Angela Huster

Using textile production in Postclassic Western Mesoamerica as a case study, this article explores how to differentiate low levels of craft production caused by household provisioning from low levels of craft production due to market reliance and regional specialization. I use a sample of 52 excavated site/phase components to establish baselines for the intensity of production and to evaluate whether participation in the market allowed craftspeople in some regions to underproduce textiles relative to local needs. Highland and lowland sites have comparable low frequencies of spindle whorls during the Early Postclassic, which I interpret as characteristic of household self-sufficiency. Whorl frequencies increase above this baseline earlier and to a higher degree in lowland sites than in highland sites. During the Late Postclassic, some regions may have formed pairs of over-and underproduction zones linked by the market. Because of changes in spinning technology, it is not possible to extrapolate the results of this study to earlier time periods. I then present data from Calixtlahuaca as an example of how macroregional data can be used to interpret craft production at a particular site. Textile production at Calixtlahuaca was generally low, but this was more likely a function of a strong dependence on maguey fiber, rather than underproduction caused by a reliance on the market.

Abstract: Maguey (Agave spp.) cultivation provided an important source of food, fuel, and fiber in highland Mesoamerica. Excavations at the Postclassic Toluca Valley site of Calixtlahuaca recovered evidence for maguey use in landscape stabilization, house construction, textile production, and possibly beverage production. This demonstrates that intensive maguey production extended outside agriculturally marginal areas and requiring a more complex model of maize/maguey complementarity.

Resumen: El maguey era una fuente importante de alimento, leña, y fibra en las zonas altas de Mesoamérica. Las excavaciones en el sitio posclásico de Calixtlahuaca, ubicado en el Valle de Toluca, recuperaron evidencia para el uso de maguey para mantener terrazas, construir casas, producir textiles, y posiblemente como fuente de bebida. Esta evidencia demuestra que el cultivo intensivo del maguey extendió fuera de las zonas de baja productividad agrícola y requiere un modelo más complejo de la complementariedad entre el cultivo del maíz y el maguey.

Zusammenfassung: Der Anbau von Maguey (Agave spp.) war wichtig als Quelle für Nahrun gsmittel, Brennmaterial und Fasern im Hochland von Mesoamerika. Ausgrabungen in der postklassischen archäologischen Stätte Calixtlahuaca im Toluca-Tal fanden Hinwerise auf den Einsatz von Maguey zur Konsolidierung der Landschaft, im Hausbau, der Textilproduktion und möglicherweise der Getränkeherstellung. Dies zeigt, dass die intensive Maguey-Produktion über landwirtschaftliche Randgebiete hinausreichte und dass ein komplexeres Modell der Komplementarität von Mais und Maguey entwickelt werden muss.

A B S T R A C T This article uses evidence of regional-scale ceramic exchange to evaluate three proposed causal factors (Aztec imperial expansion, bottom-up demand, and elite competition) for the development of the market-based economy of Postclassic Central Mexico. The factors used to evaluate these models may be applied more widely to other cases of market development. Using previously published datasets, I compare the quantities and diversities of non-local ceramics from sites in the Basin of Mexico, Morelos, and the Toluca Valley regions of central highland Mexico across the Middle (CE 1150–1350) and Late (CE 1350–1521) Postclassic periods. The results show that the highest proportion of trade occurs under Aztec rule, and is dominated by ceramics exported out of the Basin of Mexico. However, areas outside the Basin of Mexico have higher numbers of trading partners, and these ties are well developed during the Middle Postclassic. These results provide partial support for both bottom-up demand and elite competition as causal factors for market development. This article also demonstrates the continued utility of legacy data and emphasizes the need to make basic data sets available for new analyses.

We describe the development of a new chronology for the Postclassic site of Calixtlahuaca, Toluca, Mexico. We identify
three ceramic phases using discriminant analysis of decorated and plainware types. These phases are consistent with excavated stratigraphy, as well as a series of 54 radiocarbon dates. We then assign absolute dates to the phases using Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates and historical information on the date of site abandonment. The resulting chronology identifies three phases at the site: Dongu (A.D. 1130–1380), Ninupi (A.D. 1380–1450), and Yata (A.D. 1450–1530). We then discuss the local and regional implications of the chronology. More broadly, our results demonstrate the utility of using multiple, complementary methods for developing more precise chronologies.

In 1565, the Matlatzinca Pablo Ocelotl and the Nahua Alonso Gonzales appeared before a Spanish judge in lawsuit over lands in the community of Tlacotepec, in the Toluca Valley of Central Mexico. While describing the rises and falls of their families under Matlatzinca, Aztec, and Spanish rule, both swore their families were long time residents of community.  In 2023, the Proyecto Arqueológico Tlacotepec/Tlacotepec Archaeological Project conducted an intensive survey of the Postclassic Matlatzinca-Aztec site of Tlacotepec, focused on evaluating the timing and degree of Triple Alliance control in an intermediate province of the empire. This poster presents preliminary survey results of the chronological and cultural affiliations of the site, its spatial extent, and intrasite patterning. The site has been occupied from Early Postclassic through the present, and the survey found materials associated with the Early Postclassic through Early Spanish Colonial periods. The material at the site is predominately Matlatzinca, with evidence for interaction with the Basin of Mexico limited to the end of the Late Postclassic, adding an additional page to Pablo and Alonso’s story.

This poster presents preliminary data on burial offerings from the Epiclassic site of Los Mogotes (ZU-ET-12) in Central Mexico. The offerings demonstrate ties to both the West-Northwest, and to the Gulf Coast. Burials are generally similar to those from other Epiclassic sites in the Northern Basin of Mexico and Southern Hidalgo.

This poster examines the variation in domestic ritual practices in Postclassic Central Mexico, using data from the Basin of Mexico, the Toluca Valley, and Morelos. I use cluster analysis to identify patterning in censer and figurine use, based on the functional attributes of these artifact classes (use mechanics for censers, subject matter for figurines). These clusters are then compared spatially and temporally to identify patterns based on ethnicity and the expansion of the Aztec Empire. The results show a potential division in ritual practices between primarily Nahua and primarily Oto-Pamean subregions, as well as an expansion of the Nahua pattern during the Late Postclassic.

In Central Mexico, the Late Postclassic period encompasses the expansion of both a robust market system and the growth of the Aztec Empire. However, increasingly refined chronologies in multiple subregions have made it clear that changes in economic and political organization did not happen simultaneously, nor did they happen consistently across the region. This poster presents data on the changing geographic patterning and intensity of ceramic exchange at the site of Calixtlahuaca, in the Toluca Valley during the Middle and Late Postclassic periods (A.D. 1130-1530). The discussion of exchange incorporates both type-based ceramic classification and INAA. The pattern observed at
Calixtlahuaca is then compared to patterns of ceramic exchange at contemporaneous sites in the Basin of Mexico and Morelos.

This archaeological study analyses households at the Postclassic site of Calixtlahuaca (State of Mexico, Mexico), to evaluate the directness and collectiveness of local and imperial Aztec rule based on their effects on the commoner population. Scholars are divided as to whether Aztec rule was generally positive (due to opportunities for economic and cultural interaction) or negative (due to taxation and loss of autonomy).
Contexts at Calixtlahuaca date to three periods, the Dongu (AD 1130-1370), Ninupi (1370-1450), and Yata (1450-1530) phases. The first two phases show the pre-Aztec trajectory, which is compared to the final period under Aztec rule to disentangle general trends toward regional integration from Aztec effects. Each phase includes six excavated
households.
I assess economic changes on three dimensions: foreign trade, local craft production, and household wealth. Trade is evaluated for obsidian and ceramics (INAA, petrography, type classification) and local crafting is evaluated for ceramic, lithic, textile, and molded ceramic items. Wealth is measured using all excavated artifacts, with the relative values of artifact classes based on Colonial Nahuatl wills. Prior to Aztec rule,
trade was increasing and diversifying, but craft production was low. Under Aztec rule, trade reoriented toward the Basin of Mexico, craft production remained low, and household wealth stabilized. Pre-Aztec inter-household variation for all dimensions is low, before increasing during the Yata phase.
Cultural changes are evaluated for ritual activities and foodways. I evaluate the degree of interhousehold variability, the overall similarity to other parts of Central Mexico, the degree of change under Aztec rule, and immigration versus emulation as potential explanations for that change. Evaluation is based on the distinction between high and low visibility objects and practices. The Dongu and Ninupi phase households at Calixtlahuaca were culturally homogeneous and regionally distinctive. During the Yata phase, the site became moderately more Aztec, but this change was unevenly distributed among households.
Together, the economic and cultural patterns at Calixtlahuaca indicate that the pre-Aztec local organization of power was relatively collective, but that this was partially overlaid by relatively indirect and non-collective Aztec imperial rule, with mildly negative effects.