Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association Volume 32: 43-53. Special Issue, Urban Commerce in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Elizabeth H. Paris, 2021
The growth of Teotihuacan in the first millennium CE entailed the development of an extensive, dy... more The growth of Teotihuacan in the first millennium CE entailed the development of an extensive, dynamic, and multifaceted economic system. Teotihuacan’s economy likely included forms of market exchange, making it an important case study for research concerning the origins of market economies. The settings in which goods changed hands and the social significance of economic interactions are not well understood, however. Here, I discuss how contexts of exchange may be reconstructed through the study of domestic artifacts. I focus on ceramics associated with Teotihuacan’s neighborhoods and outlying communities, emphasizing recent data from settlements
south of the capital. Compositional analyses are important for tracing exchange networks; macroscopic analyses of assemblage content and stylistic variation are also needed to estimate the scales at which goods circulated and to comprehend the social aspects of economic transactions. Finally, I consider the diverse kinds of physical settings in which market exchange may have occurred. Tendencies to view marketplaces primarily as large, architecturally formal, permanent, and centrally located may constrain our ability to identify and assess the significance of those that were small, informal, and situated within communities. [Teotihuacan, marketplaces, decentralized exchange,
infrastructure, ceramic analysis]
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Papers by Sarah Clayton
south of the capital. Compositional analyses are important for tracing exchange networks; macroscopic analyses of assemblage content and stylistic variation are also needed to estimate the scales at which goods circulated and to comprehend the social aspects of economic transactions. Finally, I consider the diverse kinds of physical settings in which market exchange may have occurred. Tendencies to view marketplaces primarily as large, architecturally formal, permanent, and centrally located may constrain our ability to identify and assess the significance of those that were small, informal, and situated within communities. [Teotihuacan, marketplaces, decentralized exchange,
infrastructure, ceramic analysis]
subsequent developments. Recent literature reflects substantial interest in the ways in which people rebuild communities after states break down and in how the legacies of failed states influence processes of regeneration.
Here, I examine the transformation of communities in the Basin of Mexico in response to the fragmentation of the Teotihuacan state system during the 500s CE. I focus on the development of Chicoloapan, a large settlement in the southern Basin that expanded as the state declined. Demographic growth, changes to the built environment, and shifting practices at Chicoloapan reflect decisions made by local residents amid severe regional instability and infrastructural disruption. A temporal framework for the reorganization of the Chicoloapan community is presented, based on the Bayesian modeling of 24 radiocarbon dates from residential contexts. These dates reveal a spate of local construction activity in the 600s CE. This research advances knowledge of the close relationship between the deterioration of a centralized state and the development of new communities, practices, and identities.
south of the capital. Compositional analyses are important for tracing exchange networks; macroscopic analyses of assemblage content and stylistic variation are also needed to estimate the scales at which goods circulated and to comprehend the social aspects of economic transactions. Finally, I consider the diverse kinds of physical settings in which market exchange may have occurred. Tendencies to view marketplaces primarily as large, architecturally formal, permanent, and centrally located may constrain our ability to identify and assess the significance of those that were small, informal, and situated within communities. [Teotihuacan, marketplaces, decentralized exchange,
infrastructure, ceramic analysis]
subsequent developments. Recent literature reflects substantial interest in the ways in which people rebuild communities after states break down and in how the legacies of failed states influence processes of regeneration.
Here, I examine the transformation of communities in the Basin of Mexico in response to the fragmentation of the Teotihuacan state system during the 500s CE. I focus on the development of Chicoloapan, a large settlement in the southern Basin that expanded as the state declined. Demographic growth, changes to the built environment, and shifting practices at Chicoloapan reflect decisions made by local residents amid severe regional instability and infrastructural disruption. A temporal framework for the reorganization of the Chicoloapan community is presented, based on the Bayesian modeling of 24 radiocarbon dates from residential contexts. These dates reveal a spate of local construction activity in the 600s CE. This research advances knowledge of the close relationship between the deterioration of a centralized state and the development of new communities, practices, and identities.