Neighborhoods and Districts in Ancient Mesoamerica (original) (raw)
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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.
Early Mesoamerican Cities Front Matter
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Urbanization is a phenomenon that brings Into focus a range of toplcs of broad Interest to scholars of the past. It ls one of the central, enduring interests of anthropological archaeology. Because urbanization is a transformational process, it changes the relatlonshlps between social and cultural variables such as demography, economy, politics, and ideology. As one or a handful or cases in the ancient world where cities developed independently, Mesoamerica should play a major role in the global, comparatlve analysis of first-generation cities and urbanism in general. Yet most research focuses on later manifestations of urbanism in Mesoamerica, thereby perpetuating the fallacy that Mesoamerican cities developed relatively late In comparison to urban centers in the rest of the world. This volume presents new data, case studies, and models for approachlng the subject or early Mesoomerican cities. It demonstrates how the study of urbanism in Mesoamerica. and all ancient civilizations is entering a new and dynamic phase or scholarship. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-83851-1.