With National Science Foundation support, Dr.Michael Smith will conduct archaeological excavations at the Aztec-period site of Yautepec which is located in north-central Morelos, Mexico. The site, at the edge of the modern town of Yautepec consists of a large palace structure and 30 hectares of adjacent fields with traces of house remains. This is one of the only areas of a major Aztec city anywhere in central Mexico where a district of houses is available for excavation. The project itself has five major objectives: 1. The exposure of large horizontal areas of 3 to 6 houses; 2. limited testing of another 15 or more houses; 3. establishment of a fine-grained chronology for the site by means of ceramic seriation, stratigraphy and radiocarbon dates; 4. determination of the size and extent of the Aztec city by means of a surface survey of the modern town of Yautepec; 5. synthesis of the data in economic and social terms. Cities are important components of nearly all state societies and archaeologists have long acknowledged the crucial role played by urban centers in the origin and operation of states. Many of the traits that distinguish states from simpler societies are also characteristics of cities and important political, economic and religious institutions are usually concentrated in urban centers. Therefore in order to document and explain the development and organization of ancient states, archaeologists need to map and excavate cities. The Aztecs constructed one of the largest and most impressive New World states. It was heavily urbanized yet very little is known about the nature of Aztec urbanism. Dr. Smith's project will help to solve this problem. His data have the potential to help resolve a number of issues involving urban structure, economic organization and the political processes which characterized Mexico at this time. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to a large number of archaeologists and shed light on how complex societies - including our own - arise and are maintained. This area is slated for urban development. Thus the site is threatened and research must be conducted quickly.
