Settlement Ecology in the Tula Region of Mesoamerica: A Local Landscape Perspective

Summary

Based on seminal contributions by Suzy and Paul Fish associated with full-coverage surveys and agave cultivation, this paper explores changes in regional settlement patterns in relation to land-surface morphology in the Tula region in Mesoamerica during the Classic to Postclassic periods (200 CE–1500 CE). Drawing on our field surveys, independent settlement data from the Tula Region, and landform segmentation and classification in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), this paper illustrates that place to place landscape variation provides a more complex picture of changes in regional settlement patterns over time. In addition, to interpret the landscape ecology of settlement patterns, geomorphometric analysis provides an additional tool for assessing potential taphonomic impact on archaeological remains. In this paper we provide preliminary results and discuss how integration of other spatial data sets can provide a more robust framework from interpretation of settlement changes in relation to Mesoamerican’s local landscape ecologies in central Mexico.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Regional to International Collaborations in American Archaeology: The Legacy of Suzanne Fish and Paul Fish

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15462