New Research at Teotihuacan’s Tlajinga District, 2012–2015

Abstract

Teotihuacan's Tlajinga district is a cluster of neighborhoods on the southern periphery of the city best known for earlier investigations at Compound 33:S3W1. New research includes excavations at two other apartment compounds and along the southern extension of the Street of the Dead. Excavation contexts, major finds, chronology, and preliminary interpretations are the subject of this article. We highlight evidence attesting to a major obsidian-blade workshop at Compound 17:S3E1, offerings, and other features at that compound and Compound 18:S3E1, and the tempo and processes of urbanization viewed through well-recorded stratigraphic sequences of the compounds and the Street of the Dead. We conclude that significant occupation began in the Miccaotli phase, but it was not until some point in the Early Tlamimilolpa phase that the dominant housing type became apartment compounds; the continuation of the axis of Street of the Dead in the district was accomplished by excavating in the volcanic tuft substrate (tepetate) and could have been undertaken by the inhabitants of the district themselves; and the presence of items such as a sculpted stone face, marine shell, and polychrome pottery demonstrates that commoners at Teotihuacan enjoyed some access to finer items within the interregional economy.

Residential Burial Along the Southern Street of the Dead: Skeletons and Isotopes

“…At Tlajinga, ceramic production was the focus of production during the later phases of the city's occupation (Cowgill 2015). Excavations at three apartment compounds in Tlajinga suggest this district was a craft production community, probably organized at the neighborhood level (Carballo et al 2019; Storey 1992).…”

“…The most recent excavations at Compounds 17 (17:S3E1) and 18 (18:S3E1) are located along the Street of the Dead (Figure 1). Tlajinga 17 was identified by Spence (1981) based on evidence from the Teotihuacan Mapping Project (TMP; Millon et al 1973) as a residence of obsidian workers, an identification supported by excavations (Carballo et al 2019; Hirth et al 2019). In contrast, Compound 18 was not initially associated with any craft specialization, but excavation has revealed evidence of production here as well (Widmer 2019).…”

“…At this time, however, differences in status in Compounds 17 and 18 may not be as clearly reflected as in Tlajinga 33 (Storey 1992), given that this is a preliminary analysis of paleopathological indicators and stable isotopes. Regarding status difference, it must also be noted that Tlajinga is considered a modest neighborhood relative to the entire city of Teotihuacan (Carballo et al 2019). Therefore, when we speak of “higher” and “lower” status individuals at Tlajinga, we are not designating between two classes of people on opposite ends of the wealth spectrum.…”

“…Calibrated accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14 C) dates for the burials from all three Tlajinga compounds. Additional radiocarbon dates can be found inCarballo et al (2019:Table 1).…”

Sociopolitical organization, landscape change, and hydraulic engineering in the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico: 1250 B.C.–A.D. 1810

“…Other forms of urban water management emerged more organically from lower social strata. Domestic drains in Teotihuacan are often associated with ornate ritual offerings—particularly at bends and openings—including caches of shell, stuccoed tripod vessels with Storm God motifs and, in one instance, sacrificed canines (Carballo et al, 2016; Carballo, Hernández Sariñana, Codlin, Buckley, & Ortiz Hernández, ; Mejía Ramón, Paz Bautista, & Carballo, ; Monzón Flores, ). The often‐haphazard nature of urban drainages—and their constant need for maintenance—suggest that there was no universal drainage scheme for the residential sectors of the city (Nava Rivera, ), suggestive against a centrally planned city with a grand master plan (sensu Cowgill, , p. 116, 221; Millon, ; Sugiyama, ).…”