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The Chronology of Conquest: Implications of New Radiocarbon Analyses from the Cañada de Cuicatlán, Oaxaca

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Charles S. Spencer  and
Elsa M. Redmond
Charles S. Spencer
Affiliation:
Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192, [email protected]
Elsa M. Redmond
Affiliation:
Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192,[email protected]
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Abstract

Recently obtained radiocarbon determinations from the Cañada de Cuicatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico, have made it possible to revise the chronological placement of the Perdido phase (from 600-200 B. C. to 750-300 B. C.) and the Lomas phase (from 200 B. C.-A. D. 200 to 300 B. C.-A. D. 200), the latter being the phase for which substantial evidence of a Zapotec conquest of the Cañada has been recovered. The revised chronology brings the Lomas phase into close alignment with the Late Monte Albán I (300-100 B. C.) and the Monte Albán II (100 B. C.-A. D. 200) phases, during which the early Zapotec state emerged with its capital at Monte Albán in the Oaxaca Valley. The new Cañada dates support the proposition that territorial expansion outside the Oaxaca Valley played a major role very early in the process of Zapotec primary state formation. This strategy of extra-Valley expansion appears to have been initiated before all areas within the Oaxaca Valley were fully integrated into the Zapotec state.

Nuevas fechas radiocarbónicas provenientes de la Cañada de Cuicatlán, en el Estado de Oaxaca, México, nos llevan a revisar las duraciones cronológicas de la fase Perdido (de 600-200 a. C. a 750-300 a. C.) y la fase Lomas (de 200 a. C.-200 d. C. a 300 a. C.-200 d. C.), ambas definidas durante nuestras investigaciones de campo en 1977-78. Dichas investigaciones nos convencieron que la Cañada fue conquistada por el estado zapoteco al principio de la fase Lomas. Esta conclusión acordó con ciertas inscripciones en Monte Albán, la capital del estado zapoteco en el Valle de Oaxaca. Las evidencias arqueológicas recuperadas en la Cañada incluyeron una disrupción profunda en los patrones de asentamiento: todos los sitios de la fase Perdido fueron abandonados y asentamientos nuevos de la fase Lomas fueron establecidos encima de lomas cercanas. En el extremo norte de la Cañada, un sitio pequeño de la fase Perdido fue sucedido por un complejo de sitios grandes y fortificados, que protegían la única entrada natural a la Cañada de Tehuacán y otras regiones al norte. Nuestras excavaciones en el sitio de Llano Perdido revelaron que la comunidad fue completamente quemada al final de la fase Perdido. La ocupación sucesiva de la fase Lomas fue establecida encima de la adyacente Loma de La Coyotera. Cambios significantes ocurrieron en la vida económica, social, y religiosa de los habitantes durante la fase Lomas. Las actividades económicas se especializaron, enfocandose en la cultivación por riego de ciertas frutas nativas de esta zona de tierra caliente, quizás para cumplir con demandas tributarias. Los patrones residenciales cambiaron de las unidades multifamiliares de la fase Perdido a un patrón de residencias unifamiliares, ubicadas en terrazas. Las plataformas, elementos, y artifactos ceremoniales de Llano Perdido fueron sucedidos en Loma de La Coyotera por una plaza adonde un tzompantli fue montado; los nuevos resultados radiocarbónicos nos permiten fechar este tzompantli con aun más exactitud a la fase Lomas. Las nuevas fechas alinean la fase Lomas de la Cañada más precisamente con las fases Monte Albán I Tardía (300-100 a. C.) y Monte Albán II (100 a. C.-200 d. C.) de la cronología del Valle de Oaxaca. Concluimos que los nuevos resultados respaldan la proposición que una campaña de expansionismo territorial afuera del Valle de Oaxaca fue lanzada muy temprano en el proceso de surgimiento del estado zapoteco. Es probable que esta campaña de expansionismo afuera del Valle de Oaxaca fue iniciada antes de que el estado zapoteco lograra dominar el Valle entero.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , June 2001 , pp. 182 - 201
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2000

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