181 research outputs found

    Teotihuacan, an exceptional corporate society of Mesoamerica

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    This talk will review what I believe are the exceptional characteristics of the city of Teotihuacan in Mesoamerica of the Classic period: a huge planned settlement with an urban grid, a multiethnic society, a corporate organization. Teotihuacan, in Central Mexico, stands out as one of the largest pre-industrial urban sites, with characteristics that set this site apart as an exception in Mesoamerica. One of these characteristics is life in multifamily apartment compounds. Through my thorough ..

    Genetic Evidence Supports the Multiethnic Character of Teopancazco, a Neighborhood Center of Teotihuacan, Mexico (AD 200-600)

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    Multiethnicity in Teopancazco, Teotihuacan, is supported by foreign individuals found in the neighborhood center as well as by the diversity observed in funerary rituals at the site. Studies of both stable and strontium isotopes as well as paleodietary analysis, suggest that the population of Teopancazco was composed by three population groups: people from Teotihuacan, people from nearby sites (Tlaxcala-Hidalgo-Puebla), and people from afar, including the coastal plains. In an attempt to understand the genetic dynamics in Teopancazco we conducted an ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis based on mtDNA. Our results show that the level of genetic diversity is consistent with the multiethnicity phenomenon at the neighborhood center. Levels of genetic diversity at different time periods of Teopancazco's history show that multiethnicity was evident since the beginning and lasted until the collapse of the neighborhood center. However, a PCA and a Neighbor-Joining tree suggested the presence of a genetically differentiated group (buried at the Transitional phase) compared to the population from the initial phase (Tlamimilolpa) as well as the population from the final phase (Xolalpan) of the history of Teopancazco. Genetic studies showed no differences in genetic diversity between males and females in the adult population of Teopancazco, this data along with ample archaeological evidence, suggest a neolocal post-marital pattern of residence in Teopancazco. Nevertheless, genetic analyses on the infant population showed that the males are significantly more heterogeneous than the females suggesting a possible differential role in cultural practices by sex in the infant sector. Regarding interpopulation analysis, we found similar indices of genetic diversity between Teopancazco and heterogeneous native groups, which support the multiethnic character of Teopancazco. Finally, our data showed a close genetic relationship between Teopancazco and populations from the "Teotihuacan corridor" and from Oaxaca and the Maya region, in agreement with previous archaeological evidence

    Zooarchaeology, manufacture and ritual clothing at the ancient city of Teotihuacán, Mexico

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    La ciudad de Teotihuacan (siglos I-VI d.C.) es el centro urbano del México prehispánico más estudiado a nivel arqueológico y arqueozoológico, lo cual permite conocer la forma en que eran manejados los recursos animales. Generalmente los lepóridos, perros, venados, anátidos y pavos constituyen la gran mayoría de los restos arqueo­zoológicos descubiertos, involucrados principalmente con actividades de alimentación. En el centro de barrio de Teopancazco, excavado extensivamente de 1997 a 2005 por Linda R. Manzanilla y su equipo, fue descubierto un grupo de cuartos adyacentes (particularmente C251A) cuya abundancia de restos faunísticos y diversidad de especies rebasa por mucho lo que generalmente se observa, condición complementada por la abundancia de he­rramientas de hueso, principalmente agujas de costura e instrumentos para el trabajo de pieles. El análisis de esta colección llevó a la propuesta de que en este espacio se confeccionaban vestimentas rituales que utilizaba la elite intermedia que regía el centro de barrio, opción apoyada por la existencia de murales en donde aparecen persona­jes ataviados con indumentarias que portan gran cantidad de elementos de origen animal, particularmente marino (el “sacerdote del océano”, según Kubler). El análisis de esta colección permitió proponer que esta actividad de confección y costura había abarcado un espacio de dos siglos (350-550 d.C.).The city of Teotihuacan (I-VI centuries AD) is the most studied Prehispanic urban center in Mexico from the archaeological and archaeozoological points of view. This allows us to know how faunal resources were managed. Generally leporids, dogs, deer, ducks and turkeys are the most frequently found, particularly related to food consumption activities. In the Teopancazco neighborhood center, which has been extensively excavated from 1997-2005 by Linda R. Manzanilla and her team, a series of adjacent rooms (particularly C251A) show faunal abundance and species diversity way beyond what is generally observed at that site. This fact is complemented by the abundance of bone instruments, particularly needles and instruments for hide preparation. The analysis of all the data allowed us to propose that this space was used as part of the tailoring activities of attires and headdresses used by the intermediate elite that administered the neighborhood in their ritual activities, an option backed by the mural paintings at the site, which represent the “ocean priests”, as Kubler once mentioned. With the spatial analysis of the adjacent rooms, we may propose that the “tailors’ shop” was used as such during two centuries (AD 350-550).

    O final dos reinos: Diálogos entre Tiwanaku e La Aguada

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    Este escrito pone de nuevo a dialogar las iconografías de Tiwanaku (altiplano del Titicaca, Bolivia) y La Aguada (Noroeste de la Argentina), a más de 40 años de los trabajos de Rex González y de Ponce Sanginés. Lo hace en un contexto enteramente diferente con un énfasis decolonial. Objetos, imágenes, información etnográfica y arqueólogos de ambos lados de una frontera entre "naciones", se ensamblan con la clara intención de cuestionar supuestos subyacentes muy profundos de la arqueología. Metodología: a partir de los caminos que plantean las imágenes y colores, se amarran en estos nudos también los humanos y las cosas, las experiencias chamánicas y los fenómenos meteorológicos, todos enlazados de modo relacional. Conclusiones: tras poner a dialogar a La Aguada y Tiwanaku, con base en nuestras trayectorias investigativas, la discusión desemboca en una reflexión acerca de las consecuencias presentes de naturalizar miradas segmentadas y funcionalistas de los mundos animales y vegetales en el pasado, que se originan en los subyacentes ontológicos de nuestra propia modernidad. Originalidad: el texto apunta a abordar la crítica decolonial a partir del estudio de casos concretos y a aportar a esos debates desde materialidades arqueológicas.This paper once again brings the iconographies of Tiwanaku (Titicaca high plateau, Bolivia) and La Aguada (Northwest of Argentina) into discussion, more than 40 years after the works of Rex González and Ponce Sanginés. It does so in an entirely different context with a decolonial emphasis. Objects, images, ethnographic information and archaeologists from both sides of a border between “nations” are assembled with the clear intention of questioning very deep underlying assumptions of archaeology. Methodology: Beginning with the paths posed by images and colors, these knots also bind humans and things, shamanic experiences and meteorological phenomena. Conclusions: After bringing La Aguada and Tiwanaku into dialogue, based on our research trajectories, the discussion leads to a reflection on the present consequences of naturalizing segmented and functionalist gazes of the animal and plant worlds in the past, which originate in the ontological underpinnings of our own modernity. Originality: The text aims to approach decolonial criticism from the study of concrete cases and to contribute to these debates on the basis of archaeological materiality.Fil: Marconetto, María Bernarda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades. Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Villanueva Criales, Juan Eduardo. Museo Nacional de Etnografía y Folklore; Bolivi

    The splendor of Mexico

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    RAFAEL PÉREZ-TAYLOR ET AL.: Aprender-comprender la antropología

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    Agrupamientos sociales y gobierno en Teotihuacan, Centro de México

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    El concepto de inframundo en Teotihuacan

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    Introducción Muchos pueblos han equiparado los huecos en la corteza terrestre con la matriz femenina donde se gestan los nuevos seres. El mundo subterráneo también fue concebido como escenario de tránsito del sol muerto, oscuro, de occidente a oriente, con el fin de brillar de nuevo. Así, vida y muerte se articulan en los espacios del inframundo. La cueva tuvo para los pueblos prehispánicos una pluralidad de significados: refugio, sitio de habitación, boca o vientre de la tierra, inframundo, ..

    Anatomía de un conjunto residencial en Oztoyahualco Tomo II

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