From Second Tier to First Tier: Cerro Topiltepec in light of new research

Summary

Recent excavations at Cerro Jazmín, a first tier center in the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca, indicate that this center´s main occupations were during the Early and Late Ramos phases and not during the Early Las Flores phase as it was previously established. These new data change our perspective on Cerro Topiltepec, a putative secondary center in the Nochixtlán valley, and its role in the region during the Early Las Flores phase. In this paper, we analyze the changing political landscape in the Nochixtlán Valley and the status of Topiltepec within it by looking at multiple scales of analysis. First at the regional level (Central Mixteca Alta), second at the sub-regional level (Nochixtlán Valley) and third at the center itself. We conclude by talking about the scale of polities during the Early Las Flores phase in general in light new research.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• The Cerro Jazmín Archaeological Project 2008-2015: discussing early urbanism and city life in Late and Terminal Formative Mixteca Alta, Mexico

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