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Formative Period Social Change in the Lower Rio Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Arthur A. Joyce
Arthur A. Joyce*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, Douglass Campus, P.O. Box 270, New Brunswick, NJ 08903-0270
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Abstract

This article reports on archaeological and geomorphological research carried out by the 1988 Río Verde Formative Project in the lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico. The research suggests that the region was only sparsely inhabited prior to 500 B. C. During the Late/Terminal Formative (400 B. C.-A. D. 250), however, survey data suggest that the lower Río Verde Valley experienced considerable population growth. Excavations at the sites of Cerro de la Cruz and Río Viejo yielded evidence for emerging status inequalities during the Late Formative leading eventually to the rise of complex social organization by the Classic period (A. D. 250-900). Two preliminary explanations are offered for the seemingly late occurrence of large populations with complex social organization in the region. The explanations focus on environmental change and interregional social interaction, respectively. Evidence for the exploitation of coastal habitats is also discussed, since the use of marine and estuarine resources could alter the implications of both explanations of societal change.

Este artículo trata sobre la secuencia de cambio social del período Formativo de la cuenca del Río Verde inferior, Oaxaca, México. Investigaciones arqueológicas del Proyecto Río Verde Formativo indican que la región solamente estaba poblada dispersamente antes de 500 A. C. Durante el Formativo Tardío/Terminal (400 A. C.-250 D. C.), sin embargo, datos de reconocimientos sugieren que la cuenca del Río Verde inferior experimentaba gran aumento demográfico. Excavaciones arqueológicos en los sitios de Cerro de la Cruz y Río Viejo produjeron evidencia para la aparición de diferencias de estado durante el Formativo Tardío llegando eventualmente al desarrollo de una organización social compleja por el período Clásico (250-900 D. C.).

Dos explicaciones preliminares se presentan para explicar el atraso de los desarrollos demográficos y sociales correspondientes a la sociedad compleja en la región. Las explicaciones implican cambios ambientales y de relaciones sociales interregionales, respectivamente. Investigaciones sedimentológicas del proyecto sugieren que un cambio en la geomorfología del río originó un aumento en el potencial agrícola de la planicie aluvial durante el Formativo Tardío. Puesto que la dieta parece haber dependido de plantas domésticas, el aumento resultante en la productividad agrícola habría tenido un gran efecto en la disponibilidad de los recursos, hiciendo más atrayente el poblado en la región. Unos cambios en las relaciones interregionales durante el Formativo Tardío/Terminal parecen haber afectado más directamente a la economía política de la cuenca del Río Verde inferior. En el Formativo Tardío, las relaciones interregionales parecen haber implicado la importación de cerámicas lujosas a la cuenca del Río Verde inferior. Esta relación probablemente formaba parte de una red de intercambio de artículos prestigiosos entre grupos elitistas de muchas regiones al mismo tiempo. Desde aproximadamente 100 A. C. las relaciones recíprocas entre la cuenca del Río Verde inferior y otras regiones parecen haber disminuido considerablemente. Durante el Formativo Terminal, unos estilos de cerámica gris incisa difundieron al Río Verde inferior de otras regiones de Oaxaca.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , June 1991 , pp. 126 - 150
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1991

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