters that are key in order to understand the stellar populations of the Milky Way and perform galactic archaeology. We use the calibrated atmospheric parameters, 2MASS and Gaia-EDR3 photometry, and parallax-based distances to compute, via an isochrone fitting method, the ages, initial stellar masses and reddenings for the stars with spectroscopic parameters. We also derive the orbits (actions, eccentricities, apocentre, pericentre and Zmax) for all of the stars with measured radial velocities and astrometry, adopting two sets of line-of-sight distances from the literature and an axisymmetric potential of the Galaxy. Comparisons with reference catalogues of field and cluster stars suggest that reliable ages are obtained for stars younger than 9-10Gyr when the estimated relative age uncertainty is <50%. For older stars, ages tend to be under-estimated. The most reliable stellar type for age determination are turn-off stars, even when the input atmospheric parameters have large uncertainties. Ages for giants and main-sequence stars are retrieved with uncertainties of ~2Gyr when extinction towards the star's line-of sight is smaller than A_V<2.5mag. The full catalogue is made publicly available to be downloaded. With it, the full chemo-dynamical properties of the extended Solar neighbourhood unfold, and allow us to better identify the properties of the spiral arms, to parameterise the dynamical heating of the disc, or to thoroughly study the chemical enrichment of the Milky Way.

Ingrid Ward, Michael Elliott, Michael Elliott et al.

There is growing awareness of the need for greater acknowledgement of underwater prehistoric cultural resources as part of management and regulation of the seabed around many maritime countries, especially those with large indigenous populations and history such as Australia. Prehistoric cultural places and landscapes inundated by Post-glacial sea-level rise on Australia’s continental shelf remain largely out-of-sight and out-of-mind, hence awareness and hence legal protection of this resource is lacking. There is a clear need for greater integration of archaeology and cultural heritage management within the marine sciences as well as a greater awareness of this resource as part of a common heritage more generally. This paper explores some of the dichotomies between Western and Indigenous cultures in valuing and managing the seabed. We argue that in developing science-policy, an attempt at least needs to be made to bridge both the gap between the nature and culture perspectives, and the jurisdictional divide between land and sea. Part of the answer lies in a convergence of Indigenous knowledge with Western science approaches, focused around our understanding of physical processes impacting past and present coastal landscapes and on the seabed itself. We explore several case studies from northern and Western Australia that are trying to do this, and which are helping to provide a greater appreciation of the inundated landscapes of the inner shelf as part of a common heritage.

Rayna Rampalli, Melissa Ness, Shola Wylie

Large surveys are providing a diversity of spectroscopic observations with Gaia alone set to deliver millions of Ca-triplet-region spectra across the Galaxy. We aim to understand the dimensionality of the chemical abundance information in the Gaia-RVS data to inform galactic archaeology pursuits. We fit a quadratic model of four primary sources of variability, described by labels of $T_{\rm eff}$, $\log g$, [Fe/H], and [$α$/Fe], to the normalized flux of 10,802 red-clump stars from the Gaia-RVS-like ARGOS survey. We examine the residuals between ARGOS spectra and the models and find that the models capture the flux variability across $85\%$ of the wavelength region. The remaining residual variance is concentrated to the Ca-triplet features, at an amplitude up to $12\%$ of the normalized flux. We use principal component analysis on the residuals and find orthogonal correlations in the Ca-triplet core and wings. This variability, not captured by our model, presumably marks departures from the completeness of the 1D-LTE label description. To test the indication of low-dimensionality, we turn to abundance-space to infer how well we can predict measured [Si/H], [O/H], [Ca/H], [Ni/H], and [Al/H] abundances from the Gaia-RVS-like RAVE survey with models of $T_{\rm eff}$, $\log g$, [Fe/H], and [Mg/Fe]. We find that we can near-entirely predict these abundances. Using high-precision APOGEE abundances, we determine that a measurement uncertainty of $<$ 0.03 dex is required to capture additional information from these elements. This indicates that a four-label model sufficiently describes chemical abundance variance for $\approx$ S/N $<$ 200 per pixel, in Gaia-RVS spectra.

Isaiah B. Santistevan, Andrew Wetzel, Kareem El-Badry et al.

Surveys of the Milky Way (MW) and M31 enable detailed studies of stellar populations across ages and metallicities, with the goal of reconstructing formation histories across cosmic time. These surveys motivate key questions for galactic archaeology in a cosmological context: when did the main progenitor of a MW/M31-mass galaxy form, and what were the galactic building blocks that formed it? We investigate the formation times and progenitor galaxies of MW/M31-mass galaxies using the FIRE-2 cosmological simulations, including 6 isolated MW/M31-mass galaxies and 6 galaxies in Local Group (LG)-like pairs at z = 0. We examine main progenitor "formation" based on two metrics: (1) transition from primarily ex-situ to in-situ stellar mass growth and (2) mass dominance compared to other progenitors. We find that the main progenitor of a MW/M31-mass galaxy emerged typically at z ~ 3-4 (11.6-12.2 Gyr ago), while stars in the bulge region (inner 2 kpc) at z = 0 formed primarily in a single main progenitor at z < 5 (< 12.6 Gyr ago). Compared with isolated hosts, the main progenitors of LG-like paired hosts emerged significantly earlier (Δz ~ 2, Δt ~ 1.6 Gyr), with ~ 4x higher stellar mass at all z > 4 (> 12.2 Gyr ago). This highlights the importance of environment in MW/M31-mass galaxy formation, especially at early times. Overall, about 100 galaxies with M_star > 10^5 M_sun formed a typical MW/M31-mass system. Thus, surviving satellites represent a highly incomplete census (by ~ 5x) of the progenitor population.

Comité Editorial del Anuario de Arqueología

Nos es grato presentar el volumen 11 del Anuario de Arqueología (publicación del Departamento de Arqueología, Escuela de Antropología, Facultad de Humanidades y Artes, Universidad Nacional de Rosario). Este volumen reúne un conjunto de trabajos que fueran presentados como ponencias en las “V Jornadas Rosarinas de Arqueología. En el año del centenario de la reforma universitaria”, organizadas por el Departamento de Arqueología, Escuela de Antropología, Facultad de Humanidades y Artes, Universidad Nacional de Rosario y desarrolladas en la ciudad de Rosario entre los días 6 y 8 de junio de 2018. Se presentan aquí sus versiones escritas y extendidas. Los trabajos combinan distintas temáticas y casos de estudio, con un amplio repertorio espacial y temporal, reflejando la variedad de investigaciones que actualmente son desarrolladas por los miembros del Departamento de Arqueología, así como trabajos de autores externos al mismo. En suma, consideramos que este número del Anuario de Arqueología constituye, en línea con los volúmenes anteriores de la revista, una valiosa contribución a la producción y difusión de conocimiento arqueológico nacional.

Babak Shaikh Baikloo Islam, Ahmad Chaychi Amirkhiz

During the Holocene, man’s challenges with climate entered a new phase. Holocene climatic cycles, by creatingdry events, have imposed many subsistence tensions on water-dependent communities. The semi-arid and aridregion of North Central Iran, which has been very vulnerable to any climate change, experienced unfavorableenvironmental conditions during these climatic events. So far, only a handful of Early Holocene rural settlementshave been found in the region, possibly because of the mostly arid climate of the period. In general, the firstevidence of Neolithic villages in North Central Iran dates back to the beginning of the Middle Holocene, afterthe 8.2 ka BP event. The first cultural flourishing of this region can be seen from the last quarter of the sixthmillennium BCE. Each cultural flourishing period seems to have declined for some time with the occurrence ofa dry event. The effects of climatic tensions on human societies in North Central Iran have been found around6500-6000, 5700-5400, 5000-4700, 4300-4000, and 3300-2700 BCE. According to data analysis, the frequency ofsettlements and the trend of cultural progress gradually peaked from the early sixth millennium to the mid-fourthmillennium BC, but in the second half of the latter millennium, a gradual decline began which led to the BronzeAge collapse in ca. 2700 BCE. This event probably occurred due to the drop in temperature and the increase in thefrequency and severity of aridity in the transition phase to the Late Holocene.

Alba García Álvarez

Reseña de: Finlayson, Clive: El Neandertal Inteligente. Arte rupestre, captura de aves y revolución cognitiva, Córdoba, Editorial Almuzara, 2020, 253 pp., ISBN: 978-84-18089-53-4.

Keith Hawkins, Madeline Lucey, Yuan-Sen Ting et al.

One of the high-level goals of Galactic archaeology is chemical tagging of stars across the Milky Way to piece together its assembly history. For this to work, stars born together must be uniquely chemically homogeneous. Wide binary systems are an important laboratory to test this underlying assumption. Here we present the detailed chemical abundance patterns of 50 stars across 25 wide binary systems comprised of main-sequence stars of similar spectral type identified in Gaia DR2 with the aim of quantifying their level of chemical homogeneity. Using high-resolution spectra obtained with McDonald Observatory, we derive stellar atmospheric parameters and precise detailed chemical abundances for light/odd-Z (Li, C, Na, Al, Sc, V, Cu), $α$ (Mg, Si, Ca), Fe-peak (Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn), and neutron capture (Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, La, Nd, Eu) elements. Results indicate that 80% (20 pairs) of the systems are homogeneous in [Fe/H] at levels below 0.02 dex. These systems are also chemically homogeneous in all elemental abundances studied, with offsets and dispersions consistent with measurement uncertainties. We also find that wide binary systems are far more chemically homogeneous than random pairings of field stars of similar spectral type. These results indicate that wide binary systems tend to be chemically homogeneous but in some cases they can differ in their detailed elemental abundances at a level of [X/H] ~ 0.10 dex, overall implying chemical tagging in broad strokes can work.

Sandro Caranzano, Mariateresa Crosta

The essay presents the results of a joint study of astronomy and archeology that has allowed to define the foundation date of the city of Turin as a Roman colony, called Iulia Augusta Taurinorum. This multidisciplinary research represents a new reading of the historical-archaeological sources and the use of astronomy according to the Etruscan-Latin gromatica. By taking into consideration the apparent motion of a True Sun, the possible measurement errors, the atmospheric refraction and the elevation of the horizon, and the Julian date in use in astronomy, a numerical program has been elaborated to define the coincidences of the calendars between the azimuth of the main road axis and the course of the sun. For a series of very particular historical and contextual conditions it was therefore possible to trace with sufficient accuracy the day and the year of foundation of the city: January 30, 9 BC, which coincides, not surprisingly, with a particularly important anniversary for Ottaviano Augusto, Emperor from 27 BC to 14 AC. In fact, the astronomical data interfaced with the archaeological, epigraphic and written sources suggest that Turin was born at the end of the Alpine wars, concluded after the acquisition of the Valle di Susa and, more extensively, of the Maritime Alps, Pennine and Graie. Founded as a colony along the road leading to the Gauls, Augusta Taurinorum was inaugurated on the day of the anniversary of the feast of Pax, established by Augustus and celebrated at the Ara Pacis in Rome starting from 9 BC. The large marble altar of Campo Marzio was, as matter of fact, built to celebrate the end of civil wars and the beginning of a new era (confirmed also by the astrological/astronomical ephemerides of that time), which is widely reported in the official Augustean literature.

Violeta Moreno Megías

Cerro Macareno (La Rinconada, Sevilla) es un yacimiento emblemático para la Protohistoria de la península ibérica y, particularmente, para el estudio de los recipientes anfóricos. La historiografía tradicional había asignado a este yacimiento la función de centro productor para las ánforas turdetanas, al menos aquellas del tipo Pellicer BC, sin ninguna evidencia clara y sin haber emprendido un análisis detallado de la presencia de desechos cerámicos de cocción en asociación con los hornos documentados. Una revisión de los materiales procedentes de Cerro Macareno depositados en el Museo Arqueológico de Sevilla ha permitido la identificación de algunos de estos desechos con formas cerámicas concretas, confirmando así el rol productor del yacimiento en distintos momentos cronológicos. Además, se ha confirmado que el recurso a las marcas por incisión presente en este tipo de ánforas puede tener procedencia local y se han aportado pruebas que sugieren la presencia de una fase de hornos cerámicos posteriores a los documentados en las campañas de 1974-1976. Por último, nuevos análisis arqueométricos han permitido caracterizar los tipos de pastas locales recurrentes en Cerro Macareno, aportando datos para la reflexión del papel económico del yacimiento.

Denis-E. Correa-Trigoso, Karen González-Fernández, César Calderón-Carbajal et al.

El sector de depósitos en el conjunto amurallado Xllangchic An (Ex palacio Uhle), Chan Chan, está compuesto por patios, plazas, audiencias, depósitos y vías de circulación, que en su conjunto crean un contexto de almacenamiento. Apartir de este rasgo surge algunas interrogantes: ¿Qué bienes se almacenaban?, ¿Cómo eran los depósitos?, ¿Cuáles fueron las necesidades que originaron el almacenamiento? El almacenamiento de bienes es una actividad realizada desde tiempos muy tempranos y para el Intermedio Tardío no es una excepción; siendo la geografía, el medio ambiente y la carga cultural factores transcendentales en las maneras de realizar esta actividad, de tal forma que en este conjunto amurallado temprano se estima que sus características particulares lo podrían diferenciar de otros sitios prehispánicos.