Mesoamerican Archaeology

Sustainable Ecologies, Unsustainable Politics: Chinampa Farming in Ancient Central Mexico

by Christopher Morehart

Prosperity, power, and change: Modeling maize at Postclassic Xaltocan, Mexico

by Christopher Morehart

Plants and Caves in Ancient Maya Society

by Christopher Morehart

Situating Power and Locating Knowledge: A Paleoethnobotanical Perspective on Late Classic Maya Gender and Social Relations

by Christopher Morehart

Complexities of Collapse: Maya Obsidian as Revealed by Social Network Graphical Analysis (Mark Golitko, James Meierhoff, Gary M. Feinman, and Ryan Williams, 2012)

by Gary Feinman

Antiquity 86:507-523

Ritual exchange and the fourth obligation: ancient Maya food offering and the flexible materiality of ritual

by Christopher Morehart

The Fourth Obligation: Food Offerings in Caves and the Materiality of Sacred Relationships

by Christopher Morehart

Wood of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Pine (Pinus sp.) by the Ancient Lowland Maya

by Christopher Morehart

Mapping ancient chinampa landscapes in the Basin of Mexico: a remote sensing and GIS approach

by Christopher Morehart

Power, Wealth, and Trade during the Early Classic Period, Chunchucmil, Yucatán, México

by Christopher Rayle

This thesis provides the analysis and results of a pilot study examining northern lowland Maya sociopolitical and... more This thesis provides the analysis and results of a pilot study examining northern lowland Maya sociopolitical and economic development. Guiding this study is the view that the social organization of Chunchucmil represents a synthesis of two systems in which portable wealth consumption plays a large role. Following Dahlin and Ardren (2002), I suggest that Chunchucmil is a trade city operating under the direction of corporate power strategists with residential corporate groups contributing to a market place economy. Specifically, this study examines the distribution of fine serving vessels as archaeological indicators of wealth within the context of the residential corporate group. Operating under the assumption that Chunchucmil represents a corporate trade polity; the expectation is for a relatively equal distribution of wealth within non-elite contexts.

Negotiating the Imperial Landscape: The Geopolitics of Aztec Control In the Outer Provinces of the Empire

by Christopher Garraty

Garraty, Christopher P., and Michael A. Ohnersorgen (2009)

Aztec Teotihuacan: Political Processes at a Postclassic and Early Colonial City-State In the Basin of Mexico

by Christopher Garraty

Garraty, Christopher P. (2006)

Teotihuacan, located in the northeastern Basin of Mexico, is best known for its Preclassic and Classic period... more Teotihuacan, located in the northeastern Basin of Mexico, is best known for its Preclassic and Classic period occupations (ca. 150 B.C.-A.D. 700) but was also an important city-state during the Aztec and Early Colonial periods, circa A.D. 1200-1650. Much has been written about political relations among Aztec city-states in the basin. However, the internal political structures of most city-states remain largely unknown because colonial chroniclers focused mostly on Tenochtitlan-Mexico City and collected little information on the 40 to 50 smaller city-states in the basin. This article addresses the internal political organization of Aztec Teotihuacan and how it changed over time based on analyses of pottery data from the surface collections of the Teotihuacan Mapping Project. A seriation of sherd assemblages using correspondence analysis provides a chronological framework for diachronic analyses. Changes through time pertaining to interresidential status differences and the spatial distributions of elite residences suggest a gradual process of political decentralization. Additionally, pottery and obsidian data, in conjunction with settlement pattern changes, reveal a relocation of the city-state center in the late 1300s or early 1400s, possibly indicating an episode of political upheaval or reorganization.

Intercambio De Mercado Y Consolidación En El Corazón Del Imperio Azteca

by Christopher Garraty

Garraty, Christopher P. (2007)

(English abstract) One important way that empires consolidate power is to undercut the traditional revenue bases of... more (English abstract) One important way that empires consolidate power is to undercut the traditional revenue bases of subject elites and redirect resource flows from subject areas to the imperial capitals. To this end, Aztec imperial rulers implemented a strategy to appropriate marketplace revenues from subject elites in the imperial heartland in the Basin of Mexico. Recent chemistry-based provenance studies of undecorated Aztec plainware and Black-on- orange vessels suggest that pottery made in the Tenochtitlan area penetrated market domains of neighboring polities, including their Acolhua allies in Texcoco. The imperial rulers in Tenochtitlan likely invested in marketplace development to stimulate commercial craft production and export, thus boosting government revenues from market taxation.

The Politics of Commerce: Aztec Pottery Production and Exchange In the Basin of Mexico, AD 1200--1650

by Christopher Garraty

2006 The Politics of Commerce: Aztec Pottery Production and Exchange in the Basin of Mexico, A.D. 1200-1650. Ph.D. Dissertation, Arizona State University, Tempe. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms.

The relationships between market and political institutions have varied in different times and places, but no market... more The relationships between market and political institutions have varied in different times and places, but no market system was (or is) devoid of political involvement. The contrasting approaches of the Aztec empire and Spanish colonial regime to the Basin of Mexico market system are instructive about the ways that commercial agents (producers, traders) respond to “top-down” pressures from state elites to steer and direct the commercial economy to their political advantage. The results of this study suggest that the market system in the Basin flourished under the Aztec empire but suffered a decline after the Spanish conquest. To establish a window on state-market relationships, I focus on pottery production and exchange (plainware and decorated wares) prior to and during the period of Aztec imperial rule (ca. A.D. 1200-1520) and subsequent colonial period (ca. A.D. 1520-1650) based on compositional analyses and analyses of form specialization and attribute standardization. In the fragmented political landscape that preceded the Aztec empire, most plainware producers manufactured on a relatively small scale and exchanged their wares locally through a system of small, non-hierarchical market networks that likely operated independently of elite regulation. Conversely, decorated Black-on-orange and redware serving vessels were manufactured on a larger scale in fewer production loci and exchanged over a wider area, indicating a hierarchical exchange system that operated under elite auspices. During the Aztec empire, the consolidation of power under the imperial capitals of Tenochtitlan and Texcoco brought about a more stable milieu for inter-polity interaction. In this context, plainware and Black-on-orange production both involved large-scale, high-intensity production industries centered at or near four principal market centers in the Basin, including the imperial capitals. Tenochtitlan became by far the most prominent and prolific locus of pottery production and export, especially for Black-on-orange vessels and comales (tortilla griddles). After the Spanish conquest, the large-scale pottery production and export industries evident in the Late Aztec period collapsed. Production was generally less intensive, smaller in scale, and probably mostly geared toward local consumers. Tenochtitlan—now Mexico City—was no longer the principal hub of indigenous commerce and became increasingly geared toward the Spanish overseas economy.

Evaluation of Systematic Surface Evidence for Pottery Production In Veracruz, Mexico

by Christopher Garraty

Stark, Barbara L., and Christopher P. Garraty (2004)

Survey-based analyses have used varied criteria to detect locations of pottery production in the Gulf lowlands of... more Survey-based analyses have used varied criteria to detect locations of pottery production in the Gulf lowlands of south-central and southern Veracruz, Mexico. A common practice uses double criteria: high frequencies or high densities of particular kinds of pottery in conjunction with highly reliable indicators, such as kiln fragments. Reliable indicators are relatively scarce, however and subject to sampling error Two previous analytical approaches each present problems with respect to threshold values for applying the density and frequency criteria, and a more standard set of procedures is suggested. An alternative criterion using spatial clustering helps reduce susceptibility to sampling error from infrequent finds such as deformed wasters or kiln fragments. In a case study, two newly detected locations of possible pottery production result from application of the alternative double criteria. With incorporation of these new data, changes in Gulf lowland pottery production over time are compatible with a growing role for specialization and marketing, especially from the Late Classic to the Late Postclassic periods. The examination and application of criteria for identifying possible locations of pottery production are important for harnessing the potential of systematic survey and surface collection for studies of economic change.

Imperial and Social Relations In Postclassic South-Central Veracruz, Mexico

by Christopher Garraty

Garraty, Christopher P., and Barbara L. Stark (2002)

We explore social and imperial relations in the western lower Papaloapan Basin, especially along the lower Blanco... more We explore social and imperial relations in the western lower Papaloapan Basin, especially along the lower Blanco River, using statistical analyses of ceramic rims from recent surveys. This region is sandwiched between two known tributary provincial centers of the Aztec empire, but its relationship to the empire is uncertain in colonial documentary materials. Our analyses illuminate changes in social relations from the Middle (A.D. 1150-1350) to Late Postclassic (A.D. 1350-1520) periods and shed light on the impact of Aztec imperialism. We use a ceramic unmixing procedure to assign collections to the Middle and Late Postclassic periods for assessment of settlement patterns. Next we use cluster analyses to examine vertical wealth and status differentiation. In the Middle Postclassic period, we observe a concentric gradation of wealth and status away from the small center of El Sauce. Late Postclassic changes include the decline of El Sauce and the founding of a new center at Callejo'n del Horno. The concentric model does not apply to the Late Postclassic period, however, and wealth and status became more highly concentrated at Callejon del Horno compared to its hinterland. We also investigate sparse collections-those with few Postclassic rims-to evaluate whether these collections represent poor residences or, rather, sherd scatter from possible field manuring. The lowerBlanco region was likely integrated into the Aztec empire on the basis of changes in vertical social differentiation from Middle to Late Postclassic times and percentages of Aztec-style ceramics compared to known Aztec provincial centers, especially Cotaxtla.

Ceramic Indices of Aztec Eliteness

by Christopher Garraty

Garraty, Christopher P. (2000)

This article explores the complex, multidimensional nature of Aztec social organization and, specifically, the concept... more This article explores the complex, multidimensional nature of Aztec social organization and, specifically, the concept of “eliteness,” as it applies to the Aztecs. I discuss both why we can speak of Aztec “elites” and how we can monitor them using ceramic data. I argue it is possible to distinguish elites archaeologically by identifying the ceramic attributes and variables that best reflect feasting behavior, one of the primary practices the Aztecs used to socially construct and reproduce unequal relations of power, wealth, and estate. Ceramics thus served as one of the primary media through which politically and socially charged “communication” occurred among the Aztecs. I define and evaluate six ceramic indices of eliteness using Late Aztec ceramic data (ca. a.d. 1350–1520) from Teotihuacan, an Aztec period altepetl (city-state) located in the northeastern Basin of Mexico. I use the most effective eliteness indices to interpret the intrasite spatial patterning of elite residences at Late Aztec Teotihuacan and infer some observations about the social and political organization of the altepetl.

Restos humanos en el Entierro 6 de la Pirámide de la Luna

by Gregory Pereira

Pereira, Grégory and Ximena Chávez
2006 Restos humanos en el Entierro 6 de la Pirámide de la Luna In Sacrificios de Consagración en la Pirámide de la Luna, edited by Saburo Sugiyama and Leonardo López Luján, pp. 53-63. INAH-Templo Mayor, Arizona State University, México.

THE HUMAN SKELETAL REMAINS OF THE MOON PYRAMID, TEOTIHUACAN

by Gregory Pereira

Spence, Michael W. and Grégory Pereira
2007 The Human Skeletal Remains of the Moon Pyramid, Teotihuacan. Ancient Mesoamerica (18):147-157.

Teotihuacan y el Occidente de México

by Gregory Pereira

Michelet, Dominique & Grégory Pereira
2009 Teotihuacan y el Occidente de México. In Teotihuacan, ciudad de los dioses pp. 79-83. INAH, Mexico.