Aztec at the End of Days: Great House to Crossroads

Summary

New investigations of primary source material reveal that the final days of Aztec were extensively recorded (but not published) by Earl Morris. This paper will present analyses of burial, feature, architectural and artifactual data that indicate a chaotic and tumultuous end at Aztec preceded by behaviors that differed drastically from Chaco Canyon or in other 12th century great house sites. These practices are seen in mortuary data, in room remodeling the increased frequency of habitation of rooms, and the notable conversion of Chacoan rooms to both mortuary and trash-fill contexts. Finally, while some great house rooms burned on small scales, Aztec burned catastrophically. This destruction coincides with upheaval in the adjacent Mesa Verde region, which also experienced high levels of violence, and trends toward aggregation followed by migration and regional depopulation. I will argue that data indicate skewed sex ratios, unrecognized high status individuals, violence – particularly towards women and children -- the practice of witchcraft, and that evidence of remodeling and final destruction of Aztec precipitated upheaval at the end of the Chacoan system and the conversion of the site to a refugium during the depopulation of the Mesa Verde region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Aztec at the Crossroads and in the Crosshairs: 101 years of Research in One Convenient Symposium   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16740