Proyecto Inmigración a Través del Tiempo de Teotihuacan (PITT)/ In-migration across Time at Teotihuacan Project

This doctoral dissertation research project explores the migration patterns of two socioeconomic status groups from La Ventilla, a central neighborhood of Teotihuacan (located near present-day Mexico City), the first pre-contact city in the Americas to reach over 100,000 residents (100-550 AD). While it is well chronicled that immigration from the surrounding region fueled much of the city's initial growth, it remains unclear when multi-ethnicity developed here, particularly in the central sectors. This research tested two hypotheses; (1) migration into the heart of Teotihuacan was a continuous process over the entire occupation of this city sector, rather than occurring primarily during its foundation, and (2) larger proportions of lower-status individuals migrated into the center of the city than those of higher status groups. Previous studies of the city population have shown that individuals on the fringes of the city suffered from common pre-modern problems including malnutrition and high infant mortality rates. Using a broad spectrum of isotopic analyses (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and strontium) combined with absolute chronological control through radiocarbon dating of human skeletal remains, this project explores if immigration was critical to population maintenance for over 400 years of city occupation.

This project was supported by the National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant (Award no. 1927690) and by the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection Junior Fellowship. Data from this dissertation will be uploaded as peer-reviewed journal articles are published.

Permission for the destructive analysis of human remains was provided by the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH) in Mexico City (Permits/Oficios: 401.1S.3-2017/2240 and 401.3S.16-2018/450).

All data presented here overrides my 2021 dissertation.