Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T08:44:21.410Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Christopher P. Garraty  and
Barbara L. Stark
Christopher P. Garraty
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Barbara L. Stark
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

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 Callejón del Horno. The concentric model does not apply to the Late Postclassic period, however, and wealth and status became more highly concentrated at Callejón 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 lower Blanco 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.

En este trabajo exploramos las relaciones sociales e imperiales en la cuenca oeste baja del Río Papaloapan, especialmente en el bajo Río Blanco, a través de análisis estadísticos de los bordes de cerámica recolectados en la prospección de superficie llevada a cabo durante el transcurso de dos décadas. Este región se localiza entre de dos centros regionales y tributarios conocidos, pero su relación con el imperio Azteca es ambigua en las fuentes escritas. Los resultados de estos análisis indican cambios en las relaciones sociales del Postclásico Medio (1150–1350 d. C.) al Postclásico Tardío (1350–1520 d. C.) y proporcionan información acerca del impacto que tuvo el imperio Azteca en la región. Usamos un procedimiento estadístico de desunión de la cerámica (ceramic unmixing) para asignar las colecciones al Postclásico Medio o Tardío y así evaluar los patrones de asentamiento. Posteriormente realizamos dos análisis estadísticos de agrupaciones para examinar la diferenciación vertical de riqueza y de la posición social. En el período Postclásico Medio, observamos un patrón concéntrico de riqueza y estatus jerarquizados cuyo núcleo es el centro pequeño de El Sauce, y a partir del cual se desminuye gradualmente la riqueza y el nivel de estatus. Los cambios del Postcásico Tardío incluyen el descenso de El Sauce y la fundación de un nuevo centro en Callejón del Horno. Sin embargo, el modelo concéntrico no se aplica al período Postclásico Tardío, y la riqueza y el estatus se observan muy concentrados en Callejón del Horno en comparación con su periferia. Nuestra investigación acerca de la diferenciación social vertical también incluye el análisis de colecciones reducidas-las que tienen pocos bordes de cerámica Postclásica-para evaluar si estas colecciones representan residencias pobres, o tiestos esparcidos por el posible efecto de la aplicación de abono en los campos de cultivo. Los cambios en la diferenciación social vertical del Postclásico Medio al Tardío y los porcentajes de la cerámica de estilo Azteca comparados con otros centros provinciales Aztecas conocidos (especialmente Cotaxtla), indican que la región baja del Río Blanco muy posiblemente se integró al imperio Azteca.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , March 2002 , pp. 3 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Alcock, Susan E., Cherry, John F., and Davis, Jack L. 1994 Intensive Survey, Agricultural Practice and the Classical Landscape of Greece. In Classical Greece: Ancient Histories and Modern Archaeologies, edited by Ian Morris, pp. 137–170. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Berdan, Frances F., Blanton, Richard E., Boone, Elizabeth H., Hodge, Mary G., Smith, Michael E., and Umberger, Emily 1996 Aztec Imperial Strategies. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Berdan, Frances F., and Smith, Michael E. 1996 Imperial Strategies and Core-Periphery Relations. In Aztec Imperial Strategies, by Frances Berdan, Richard Blanton, Elizabeth Boone, Mary Hodge, Michael E. Smith, and Emily Umberger, pp. 209–217. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Blankholm, Hans Peter 1991 Intrasite Spatial Analysis in Theory and Practice. Aarhuis University Press, Aarhuis, Denmark.Google Scholar
Boone, Elizabeth H. 1996 Manuscript Painting in Service of Imperial Ideology. In Aztec Imperial Strategies, by Frances Berdan, Richard Blanton, Elizabeth Boone, Mary Hodge, Michael E. Smith, and Emily Umberger, pp. 181–208. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Brainerd, George W. 1951 The Place of Chronological Ordering in Archaeological Analysis. American Antiquity 16:301–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brumfiel, Elizabeth R., and Hodge, Mary G. 1996 Interaction in the Basin of Mexico. In Arqueología Mesoamericana: Homenaje a William T Sanders, edited by Alba Guadalupe Mastache, Jeffrey Parsons, Robert Santley, and Mari Carmen Serra Puche, pp. 417–437. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Chase, Arlen F. 1992 Elites and the Changing Organization of Classic Maya Society. In Mesoamerican Elites: An Archaeological Perspective, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase, pp. 18–29. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Chase, Arlen F., and Chase, Diane Z. 1992 Mesoamerican Elites: Assumptions, Definitions, and Models. In Mesoamerican Elites: An Archaeological Perspective, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase, pp. 1–17. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Chase, Diane Z. 1992 Postclassic Maya Elites: Ethnohistory and Archaeology. In Mesoamerican Elites: An Archaeological Perspective, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase, pp. 118–134. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Curet, L. Antonio 1993 Regional Studies and Ceramic Production Areas: An Example from La Mixtequilla, Veracruz, Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 20:427–440.Google Scholar
Curet, L. Antonio, Stark, Barbara L., and Zárate, Sergio Vasquez 1994 Postclassic Changes in Veracruz, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 5:13–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DeMarrais, Elizabeth, Castillo, Luis J., and Earle, Timothy K. 1996 Ideology, Materialization, and Power Strategies. Current Anthropology 37:15–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drennan, Robert D. 1996 Statistics for Archaeologists: A Commonsense Approach. Plenum, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drucker, Philip 1943 Ceramic Stratigraphy at Cerro de las Mesas, Veracruz, Mexico. Bulletin No. 141, Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Evans, Susan T. 1985 Cerro Gordo Site: A Rural Settlement of the Aztec Period in the Basin of Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 12:1–18.Google Scholar
Evans, Susan T. 1993 Aztec Household Organization and Village Administration. In Prehispanic Domestic Units in Western Mesoamerica: Studies of Household, Compound, and Residence, edited by Robert Santley and Kenneth G. Hirth, pp, 173–89. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.Google Scholar
Evans, Susan T. 1996 Cihuatecpan: An Aztec Period Village in the Teotihuacan Valley. In Arqueología Mesoamericana: Homenaje a William T. Sanders, edited by Alba Guadalupe Mastache, Jeffrey Parsons, Robert Santley, and Mari Carmen Serra Puche, pp. 399–415. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Garraty, Christopher P. 2000 Ceramic Indices of Aztec Eliteness. Ancient Mesoamerica 11:323–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregg, Susan, Kintigh, Keith W., and Whallon, Robert 1991 Linking Archaeological Interpretation and Archaeological Data: The Sensitivity of Spatial Analytical Methods to Post-depositional Disturbance. In The Interpretation oj Archaeological Spatial Patterning, edited by Ellen Kroll and T. Douglas Price, pp. 149–196. Plenum, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicks, Fredric 1982 Tetzcoco in the Early 16fh Century: The State, the City, and the Calpolli . American Ethnologist 9:230–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hicks, Fredric 1991 Gift and Tribute: Relations of Dependency in Aztec Mexico. In Early State Economics, edited by Henri Claessen and Pieter van de Velde, pp. 199–213. Transaction Books, New York.Google Scholar
Hicks, Fredric 1994 Alliance and Intervention in Aztec Imperial Expansion. In Factional Competition and Development in the New World, edited by Elizabeth M. Brumfiel and John W. Fox, pp. 111–116. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth G. 1998 The Distributional Approach: A New Way to Identify Marketplace Exchange in the Archaeological Record. Current Anthropology 39:451–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hodge, Mary G. 1998 Archaeological Views of Aztec Culture. Journal of Archaeological Research 6:197–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, George T., and Beck, Charlotte 1992 Chronological Resolution in Distributional Archaeology. In Space, Time, and Archaeological Landscapes, edited by Jacqueline Rossignol and Luann Wandsnider, pp. 167–192. Plenum Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kintigh, Keith W. 1990 Intrasite Spatial Analysis: A Comment on Major Methods. In Mathematics and Information Science in Archaeology: A Flexible Framework, edited by Albertus Voorrips, pp. 165–200. Studies in Modern Archaeology No. 3, HOLOS-Verlag, Bonn.Google Scholar
Kintigh, Keith W. 1999 Tools for Quantitative Archaeology: Programs for Quantitative Analysis in Archaeology. Programs manual published by the author, Tempe, Arizona. Available at http://pages.prodigy.net/keith.kintigh.Google Scholar
Kintigh, Keith W., and Ammerman, Albert 1982 Heuristic Approaches to Spatial Analysis in Archaeology. American Antiquity 47:31–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koetje, Todd A. 1987 Spatial Patterns in Magdalenian Open Air Sites from Isle Valley, Southwestern France. BAR International Series 346, Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohler, Timothy A., and Blinman, Eric 1987 Solving Mixture Problems in Archaeology: Analysis of Ceramic Materials for Dating and Demographic Reconstruction. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 6:1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kowalewski, Stephen A., and Finsten, Linda 1983 The Economic Systems of Ancient Oaxaca: A Regional Perspective. Current Anthropology 24:413–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lind, Michael 1987 The Sociocultural Dimensions ofMixtec Ceramics. Van-derbilt University Publications in Anthropology No. 33, Nashville.Google Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 1983 On the Nature of the Mesoamerican City. In Prehistoric Settlement Patterns: Essays in Honor of Gordon R. Willey, edited by Evon Z. Vogt and Richard M. Leventhal, pp. 195–242. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Medellín Zenil, Alfonso 1960 Cerámicas del Totonacapan: exploraciones arqueológicos en el centro de Veracruz. Instituto de Antropología, Universidad Veracruzana, Jalapa, México.Google Scholar
Nelson, Ben A. 1995 Complexity, Hierarchy, and Scale: A Controlled Comparison Between Chaco Canyon and La Quemada, Zacatecas. American Antiquity 60:597–618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ohnersorgen, Michael 2001 Social and Economic Organization in the Postclassic Gulf Lowlands: A View from Cotaxtla, Veracruz, Mexico. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Parsons, Jeffrey R. 1971 Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Texcoco Region, Mexico. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology No. 3, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, Daniel G., and Barrett, John 1984 Nightsoil Disposal Practices of the 19th Century and the Origins of Artifacts in Plowzone Proveniences. Historical Archaeology 18:108–115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robinson, William S. 1951 A Method for Chronologically Ordering Archaeological Deposits. American Antiquity 16:293–301.Google Scholar
Schortman, Edward, and Nakamura, Seiichi 1991 A Crisis of Identity: Late Classic Competition and Interaction on the Southeast Maya Periphery. Latin American Antiquity 2:311–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siegal, Peter E., and Roe, Peter G. 1985 Shipibo Archaeo-ethnography: Site Formation Processes and Archaeological Interpretation. World Archaeology 18:96–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simek, Jan F. 1984 A k-means Approach to the Analysis of Spatial Structure in Upper Paleolithic Habitation Sites: Le Flageolet and Pincevent Section 36. BAR International Series 205, Oxford.Google Scholar
Simek, Jan F. 1987 Spatial Order and Behavioral Change in the French Paleolithic. Antiquity 61:25–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simek, Jan E., Ammerman, Albert J., and Kintigh, Keith W. 1984 Explorations in Heuristic Spatial Analysis: Analyzing the Structure of Material Accumulations Over Space. In To Pattern the Past, edited by Albertus Voorrips and Susan Loving, pp. 229–247. PACT 11, Strasbourg.Google Scholar
Skoglund, Thanet 2001 Imports and Imitations: Compositional and Stylistic Analysis of Aztec- Style Ceramics from Veracruz, Mexico. Unpublished Master’s Paper, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 1986 The Role of Social Stratification in the Aztec Empire: A View from the Provinces. American Anthropologist 88:70–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 1987 Household Possessions and Wealth in Agrarian States: Implications for Archaeology. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 6:297–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 1990 Long-Distance Trade under the Aztec Empire: The Archaeological Evidence. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:153–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 1992 Archaeological Research at Aztec-Period Rural Sites in Morelos, Mexico, Volume I: Excavations and Architecture. Memoirs in Latin American Archaeology No. 4, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 1994 Social Complexity in the Aztec Countryside. In Archaeological Views from the Countryside: village Communities in Early Complex Societies, edited by Glenn M. Schwartz and Steven E. Falconer, pp. 143–59. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E., and Berdan, Frances F. 1992 The Archaeology of the Aztec Empire. World Archaeology 23:353–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, Barbara L. 1974 Geography and Economic Specialization in the Lower Papaloapan, Veracruz, Mexico. Ethnohistory 21:199–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stark, Barbara L. 1985 Archaeological Identification of Pottery Production Locations. In Decoding Prehistoric Ceramics, edited by Ben A. Nelson, pp. 158–194. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L. 1990 The Gulf Coast and the Central Highlands of Mexico: Alternative Methods for Interaction. Research in Economic Anthropology 12:243–285.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L. 1991 Survey Methods and Settlement Features in the Cerro de las Mesas Region. In Settlement Archaeology of Cerro de las Mesas, edited by Barbara L. Stark, pp. 39–48. Monograph No. 34, Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L. 1995 Introductión a la alfarería del postclásico en La Mixtequilla, sur-centro de Veracruz. Arqueología 13-14:17–36.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L. 1999 Formal Architectural Complexes in South-Central Veracruz, Mexico: A Capital Zone? Journal of Field Archaeology 26:197–225.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L., and Hall, Barbara A. 1993 Hierarchical Social Differentiation Among Late and Terminal Classic Residential Locations in La Mixtequilla, Veracruz, Mexico. In Prehispanic Domestic Units in Western Mesoamerica: Studies of the Household, Compound, and Residence, edited by Robert Santley and Kenneth G. Hirth, pp. 249–273. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.Google Scholar
Stark, Barbara L., and Schowalter, Pamela 1974 Reconocimiento en la Mixtequilla sur-central de Veracruz. Arqueología 4:67–86.Google Scholar
Stirling, Matthew 1943 Stone Monuments of Southern Veracruz, Bulletin No. 138. Bureau of American Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Trigger, Bruce G. 1990 Monumental Architecture: A Thermodynamic Explanation of Symbolic Behavior. World Archaeology 22:119–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Umberger, Emily 1996 Aztec presence and Material Remains in the Outer Provinces. In Aztec Imperial Strategies, by Frances Berdan, Richard Blanton, Elizabeth Boone, Mary Hodge, Michael E. Smith, and Emily Umberger, pp. 151–179. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Vásquez Zárate, Sergio 1990 El modelo de prospección en la región de la Mixtequilla, época postclásico. Tesis de Licenciatura, Facultad de Antropología, Universidad Veracruzana, Jalapa, Mexico.Google Scholar
Wattenmaker, Patricia 1994 Household Economy in Early State Society: Material Value, Productive Context and Spheres of Exchange. In Economic Anthropology of the State, edited by Elizabeth Brumfiel, pp. 93–118. Monographs in Economic Anthropology No. 11, University Press of America, Lanham.Google Scholar
Whallon, Robert 1984 Unconstrained Clustering for the Analysis of Spatial Distributions in Archaeology. In Intrasite Spatial Analysis in Archaeology, edited by Harold Hietala, pp. 242–277. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, T. J. 1982 The Definition of Ancient Manured Zones by Means of Extensive Sherd- Sampling Techniques. Journal of Field Archaeology 9:323–333.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, T. J. 1989 Extensive Sherd Scatters and Land-Use Intensity: Some Recent Results. Journal of Field Archaeology 16:31–46.Google Scholar