A Tale of Two Peripheries: Recent Excavations at Fracción Mujular, Chiapas, Mexico

Summary

Fracción Mujular is a modest residential site located on the Pacific Coast of Chiapas, Mexico. Long known for the Central Mexican iconography found on its carved stelae, investigations conducted during the winter of 2017 represent the first excavations of the site. This paper presents the results of these excavations, as well as subsequent laboratory analysis. We now know that Fracción Mujular has a history that covers over one thousand years of occupation, from the Early Classic to the Late Postclassic periods. Situated on top of the natural coastal choke-point of Cerro Bernal, Fracción Mujular would have had close access to important trading routes used throughout Mesoamerica’s history; a detail that is evident in the material culture recovered in excavations. With a diverse ceramic assemblage and obsidian from at least 14 different sources, it is clear that Fracción Mujular was connected to trading partners from across Mesoamerica. I argue that despite its position on the periphery of several Mesoamerican exchange spheres, Fracción Mujular maintained preferential ties to Central Mexican centers –first Teotihuacan and then Cantona- throughout much of its history.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20012