With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Stacie M. King will conduct two field seasons of archaeological research in southern Oaxaca, Mexico. Nejapa is located in the mountainous Sierra Sur and marks the midpoint of a heavily traveled trade route connecting the Mexican highlands to the Pacific coast. For at least 2500 years, armies and traders from highland empires and political centers traveled through Nejapa to try to access rich coastal resources. Not all of these experiences were friendly and mutually beneficial. As is known from archaeological and ethnohistoric sources, Mesoamerica is a world region with a long history of conquest and colonization. While the Mixe, Chontal, and Zapotec peoples in Nejapa clearly experienced Spanish conquest and colonialism, they also endured multiple earlier conquests with potentially greater local impact. In the centuries preceding the arrival of the Spanish, Aztecs were building a large empire, which ultimately encompassed large parts of what is now Mexico. At roughly the same time, highland Zapotecs in Oaxaca embarked on their own hostile takeover of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Nejapa is the place where all of these efforts converged. Initial archaeological research in Nejapa shows that the years between A.D. 1350 and 1650 were incredibly dynamic, with increased numbers of archaeological sites, economic and political diversity, and wider settlement distribution across valleys, foothills, and mountain ridgelines.
Archaeological studies of culture contact and colonialism tend to emphasize interactions between indigenous peoples and Europeans. Despite recent attempts to broaden definitions beyond the realm of first encounters between the Old and New World, in practice, studies often emphasize post-fifteenth century contexts. The intellectual merit of this project is that it breaks new ground by including non-European colonialism and extending the time frame of colonialism earlier and later. The goal is to examine how local sociopolitical relations in rural regions contributed to differential results during multiple conquests and colonialisms by foreigners. Specific questions address the give and take between external and internal political forces, investment in resource-poor high altitude locations, effects of differential access to trade networks on local politics and economics, fortresses and military strategies, and ethnic relations during centuries of political upheaval.
The field work includes two seasons of settlement survey, mapping, and targeted excavations at key sites that span the years A.D. 1350 to 1650. Laboratory analysis consists of geochemical sourcing of ceramics and obsidian, AMS radiocarbon dating, and artifact analysis. This multi-scalar project represents the first part of a longer-term interdisciplinary study of the region's history.
The project has several broader impacts. First, it will facilitate the development of long-term institutional collaborations between the U.S. and Mexico by providing scientific training for undergraduate and graduate students from both countries and by creating ties between Indiana University and agencies in Mexico. The field and laboratory work will also provide valuable cultural resource training to Mixe, Zapotec, and Chontal citizens across the region. Finally, the adoption of innovative methods and technologies for digital data acquisition in high-altitude locations without electricity will be relevant to specialists in various disciplines.
