Ireta and Vapatzequa – Applications of the Alteptl Model to the pre-Hispanic P'urépecha

Summary

At the time of Spanish contact, Michoacan was under the control of a large empire centered at the capital of Tzintzuntzan in the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin. Prior to the rise of the Postclassic empire, the P'urepecha were organized into a series of small- to mid-scale polities known as ireta, which could be considered roughly analagous to the Nahua altepetl. These polities consisted of of a series of nested territorial divisions composed first of named barrio-level units called vapatzequa followed by smaller complejos formed from groupings of individual households. This paper outlines the historical basis for this model of government and explores its archaeological applications and implications for the formation of the empire in the Late Postclassic.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Advances in the archaeology of West Mexico and the surrounding areas

Keywords

Spatial Coverage