Village and field abandonment in post-Conquest Tlaxcala: A geoarchaeological perspective

Borejsza, Aleksander

doi:10.1016/j.ancene.2014.02.001

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…They probably formed the foundations of wattle‐and‐daub or mudbrick houses, or the retaining walls of house platforms and terraces that served the purposes of both agriculture and habitation. Elsewhere in Tlaxcala, we have observed them at less advanced stages of disintegration (Borejsza, : Figure , Table ).…”

Section: Field Observationsmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…Remarkably, sedimentation did not gather pace when the drainage experienced the 14th–15th century demographic explosion and was densely covered by dispersed farmsteads (Borejsza, :9–10). Houses and fields occupied stone‐faced terrace treads, and in the 16th century were conceived of as barrios (outlying wards) of the nearby towns of Hueyotlipan or Xipetzinco, inhabited mostly by Otomi speakers (Gibson, ; Trautmann, , ; Rojas, [1557]; Assadourian, ; Martínez & Assadourian, [ ca .…”

Section: Chronological Synthesis Of Sediment Transfersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our research is an attempt to piece together the history of a few square kilometers of farmland in central Mexico from the stratigraphic relationships of artifact and charcoal concentrations to colluvial, alluvial, and free‐fall volcanic sediments. We focused on such a small study area in order to integrate as fully as possible on‐ and off‐site research, and to ascertain whether reducing the scale of observation would nudge us away from any of the synthetic conclusions we had previously reached with respect to regional settlement and land use history (Borejsza, , ; Lesure et al., , ; Borejsza et al., ; Borejsza & Frederick, ; Borejsza, Frederick, & Lesure, ; Lesure, ). Tlaxcala, the region where the study area is located, attracts a substantial amount of scholarly attention, and our colleagues and predecessors have offered other, often conflicting syntheses grounded in archival research (Trautmann, ; Skopyk, ), archaeological settlement survey (Abascal, ; García & Merino, , ), soil mapping (Werner, ; Aliphat & Werner, ), and the examination of sedimentary sequences (Heine, , , , , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changing Rural Landscapes of the Last Three Millennia at Santiago Tlalpan, Tlaxcala, Mexico

et al. 2016

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We combine on‐ and off‐site research in a 9 km2 drainage in the Mexican highlands to reconstruct its settlement and land use history. We examine colluvial, alluvial, and volcanic sediments, as well as charcoal assemblages from alluvium and test pits excavated at the village of Calaveras, settled by 500 B.C. Between that date and A.D. 1000 swiddening practices stripped the drainage of its pre‐agricultural soil cover, filling streams with deposits up to 12 m thick. This transformation favored the replacement of oak by pine as the dominant species in old fields. There is no archaeological site dated to A.D. 100–1000, but continued human presence is attested by the charcoal‐rich alluvium, and isolated features, artifacts, and ecofacts in off‐site contexts. Around A.D. 1050 ash erupted from Popocatepetl volcano rejuvenated the soil cover. Slopes were terraced and occupied by dispersed farmsteads. Soon after Spanish Conquest epidemics decimated the rural population. The resulting terrace abandonment and collapse led to widespread gullying, the exposure of underlying duripans, and the formation of a ubiquitous colluvial mantle. Erosion and grazing likely favored the expansion of juniper. Agriculture was intensified and disintensified several times in the last 3000 years, but its effects are cumulative and irreversible, rather than cyclical.

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Section: Field Observationsmentioning

confidence: 75%

Section: Chronological Synthesis Of Sediment Transfersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changing Rural Landscapes of the Last Three Millennia at Santiago Tlalpan, Tlaxcala, Mexico

et al. 2016

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“…Because of lack of maintenance, the walls of dams and terraces broke easily, creating high-energy torrents and providing sediments that would flow down the streams (Cordova & Parsons, 1997). A comparable slope and stream stabilization is doc-umented in the Tlaxcala region, where similar population dynamics changes took place in the 16th century (Borejsza, 2013).…”

Section: Flood Plain Stability Settlement History and Climatic Inflmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Originally, however, this phase was attributed to the devastating effects of the introduction of sheep (Melville 1990(Melville , 1994, which later has been denied on the grounds that the landscape had already been damaged (Whitmore & Turner 1992;O'Hara et al, 1993;Butzer & Butzer 1993, 1997. Further studies in the Texcoco region (Cordova, 1997;Cordova & Parsons, 1997), Tlaxcala (Borejsza, 2013), the Mixteca Alta (Perez-Rodriguez & Anderson, 2013) and the Pátzcuaro Basin (Fisher et al, 2003;Fisher, 2005) relate destabilization to the abandonment of terraces and other structures to retain soil and water. This happened in tandem with the effects of newly introduced land-use practices by the Spanish among other causes (Endfield, 2012).…”

Section: Flood Plain Stability Settlement History and Climatic Inflmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre‐Hispanic and Colonial Flood Plain Destabilization in the Texcoco Region and Lower Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico

Córdova

2016

Geoarchaeology

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Stratigraphic sequences in the flood plains of the eastern Basin of Mexico reveal episodes of intense flooding in the past 3000 years, represented by the deposition of alluvial units C, D, and E, and their respective soil horizons. Unit C correlates with the initial growth of population and clearance of vegetation in the piedmont during the Formative period, followed by a stable period ca. 200 B.C. to A.D. 800 represented by a dark A‐horizon (soil S3). Unit D is associated with land use changes in the Late Classic and Early Toltec periods, sometime between approximately A.D. 800 and 1100. A relatively stable period occurred during the Toltec and Aztec periods, marked by an A‐horizon (soil S4). Unit E represents rapid sedimentation that occurred during the Spanish Colonial period. Previous research in this area suggests that flood plain destabilization in the Early Colonial period occurred as a result of rapid abandonment of terraces, check dams, and settlements in the watersheds of the main rivers. It is possible that the previous period of stabilization (unit D) was influenced by the abandonment of previously managed environments. In the three rapid sedimentation phases, it is possible that climatic fluctuations played an indirect role, if at all.

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Islands in the Lake

Conway

2021

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Now notorious for its aridity and air pollution, Mexico City was once part of a flourishing lake environment. In nearby Xochimilco, Native Americans modified the lakes to fashion a distinctive and remarkably abundant aquatic society, one that provided a degree of ecological autonomy for local residents, enabling them to protect their communities' integrity, maintain their way of life, and preserve many aspects of their cultural heritage. While the area's ecology allowed for a wide array of socioeconomic and cultural continuities during colonial rule, demographic change came to affect the ecological basis of the lakes; pastoralism and new ways of using and modifying the lakes began to make a mark on the watery landscape and on the surrounding communities. In this fascinating study, Conway explores Xochimilco using native-language documents, which serve as a hallmark of this continuity and a means to trace patterns of change.

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Village and field abandonment in post-Conquest Tlaxcala: A geoarchaeological perspective

Cited by 20 publications

References 50 publications

Changing Rural Landscapes of the Last Three Millennia at Santiago Tlalpan, Tlaxcala, Mexico

Changing Rural Landscapes of the Last Three Millennia at Santiago Tlalpan, Tlaxcala, Mexico

Pre‐Hispanic and Colonial Flood Plain Destabilization in the Texcoco Region and Lower Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico

Islands in the Lake

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