Teotihuacan and Its Interregional Interactions during the Epiclassic Period: New Data from the Suburban Neighborhood of Hacienda Metepec

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Interactions during the Epiclassic and Early Postclassic (AD 650–1100) in the Central Highlands: New Insights from Material and Visual Culture" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Interregional relations are widely documented for Classic period Teotihuacan (AD 1–600), where a rich and extensive network of goods, people, and ideas connected the ancient city with the rest of Mesoamerica. After its political collapse at about AD 550/600, Teotihuacan remained a large population center during the subsequent Epiclassic period (AD 600–800). The degree of integration of these post-collapse Teotihuacan households into broader regional or interregional networks, however, remains poorly understood. In this paper, we present recent data obtained from Hacienda Metepec, a peripheral neighborhood of Teotihuacan that was occupied before and after the collapse. Based on the study of artifacts obtained during two seasons of field excavations (obsidian, ceramics, figurines), we infer that residents of Hacienda Metepec were primarily engaged in local exchange networks, having limited interactions with communities beyond the Valley of Teotihuacan. Nonetheless, the Epiclassic residents also participated in broader conventions of making and decorating ceramics and figurines and engaged in ritual practices shared with communities across highland Mesoamerica. This case study demonstrates that while ideas and customs were still exchanged at interregional scales after the collapse of Teotihuacan, the economic network had been much reduced in scale.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Interactions during the Epiclassic and Early Postclassic (AD 650–1100) in the Central Highlands: New Insights from Material and Visual Culture   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40073.0