Strengthening the State: Intensification and Mixed Agricultural Strategies in Late Postclassic Puebla-Tlaxcala

Summary

The development of agricultural technologies is a key element in theory concerning the growth of Mesoamerican state societies. Cultivation of species under improved environmental conditions suggests intensification oriented strategies for the finance of political institutions, and to attend auto-consumption needs of households at the subsistence level. During the Late Postclassic, the Puebla-Tlaxcala region witnessed the rise and consolidation of various rival state-level polities known locally as altepemeh. Recent archaeological research indicates that, parallel to this phenomenon, there is a widespread use of different agricultural technologies, such as terraces, drained fields and canals, to intensively exploit crucial ecological areas. This paper explores the role of large-scale staple food production in relation to the strengthening of institutional apparatus and its implications for the expansion of indigenous state societies.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Landscapes of Production: Recent Research on the Archaeology of Field and Irrigation Systems

Keywords

Spatial Coverage