Ciprian F. Ardelean

Autonomous University of Zacatecas · Unidad Académica de Antropología

This book responds to a demand expressed by the international archaeological community, as well as by the wider public, after the publication of the archaeological discoveries at the prehistoric Chiquihuite Cave (in northern Zacatecas, Mexico) in the journal Nature, back in the summer of 2020, with the announcement of very old human presence at the...

This paper is a reply to Chatters et al. (2021. “Evaluating Claims of Early Human Occupation at Chiquihuite Cave, Mexico.” PaleoAmerica 8, doi:10.1080/20555563.2021.1940441), in which they raise a large number of doubts about the legitimacy of our claims of earlier-than-expected human presence at Chiquihuite Cave, in northern Zacatecas, Mexico, mai...

Analysis of ancient environmentalDNA(eDNA) has revolutionized our ability to describe biological communities in space and time, by allowing for parallel sequencing of DNA from all trophic levels. However, because environmental samples contain sparse and fragmented data from multiple individuals, and often contain closely related species, the field...

This short text is a brief abstract of the paper on Chiquihuite Cave published in "Nature" in July 2020. This divulgation text was published in the University of Geneva's "Science Breaker" magazine as open access, and it is meant for a lay readership.

This is the Second Part of the science divulgation article written for the general public in Romanian language, about the investigations at Chiquihuite Cave.

The archaeological research usually assumes that pottery production and consumption are absent in hunter-gatherer societies of northern Mexico. However, new data suggest very different behaviors in pre-Contact times. This paper presents preliminary results of analysis on ceramic sherds recovered from hunter-gatherer open air campsites in the northe...

This is the first part of a divulgation (science popularization) article about the research at Chiquihuite Cave, written for the wider (non-academic) public and a lay readership in Romanian language.

The initial colonization of the Americas remains a highly debated topic¹, and the exact timing of the first arrivals is unknown. The earliest archaeological record of Mexico—which holds a key geographical position in the Americas—is poorly known and understudied. Historically, the region has remained on the periphery of research focused on the firs...

The initial colonization of the Americas remains a highly debated topic1, and the exact timing of the first arrivals is unknown. The earliest archaeological record of Mexico—which holds a key geographical position in the Americas—is poorly known and understudied. Historically, the region has remained on the periphery of research focused on the firs...

This paper describes the rock art discovered in the San Jeronimo rock shelter, located in the deserts of northern Zacatecas, Mexico. This site is a remarkable example of the conjunction of recurring pictorial styles in northern Mexico. The most frequent graphic elements are geometric shapes, made with red paint. The artists used positive and negati...

From the rear cover: "This edited volume, which emerged from a symposium organized at the 2014 SAA meeting in Austin, Texas, covers recent Paleoamerican research and site excavations from Patagonia to Canada. In 13 chapters, contributors discuss the peopling of the Americas, early American assemblages, life ways, and regional differences. Many of t...

This chapter is a brief analytical historiography of Mexican (Pleistocene) prehistoric studies, as well as a preliminary presentation of the fiesr results of the 2012 excavations at Chiquihuite Cave.

Brief insights on current status of Pleistocene research, as seen from our own experiences at the Chiquihuite Cave.

A conference about the limitations and minuses in the preparation of undergrad archaeology students in Mexico, where the theoretical and anthropological views (more similar to social anthropology) are favored in detriment of scientific views and laboratory skills. Also, about the reasons why there is such a terrible drop in demand for archaeology s...

This doctoral thesis presents the results of the pioneering archaeological investigation conducted in the Northern Mexican Highlands with the aim to evaluate the existing indicators of the earliest human occupations at the end of the Pleistocene and discover new evidence of ancient cultural manifestations through a systematic exploration of an endo...

This paper brings into the attention of the academic community a series of methodological aspects that we considered of a possible general interest, deriving from our own practical application of aerial photography and satellite imagery within three distinct archaeological survey projects that we conducted during the last decade on three different...

This paper brings into the attention of the academic community a series of methodological aspects that we considered of a possible general interest, deriving from our own practical application of aerial photography and satellite imagery within three distinct archaeological survey projects that we conducted during the last decade on three different...

Poster presenting a synthesis of results of field explorations in an unknown area of the Maya region, in the southwestern corner of the Yucatan Peninsula, between 2003 and 2006.

This article deals with one of the most important issues in modern archaeology: settlement patterns, the manner in which human settlements (and their remnant correspondent as archaeological sites) situate themselves on the landscape, the way they constitute their internal shape, the arrangement of their dwellings, public spaces, transit areas, func...

After my undergraduate studies in the Faculty of History (Archaeology Section) of the “Babeş- Bolyai” University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, after my graduate studies in Mexico-City and my employment as full- time professor-researcher at the University of Zacatecas in northern Mexico, I continued my investigations about certain aspects of the history...

f. ardelean * factores causales del patrón de asentamiento en arqueología I Este artículo intenta llevar a cabo una nueva discusión sobre los factores que in-teractúan de manera significativa en la base de la manifestación formal del espa-cio social. El patrón de asentamiento representa la macrosíntesis formal de la interacción dialéctica de los di...

Introducción Como el título lo expresa, este texto pretende ser una propuesta teórica que apoye el análisis con fines explicativos de la estructuración interna del espacio social, basándose en la interfuncionalidad de dos sistemas de niveles analíticos integrati-vos: de la estructura social y del espacio social correspondiente. *, ** Siguiendo un a...