Linda Manzanilla

THE STUDY OF ACTIVITIES IN CLASSIC HOUSEHOLDS Two case studies from Coba and Teotihuacan

Mesoamerican household sites were often deserted gradually, leaving very little de facto refuse for analysis. Starting with archaeological and paleobiological distribution patterns, this study adds a new dimension to the spatial study of two Classic households by plotting chemical concentrations in probable activity areas. The study of activity areas and domestic structures has become a fertile field of archaeological research. Yet, in some cases, this boom has also led to careless analyses of data. Though drawn from examinations of household structure, conclusions about surface distributions of artifacts and domestic mounds do not often rest on firm functional, contextual, social, or chronological evidence. Suppositions about elite versus common items, residential versus storage or cult architecture, have yet to be tested rigorously. Worse still, the archaeological literature consistently confuses refuse areas with workshops, common domestic structures with high status residences, and administrative sectors with residential areas. The result: small-scale excavations of floors have provided a voluminous number of untested and debatable hypotheses concerning household size, the degree of cooperation between families, and the developmental cycle of the unit, without, however, benefiting from a full understanding of the activity repertoire, its spatial distribution, the functions of particular structures, and the spatial limits of domestic

Corporate Groups and Domestic Activities at Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan, Mexico. A new methodological approach for studying activity areas was tested in a multifamily compound at Oztoyahualco lSB:N6W3 with the purpose of obtaining information on specific activities attributable to particular households. This approach combines the identification and mapping of chemical compounds in stucco floors with pollen, phytolith, botanical, andfaunal analyses. Together with the distribution of particular types of artifacts, ritual objects, and debris, these data permit an evaluation of the corporate character of certain activities.

Dating Results From Excavations in Quarry Tunnels Behind the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan

In this article we summarize the results of an ongoing project designed to study the tunnels and caves of Teotihuacan, emphasizing those findings derived from the excavation of four extraction tunnels located immediately to the east of the Pyramid of the Sun. In particular, we present radiocarbon and obsidian-hydration dates from the Cueva de las Varillas, where 13 Mazapan-phase burials were found and which has substantial evidence for a post-Teotihuacan occupation. In addition, the Cueva del Pirul has produced evidence of another 14 human burials, which were predominantly children, as well as complete dog skeletons, in a context clearly related to underworld symbolism. After the fall of Teotihuacan, these underground cavities excavated into tezontle continued to provide space for the practitioners of Tlaloc and fertility cult activities. In Aztec times, they were living spaces, and given the lack of space on the surface, this was a function that they served well into the twentieth century.

Emergence and change in early urban societies

Introduction: Early Urban Societies: Challenges and Perspectives L. Manzanilla. Old World: Arlantepe-Malatya: External Factors and Local Components in the Development of an Early State Society M. Frangipane. Urbanism and the Rise of Complex Society and the Early State in Egypt K.A. Bard. Chinas First Cities: The Walled Site of Wangchenggang in the Central Plain Region of North China W. Wiesheu. New World: Teothihuacan: Urban Archetype, Cosmic Model L. Manzanilla. Ideology, Power, and State Formation in the Valley of Oaxaca A.A. Joyce. Clues to the System of Power in the City of Oxkintok (Mexico) M.R. Dorado. Reconstructing Huari: A Cultural Chronology for the Capital City W.H. Isbell. Political Institutional Factors Contributing to the Integration of the Tiwanaku State D.L. Browman. Population and Agriculture in the Emergence of Complex in the Bolivian Altiplano: The Case of Tiwanaku J.E. Mathews. Conclusion: Recapitulation and Concluding Remarks L. Manzanilla. Index.

Cooperation and tensions in multiethnic corporate societies using Teotihuacan, Central Mexico, as a case study.

Significance Teotihuacan was born as a complex multiethnic settlement that originally accommodated populations displaced by volcanic eruptions that devastated the southern Basin of Mexico. Soon, the city became an inclusive society where people from other regions of Mesoamerica could work mainly as qualified craftspeople (particularly garment makers and lapidary specialists), as well as builders, musicians, and military personnel. This society capitalized on the knowledge, technical expertise, and experience that foreigners brought to the city. Each neighborhood competed with the others in displaying the finest crafts, the rarest raw materials, and the most diverse sumptuary goods. This competition gave rise to a highly complex society, but one with inherent contradictions. In this paper, I address the case of a corporate society in Central Mexico. After volcanic eruptions triggered population displacements in the southern Basin of Mexico during the first and fourth centuries A.D., Teotihuacan became a multiethnic settlement. Groups from different backgrounds settled primarily on the periphery of the metropolis; nevertheless, around the core, intermediate elites actively fostered the movement of sumptuary goods and the arrival of workers from diverse homelands for a range of specialized tasks. Some of these skilled craftsmen acquired status and perhaps economic power as a result of the dynamic competition among neighborhoods to display the most lavish sumptuary goods, as well as to manufacture specific symbols of identity that distinguished one neighborhood from another, such as elaborate garments and headdresses. Cotton attire worn by the Teotihuacan elite may have been one of the goods that granted economic importance to neighborhood centers such as Teopancazco, a compound that displayed strong ties to the Gulf Coast where cotton cloth was made. The ruling elite controlled raw materials that came from afar whereas the intermediate elite may have been more active in providing other sumptuary goods: pigments, cosmetics, slate, greenstone, travertine, and foreign pottery. The contrast between the corporate organization at the base and top of Teotihuacan society and the exclusionary organization of the neighborhoods headed by the highly competitive intermediate elite introduced tensions that set the stage for Teotihuacan’s collapse.

Animal Management at the Ancient Metropolis of Teotihuacan, Mexico: Stable Isotope Analysis of Leporid (Cottontail and Jackrabbit) Bone Mineral.

Human-animal interactions have played crucial roles in the development of complex societies across the globe. This study examines the human-leporid (cottontail and jackrabbit) relationship at the pre-Hispanic (AD 1–550) city of Teotihuacan in the Basin of Mexico and tests the hypothesis that leporids were managed or bred for food and secondary products within the urban core. We use stable isotope analysis (δ13Capatite and δ18Oapatite) of 134 leporid specimens from five archaeological contexts within the city and 13 modern specimens from across central Mexico to quantify aspects of leporid diet and ecology. The results demonstrate that leporids from Oztoyahualco, a residential complex associated with a unique rabbit sculpture and archaeological traces of animal butchering, exhibit the highest δ13Capatite values of the sample. These results imply greater consumption of human-cultivated foods, such as maize (Zea mays), by cottontails and jackrabbits at this complex and suggest practices of human provisioning. A lack of significant differences in δ18Oapatite values between ancient and modern leporids and between Oztoyahualco and other locations within Teotihuacan indicates generally similar relative humidity from sampled contexts. Results of this study support the notion that residents provisioned, managed, or bred leporids during the height of the city, and provide new evidence for mammalian animal husbandry in the ancient New World.

Characterization of pre-Hispanic pottery from Teotihuacan, Mexico, by a combined PIXE–RBS and XRD analysis

Abstract A combined analysis of IBA techniques (Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) and Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS)) and a complementary study by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) were performed to characterize pottery corresponding to the Epiclassic period (A.D. 700–900) from Teotihuacan, Mexico. Elemental compositions of pottery samples were measured by simultaneous PIXE and RBS using 2.6 MeV protons. Red, white and brown pottery pigments were studied by non-vacuum PIXE and a proton beam of 3 MeV. The various mineralogical phases of the pottery were identified by XRD. From pottery elemental compositions and its mineralogical phases, some differences among the pottery samples and groups were established.

Can government be self-organized? A mathematical model of the collective social organization of ancient Teotihuacan, central Mexico.

Teotihuacan was the first urban civilization of Mesoamerica and one of the largest of the ancient world. Following a tradition in archaeology to equate social complexity with centralized hierarchy, it is widely believed that the city’s origin and growth was controlled by a lineage of powerful individuals. However, much data is indicative of a government of co-rulers, and artistic traditions expressed an egalitarian ideology. Yet this alternative keeps being marginalized because the problems of collective action make it difficult to conceive how such a coalition could have functioned in principle. We therefore devised a mathematical model of the city’s hypothetical network of representatives as a formal proof of concept that widespread cooperation was realizable in a fully distributed manner. In the model, decisions become self-organized into globally optimal configurations even though local representatives behave and modify their relations in a rational and selfish manner. This self-optimization crucially depends on occasional communal interruptions of normal activity, and it is impeded when sections of the network are too independent. We relate these insights to theories about community-wide rituals at Teotihuacan and the city’s eventual disintegration.

Sex Determination in Highly Fragmented Human DNA by High-Resolution Melting (HRM) Analysis

Sex identification in ancient human remains is a common problem especially if the skeletons are sub-adult, incomplete or damaged. In this paper we propose a new method to identify sex, based on real-time PCR amplification of small fragments (61 and 64 bp) of the third exon within the amelogenin gene covering a 3-bp deletion on the AMELX-allele, followed by a High Resolution Melting analysis (HRM). HRM is based on the melting curves of amplified fragments. The amelogenin gene is located on both chromosomes X and Y, showing dimorphism in length. This molecular tool is rapid, sensitive and reduces the risk of contamination from exogenous genetic material when used for ancient DNA studies. The accuracy of the new method described here has been corroborated by using control samples of known sex and by contrasting our results with those obtained with other methods. Our method has proven to be useful even in heavily degraded samples, where other previously published methods failed. Stochastic problems such as the random allele drop-out phenomenon are expected to occur in a less severe form, due to the smaller fragment size to be amplified. Thus, their negative effect could be easier to overcome by a proper experimental design.

Genetic Evidence Supports the Multiethnic Character of Teopancazco, a Neighborhood Center of Teotihuacan, Mexico (AD 200-600)

Multiethnicity in Teopancazco, Teotihuacan, is supported by foreign individuals found in the neighborhood center as well as by the diversity observed in funerary rituals at the site. Studies of both stable and strontium isotopes as well as paleodietary analysis, suggest that the population of Teopancazco was composed by three population groups: people from Teotihuacan, people from nearby sites (Tlaxcala-Hidalgo-Puebla), and people from afar, including the coastal plains. In an attempt to understand the genetic dynamics in Teopancazco we conducted an ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis based on mtDNA. Our results show that the level of genetic diversity is consistent with the multiethnicity phenomenon at the neighborhood center. Levels of genetic diversity at different time periods of Teopancazco’s history show that multiethnicity was evident since the beginning and lasted until the collapse of the neighborhood center. However, a PCA and a Neighbor-Joining tree suggested the presence of a genetically differentiated group (buried at the Transitional phase) compared to the population from the initial phase (Tlamimilolpa) as well as the population from the final phase (Xolalpan) of the history of Teopancazco. Genetic studies showed no differences in genetic diversity between males and females in the adult population of Teopancazco, this data along with ample archaeological evidence, suggest a neolocal post-marital pattern of residence in Teopancazco. Nevertheless, genetic analyses on the infant population showed that the males are significantly more heterogeneous than the females suggesting a possible differential role in cultural practices by sex in the infant sector. Regarding interpopulation analysis, we found similar indices of genetic diversity between Teopancazco and heterogeneous native groups, which support the multiethnic character of Teopancazco. Finally, our data showed a close genetic relationship between Teopancazco and populations from the “Teotihuacan corridor” and from Oaxaca and the Maya region, in agreement with previous archaeological evidence.