The proposed archaeological research will explore variation in economic strategies employed by commoner households in order to better understand and characterize the emergence of larger-scale economic and social systems in Early/Middle Postclassic (A.D.900-1350) central Mexico. The goal of this research is to examine variation in household economic activities and social interactions under varying political and economic conditions in order to better understand household decision-making strategies and the influence of those strategies on regional change and development. The Fellow (PI) asks the following questions: What makes some households more successful than others? Do households seek to minimize risk or maximize production yields? Do households act as unified entities with harmonious goals, or are they political arenas characterized by internal power struggles? How do differences in household economic strategies influence social interaction and gender roles at the domestic and regional levels? To address these questions the PI takes a comparative perspective, contrasting households at the prominent city-state of Cerro Portezuelo, with the rising city-state center at Xaltocan, and a subordinate tribute-paying village in the northern Valley of Mexico. This research will be carried out in three main phases: (1) library research and archaeological survey to identify the locations of houses on the landscape, (2) excavation of test pits to characterize variation in household production and consumption, (3) full-scale excavation of houses to document activity areas and social organization.
Intellectual Merit: This research highlights the importance of households, women, and children to the development of complex societies. The household and its domestic products are often deemed the "private" domain of women (as opposed to "public" sphere and craft products associated with men) and, consequently, are often dismissed by archaeologists as irrelevant to regional-level change and development. My research argues that household economies are central to the development of ancient economic and political systems. Methodologically, the strength of this research is its integration of multiple lines of evidence, including micro-artifacts, soil chemistry, and the analysis of space to document activity patterns associated with house floors. In addition, the PI integrates multiple methods of materials and data analysis, including Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) of ceramics and ICP-AES analysis of house floors. The goal is not simply to reconstruct where activities took place, but rather to characterize household economies and divisions of labor. Moreover, by studying production and consumption in conjunction, rather than as distinct processes, this research sheds considerable light on individual household decision-making strategies, which are essential to understanding broader economic and political growth. By focusing on households as strategic actors in broader political and economic events, we can gain a more comprehensive picture of change and stability in ancient civilizations.
Broader Impacts: This research will provide undergraduates and graduate students with opportunities to learn artifact analysis including micro-artifact and soil chemistry analysis. In addition, this research will ultimately become a field project that will train students in archaeological methods. These excavations will provide educational opportunities for children and adults in Mexico through tours of the excavations and working with local schools to develop lesson plans based on my research. The PI will consult with the local community to find out their interests and desires for my research and hire members of the community to work on the project so that local people will at all times be involved in the project, instilling an appreciation for archaeological research, preserving cultural heritage, and fostering local group identity. Finally, this research will be disseminated broadly through multiple venues, including papers presented at professional meetings and articles published in peer-review journals. In addition, to make the research results accessible to the general public, the PI will create a project website. The PI also intends to publish data in an electronic online database to make the results widely accessible to the academic community.
This archaeological research takes a comparative multi-sited approach that examines variation in household strategies and social interactions under varying political and economic conditions in central Mexico. Specifically, I contrast economic strategies employed by commoner households in the rising regional center of Xaltocan with households in rural villages in the Basin of Mexico in order to better understand differences in household strategies and rural-urban interactions in different economic and political contexts during the Early Postclassic (A.D.900-1150) period. In the Basin of Mexico, archaeological models of economic development have focused primarily on elite prestige-driven economies; however, I argue that in focusing on the activities of elites to understand large-scale economic change and development we are overlooking an important source of economic power, namely, the daily activities of ordinary commoners. Thus, this research looks at commoner households at Xaltocan, an island in the northern lake system and Chicoloapan Viejo, an inland site located in the foothills of the southeastern Basin of Mexico. A comparison between households in rural inland communities and urban lakeside sites allows us to compare variation in household strategies in different environmental zones with different natural resources and economic ties. This research took part in two phases: regional survey and test excavations. The goals of the survey and test excavations were to 1) characterize the chronology and stratigraphy of the site, 2) identify the location of domestic structures, 3) begin to characterize household production and consumption activities based on archaeological remains. The analysis of artifacts and data from this study is currently underway and the results are forthcoming, however, a few preliminary interpretations can be made. Chicoloapan Viejo was at its height during the Epiclassic Period from AD 650-950, as the vast majority of decorated ceramics (known as Early Toltec ceramics) date to this period. Occupation of Chicoloapan Viejo continued into the Early Postclassic (Late Toltec period) from A.D. 950-1150, representing approximately 15% of decorated ceramics. Occupation was evenly distributed during the Early Postclassic period although the site was much less densely occupied. As part of this research, test pit excavations were conducted in areas of the highest densities of domestic refuse dating to the Early Postclassic period since excavating in such areas maximizes the likelihood of yielding domestic architecture. Excavations suggested that the Early Postclassic community at Chicoloapan was a rural community focused on agriculture. One test pit, located at the base of the foothills in the southeastern portion of the site, yielded domestic architecture as well as the remains of a stone platform or agricultural terrace likely dating from the Epiclassic through early Postclassic periods. Excavations revealed that the domestic structure was built up against this stone platform, with the adobe house placed at the base of the platform. Preliminary results indicate that the household also engaged in hunting deer, most likely in the nearby forested hills. In addition, a nearby stone quarry was likely used for quarrying local stone by the structure's inhabitants. The hills thus, provided an important economic resource, as they were used for terrace agriculture, hunting, stone quarrying, and probably also for wood from the forested hills. However, the lack of artifacts associated with craft activities indicate that the household was dedicated to subsistence but not craft activities. In sum, whereas Xaltocan was an island in the middle of the lake and had an economy based on the exploitation of lake resources, Chicoloapan was an inland site at the base of the foothills and, thus, had an economy based on mainland and terrace agriculture. At both sites, household economies were based on the exploitation of local environments and varied according to these contexts. My research in the pre-Aztec Basin of Mexico focuses on the transition from a period of economic and political decentralization following the collapse of the powerful state of Teotihuacan (circa AD 650), to the rise of increasingly powerful city-states throughout the Basin of Mexico, ultimately leading to the rise of the Aztec Empire. My research focuses specifically on households as strategic actors in broader political and economic events to gain a more comprehensive picture of change and stability in complex civilizations, but also to understand how conditions of domination by a large polity affects household decision-making strategies. Ultimately, this research will contribute to a better understanding of the emergence of inequality and mechanisms of power which can contribute to our understanding of how these processes play out today.
