The Great Pyramid of Cholula is both the largest and oldest continuously occupied building in Mesoamerica. Initial occupation of the ceremonial precinct began in the Late Formative period, and the first building stage of the pyramid dates to the Terminal Formative. The Great Pyramid was built in four major construction stages and at least nine minor modifications. Early stages shared stylistic similarities with Teotihuacan, but toward the end of its construction history external contacts shifted to the Gulf Coast, particularly El Tajin, and probably relate to occupation by ethnic Olmeca-Xicallanca. The fourth and final stage was contemporary with extensive construction on the south side at the Patio of the Altars, and dates to the Early Postclassic period. This period ended, however, with the partial abandonment of the pyramid when ethnic Tolteca-Chichimeca constructed a ceremonial center around their “new” Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl. The Great Pyramid continued as an important shrine dedicated to mountain worship and a rain deity until the Spanish Conquest. It remains one of the most important religious sites in Mexico, where the shrine of the Virgin of the Remedies attracts pilgrims to the church atop the pyramid mound during the annual festival. This paper summarizes the archaeological and ethnohistorical information available to reinterpret the construction history and ideological content of the pyramid throughout its long existence.

The past two decades of research and debate in anthropology have shown how ethnocentric perspectives in methodology and interpretation have led to misinterpretations in ethnography and archaeology. This article contrasts Western and indigenous perceptions of ritual attire that marked the role and status of Aztec rulers and deities. Stimulated by inconsistent Spanish colonial descriptions of the emperors' xiuhtlalpilli “blue-knotted” cloaks, the study compares all of the relevant Nahuatl terms, contexts, and native-drawn images and analyzes these in the light of linguistic, technological, social, archaeological, pictorial, iconographic, textual, and ethnographic evidence. This contextual analysis of the primary data reveals the nature of Spanish misperceptions and the true structure of the indigenous clothing-symbol system. While Spanish chronicles are easily accessible and thus more heavily utilized, this study makes the point that only systematic assessment of Nahuatl terms, indigenous images, and contexts are fully dependable. Reliance on the native perspective and evidence allows new insights into pre-Hispanic categories and worldviews.

Tribute sources have played a significant role in reconstructions of the Triple Alliance's history and geography at the time just before the Spanish Conquest. The Tenochcan tradition has been the main source for these reconstructions. The critical historical analysis of the internal relationship of an alternative tradition, that of Tetzcoco, sheds new light on the Tenochcan tradition and on the tribute distributional ratio of 2:2:1, i.e., of the Triple Alliance tribute to Tenochtitlan, to Tetzcoco, and to Tlacopan. I conclude that this distribution only applied to a minor geographical area in the Triple Alliance conquests. This ratio shows only that Tetzcoco and Tenochtitlan had a major participation in the conquest of part of the northeastern area of central Mexico.

Systematic survey of 1,000 km2 in a mountainous zone of the Mixteca Alta in Oaxaca, Mexico, has produced detailed architectural data at a large number of pre-Hispanic settlements. One unusual architectural form, circular stone foundations, apparently dates to the Late Postclassic period. Comparisons to similar architectural forms described in the archaeological and ethnographic literature of Mesoamerica and in the Mixtec codices suggest that they may have been sweatbaths. Analysis of their regional distribution and site contexts leads to interesting conclusions about additional contexts for sweatbath ritual. The symbolic link between royal birth, marriage, and sweatbath ritual is clear in the Mixtec codices. An additional use may have been in rituals affirming community identity and marking community boundaries. We suggest a further connection to the use of sweatbaths in Mixtec toponyms and their association with sacred places on the Mixtec landscape, both of which reflected the importance of marriage alliance and female royal inheritance in the territorial strategies of Postclassic Mixtec kingdoms.

The Late Classic Maya abandonment of the Copan Valley, Honduras, began in the ninth century a.d. and lasted approximately 250–300 years. The relationship between local ecological setting and residential group abandonment is examined by applying event-history analysis to the known occupation spans of 140 residential mound groups, dated by obsidian hydration. Late Classic households in ecologically vulnerable sections of the Copan Valley—as measured by slope, soil type, and natural vegetation—had significantly higher risk of abandonment than households in more ecologically stable settings. Abandonment risk rises sharply in all regions at the end of the seventh century a.d. Both computerized agricultural simulations and settlement demographic reconstructions indicate that increased levels of agricultural intensification necessary to meet the subsistence needs of Copan's growing population would have led to large-scale erosion in upland areas and a significant reduction of soil fertility in all regions of the valley at that time. Mound-group abandonment patterns tend to support the hypothesis that environmental degradation played a dominant role in the collapse of the Copan polity.

Archaeologists working in the Basin of Mexico have long accepted a chronology in which sequential ceramic phases (Metepec, Coyotlatelco, Mazapan, Aztec I, and Aztec II) define the period between the last stages of Classic Teotihuacan and the immediate antecedents of Late Postclassic Tenochtitlan. The absolute chronology of these phases has remained tentative, and there have been hints of possible temporal overlap between some of them. A series of 37 new radiocarbon dates from three deep, stratified sites in the Basin of Mexico suggest (1) that the traditional sequence of phases is essentially valid; (2) that both Coyotlatelco and Aztec I may have begun significantly earlier than traditionally believed; (3) that there may have been partial chronological overlap between Late Coyotlatelco and Early Aztec I in some parts of the basin; (4) that there was probably little significant temporal overlap between Aztec I and Aztec II; and (5) that the ethnohistorically recognized sociopolitical complexity of the long era in question is amply reflected in a regional ceramic sequence that still requires considerable refinement in both time and space.

The importance of Maya sea trade was the sea's integrating role as provider of ritual and subsistence resources and ritual symbolism in the Maya economy. Coastal as opposed to inland transportation of obsidian and other exotics was enhanced because of coastal–inland exchange within the southern Maya lowlands. Results are presented on fieldwork conducted to investigate Maya sea trade by the South Coastal Archaeology in Belize (SCAB) project in the Port Honduras area of south-coastal Belize between Punta Gorda and Punta Negra. The research focused on identifying features characteristic of Maya trading ports that participated in long-distance trade and their impact on regional economies. The first part of the project, with fieldwork in 1982, identified the offshore island site of Wild Cane Cay as a trading port from the Classic through Postclassic periods (a.d. 300–1500). The discovery of some 30 sites during the second phase of the project, dating from the Protoclassic through the Postclassic periods (a.d. 1–1500), indicated that the coastal area had a long period of settlement in contrast to the inland area of southern Belize where settlement was concentrated during the Late Classic period (a.d. 600–900). The patterns of distribution of similar-sourced obsidian, and blades instead of cores within the south-coastal area indicated that some exotics were regionally distributed and that Wild Cane Cay was the nexus of regional distribution. The importance of coastal-inland exchange is underscored by the presence of specialized salt-production sites, coastal resources, and inland goods—notably “unit-stamped” pottery and moldmade figurine whistles.

The Aztec city-state of Otumba is the focus of a long-term project of archaeological investigation. Analysis of surface and excavated ceramics and obsidian-hydration dates for the capital—Otumba—indicate a dispersed Mazapan occupation, a scattered early Aztec (Aztec II) occupation, and an intense Late Aztec (Aztec III) and Early Colonial (Aztec III/IV) occupation. In the paper we incorporate recent radiocarbon dates to refine the local late Postclassic chronology. A cluster of hydration dates suggests the early (Mazapan) occupation starts ca. a.d. 900. Aztec II ceramics, which are widely distributed in surface artifact collections, may begin as early as a.d. 1200 and continue until a.d. 1400, overlapping Aztec III ceramics, which we have dated from a.d. 1350 ± 50 to 1521 and later. Otumba continued to have a substantial occupation until ca. a.d. 1600/1620 in the early seventeenth century, when most of the Aztec town was abandoned.

The Chajoma were a major Late Postclassic polity in highland Guatemala. Referred to as the Akajal or Akul in the Annals of the Cakchiquels and Popol Vuh, their territory previously has not been fully defined. Based on a small group of sixteenth-century documents preserved in the records of a later litigation, it is now possible to identify the origins of the Chajoma, approximate the time of their arrival in their new territory, and define the extent of their territory. Combined with information on archaeological sites associated with this occupation, we can provisionally characterize the polity's composition and estimate its population.

In this article we summarize the results of an ongoing project designed to study the tunnels and caves of Teotihuacan, emphasizing those findings derived from the excavation of four extraction tunnels located immediately to the east of the Pyramid of the Sun. In particular, we present radiocarbon and obsidian-hydration dates from the Cueva de las Varillas, where 13 Mazapan-phase burials were found and which has substantial evidence for a post-Teotihuacan occupation. In addition, the Cueva del Pirul has produced evidence of another 14 human burials, which were predominantly children, as well as complete dog skeletons, in a context clearly related to underworld symbolism. After the fall of Teotihuacan, these underground cavities excavated into tezontle continued to provide space for the practitioners of Tlaloc and fertility cult activities. In Aztec times, they were living spaces, and given the lack of space on the surface, this was a function that they served well into the twentieth century.

This study examines the geometry of the architecture of the Teuchitlan tradition of western Mexico. An argument will be made that these concentric circular buildings represent formal architectural planning and that they have cultural significance. The pattern dating from the Classic period (ca. a.d. 200–700) will be stressed.

The Postclassic period in central Mexico was characterized by enormous population growth and expansion of settlement, but the timing of the onset of these processes has been poorly understood. Obsidian tools from residential contexts at the Late Postclassic village of Cihuatecpan in the Teotihuacan Valley have been analyzed to determine the extent of hydration, and thus the amount of time elapsed since the tools were manufactured. Estimated dates of manufacture range between a.d. 1221 and 1568, consistent with ethnohistoric accounts of the timing of establishment of Cihuatecpan and other rural villages, and their abandonment in the Early Colonial period. Ceramics found in the same contexts as the obsidian tools include Black-on-orange types, such as III, which may have come into use in the thirteenth century. This experiment in relative and absolute dating accords with other current research, indicating a needed revision of traditional chronologies toward an earlier onset of major processes.

Classic-period settlement in the Teuchitlan region of West Mexico is characterized by the presence of unique, formal circular structures surrounded by residential areas. Previous research in the area has suggested the presence of a four-tiered settlement hierarchy based on the size of these structures, although, to date, this judgment has been made on a largely impressionistic basis. Our research further examines Weigand's Teuchitlan settlement data. We present a theoretical perspective for understanding the role of sites with formal architecture and evaluate the presence of a site-size hierarchy through volumetric estimations. Scenarios for site interaction are suggested by our use of a gravity model. Our primary goal is to propose models of Teuchitlan settlement organization, which can be tested by ongoing fieldwork in the region.

We describe the derivation of a new archaeological chronology for the Postclassic period at Yautepec, Morelos. We first apply cluster analysis to ceramic type frequencies for 47 excavated contexts to identify groups of related ceramic collections. This classification is then extended to several hundred additional collections using discriminant-function analysis. The groups are evaluated successfully against stratigraphy and radiocarbon dates, resulting in their designation as chronological phases. Radiocarbon determinations are then used to assign calendar dates to the phases. The new chronology consists of one Middle Postclassic phase (Pochtla), two Late Postclassic phases (Atlan, Molotla), and one Early Colonial phase (Santiago). We also explore issues concerning the extension of this chronology to other Postclassic sites in the Yautepec Valley.

Excavaciones recientes de rescate en el sitio de Huitzilapa, en la cuenca de Magdalena, centro de Jalisco, resultaron en el descubrimiento y la excavación de una tumba de tiro no saqueada. Se describen la tumba y sus contenidos, y se presenta una serie de fechas de radiocarbono que se concentran en el primer sigio de nuestra era. Las excavaciones proporcionan datos importantes sobre el contexto de las conocidas figuras de las tumbas de tiro, la cronología de este distinctivo complejo mortuorio y la relación de los ambos con la arquitectura de la tradición Teuchitlán.

Chronology is a fundamental prerequisite for problem-oriented, anthropologically relevant archaeology. It is also the shaky foundation that has hampered attempts to reconstruct the culture history of Cholula, Mexico. Cholula is among the oldest continuously occupied urban centers of the New World, yet it remains one of the most enigmatic. This paper evaluates previous cultural sequences for the site, and summarizes recent evidence to construct a chronology using absolute dates and ceramic assemblages from primary depositional contexts. This revised sequence features a clearer understanding of Middle Formative settlement and the definition of ritual and domestic contexts from the Classic period. In addition, there is now evidence for a gradual transition between Late Classic and Early Postclassic material culture; and for the evolution of the Postclassic polychrome tradition within a sequence of short, clearly defined phases.

Many social scientists have proposed a relationship between the structure of a boundary and that of the system it delimits. Substantial anthropological and historical research has found the same tendency in analyses of traditional political structure. A model based on these findings was applied to the Teuchitlan tradition of Classic-period West Mexico, a region where the degree of political complexity and unification has been a subject of debate. A focused study of the eastern boundary of the Teuchitlan Valley was undertaken to examine the nature of its political structure. Fieldwork located a number of defensive features forming a well-structured boundary system in the La Venta corridor that connects the Teuchitlan and Atemajac Valleys. Other fortifications ringing the Teuchitlan Valley strongly suggest that a defensive network had been established to monitor access into the core of the Teuchitlan area. A unitary, territorial form of administration (following the work of Southall and Luttwak) is proposed as a model for political dynamics in the core region, but a review of the evidence for the more-distant Teuchitlan architecture suggests that, at most, only a hegemonic form of control more akin to that of the segmentary state was exercised outside of the core valley. A connection with long-distance resource acquisition is possible, but highly speculative at present.

To begin the discussion, I propose distinctions between four archaeological approaches to time. I call these clock time, phase time, social time, and characterization. Main points in the other papers are that Postclassic phases tend to be a century or more earlier than recently thought, that Aztec I may be much earlier than thought, and that there may be considerable temporal overlap among Postclassic phases. The evidence is fairly good for the first of these points, but less clear for the other two—more data are needed. I propose a slightly revised Teotihuacan chronology and mention some issues about the nature of the Teotihuacan to post-Teotihuacan transition.