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Se reporta, por vez primera, el intento de datación de cuatro pinturas murales del centro de México: Templo de Venus (Cacaxtla), Templo Rojo (Templo Mayor, Tenochtitlan), Chapulines y Estrellas (Cholula). Estos sitios corresponden al periodo Clásico y Posclásico Temprano de la cronología mesoamericana. Las edades obtenidas para Chapulines (1105-1194 A. D.), Templo de Venus (1002-1308 A. D.) y Estrellas (340-649 A. D.) están dentro de la cronología y contexto arqueológico de los sitios estudiados. Sin embargo, la edad de Templo Rojo (1829-1888 A. D.) señala a una edad demasiado tardía no compatible con la cronología reportada. Por tanto, cabe la posibilidad de que la magnetización pudiera haber sufrido alguna alteración después de haber sido aplicada. ENGLISH: We report the results of the first attempt to date four mural paintings from sites in Central Mexico: the Temple of Venus (Cacaxtla), the Red Temple (part of the Templo Mayor complex in Tenochtitlan), and the Chapulines and Estrellas temples (Cholula). These sites correspond to the Classic and Early Postclassic period of the Mesoamerican chronology. The ages obtained for the Chapulines (1105-1194 AD), Temple of Venus (1002-1308 AD) and Estrellas (340-649 AD) murals are within the accepted chronology and archaeological context of their respective sites. However, the date range that we obtained for the Red Temple (1829-1888 AD) points to a time period incompatible with Tenochtitlan’s established chronology. It is possible that the mural’s pictorial magnetization suffered some alteration over time.

We carried out a detailed mineral magnetic and archaeomagnetic investigation on wattle and daub (locally known as Bajareque) building remains recovered at Teuchitlan archeological site (Jalisco, Mexico) in order to estimate the suitability of such material for Thellier double heating absolute geomagnetic intensity determinations and to contribute to the still incipient archaeomagnetic database for Mesoamerica. The single-domain Ti-poor titanomagnetite and hematite seem to be main magnetic carriers in most of samples. Although the presence of hematite is confirmed for all samples, its contribution to the remanent magnetization seems negligible and the most part of remanent magnetization is carried by almost magnetite phase. All 42 analyzed Bajareque samples yielded technically acceptable archaeointensity determination, which is probably a unique case since a 100% of success rate is reached. Present study underlines the exceptional magnetic properties of Bajareque samples and their high suitability for absolute geomagnetic intensity determinations. Selected mean archeointensity data currently available for Mesoamerica show unusually high dispersion, which makes it difficult to make any firm conclusion about the evolution of Earth's magnetic field through archeological time.

Se reporta, por vez primera, el intento de datación de cuatro pinturas murales del centro de México: Templo de Venus (Cacaxtla), Templo Rojo (Templo Mayor, Tenochtitlan), Chapulines y Estrellas (Cholula). Estos sitios corresponden al periodo Clásico y Posclásico Temprano de la cronología mesoamericana. Las edades obtenidas para Chapulines (1105-1194 A. D.), Templo de Venus (1002-1308 A. D.) y Estrellas (340-649 A. D.) están dentro de la cronología y contexto arqueológico de los sitios estudiados. Sin embargo, la edad de Templo Rojo (1829-1888 A. D.) señala a una edad demasiado tardía no compatible con la cronología reportada. Por tanto, cabe la posibilidad de que la magnetización pudiera haber sufrido alguna alteración después de haber sido aplicada. ENGLISH: First Attempt to Date Mesoamerican Mural Paintings. We report the results of the first attempt to date four mural paintings from sites in Central Mexico: the Temple of Venus (Cacaxtla), the Red Temple (part of the Templo Mayor complex in Tenochtitlan), and the Chapulines and Estrellas temples (Cholula). These sites correspond to the Classic and Early Postclassic period of the Mesoamerican chronology. The ages obtained for the Chapulines (1105-1194 AD), Temple of Venus (1002-1308 AD) and Estrellas (340-649 AD) murals are within the accepted chronology and archaeological context of their respective sites. However, the date range that we obtained for the Red Temple (1829-1888 AD) points to a time period incompatible with Tenochtitlan’s established chronology. It is possible that the mural’s pictorial magnetization suffered some alteration over time.