Domestic Life at Río Viejo, Oaxaca

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Recent fieldwork has investigated the Late Classic and Postclassic occupation at the floodplain site of Río Viejo in Oaxaca, Mexico. The residential features uncovered detailed domestic life in the settlement after political decentralization. Though causal factors for the Late Classic political decline at Río Viejo are yet to be confirmed, archaeological evidence suggests that this was a period of considerable change. Termination ceremonies were identified in Late Classic strata which marked a shift from communal practices in the Late Classic to private domestic ceremonies in the Early Postclassic. Political decline in the Late Classic was also coupled with settlement decline throughout the region. Ongoing excavations at Mound 2, a large residential platform at Río Viejo, detailed domestic life associated with a large potential water management feature. This paper will discuss archaeological evidence of domestic life during the Postclassic transition and will present preliminary data on a possible recessional agricultural feature. New data will reveal the relationship between water management practices and changes in domestic space after the political decline at Río Viejo.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 41559.0