Angela Huster | Arizona State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Angela Huster

The Legacies of the Basin of Mexico, 2023

Open Archaeology, 2021

We carried out a full-coverage survey of the Yautepec Valley in the 1990s to reconstruct demograp... more We carried out a full-coverage survey of the Yautepec Valley in the 1990s to reconstruct demography and settlements and their changes through time. We investigated the extent to which well-documented developments in the adjacent Basin of Mexico were paralleled in Yautepec, as well as the impact of regional empires and economies on local society. Our analyses focused on Teotihuacan relations in the Classic period and relations with the Aztec empire and the Mesoamerican world system in the Middle and Late Postclassic periods. In addition to locating, mapping, and describing sites and taking grab-bag artifact collections, we also made a series of systematic intensive surface collections (5 × 5 m) and test excavations at samples of Classic and Postclassic sites. In this paper, we describe the survey and changing settlement patterns in the Yautepec Valley. We also present several analyses of changing patterns of urbanization through the Prehispanic era. We conclude with a synthesis of changing social and cultural dynamics in this region.

Ancient Mesoamerica, 2019

Smith, Michael E., Abhishek Chatterjee, Sierra Stewart, Angela Huster, and Marion Forest. We pre... more Smith, Michael E., Abhishek Chatterjee, Sierra Stewart, Angela Huster, and Marion Forest.

We present three new analyses of existing data from past fieldwork at Teotihuacan. First, we confirm and refine the wealth-based housing typology of Millon's Teotihuacan Mapping Project (TMP). Second, we analyze the spatial configurations of excavated compounds, using network methods to identify the size and layout of individual dwellings within walled compounds. Third, we use those results to generate the first population estimate for the city based on measurements from the TMP map. We extrapolate the average sizes of dwellings from excavated compounds to the entire sample of mapped residences as depicted on the TMP map of the city. We generate a range of population estimates, of which we suggest that 100,000 persons is the most reasonable estimate for the Xolalpan-Metepec population of Teotihuacan. These analyses show that legacy data from fieldwork long past can be used to answer research questions that are relevant and important today.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020

This paper presents the results of the INAA of 28 geological clay samples from the Toluca Valley ... more This paper presents the results of the INAA of 28 geological clay samples from the Toluca Valley (Upper Lerma) in the State of Mexico, Mexico and the immediately adjacent areas to the north, west, and south. While preliminary , these results demonstrate that there are internal elemental clines within the Toluca Valley, based on elevation (Na, K) and latitude (Cr), among other patterns. These samples also demonstrate that the underlying geology of the Toluca Valley can be systematically differentiated from that of the adjacent Basin of Mexico based on higher Ba and lower K concentrations. This study confirms the results of prior analyses of archaeological ceramics from the Toluca Valley, and provides new avenues for dividing the region into multiple sub-regional source areas in future archaeological analyses.

Latin American Antiquity, 2019

Using textile production in Postclassic Western Mesoamerica as a case study, this article explore... more 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.

Mexicon, 2019

Abstract: Maguey (Agave spp.) cultivation provided an important source of food, fuel, and fiber i... more 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.

Antiquity, 2018

The Teotihuacan Mapping Project (TMP) provided vast quantities of invaluable data to our understa... more The Teotihuacan Mapping Project (TMP) provided vast quantities of invaluable data to our understanding of this famous ancient city. The ‘Documenting, Disseminating, and Archiving Data from the Teotihuacan Mapping Project’ aims to analyse, re-examine and ultimately coalesce TMP data for entry into The Digital Archaeological Record.

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2018

A B S T R A C T This article uses evidence of regional-scale ceramic exchange to evaluate three p... more 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.

Journal of Field Archaeology, 2013

Calixtlahuaca, a Middle–Late Postclassic site in the Toluca Valley of central Mexico, was occupie... more Calixtlahuaca, a Middle–Late Postclassic site in the Toluca Valley of central Mexico, was occupied ca. A.D. 1100–1530. Our excavations reveal some of the processes involved in the creation, functions, and decay of a large hilltop urban center. At its height, the majority of the site’s surface (264 ha) was covered with residential-agricultural terraces supported by a complex water management system. House construction techniques included the use of adobe brick, wattle-and-daub, and stone pavements. Our fieldwork contributes to a growing body of research on hilltop political capitals in Mesoamerica. Using a refined chronology, we illuminate the processes by which people constructed the residential zones of this ancient hilltop city.

Latin American Antiquity, 2015

We describe the development of a new chronology for the Postclassic site of Calixtlahuaca, Toluca... more 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.

Advances In Archaeological Practice, 2013

Archaeologists often overlook museum collections for research purposes due to concerns about the ... more Archaeologists often overlook museum collections for research purposes due to concerns about the representativeness of the artifacts in the collection. Such concerns can be addressed by comparing non-scientifically produced collections to collections of known standing, An archaeologist's primary research goal is to understand past patterns of behavior. In field research contexts, this involves taking into account formation processes, post-depositional processes, and the limits of the sampling strategy used. Archaeologists do this with varying degrees of success, but the conversation about bias in field contexts is well acknowledged. The analysis of museum collections adds at least one, if not more, levels of human behavior to the patterning of material culture. As a result, the use of museum collections to investigate ancient human behavior requires an additional level of consideration of the effects of much more recent human actions. Unfortunately, the archaeologist's reaction is often one of two extremes-either to ignore the possibility of collection bias, or to ignore the collection because of the possibility of bias.

Calixtlahuaca, a Middle-Late Postclassic site in the Toluca Valley of central Mexico, was occupie... more Calixtlahuaca, a Middle-Late Postclassic site in the Toluca Valley of central Mexico, was occupied ca. A.D. 1100-1530. Our excavations reveal some of the processes involved in the creation, functions, and decay of a large hilltop urban center. At its height, the majority of the site's surface (264 ha) was covered with residential-agricultural terraces supported by a complex water management system. House construction techniques included the use of adobe brick, wattle-and-daub, and stone pavements. Our fieldwork contributes to a growing body of research on hilltop political capitals in Mesoamerica. Using a refined chronology, we illuminate the processes by which people constructed the residential zones of this ancient hilltop city.

Conference Presentations by Angela Huster

Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting, 2024

In 1565, the Matlatzinca Pablo Ocelotl and the Nahua Alonso Gonzales appeared before a Spanish ju... more 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.

Society for American Archaeology, 84th Annual Meeting, 2019

This poster presents preliminary data on burial offerings from the Epiclassic site of Los Mogotes... more 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.

Approaching the Iconography of Epiclassic Censer Ornaments, a Typology from Los Mogotes, Estado de México , 2019

Censers are a subset of Mesoamerican ceramics interpreted as ritual vessels used to burn incense.... more Censers are a subset of Mesoamerican ceramics interpreted as ritual vessels used to burn incense. In ancient central Mexico, censers feature mold made or handmade clay ornaments that were part of iconographically composite vessels. A challenge in their interpretation, however, is that these complex vessels are often found in isolated fragments. At Los Mogotes, an Epiclassic period (ca. 600-900 CE) hilltop settlement in the northern Basin of Mexico, body sherds of censers and appliqué ornaments (adornos) are part of the ceramic assemblage. This poster offers a preliminary classification and interpretation of motif classes – such as chilies and thunder – based on an analysis of ornaments from Los Mogotes. The spatial distribution of ornament types recovered across functional contexts is described: including public, domestic, and ritual spaces. Understanding the spatial distribution of ornament fragments is a step forward in hypothesizing the association of ornament types with once-complete censers. This is important because complete examples are rarely recovered. The goals addressed in this study are to (1) characterize the range of variation of censer ornament motifs across the site and (2) to compare ornament motifs in a public civic-ceremonial and a residential space.

This poster examines the variation in domestic ritual practices in Postclassic Central Mexico, us... more 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 ... more 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.

The Legacies of the Basin of Mexico, 2023

Open Archaeology, 2021

Ancient Mesoamerica, 2019

Smith, Michael E., Abhishek Chatterjee, Sierra Stewart, Angela Huster, and Marion Forest. We pre... more Smith, Michael E., Abhishek Chatterjee, Sierra Stewart, Angela Huster, and Marion Forest.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2020

Latin American Antiquity, 2019

Mexicon, 2019

Antiquity, 2018

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2018

Journal of Field Archaeology, 2013

Latin American Antiquity, 2015

Advances In Archaeological Practice, 2013

Society for American Archaeology Annual Meeting, 2024

Society for American Archaeology, 84th Annual Meeting, 2019

Approaching the Iconography of Epiclassic Censer Ornaments, a Typology from Los Mogotes, Estado de México , 2019

Bajo el volcán. Vida y ritualidad en torno al Nevado de Toluca

The book chapter examines ritual artifacts from the Aztec site of Calixtlahuaca in order to provi... more The book chapter examines ritual artifacts from the Aztec site of Calixtlahuaca in order to provide a context for the types of items found on the nearby Nevado de Toluca volcano. It uses distinctions between great and little tradition activities and public and private activities to compare items from the historical excavations of monumental architecture and more recent excavations of commoner households at the site.

Doctoral Dissertation, 2016

This archaeological study analyses households at the Postclassic site of Calixtlahuaca (State of ... more 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.

Open Archaeology, 2021

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021

We propose a dedicated research effort on the determinants of settlement persistence in the ancie... more We propose a dedicated research effort on the determinants of settlement persistence in the ancient world, with the potential to significantly advance the scientific understanding of urban sustainability today. Settlements (cities, towns, villages) are locations with two key attributes: They frame human interactions and activities in space, and they are where people dwell or live. Sustainability, in this case, focuses on the capacity of structures and functions of a settlement system (geography, demography, institutions) to provide for continuity of safe habitation. The 7,000-y-old experience of urbanism, as revealed by archaeology and history, includes many instances of settlements and settlement systems enduring, adapting to, or generating environmental, institutional, and technological changes. The field of urban sustainability lacks a firm scientific foundation for understanding the long durée, relying instead on narratives of collapse informed by limited case studies. We argue for the development of a new interdisciplinary research effort to establish scientific understanding of settlement and settlement system persistence. Such an effort would build upon the many fields that study human settlements to develop new theories and databases from the extensive documentation of ancient and premodern urban systems. A scientific foundation will generate novel insights to advance the field of urban sustainability. urbanism | cities | sustainability | persistence | archaeology

Antiquity, 2023

Some human settlements endure for millennia, while others are founded and abandoned within a few ... more Some human settlements endure for millennia, while others are founded and abandoned within a few decades or centuries. The reasons for variation in the duration of site occupation, however, are rarely addressed. Here, the authors introduce a new approach for the analysis of settlement longevity or persistence. Using seven regional case studies comprising both survey and excavation data, they demonstrate how the median persistence of individual settlements varies widely within and among regions. In turn, this variability is linked to the effects of environmental potential. In seeking to identify the drivers of settlement persistence in the past, it is suggested that archaeologists can contribute to understanding of the sustainability and resilience of contemporary cities.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021