Regional Settlement, Subsistence, and Environment after the Demise of Teotihuacan

Summary

This is an abstract from the "What Happened after the Fall of Teotihuacan?" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Significant changes in sociopolitical and economic organization following the collapse of the Teotihuacan state between the sixth and seventh centuries CE are evident in settlement patterns as well as archaeological materials including ceramics and lithics. The potential magnitude of this event and subsequent ramifications within the valley itself are only superficially understood as considerable research is focused on the urban center itself. In this presentation, the results of several lines of research are interwoven in order to construct a view of life after Teotihuacan: processes ranging from social/political fragmentation and partial abandonment, subsistence, environmental modification associated with less-intensive agricultural production, and climate fluctuations suggested by decreasing lake levels and reduced precipitation. The integration of results gathered over two decades of research in subsistence and landscape, in combination with earlier perspectives, offers insight into the challenges likely faced by inhabitants of the region as well as the ways in which they were able to adapt to shifting circumstances. The primary objective is to encourage new questions to guide future investigations and, hopefully, contribute to a broader understanding of the interplay of causal and subsidiary factors, treating the Teotihuacan Valley as a case study for long-term transformations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• What Happened after the Fall of Teotihuacan?

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37740.0