Cerro de En medio, a Hidden Epiclassic Site in the Northern Frontier of Mesoamerica

Summary

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

This paper presents the analysis of the role of violence underlying the settlement pattern at Cerro de En medio, Aguascalientes, Mexico, located in the northern frontier of Mesoamerica. Violence is one of the social forces that shape the decision making involved in selecting a place to settle. This paper focuses on understanding the role of defensibility as a reaction to potential violence using spatial analysis in GIS combined with aerial 3D mapping. This study aims to quantify location-based factors such as visibility, elevation advantage, and accessibility to understand conflict and warfare in this ancient civilization. The site entirely occupies a 34-acre plateau in the middle of a canyon near the modern Plutarco Elias Calles Reservoir in the municipality of San Jose de Gracia. The name Cerro de En medio itself derives from the site’s geographical setting. Due to location, its defensiveness seems to be a key factor in shaping the settlement pattern. Additionally, occupation at Cerro de En medio can be traced back to the Epiclassic (600 – 900 A.D), a period defined in Mesoamerica as a time of intense competition between local elites due to the restructuration of power relationships following the fall of Teotihuacan state.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24851