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San José 520: An Unusual Teotihuacan Settlement System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2020

Michael W. Spence Open the ORCID record for Michael W. Spence [Opens in a new window] ,
Karyn Olsen ,
M. Oralia Cabrera Cortés  and
Fred J. Longstaffe
Michael W. Spence*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5C2, Canada
Karyn Olsen
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5C2, Canada
M. Oralia Cabrera Cortés
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281, USA
Fred J. Longstaffe
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5C2, Canada
*
(spence@uwo.ca, corresponding author)
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Abstract

San José 520 is a Classic period hamlet of single-family residences in the urban periphery of Teotihuacan, just beyond the southeast edge of the city. Three burial features were associated with one of the residences, AF2. One of the features contained the burial of a single adult, another the successive burials of eight adults and one neonate, and the third held a neonate. We analyzed 29 bone and enamel samples from the adults for bioapatite phosphate oxygen-isotope composition; we also considered isotopic data for another five bone samples analyzed in a separate project. The isotopic results suggest a pattern of birth in the Teotihuacan region and then movement in early childhood to a “relocation” region, the geographic location of which is unknown. Later, probably in adolescence, the individuals returned to live, and eventually die, in San José 520. Without knowing more about the occupation of the relocation region, it is difficult to say what concerns or beliefs underlay this unusual but long-established settlement system.

San José 520 es un sitio del Periodo Clásico, con residencias de familias nucleares, ubicado en la periferia sureste inmediata a la antigua ciudad de Teotihuacan. Las excavaciones en este sitio encontraron tres enterramientos asociados a una de las residencias, denominada como AF2. Uno de estos enterramientos consistió en la deposición sucesiva de ocho individuos adultos y un neonato. En primera instancia analizamos veintinueve muestras de hueso y esmalte de los individuos adultos para determinar la composición de isótopos de oxígeno de fosfato de bioapatita. Otras cinco muestras de hueso, tomadas por otro proyecto posterior, también fueron incluidas. Los resultados isotópicos en su conjunto sugieren un patrón de nacimiento en la región de Teotihuacan, luego un traslado durante la primera infancia a una región de “reubicación”, cuya ubicación geográfica se desconoce. Más tarde, probablemente en la adolescencia, los individuos regresaron a vivir, y finalmente morir, en San José 520. Sin tener más datos acerca de la región de reubicación, es difícil decir qué intereses o creencias subyacen en este sistema de asentamiento inusual pero de larga tradición.

Keywords

Teotihuacanoxygen isotopesurban peripheryburialsClassic periodSan José 520Teotihuacanisótopos de oxígenoperiferia urbanaentierrosperiodo ClásicoSan José 520
Type
Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , December 2020 , pp. 720 - 732
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 by the Society for American Archaeology

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