The Burial Artifacts of Epiclassic Los Mogotes, Basin of Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The hilltop, Epiclassic period (ca. 600-900 CE) site of Los Mogotes (ZU-ET-12) sits on the boundary between the northern Basin of Mexico and the southern Mezquital valley. Hence, it is well-placed to understand local and regional transformations between the fall of Teotihuacan (ca. 650 CE) and the rise of Tula (ca. 900 CE). In this paper, we examine burial goods from several excavations by the Northern Basin of Mexico Historical Ecology Project associated with four residential structures and one monumental structure at the site. Burial goods are compared to their respective household assemblages and to data on regional patterns of offerings from burials and other ceremonial contexts. Compared to local household assemblages, burial ceramics include unique vessel forms and higher percentages of stylistically non-local types. This pattern is also reinforced in the iconography on several burial vessels as well as other offerings, which exhibit symbolic depictions of coastal environments. The ritual use of non-local items for burial offerings is common during the Epiclassic period in central Mexico, which sheds light on the complex nature of social and cultural transformation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25051