The Mesoamerican Radiocarbon Database (MesoRAD) compiles radiocarbon dates from the archaeological literature of Mesoamerica. This is the inaugural data set published in JOAD. It consists of ‘Lowland Maya Dates’ and includes 1846 radiocarbon dates from 132 sites in 21 distinct environmental zones in the Maya lowlands. These data span the Paleoindian to Colonial Periods (11,670 to 190 uncal BP, 13,740 cal BP to modern) across southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. While the lat/longs for the sites are spatially relative, they have been shifted from their original location to protect the site coordinates.
The ‘Lowland Maya Dates’ data set is archived as a .csv file updated as additional dates are identified (the current version is v.1.4, updated in November 2021). One worksheet of the excel file consists of 14C dates from archaeological contexts. A second worksheet includes radiocarbon dates identified from environmental contexts compiles dates from agricultural fields, lake core, and other environmental proxies. A third worksheet includes the bibliography for the citation column of the database.
