Possible causes for mayor cultural change between Classic and Postclassic occupations in western Mexico

Summary

Preclassic and Classic occupation on the West Mexico has been dominated by the shaft-tomb culture . In Nayarit there is evidence for shaft-tomb occupation from 300 BC to about 900 AD. Recent archaeological rescue projects related to the construction of the highway from Guadalajara to Puerto Vallarta have documented archaeology covered by extensive volcanic deposits belonging to a cataclysmic (VEI 6) Plinian eruption from nearby Ceboruco volcano. Postclassic

Aztatlán culture buildings are situated directly above the volcanic deposits marking a major cultural change at 1000 years BP.The Plinian eruption of Ceboruco volcano can easily explain sudden abandonment of preclassic sites in the surroundings of the volcano. This kind of eruption comes along with meter-thick pumice and ash fallout covering hundreds of square-kilometers, as well as thick (cm to meter thick) deposits

left by fast-moving hot pyroclastic flows and surges. These deposits buried croplands and natural

vegetation and animals have been severely affected for years to decades.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Examining Webs of Social Relations: New Research in West Mexican Archaeology and West Mexico-U.S. Southwest Connections   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage