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Tlaxcallan: the archaeology of an ancient republic in the New World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Lane F. Fargher ,
Richard E. Blanton ,
Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza ,
John Millhauser ,
Nezahualcoyotl Xiuhtecutli  and
Lisa Overholtzer
Lane F. Fargher*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecología Humana, Centro de Investigaciones y de Estudios Avanzados-Unidad Mérida, Km. 6 Antigua Carretera a Progreso, Apdo. Postal 73, Cordemex, 97310, Mérida, Yuc., México (Email: [email protected])
Richard E. Blanton
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, Stone Hall, 700 West State Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza
Affiliation:
Centro de Estudios Arqueológicos, El Colegio de Michoacán, A.C., Cerro de Nahuatzen 85, Frac. Jardines del Cerro Grande, 59379, La Piedad, Michoacán, México
John Millhauser
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, 1810 Hinman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
Nezahualcoyotl Xiuhtecutli
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, 7041 Freret Street, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA
Lisa Overholtzer
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, 1810 Hinman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60208, USA
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Extract

Arguing from the overall settlement plan and the form of buildings, the authors present a persuasive case that the Late Postclassic city of Tlaxcallan and its near neighbour Tizatlan constitute the central elements of a republican state. This is an unusual political prescription, not only in Mesoamerica but further afield.

Keywords

MesoamericaTlaxcallanLate Postclassic (AD 1250–1519)republicurbanismgovernance
Type
Research article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 85 , Issue 327 , March 2011 , pp. 172 - 186
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2011

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