Commercialization, Consumption, and Political-Economic Strategies in Late Postclassic Mesoamerica: A Comparative Study of Access to Projectile Points at Tlaxcallan and Santa Rita Corozal

Summary

Over the course of the Postclassic Period (A.D. 950 – 1521), commercialization was on the rise in ancient Mesoamerica, reaching its apex at the time of contact with Europeans. Extant information indicates that both interregional trade and regional market integration increased during this time, especially during the Late Postclassic (A.D. 1250/1300 – 1521). Yet, researchers have little comparative published information on household consumption from well-excavated residential contexts for this period. In this paper we compare access to formal lithic tools (projectile points) at two Late Postclassic sites with differing governing structures: Tlaxcallan (located in Central Mexico), and Santa Rita Corozal (located in coastal Belize). Specifically, we investigate the degree to which political-economic factors affected production and access to projectile points, including the accessibility of non-local raw materials used in their production, and their distribution among various households. We test whether households with differing social statuses monopolized or controlled finished points, and if the raw materials used to produce them varied among households on the basis of status. Finally, we consider the degree to which these patterns correlate with differing political-economic strategies employed by governing officials at the study sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22376