Before Teotihuacan—altica, Exchange, Interactions, and the Origins of Complex Society in the Northeast Basin of Mexico

Nichols, Deborah L.; Stoner, Wesley D.

doi:10.1017/s0956536118000305

Cited by 13 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Radiocarbon dating of bone collagen of the four individuals in the burials discussed reflect occupation of the site during the transition from the Early to Middle Formative period that took place around 1000 cal b.c. (Nichols and Stoner 2019;Rosenswig 2015;), and the ceramic evidence is consistent with this appraisal (Stoner and Nichols 2019). This is a time when developed agricultural settlements with evidence of hierarchy and social differentiation were expanding in other sectors of the Basin of Mexico.…”

Section: Early-middle Formative Period Subsistence Strategies and Thesupporting

confidence: 66%

Early–middle Formative Period Subsistence in the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico: Pre-Hispanic Plant Remains From Altica

et al. 2019

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Recent excavations at the Early–Middle Formative period site of Altica in the southern piedmont of the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico, provide evidence for early agriculture and plant use in a rural community in the northern Basin of Mexico. In the Basin of Mexico, settled agricultural communities were present in the southern sector of the region from at least 1200 cal b.c. Initial expansion into the semiarid northern sector of the Basin, however, appears to have taken place towards the end of the Early Formative, during the transition to the Middle Formative when agricultural economies based on maize cultivation became firmly established, setting the scene for increased population density and concomitant social complexity.Altica is currently the only community in the Teotihuacan Valley spanning this transitional period that has survived in the face of intensive changes in land use over the last three millennia. Macro- and microbotanical evidence recovered from radiocarbon-dated excavated contexts at Altica provide evidence for maize cultivation and suggest a subsistence economy in transition, prior to the establishment of intensive dependence upon a broader range of domesticated and cultivated plants.

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Section: Early-middle Formative Period Subsistence Strategies and Thesupporting

confidence: 66%

Early–middle Formative Period Subsistence in the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico: Pre-Hispanic Plant Remains From Altica

et al. 2019

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“…Although we cannot pinpoint the exact location of origin of the individual from Burial 2 from strontium isotope ratios alone, compositional analysis of ceramic vessels imported to Altica provide possible links to his place of birth. Further explored in other articles in this issue (Nichols and Stoner 2019;Stoner and Nichols 2019b) and prior texts (Nichols 2015;Stoner et al 2015), Altica is hypothesized to have played an important role in efficient regional exchange systems of Otumba obsidian (Healan 2019), as well as ceramics and other exotic goods from locations outside of the Basin. Nodes of exchange, like Altica, were created due to the vast diversity of natural resources spread across Mesoamerica and the difficulty of traveling directly to the source to trade for these goods.…”

Section: Evidence Of Paleomobilitymentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Unlike the cylindrical pits that contained the female burials, the pit intentionally excavated into bedrock for the purpose of interring this individual was rectangular (Nichols and Stoner 2019). This individual was flexed on the right side.…”

Section: Individual Skeletal Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The settlers were already farmers, but the village provides a glimpse into life during the Early–Middle Formative period, as people continued to adapt to an agricultural lifestyle newly introduced into the northeast Basin. Although small in size and population compared to some other Formative sites in the Basin, Altica was also an important node in exchange networks and received goods from distant areas in Mesoamerica at this early date (Stoner and Nichols 2019a; Stoner et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Glimpse of the People of Altica: Osteological and Isotopic/Radiocarbon Analysis

2019

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Altica is a rare first-farming village site in the Basin of Mexico that has survived to modern times. Thus, it provides a glimpse into life during the Early–Middle Formative period. While valuable archaeological information on the village was recovered in excavation, only four burials comprising four individuals were recovered, a very small sample. Two individuals are older-aged females; the third, a middle-aged male, was accompanied by prestigious nonperishable goods and indicates that there are status differences even at this early date. The final individual was a young male buried in a deviant manner, suggesting possible foul play. While all individuals have indicators of periods of poor health, stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen paint a more complete picture of the types of foods these individuals consumed over their lifetime. Radiogenic strontium isotopes of tooth enamel identify one individual, the young male buried in a deviant manner, as non-native to the Altica region. Thus, there is mystery in the manner of death, but even in this small sample, the wider connections Altica had that are so evident in the artefactual analysis are found in the skeletons. In addition, accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating provides a chronology of occupation through the people.

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“…We lack a substantial sample for later periods in the Basin of Mexico, but other contextual information allows us anticipate that interregional exchange of culturally sensitive ceramic materials likely continued at low levels through the Late Formative. During the late Middle Formative and Late Formative periods, settlement hierarchies across Mesoamerica began to form around emerging cities, and polities focused more on regional consolidation and internal investment than external interaction (Nichols and Stoner 2019). In the Basin of Mexico, Cuicuilco coopted regional exchange systems, potentially setting the stage for the regional market systems that have been proposed for the region during the Classic (Hirth 1998).…”

Section: Conclusion: Multiscalar Communities Of Practice and Formativmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pottery Trade and the Formation of Early and Middle Formative Style Horizons as Seen From Central Mexico

Stoner

Nichols

2019

Ancient Mesoam

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We explore the relationship between long-distance pottery trade and the formation of Early and Middle Formative style horizons in Mesoamerica. A sample of 1,154 ceramics mostly from Early and Middle Formative contexts in the central Mexican highlands was irradiated at the University of Missouri Research Reactor with a subsample (n = 313) for petrographic analysis. We conclude that: (1) most sites and regions display more than one process for making pottery; (2) there is a small amount of intraregional exchange among central Mexican sites, with the southeastern Basin of Mexico making the largest portion of pottery intended for trade within the region; and (3) interregional imports found at several sites likely come from the metamorphic region of southwestern Puebla with smaller numbers imported from the southern Gulf Coast, Morelos, and possibly Oaxaca. The trend over time from Early Formative to the end of the Middle Formative is one of decreasing intensity of long-distance interaction and decreasing geographic range of trade. These two trends contribute to the regional divergence of ceramic styles that peaks by the Late Formative in Mesoamerica.

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Before Teotihuacan—altica, Exchange, Interactions, and the Origins of Complex Society in the Northeast Basin of Mexico

Cited by 13 publications

References 80 publications

Early–middle Formative Period Subsistence in the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico: Pre-Hispanic Plant Remains From Altica

Early–middle Formative Period Subsistence in the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico: Pre-Hispanic Plant Remains From Altica

A Glimpse of the People of Altica: Osteological and Isotopic/Radiocarbon Analysis

Pottery Trade and the Formation of Early and Middle Formative Style Horizons as Seen From Central Mexico

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