Hostname: page-component-669899f699-swprf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-27T11:15:08.975Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

References Cited

AlQahtani, Sakher J., Hector, Mark P., and Liversidge, Helen M. 2010 Brief Communication: The London Atlas of Human Tooth Development and Eruption. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 142:481–490.Google ScholarPubMed
Ayliffe, Linda K., and Chivas, Allan R. 1990 Oxygen Isotope Composition of the Bone Phosphate of Australian Kangaroos: Potential as a Palaeoenvironmental Recorder. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 54:2603–2609. DOI:10.1016/0016-7037(90)90246-H.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Begun, Erica 2013 Detecting Ethnicity at Teotihuacan through Archaeology: The West Mexican Presence at Structure N1W5:19. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Iowa, Iowa City.Google Scholar
Britton, Kate, Fuller, Benjamin T., Tütken, Thomas, Mays, Simon, and Richards, Michael 2015 Oxygen Isotope Analysis of Human Bone Phosphate Evidences Weaning Age in Archaeological Populations. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 157:226–241.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cabrera Cortés, Mercedes Oralia 2005 Craft Production and Socio-Economic Marginality: Living on the Periphery of Teotihuacán, México. Report to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies. http://www.famsi.org/reports/03090/index.html, accessed July 23, 2020.Google Scholar
Cabrera Cortés, Mercedes Oralia 2011 Craft Production and Socio-Economic Marginality: Living on the Periphery of Urban Teotihuacan. PhD dissertation, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Clayton, Robert N., and Mayeda, Toshiko K. 1963 The Use of Bromine Pentafluoride in the Extraction of Oxygen from Oxides and Silicates for Isotopic Analysis. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 27:43–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Correa-Ascencio, Marisol, Robertson, Ian G., Cortés, Oralia Cabrera, Castro, Rubén Cabrera, and Evershed, Richard P. 2014 Pulque Production from Fermented Agave Sap as a Dietary Supplement in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111:14223–14228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cowgill, George L. 2015 Ancient Teotihuacan: Early Urbanism in Central Mexico. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crowson, Roy A., and Showers, William J. 1991 Preparation of Phosphate Samples for Oxygen Isotope Analysis. Analytical Chemistry 63:2397–2400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Driscoll, Laura 2005 Análisis preliminar de los entierros de San José 520. Manuscript on file, Proyecto San José 520.Google Scholar
Evans, Susan T. 1990 The Productivity of Maguey Terrace Agriculture in Central Mexico during the Aztec Period. Latin American Antiquity 1:117–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gómez Chávez, Sergio 2002 Presencia del occidente de México en Teotihuacan. Aproximaciones a la política exterior del estado teotihuacano. In Ideología y política a través de materiales, imágenes y símbolos, edited by Gallut, María Elena Ruiz, pp. 563–625. CONACULTA, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Longinelli, Antonio 1984 Oxygen Isotopes in Mammal Bone Phosphate: A New Tool for Paleohydrological and Paleoclimatological Research? Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48:385–390. DOI:10.1016/0016-7037(84)90259-x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luz, Boaz, and Kolodny, Yehoshua 1985 Oxygen Isotope Variations in Phosphate of Biogenic Apatites, IV: Mammal Teeth and Bones. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 75:29–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luz, Boaz, Kolodny, Yehoshua, and Horowitz, Michael 1984 Fractionation of Oxygen Isotopes between Mammalian Bone-Phosphate and Environmental Drinking Water. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48:1689–1693. DOI:10.1016/0016-7037(84)90338-7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manzanilla, Linda R. (editor) 1993 Anatomía de un conjunto residencial teotihuacano en Oztoyahualco. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, Linda R. (editor) 2012 Estudios arqueométricos del centro del barrio de Teopancazco en Teotihuacan. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Manzanilla, Linda R., Mejía, Gabriela, Jiménez, Gerardo, Schaaf, Peter, Lailson, Becket, Solís, Gabriela, Morales, Pedro, and Cienfuegos, Edith 2012 Caracterización de la población multiétnica de Teopancazco por isótopos estables, isótopos de estroncio y elementos traza. In Estudios arqueométricos del centro del barrio de Teopancazco en Teotihuacan, edited by Manzanilla, Lina R., pp. 449–465. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.Google Scholar
McCool, Weston C., and Coltrain, Joan B. 2018 A Potential Oxygen Isotope Signature of Maize Beer Consumption: An Experimental Pilot Study. Ethnoarchaeology 10:56–67. DOI:10.1080/19442890.2018.1439300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Millon, René 1973 The Teotihuacan Map, Part I: Text. Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Mexico, Vol. 1. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Millon, René 1981 Teotihuacan: City, State, and Civilization. In Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol. 1: Archaeology, edited by Sabloff, Jeremy A., pp. 198–243. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Moreiras Reynaga, Diana K. 2019 The Life Histories of Aztec Sacrifices: A Stable Isotope Study (C, N, and O) of Offerings from Tlatelolco and the Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Western University, London, Canada.Google Scholar
Nado, Kristin Lynn 2017 Dietary Practices, Socioeconomic Status, and Social Mobility at Teotihuacan, Mexico. PhD dissertation, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Nado, Kristin, and Cruz, Stephanie 2006 Final Report on Burials 1–3 from Proyecto San José 520, Teotihuacan, Mexico. Manuscript of file. Proyecto San José 520.Google Scholar
Nado, Kristin L., Zolotova, Natalya, and Knudson, Kelly J. 2017 Paleodietary Analysis of the Sacrificial Victims from the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, Teotihuacan. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 9:117–132.Google Scholar
Parsons, Jeffrey R., and Parsons, Mary H. 1990 Maguey Utilization in Highland Central Mexico. An Archaeological Ethnography. Anthropological Papers No. 82. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, T. Douglas, Manzanilla, Linda, and Middleton, William D. 2000 Immigration and the Ancient City of Teotihuacan in Mexico: A Study Using Strontium Isotope Ratios in Human Bone and Teeth. Journal of Archaeological Science 27:903–913.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rattray, Evelyn C. 2001 Teotihuacan: Ceramics, Chronology and Cultural Trends / Teotihuacan: Cerámica, cronología y tendencias culturales. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City; University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Robertson, Ian G. 2008 “Insubstantial” Residential Structures at Teotihuacán, Mexico. Report to the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies. http://www.famsi.org/reports/06103/index.html, accessed July 23, 2020.Google Scholar
Robertson, Ian G., and Cabrera Cortés, M. Oralia 2017 Teotihuacan Pottery as Evidence for Subsistence Practices involving Maguey Sap. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 9:11–27. DOI:10.1007/s12520-016-0415-z.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scherer, Andrew K., de Carteret, Alyce, and Newman, Sarah 2015 Local Water Source Variability and Oxygen Isotopic Reconstructions of Mobility: A Case Study from the Maya Area. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 2:666–676. DOI:10.1016/jasrep.2014.11.006.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Séjourné, Laurette 1966 Arquitectura y pintura en Teotihuacan. Siglo Veintiuno Editores, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E. 2014 Peasant Mobility, Local Migration and Premodern Urbanization. World Archaeology 46:516–533.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E., Abhishek Chatterjee, Angela C. Huster, Sierra Stewart, and Forest, Marion 2019 Apartment Compounds, Households, and Population in the Ancient City of Teotihuacan, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 30:1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, Michael W., and White, Christine D. 2009 Mesoamerican Bioarchaeology: Past and Future. Ancient Mesoamerica 20:233–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spence, Michael W., White, Christine D., Fournier, Patricia, Webb, Emily, and Longstaffe, Fred J. 2011 The Chapantongo Site: Oxygen Isotope Analysis and Epiclassic Population Mobility in the Valley of Mezquital. Paper presented at the 76th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Sacramento, California.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W., White, Christine D., Gazzola, Julie, Chávez, Sergio Gómez, and Longstaffe, Fred J. 2006 Oxygen-Isotope Values and Population Movement in Structure 19, Teotihuacan. Paper presented at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Juan, Puerto Rico.Google Scholar
Spence, Michael W., White, Christine D., Longstaffe, Fred J., Rattray, Evelyn C., and Law, Kimberley R. 2004 Un análisis de las proporciones de los isótopos del oxígeno en los entierros del barrio de los Comerciantes. In La costa del Golfo en tiempos teotihuacanos: Propuestas y perspectivas: Memoria de la segunda Mesa Redonda de Teotihuacan, edited by Gallut, María Elena Ruiz, and Soto, Arturo Pascual, pp. 469–492. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Storey, Rebecca 1992 Life and Death in the Ancient City of Teotihuacan: A Modern Paleodemographic Synthesis. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.Google Scholar
Stuart-Williams, Hilary LeQ., and Schwarcz, Henry P. 1995 Oxygen Isotope Analysis of Silver Orthophosphate Using a Reaction with Bromine. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 59:3837–3841.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuart-Williams, Hilary LeQ., Schwarcz, Henry P., White, Christine D., and Spence, Michael W. 1996 The Isotopic Composition and Diagenesis of Human Bone from Teotihuacan and Oaxaca, Mexico. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 126:1–14.Google Scholar
Tudge, A.P. 1960 A Method of Analysis of Oxygen Isotopes in Orthophosphate—Its Use in the Measurement of Paleotemperatures. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 18:81–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ubelaker, Douglas H. 1978 Human Skeletal Remains: Excavation, Analysis, Interpretation. Aldine Publishing, Chicago.Google Scholar
Webb, Emily C., White, Christine D., and Longstaffe, Fred J. 2014 Investigating Inherent Differences in Isotopic Composition between Human Bone and Enamel Bioapatite: Implications for Reconstructing Residential Histories. Journal of Archaeological Science 50:97–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Christine D., Longstaffe, Fred J., and Law, Kimberley R. 2004 Exploring the Effects of Environment, Physiology and Diet on Oxygen Isotope Ratios in Ancient Nubian Bones and Teeth. Journal of Archaeological Science 31:233–250.Google Scholar
White, Christine D., Rebecca Storey, Fred J. Longstaffe, and Michael W., and Spence, 2004 Immigration, Assimilation and Status in the Ancient City of Teotihuacan: Isotopic Evidence from Tlajinga 33. Latin American Antiquity 15:176–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, Christine D., Spence, Michael W., Longstaffe, Fred J., and Law, Kimberley R. 2000 Testing the Nature of Teotihuacán Imperialism at Kaminaljuyú Using Phosphate Oxygen-Isotope Ratios. Journal of Anthropological Research 56:535–558.Google Scholar
White, Christine D., Spence, Michael W., Longstaffe, Fred J., and Law, Kimberley R. 2004 Demography and Ethnic Continuity in the Tlailotlacan Enclave of Teotihuacan: The Evidence from Stable Oxygen Isotopes. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 23:385–403.Google Scholar
White, Christine D., Spence, Michael W., Stuart-Williams, Hilary, and Schwarcz, Henry P. 1998 Oxygen Isotopes and the Identification of Geographical Origins: The Valley of Oaxaca versus the Valley of Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science 25:643–655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, Lori E., and Schwarcz, Henry P. 1998 Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotopes in Human Tooth Enamel: Identifying Breastfeeding and Weaning in Prehistory. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 106:1–18.Google ScholarPubMed