Society for American Archaeology
Lord 8 Deer "Jaguar Claw" and the Land of the Sky: The Archaeology and History of Tututepec Author(s): Arthur A. Joyce, Andrew G. Workinger, Byron Hamann, Peter Kroefges, Maxine Oland, Stacie M. King Source: Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Sep., 2004), pp. 273-297 Published by: Society for American Archaeology Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4141575 Accessed: 11/09/2008 16:37 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sam. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected].
Society for American Archaeology is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Latin American Antiquity.
http://www.jstor.org
LORD 8 DEER "JAGUAR CLAW"AND THE LAND OF THE SKY: THE ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY OF TUTUTEPEC ArthurA. Joyce, Andrew G Workinger,Byron Hamann,Peter Kroefges, Maxine Oland, and Stacie M. King
This article balances currentunderstandingsof the political landscape of Postclassic Mesoamerica througha conjunctive analysis of the archaeology and ethnohistoryof the Mixtec Empire of Tututepecin the lower Rio Verderegion of Oaxaca. Tututepechas long been knownfrom ethnohistoric sources as a powerful Late Postclassic imperial center. Until recently, however, little has been known of the archaeology of the site. Wediscuss thefounding, extent, chronology, and aspects of the internal organization and external relations of Tututepecbased on the results of a regional survey, excavations, and a reanalysis of ethnohistoricdocuments.Tututepecwasfounded early in the Late Postclassic period when the region was vulnerable to conquest due to political fragmentation and unrest. Indigenous historical data from three Mixtec codices narrate thefounding of Tututepecas part of the heroic history of Lord 8 Deer "JaguarClaw."According to these texts, Lord 8 Deer founded Tututepecthrougha creative combinationof traditionalMixtecfoundation rites and a strategic alliance with a highlandgroup linked to the Tolteca-Chichimeca.Archaeological and ethnohistoricevidence indicate that Tututepeccontinued to expand throughthe Late Postclassic, growing to 21.85 km2,and at its peak was the capital of an empire extending over 25,000 km2. Este articuloforma un balance de los entendimientosactuales sobre el paisaje politico del Postcldsico en por Mesoamdrica medio de un andlisis conjuntivode la arqueologiay etnohistoriadel imperioMixtecade Tututepec,Oaxaca. Tututepecha sido conocido desde tiempoatrdsporfuentes etnohistdricascomo la capital de un centro imperialpoderoso del Postcldsicotardio. Sin embargo,hasta recientemente,poco se ha sabido de la arqueologia del sitio siendo su localizacidn misma un asunto de debate.Discutimos los origenes, extensi6n,cronologia,y aspectos de la organizacidninternay relaciones externasde Tututepec basadas en los resultadosde un recorridoregional, excavaciones, y un reandlisisde documentosetnohist6ricos.Tututepecfuefundado tempranamenteen el PostcldsicoTardiocuandola regidnhabia sido vulnerablea la conquistaforasteradebido afragmentacidnpolitica y agitacidn. Lafundacidnde Tututepeccomoparte de la historia heroica del Sehor 8 Venado"Garra es narradaen tres c6dices Mixtecas. Segdn estos textos, Sehor 8 Venadofundd Tututepecpor medio de una comde Jaguar," creativa de ritosfundacionalesmixtecastradicionalesy una alianza estrategicacon un grupo enlazadoa los Toltecabinaci6n Chichimeca.La evidencia indica que Tututepeccontinudsu expansi6na travesde Postcldsico Tardio,creciendoa 21.85 km2, y en su mdximofue la capital de un imperioextendidosobre 25,000 km2.
heavily from documentarysources and the perspectiveof CentralMexicanurbanelites.This artiof the ties, includingthe SouthernMixtec, Taras- cle worksto balancecurrentunderstandings Mesoamerica Postclassic of can, Mexica, and Tlaxcalan empires. Current political landscape scholarshipon Postclassic empires, however, is througha conjunctiveanalysisof the archaeology dominatedby discussions of the Mexica drawn and ethnohistoryof the Mixtec Empireof Tutute-
the witnessed Mesoamerica Postclassic Late rise of a numberof expansiveimperialpoli-
Arthur A. Joyce 0 Departmentof Anthropology,Universityof Coloradoat Boulder,Hale Building, CampusBox 233, Boulder,CO 80309-0233 Andrew G Workinger mSociology, Anthropology,and GeographyDepartment,Universityof Tennessee, Chattanooga; Chattanooga,TN 37403 Byron Hamann N Departmentof Anthropologyand Departmentof History,Universityof Chicago, 1126 E. 59th St., Chicago, IL 60637 Peter Kroefges 0 Departmentof Anthropology,Universityof Albany, SUNY, Social Sciences 263, Albany,NY 12222 Maxine Oland E Departmentof Anthropology,NorthwesternUniversity, 1810 HinmanAve., Evanston,IL 60208-1310 Stacie M. King 0 Departmentof Anthropology,IndianaUniversity,Bloomington, IN 47405 LatinAmericanAntiquity,15(3), 2004, pp. 273-297 Copyright? 2004 by the Society for AmericanArchaeology 273
[Vol.15, No. 3, 2004
ANTIQUITY LATINAMERICAN
274
Tulancingo Diquino Teposcolula
*Chachoapan 0 *Achiutla *Jaltepec Mixtepec Tilantongo
OAXACA
Putla
GUERRERO
Chalcatongo
MZaachila
itla
Zacatepec
0
Jicay"n uchatengo
Pinotepa
Miahuatln Coatln
Jamiltepec 0
e*Juquila p Acatepec
TUTUTEPEC
Huamelula
Suchixtepec
Tehuantepec
S.C. Huatulco
PacificOcean
PuertoAngel 0
50 km
N Figure 1. Map of the Tututepec Empire showing sites mentioned in the text (redrawn from Spores 1993: Figure 1).
pec in the lower Rio Verderegion of the western coast of Oaxaca-a region that sixteenth-century Mixtecsreferredto asRundeui("Landof the Sky") (Reyes 1593:ii;Smith1973:97).Thesite of Tututepec has long been known from ethnohistoric sources as a powerful Late Postclassic (A.D. 1100-1522) imperialcenterthatwas independent of the Aztec Empire(Barlow 1949; Davies 1968; Gerhard1993; Joyce 1993; Smith 1973; Spores 1993). The empirewas ruledby a Mixtec dynasty and extended over approximately 25,000 km2, incorporatingat least five other ethnolinguistic groups:Amuzgo, Chatino,Zapotec,Chontal,and Nahuatl(Figure1). The documentaryrecordof Tututepecextends back to the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries,providedby accountsof the Mixtec noble Lord8 Deer"JaguarClaw"recordedin threeof the Mixtec pictographic manuscripts, the codices Colombino-Becker,Nuttall, and Bodley (Caso 1960, 1966, 1977, 1979;Smith1963, 1966;Troike
1974). In addition to this indigenous historical record, Tututepecis richly documented in sixteenth-centuryalphabeticsources-sources that led ethnohistorian Mary Elizabeth Smith to describe the site as the "majorcity of the south coast"(Smith 1963:288),a view echoed by other scholars (Davies 1968; Gerhard1993:379-380; Spores 1993). Until recently,however,little was knownof the archaeologyof the site, with its very locationa subjectof debate(DeCicco and Brockington 1956; O'Mack 1990; Spores 1993). We discuss the origins,extent,chronology,and aspects of the internalorganizationand external relations of Tututepecbased on the results of a regional full-coveragesurvey,excavations,and a reanalysisof ethnohistoricdocuments.We take a conjunctiveapproachto the readingof indigenous and archaeologicalrecords,which in our eyes is crucial.Wecomparetheimageof thepastrecorded in indigenoushistoricaltextsto archaeologicaldata from the sametime, and considerhow indigenous
Joyce et al.]
ARCHAEOLOGY ANDHISTORY OFTUTUTEPEC
modes of historicalunderstandingshaped representationsof ancientsocial processes.We do not argue that archaeological findings "prove"the detailedcodical narrativesof the Mixtec presence on the coast of Oaxaca in any simplistic way. Rather,using MarshallSahlins'snotion of instantiative "heroic history"-a mode of historical understandingin which broad social transformationsareretrospectivelyunderstoodto be theresult of specific actions by specific individuals-we pointouta numberof parallelslinkingfeaturesregisteredin the archaeologicalrecordof the coast to the codex-recorded coastal exploits of Mixtec heroes. Rejectingthe long historyof Eurocentric prejudiceagainst non-Westerntexts (e.g., Cohn 1996:92;Landa1994[1566]:185;cf. Fox 1971),our discussionaddressesthe questionof the "reliability" of indigenousMesoamericanhistories. We arguethatthe cacicazgo of Tututepecwas foundedearlyin theLatePostclassicby a highland Mixtec faction.Archaeologicaldatareveala sudden expansionof the site at thattime, a time when the lowerVerderegion would have been vulnerable to foreign conquestdue to the political fragmentationandunrestthatfollowed the collapseof the Late Classic (A.D. 500-800) Rio Viejo polity (Joyceet al. 2001). Indigenoushistoricaldatafrom threeMixteccodicesnarratethefoundingof Tututepec as partof the heroic history of Lord 8 Deer "JaguarClaw."Accordingto these texts, Lord 8 Deer foundedTututepecthrougha creativecombinationof traditionalMixtec foundationritesand a strategicalliancewith a highlandgrouplinkedto the Tolteca-Chichimeca.While Tututepecdisappears from the codical record after the death of Lord8 Deer, archaeologicaldataas well as Early Colonial documentsshow that the city expanded into one of the largestsites in Mesoamericaas its leaderscame to dominatea multiethnicempire.
275
Villa de Tututepecde Melchor Ocampo (Berlin 1947;Bevan 1934;Maler1883;MartinezGracida 1910;PifiaChan1960;Tib6n1961).1Whilethevillage of Tututepecwas not surveyed by Donald Brockington's1969-1970 OaxacaCoast Project, he did photographseveralcarved stones nearthe church during his earlier reconnaissance with GabrielDeCicco (DeCiccoandBrockington1956; also see Jorrin 1974:69). As summarized by O'Mack(1990),the surveyby DeCiccoandBrockingtonled to some confusionconcerningthe location of the prehispanic site. DeCicco and Brockington (1956:61-70) surveyed a site they namedCerrode los Paijaros,locatedon a series of hills aboutone hour'swalksouthof thetown.Based on the presenceof polychromeand red-on-cream pottery, DeCicco and Brockington (1956:65) arguedthat Cerrode los Piijaroswas "unalocalidadmixteca,"implyingthatit was a Postclassicsite. They noted reports from informants that small objectsof gold had been found at the site. Unfortunately,this claim for gold or metal work was repeatedseveral times (Davies 1968; Pifia Chan 1960:72) and may have led Spores (1983:260) to suggestCerrode los Pij arosas themostlikelylocation for prehispanicTututepec. The first study designed specificallyto examine the archaeology of Tututepec was Scott O'Mack's (1990) three-week surface reconnaissance in and aroundthe modem town. O'Mack's (1990:21) strategyconsistedof locatingandexamining the few sites that had previouslybeen suggested as possible locations for prehispanic Tututepec,examiningplacesnearthemodemtown whereinformantsreportedarchaeologicalremains, and conductingan archaeologicalreconnaissance in accessibleareasaroundthe town. O'Mackconcluded that Cerrode los Paijaroswas not a likely candidateforprehispanicTututepec.He was unable to securelylocatethesitediscussedby DeCiccoand Brockington(1956), because the only hill in the A History of Archaeological Research was locatedjust regionnamedCerrode los Paijaros at Tututepec a few minuteswalk from town, ratherthan a one Priorto 1986, the archaeologyof Tututepecwas hourwalk to the south.Based on the resultsof his knownonlyfroma numberof briefvisitsby archae- reconnaissance,O'Mackarguedconvincinglythat town of Tututepecwas also the preologists (O'Mack 1990). Most of the early men- the modemrn tionsof thesite'sarchaeologyinvolveddescriptions hispanicsite. He noted a nearlycontinuous,lowof the carvedstones thatuntil recentlywere con- densityscatterof Postclassicmaterialfromthehills centratednear the colonial churchthat sits on a at the foot of Tututepecsouthto the coastalhighlargeprehispanicplatformat the moderntown of way. O'Mack's (1990) time limitations,and the
276
LATINAMERICAN ANTIQUITY
fact thathe carriedout the reconnaissanceduring therainyseasonwhenvegetationcoverlimitedsurface visibility,preventedhim fromrecognizingthe full extentof the site. Nevertheless,he speculated thatTututepecmightbe a very largesite with dispersed settlement,therebyanticipatingour findings. DespiteO'Mack's(1990) suggestionsaboutthe extent of prehispanicTututepec,scholarscontinued to view the site as small and unimpressive (Spores1993:167;Weaver1993:418).Thisimpressioncreatedanapparentinconsistencybetweenthe ethnohistoricrecord,depictingTututepecas a powerful imperialcenter,and the identifiedsmall site withonlyone moundandseveralcarvedstonemonuments. This puzzle formed the context of our research. Overthe past 18 yearsthe lowerRio VerdeValley has been the focus of field researchthat has begun to clarify the archaeology of Tututepec (Grove 1988; Joyce 1991a, 1991b; 1993, 1999; Joyce and King 2001; Joyce et al. 1998, 2001; Urcid and Joyce 2001; Workinger2002). This researchhas included large-scale archaeological excavationsat 5 sites as well as test excavationsat 13 others.In 1986, the entireregionwas the focus of a nonsystematicsurfacereconnaissance(Grove 1988). Since 1994, a full-coveragesurveyhas systematically studied 152 km2 of the lower Verde region (Joyce 1999; Joyce et al. 2001; Workinger 2002). The survey zone included transectsfrom the coast to the piedmont and covered most of ancientTututepec,althoughtime constraintsprecluded complete survey of a 1.5 km2 area of the northeasternend of the site. Field methods followed generalproceduresused in otherfull-coverage surveys in Mesoamerica (Blanton 1978; Blanton et al. 1982; Kowalewski et al. 1989; Sanderset al. 1979) with some minor modifications, primarilythe use of a Global Positioning System(GPS)to mapsiteboundaries,features,and surfacecollections.Fields were surveyedat 20 m intervals.Insteepareas,surveyteammemberscovered all ridgelines,piedmontspurs, and hilltops, while steep slopes thatwere unlikelyto have had settlementwere checkedless intensively.Artifacts and/orfeatureswere consideredpartof the same site if foundwithin100m of one another(the"100meter rule;" see Blanton et al. 1982:10; Stiver 2001).
[Vol.15, No. 3, 2004
Originsof Tututepec: EthnohistoryandArchaeology The full-coveragesurvey in the lower Rio Verde Valley found that Late Postclassic Tututepec (RV64)covers21.3 km2(Figure2). The LatePostclassic component of San Francisco de Arriba (RV62)is separatedfromTututepecby only a 600 m stripthathas been washed out by the Rio San Francisco. Because the San Francisco drainage wouldnothavebeenappropriate for settlementand sites would not have been floodplain preserved,we that the Late Postclassic suspect component of RV62was alsopartof Tututepec,bringingtheoverall site areato 21.85 km2.Three other sites clusterednearthenortheastern tipof Tututepec(RV150, RV151, RV153) may also representoutlying settlements,but were not includedas partof Tututepec. A total of 168 surfacecollectionswere made at Tututepecproperwith an additional43 surface collections at the Late Postclassic componentof San Franciscode Arriba.Workinger(2002) has carriedoutexcavationsat SanFranciscode Arriba. The resultsof the full-coveragesurveysandexcavationsas well as a reanalysisof theMixteccodices providea clearerpictureof the origins and developmentof ancientTututepec.Ourdataresolve the previouscontradictionsbetween the archaeological andethnohistoricrecords,andshowthatTututepec was one of the largest and most powerful polities of the LatePostclassic. TheArchaeologyof Tututepec'sOrigins SettlementatTututepecdatesbackto the LateFormative(400-150 B.C.),withanearlierMiddleFormative (700-400 B.C.) componentexcavatedat San Franciscode Arriba(Workinger2002:244). San Franciscode Arribawas a majorpopulation centerfrom the Late Formativeto the Late Classic, while settlementat Tututepecfluctuatedconsiderablythroughtime. By the Early Postclassic (A.D. 800-1100), however,theareaaroundTututepec was almostdevoidof settlement.Elsewherein the region a major sociopolitical reorganization was occurringwith the collapse of the Rio Viejo polity (Joyceet al. 2001). The Early Postclassic was a time of major changesin settlementandsociopoliticalorganization in the lower Rio VerdeValley (Joyce et al. 2001).2 Rio Viejo, the Late Classic capitalof the
ANDHISTORY ARCHAEOLOGY OFTUTUTEPEC
Joyce et al.]
277
Villade Tututepec de MelchorOcampo (ModemTown)
San Franciscode
Y
9/
Arriba
aat] Vi5
Cerrode s Pajaros
0
3
L
LatePostclassic Tututepec
6 kilometers NORTH
Figure 2. Survey map of ancient Tututepec and associated sites.
lowerVerdestate,was in decline, with decreasing population,fewer carved stone monuments,and cessationof monumentalarchitectureconstruction (Table 1). Excavationsindicate that Early Postclassic peoples did not treatearliersacredspaces, objects,andbuildingswiththe samereverencethey hadbeen affordedpreviously.The Mound1 acropolis at Rio Viejowas takenoverby commonersliving in residences whose foundations were apparentlybuiltby tearingapartthe publicbuildings of the Late Classic. A Late Classic carved stone monumentwas reutilized as a metate and laterplacedin a wall (Joyce and King 2001; King 2003). Rio Viejo continuedas a first-ordercenterduring the Early Postclassic (Joyce et al. 2001), althoughsettlementat the site declined from 250 to 140ha (Figure3).At thesametime,anotherfirstorder center emerged at San Marquitos(RV57), which grewfrom7 ha in the LateClassicto 191 ha in the EarlyPostclassic.The overalloccupational areain the surveydeclinedfrom605 ha in the Late Classic to 452 ha in the EarlyPostclassicand settlementlocationsshiftedfromthe floodplainto the piedmont.In the LateClassic only 34.2 percentof
the occupationalarearecordedin the surveywas in the piedmont,whereasby the EarlyPostclassic, 61.7 percentwas in thepiedmont.Theregionalsettlement/administrativehierarchydeclined from sevenlevels in the LateClassicto fourby theEarly Postclassic. Thereis evidencefor an increasein interpolity conflict duringthe EarlyPostclassic (Joyce et al. 2001). The dramaticsettlementshiftintothe piedmont would be consistentwith the movementof people to defensive locations. In addition,Early Postclassic settlementis concentratedin a very small areaof the piedmontwith 58 percentof the totaloccupationalareawithin3 km of thefirst-order centerof San Marquitos(RV57). This nucleation also couldhavebeenfordefensivepurposes.ExcavationsandsurfacesurveyatEarlyPostclassicsites have recoveredlarge numbersof chert projectile points. For example, ten point fragments were recovered from excavations of commoner residenceson RioViejo'sacropolis.InthelowerVerde, only two projectilepointswererecoveredfromall excavateddepositsthatpredatethePostclassic.The regionaldatasuggestthattheEarlyPostclassicwitnessed the collapse of rulinginstitutions,the frag-
Table 1. Lower Rio VerdeValley Settlement PatternData Late Classic Site # RV20-1* RV62-1 RV1-1 RV64-7 RV47-1 RV144-1 RV140-1 RV64-6 RV64-9 RV64-8 RV70-1 RV66-3 RV57-2 RV57-5 RV64-11 RV57-3 RV59-1 RV66-1 RV64-10 RV64-2 RV78-1 RV32-1 RV80-1 RV57-4 RV84-1 RV137-1 RV66-2 RV5-1 RV143-1 RV154-1 RV12-1
Size (ha) 250.00 57.61 52.00 33.41 26.18 14.95 14.50 14.47 12.68 11.52 10.80 10.23 8.56 7.50 7.43 6.80 6.31 6.00 5.95 5.12 4.80 4.60 3.75 2.85 2.75 2.60 2.50 2.40 nr 2.23 2.20
L
Early Postclassic Environment f p = 27.61; s = 30.00 f p f p cp s p p p p p = 5.00; f= 3.56 p p p p p p p p p p p p p p f p p f
Site # RV57-3 RV20-1 RV57-6 RV20-2 RV8-1 RV70-1 RV137-1 RV57-1 RV140-1 RV32-1 RV57-4 RV57-5 RV66-1 RV47-1 RV57-2 RV64-1 RV76-1 RV 110-1 RV12-1 RV77-1 RV117-1 RV103-1
Size (ha) 190.94 140.00 21.08 20.00 16.74 14.25 12.30 10.20 5.14 4.60 3.80 2.85 2.50 2.00 1.40 1.00 1.00 .85 .52 .43 .07 .01 451.68
Environment p f p f p p p p cp p f p p f p p p f f f f f p = 278.86 (61.7%) f= 167.68 (37.1%) cp = 5.14 (1.1%)
Site # RV64-1 RVI-1 RV62-1 RV57-3 RV153-1 RV57-5 RV156-1 RV151-1 RV150-1 RV57-2 RV70-1 RV57-4 RV129-1 RV147-1 RV120-1 RV57-1 RV57-6 RV141-1 RV124-1 RV66-1 RV70-2 RV135-1 RV119-1 RV122-1 RV118-1 RV31-1 RV115-1 RV116-1 RV40-1
RV147-1 RV57-1 RV8-1 RV64-1 RV64-3 RV64-4 RV64-5 RV66-4 RV126-1 RV133-1 RV70-2 RV73-1 RV18-1 RV83-1 RV130-1 RV131-1 RV132-1 RV117-1 RV77-1
1.50 1.40 1.25 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 .61 .60 .60 .56 .55 .50 .49 .24 .20 .20 .07 .01
p p p p p p p p f f p f p f f f f f f
p = 207.21 (34.2%) f = 339.30 (56.0%) s = 44.47 (7.3%) cp = 14.50 (2.4%) *Sites are subdividedto indicate components from differentphases (f = floodplain;p = piedmont;cp = coastal plain; s = secondary valley; nr =
TOTAL
605.48
[Vol.15, No. 3, 2004
LATINAMERICAN ANTIQUITY
280
Tututepec R
*
anMarquitos RioKEY SRegionalcenter SSecond ordersite 1 Thirdordersite *
Fourthordersite Surveyboundary Pondsandestuaries
IZ Piedmont
Figure 3. Early Postclassic settlement hierarchy, lower Rio Verde Valley,Oaxaca.
mentationof politicalcenters,andincreasingwarfare.The periodimmediatelyprecedingthe rise of theTututepecEmpire,therefore,was characterized by politicalinstabilityandprobablyconflict. The almost complete absence of Early Postclassic settlementat Tututepecsuggests that the LatePostclassiccity did not developout of an earlier community,but was foundedinsteadas a new andlinguisticsources politicalcenter.Ethnohistoric furtherindicatethatthe foundingof Tututepecwas the resultof an intrusionof Mixtec-speakingpeoples into the lower Rio VerdeValley at ca A.D. 1100. At the time of the SpanishConquestmost people of the lowerVerdewereMixtec as aremost indigenouspeople in the region today.Linguistic studiesby Josserandandhercolleagues(1984:154) suggest that the coastal Mixtec dialect probably originatedin the highlandregionof SanJuanMixtepec. Glottochronologicalestimates suggest the coastalandhighlanddialectsdivergedaroundA.D. 900-1000 (Josserandet al. 1984:154).Priorto the Postclassicrelativelyfew culturalsimilaritiesare apparentbetween the lower Verderegion and the MixtecaAlta and Bajaregions(Joyce 1993;Winter 1989), leadingJoyce andWinter(1989) to suggest thatbeforethePostclassicthelowerVerdewas not inhabitedby Mixtecs, but instead may have
beenethnicallyChatino(alsosee Christensen1998; Urcid1993:159-163).Whilesimilaritiesin ceramic styles between the lower Verdeand the Mixteca Alta increasedduringthe EarlyPostclassic,there arefew apparentsimilaritiesin othercategoriesof materialculturesuch as architecture,monumental art, andmortuarycustoms(Joyceet al. 2001). By the Late Postclassic,however,archaeologicaland ethnohistoricdataindicatethatMixtecs were presentin thelowerRioVerde.LatePostclassicYucudzaa Phase ceramic and architecturalstyles in the lower Verdearevery similarto those of the Mixteca Alta (Hutson 1996; O'Mack 1990). In addition,theMixteccodicesdescribeTututepecasruled by aMixtecdynastydatingbackto thelateeleventh century(Smith 1973). While some Mixtecs could have entered the region duringthe EarlyPostclassic,the dataindicatethatthemajorimmigrationoccurredduringthe LatePostclassic,concurrentwiththeemergenceof Tututepecas animperialcenter.Settlementdataare consistentwithLatePostclassicimmigration,as the totaloccupationalareain thesurveyzone increased from 452 ha duringthe EarlyPostclassic (Figure 3) to 2315 ha by the Late Postclassic (Figure4). This 512 percentrise in occupationalarearepresents by far the largestincreasein the entirepre-
Joyce et al.]
ANDHISTORY ARCHAEOLOGY OFTUTUTEPEC
281
ututep
S
0•
KEY
*
Piedra SanVicente
6•
Secondordersite O Thirdordersite l Fourthordersite . m Fifthordersite Non-residential site ? Boundary Pondsandestuaries Piedmont
SRedondSurvey
o1
center Regional
U
? Figure 4. Late Postclassic settlement hierarchy, lower Rio Verde Valley, Oaxaca.
hispanic sequence. Late Postclassic populations includedbothMixtecsandChatinosas bothgroups were presentin the lowerVerdeat the time of the SpanishConquest(Spores1993:169).Recentcensusdatarecordalmostequalnumbersof Mixtecand Chatinospeakersin the municipioof Tututepecon the east side of the Rio Verde (Aguilar et al. 1994:61). In sum,archaeologicalandlinguisticdatareveal a numberof concurrentsocialtransformations taking place on the coast of Oaxacaduringthe Early andLatePostclassic.Thesetransformations include the collapse of old social orders,an escalationof militarism,a reorganizationof settlementpatterns, the expansionof Tututepecfroma smallhamletto a majorurbancenter,populationexpansionpossibly linkedto Mixtec immigration,andan increase in highland-lowlandinteractions.Intriguingly,all of these changes are also attestedin retrospective indigenous accounts of the same era. Painted aroundthe fifteenthcentury,the codices Nuttall, Bodley,andColombino-Becker provideMixtecperof the early spectiveson the social transformations LatePostclassicon the Oaxacacoast.As is typical for Mixtec codical history-indeed, for genresof "heroic history" in general (see below)-broad areembodiedin, processesof socialtransformation
andviewed as havingbeen instigatedby, a specific elite individual-in this case, Lord8 Deer "Jaguar Claw."The following sectionsthereforeshiftfrom archaeologyto ethnohistoryin orderto illustrate the ways in which fifteenth-centuryindigenous understandingsof coastalhistoryparallelthe findings of twentieth-andtwenty-firstcenturyarchaeology. Heroic History Inestablishinga linkbetweenthetextuallyrecorded actionsof Lord8 Deer andarchaeologicallyregisteredsocial transformations on the coast,we argue that the codical recordcan be read not simply as esoteric elite biography,but ratheras "heroichisAs discussedby MarshallSahlins,heroichistory."3 mode of interpreting tory is an anthropomorphic socialprocesses,in whichtheactionsof structurally central individuals(e.g., divine kings) are interpretedas havingmassiveimplicationsfortheirsociety as a whole (cf. Pohl 1994:110-12; Sahlins 1985a:35,1991:65;Stuart1995:153).Suchheroes are "endowedwith the powerto embody a larger social order"and "encompassand incarnatethe existence of theirpeople, such thattheirpersonal histories, what they do and what they suffer, become collective destinies" (Sahlins 1991:47,
282
LATINAMERICAN ANTIQUITY
62-63, 80-83; 1994:60).This embodimentreciprocallylinksa largersystemwithindividualaction. On the one hand,heroic agents are understoodto On embody largersocial orders("instantiation"). theother,theactionsof thoseagentsareunderstood to have massiveimplicationsfor the social system in whichthey areembedded("totalization"). Thus it was through instantiationthat Captain Cook becamesucha symbolicfigurefor eighteenth-centuryHawaiiansandEuropeans,andit was through totalizationthatChief RatuQara'sseizureof a pig triggeredthe FijianWarsof the nineteenthcentury (Sahlins 1985b:109,128, 131; 1991:51ff.). Our Oaxacanuse of heroic history is focused on questions of instantiation:that is, how broad social transformationswere understoodthrough theirembodimentin theactionsof Lord8 Deer and his associates. Sahlins is fortunatein that he can base his historicalethnographiesof Polynesiaon dozensof sourcescontemporaryto theirevents.He is thereforeableto ask specificquestionsof instantiationand agencyandits totalization;he canmake powerfulclaims aboutthe ramifyingimplications of the actionsof a CaptainCook or a Chief Ratu Qara.We, however,are workingwith documents paintedfourcenturiesafterthe eventsthey depict, and so even if we accept that Lord 8 Deer was a historicalindividual,it is difficultto make arguments about the actual totalizing effects of his actions (for example, we cannotdetermineif his expeditionto the coast was really what triggered Mixtec migration).But suchfocusedclaims about thetotalizationof Lord8 Deer'sagencyarenotnecessaryfor our argument.Whatis importantis that Mixtecsunderstoodthehistoryof fifteenth-century theirpresenceon thecoastas personifiedin anelite hero-and that we now can see how these biographicalclaims parallel archaeologicallyregisteredtransformations. Thefollowingpagespresent this heroic historyin two acts. First,we consider the arrivalof Lord8 Deer andhis followerson the coast (instantiatinglarge-scale highland-to-lowland migration)and his foundationof Tututepec (instantiatingthe sudden expansion of that site archaeologically).Second,we considerthe effects of Lord8 Deer'snew status:his conquests(instantiatingincreasedcoastal militarism)and the connections linking his access to coastal tribute,his alliance with Lord4 Jaguar,and his returnto the highlandsto become rulerof Tilantongo(instanti-
[Vol.15, No. 3, 2004
atingincreasedhighland-lowlandinteractions). Sacred Objects,Visitations,and the Foundation of Tututepec Lord8 Deer"JaguarClaw"is a majorfigurein severalof theMixteccodices(Caso 1979;Rabin1981; Smith 1973; Spores 1993;Troike 1974). According to these accounts,Lord8 Deer was bornin the highlandtown of Tilantongoon the Day 8 Deer in the Year 12 Reed (A.D. 1063). He was the son of Lady 11 Water"BlueParrot"andLord5 Alligator "Rain-Sun." AlthoughLord8 Deer wouldeventuallybecometherulerof bothTilantongoandTututepec, neitherof his parentshadgenealogicalties to the ruling families of either polity.4Instead,we arguethatthe codices presentLord8 Deer'srulership at Tututepecas based not on the inheritance of anexistingpolity,buton thefoundationof a new we arguethatLord8 Deer'ssubone. Furthermore, at sequentrulership Tilantongowas madepossible by the unintendedconsequencesof coastal campaignsthatculminatedin thefoundationof Tututepec as a new politicalcenter. According to the codices, these coastal campaignsbeganwhen Lord8 Deer was 18, as he and a groupof followersset out for the Oaxacancoast. The codices Nuttall, Bodley, and ColombinoBeckerrecordsomewhatdifferentversionsof this journey.By comparingtheseaccountswithpolityfoundation stories from other codices, Lord 8 Deer's journeycan be seen as partof a genre of "foundationnarratives"(Furst1986;Garcifa-Zambrano 1994). In other words, the codices present Lord8 Deer as foundingthe city of Tututepec.The codices datethiseventtoA.D. 1083,whichclosely parallelsthe archaeologicalrecordfor the period of expansionsof both Tututepecand the coastal populationas a whole. As mentionedabove, the almostcompleteabsenceof EarlyPostclassicsettlement at Tututepecsuggests that the Late Postclassic city did not develop out of an earlier community,butwas insteadfoundedas a newpolitical center. All threecodicalaccountsof thisjourneyto the coast begin with a meetingbetween Lord 8 Deer andLady9 Grassat herChalcatongoshrine(Caso 1966:123; Figures 5 and 6). The "foundational" eventsthatfollow this meetingvaryfromcodex to codex, butall threenarrativescome into alignment again with Lord8 Deer's arrivalat Tututepec.As
Joyce et al.]
ARCHAEOLOGY ANDHISTORY OFTUTUTEPEC
thefollowingparagraphs illustrate,Lord8 Deerand his followersundertakethreebasictypes of "foundational"activitiesin theirjourneyfromthe highlands to the coast. These are: (1) peregrinations with "objectsof authorityand rulership,"(2) visitations of local places and local authoritieson a "journeyof rulershiprecognition,"and(3) demarcationsof polity boundariesthroughballcourtrituals (Furst 1986:58, 62; cf. Garcia-Zambrano 1994:219). In the Codex Nuttall (1987) account, Lord 8 Deer follows his meeting at Chalcatongoby performing two sacrifices and conquering several unidentifiedlocations(Figure5). Then-in anevent thatlooks aheadto Lord8 Deer'spoliticalfuturehe meets in a cave and in a ballcourtwith men wearing"Toltec"costumes.Followingthesemeetings, the place sign of Tututepec,a bird's beak emergingfrom a stone hill (Smith 1963:277-78), appearsin the CodexNuttallfor the firsttime. In the Codex Bodley (1960) account, Lord 8 Deer's meetingat Chalcatongois followed by the conquest of River of the Mouth, which may be Atoyaquillo,a highlandcommunitynearAchiutla (Pohl 1996:35).Lord8 Deer thenpresentshimself before the king and queen of the lowland site of Juquila,a coastal site 35 km northeastof Tututepec (Smith 1973:75-76). After this visit, Lord 8 Deer is enthronedat the bird-headed-stoneplace sign of Tututepec. InthelengthyCodexColombino-Becker (1892) account,Lord8 Deerbeginshisjourneyto thecoast by receivinga seriesof objectsat Chalcatongo:an owl spear,a shielddecoratedwith a skull, a fish, a conchshell,a vessel containinga bloodyheart,and a wartytobaccogourd(Figure6; Caso 1966:124; Troike 1974:130).Lord 8 Deer and his followers carrythese objects, along with a flint staff and a sacredbundle,on theirjourneyto the coast. As in the CodexNuttall,thefirststopis at Hill of theTree of the Sun (Figures5 and 6). Lord8 Deer and his followerLord5 Rainthenbringthe flintstaff,skull shield,conch, andowl spearto a seriesof six place signs,fourof which(HillWheretheNuhuEmerges, SplitHillDarkHill,River,andTempleof theSkull) represent the Mixtec cardinal points (Jansen 1982a:230-236;1982b).Finally,Lord8 Deerburns incenseinside a ballcourt,perhapsa cognateto the ballcourtsceneon codexpage45 of the CodexNuttall (Troike 1974: 140; Figure 5). The ballcourt
283
scene is followed by a processionof seven individuals(carryingthe flintstaff,sacredbundle,owl spear, skull shield, and conch) to the compound Fourof theobjects place sign of Tututepec-Juquila. carriedfromthehighlands-the sacredbundle,the flint staff, the golden fish, and the skull shieldare placedin the site's temple(Figure6). Since the foundationalnatureof Lord8 Deer's journey to the coast has not been previouslyrecognized,a comparativereviewof the storiesof two other polity founders(Lady 3 Flint and Lord 10 Reed) is necessary to show how Lord 8 Deer's actions fit into an established"foundational"narrativegenre.Lady 3 Flint's story is told on pages 14 to 20 of the CodexNuttall(Furst1986). She is accompaniedon herfoundationaltravelsby a consortandfourpriests;they carrybowls of offerings, a fire drill, a conch, sacredbundles,and flint and bundlestaves. Duringtheirjourney,Lady 3 Flint andherfollowersvisit localized,landscape-inhabiting gods and goddesses (Furst 1986:62-63; cf. Houstonand Stuart1996). These travelsend with the enthronementof Lady3 Flint;the flintstaffand sacredbundlearethenplacedwithinthe templeof her polity.Overseeingthe enthronementare gods of thefivedirections,againlinkingfoundationwith place-basedauthorities(Anders et al. 1992:122; cf. Garcia-Zambrano 1994:218). The comparableaccount of Lord 10 Reed's foundationof Jaltepecis told on codex pages3 and 4 of the CodexSelden(1964). The narrativebegins with Lord 10 Reed pointingto a series of sacred objects, includingan ornamentedspear,a sacred bundle, and a bowl containing a heart.Lord 10 Reedthenundertakesa "journeyof rulershiprecognition,"visiting 15 places and 16 rulers.Lord 10 Reedendshisjourneyby makinganofferingbefore the temple of Jaltepec, within which has been placeda sacredbundle(JansenandP6rezJimenez 2000:102-114). In addition to the translationof "objects of authorityandrulership"duringa "journeyof rulership recognition,"a thirdfeatureof Lord8 Deer's journey is activity in a ballcourt,which can be linked to foundationritualsthrougha consideration of ballcourtboundarysymbolism (Gillespie 1991; Koontz 1994;Kowalewskiet al. 1991;Pohl et al. 1997). In both the Nuttall and ColombinoBeckeraccounts,Lord 8 Deer's arrivalat Tututepec is immediately preceded by actions in a
284
[Vol.15, No. 3, 2004
LATINAMERICAN ANTIQUITY
tribute offering of cacao
tribute tribute offering offering of feathers of a jaguar
conquered sites
Lord8 Deer "Toltecs" in cave
tribute offering of cacao
conquered sites
Lord8 Deer and Lord 12 Motion
Lord8 Deer at Chalcatongo
45,
461
471 conquered sites
Lord9 Wind
Tututepec
Lord8 Deer and "Toltec" at ballcourt
441 Lord8 Deer at Hill of the Tree of the Sun
Lady 9 Grass at Chalcatongo
Figure 5. CodexNuttall, codex pages 44-47 (the sequence begins at the lower right hand corner of page 44 and then proceeds right to left; from Codex Zouche Nuttall 1987).
Year6 Reed, Day 6 Serpent
Hillof the Tree of the Sun
Chalcatongo
sacred objects.
Lord8 Deer and Lord5 Rain
Lord8 Deer Lord8 Deer and Lord 5 Rain at Malinalli Hill
TututepecJuquila
Four Directions
Lord8 Deer procession and conquests with sacred Lord12 Motion begin objects
MalinalliHill
Lord8 Deer at Hill of the Tobacco Bundles
Lord8 Deer in ballcourt
Figure 6. Codex Colombino-Becker,codex pages 3-6 (the sequence begins at the upper left hand corner of page 3, and then travels back and forth across two-page spans; from Codex Colombino1892).
ballcourt(Figures5 and6). Thesescenesmayshow Lord8 Deer performinga ritualat the "boundary" of his future kingdom, before implantingritual objects withinthe temple at the polity's symbolic center.A possible location of Lord 8 Deer's ballcourtritualis atthe site of SanFranciscode Arriba, which contains a Late Postclassic ballcourt (Workinger2002:150-158). As discussed above, this site would have been an outlying barrioof Tututepecduringthe LatePostclassic,placingthe ballcourton thecity's northeastboundary.Another possible ballcourthas also been identified near Tututepec'scenter,on Cerrode los Pajaros.
The arrivalof Lord8 Deer andhis followerson the coast is thereforedepictedas an act of foundation. The visitationsof local places andauthorities in the narrativesof Lady3 FlintandLord 10 Reed parallelLord 8 Deer's meeting with the rulersof Juquila in the Bodley account. The presence of directionalgods at Lady3 Flint'senthronementin the Nuttall parallelsLord 8 Deer's visit to directionallysignificantplacesin theColombino-Becker account.The translationof sacredobjects (ornamentedspears,conchshells,staves,bowls of offerings, andsacredbundles)in the narrativesof Lady 3 FlintandLord 10 Reedparallelsthe uses of such
Joyce et al.]
ARCHAEOLOGY ANDHISTORY OFTUTUTEPEC
objects by Lord 8 Deer and his followers in the Colombino-Becker account. Finally, ballcourt activities in the codices Nuttall and ColombinoBeckermayindicatetheperformanceof boundarymarkingceremonies. WhyDid Lord8 Deer Travelto the Coast? Coastal Resourcesand HighlandAlliances The codices recountthatLord8 Deer came to the Oaxacacoastas a warriorandsitefounder,although theirexplanationsof his motivesin foundinga kingdom at Tututepecarenot entirelyclear.One factor mayhavebeensheerambition,spurredby his meeting with the oracle Lady 9 Grassand by his lack of directconnectionsto the rulinglineageof Tilantongo (Jansenand Perez Jim6nez2000:179-181; Spores 1993:172). A more general factor would have been the unstable political conditions of eleventh-andtwelfth-centuryOaxaca(Bylandand Pohl 1994;Joyce et al. 2001). The EarlyPostclassic in the lowerVerdewas a time of politicalfragmentation and conflict (Joyce et al. 2001), and codex narrativesinstantiatethis instabilityby suggestingLord8 Deertookstrategicadvantageof this collapse of political authority.Immediatelyfollowinghis foundationof Tututepec,theNuttalland Colombino-Beckeraccounts depict Lord 8 Deer conqueringdozensof places,violentlyconsolidating his poweron the coast (Figures5 and7; Jansen 1998:100-107; Troike1974:150). In additionto issues of ambitionand opportunism,anothermotivationalpossibilitysuggested by codex narrativesis thatLord 8 Deer soughtto take advantageof the ecological verticalityof a highlands-to-coastalcorridor(Joyce 1993:67, 79; Monaghan 1994). The lower Verde would have been an attractivelocationto establisha kingdom, given the rich agriculturallands of the floodplain and the presenceof coastal resourceslike cacao, cotton,feathers,fish, and salt (Joyce 1993; Joyce andKing2001; Joyceet al. 2001; King2003). Significantly,coastal resources are explicitly referenced in the Nuttallaccount.Among the list of 25 placesconqueredby Lord8 Deer in theNuttallare an additionalfour sites not shown in the Codex Colombino-Becker.These sites are significant because they may show places thatbecame tributariesof Lord8 Deer throughcomplianceinstead of conquest. Unlike the conqueredplaces, these four place glyphs are not piercedby the spearof
285
conquest,andunliketheconqueredplacesthey are accompaniedby humanfigures(Figure5). Fourof the six individualsassociatedwith these nonconqueredplaces are shown holding objects specifically coded as the products of lowland tropical environments.The man from Town of the Head holds a jaguar,while the threemen fromthe Town of the Dove hold tropicalfeathersand two different forms of cacao. Thus the CodexNuttallhighlights access to lowlandgoods as a consequenceof Lord8 Deer'scoastalconquests-instantiating the increasedhighland-lowlandtradeinteractionsregisteredarchaeologically. By gaining access to these exotic resources, Lord8 Deer became an attractivealliancepartner for powerfulhighlandnobles.The centraleventof the "secondact"of Lord8 Deer's Tututepecsaga is his alliance with Toltec foreigners,who were marked with the attributes of merchants. The codicesNuttall,Colombino-Becker, andBodleyall show Lord8 Deer being visitedby a groupof foreign travelers(Figures 5, 7, 8) wearing topknot hairstylesandblack"masks"of face paint,andcarrying feather fans and wooden staves. As interpreted by Pohl (1994:83-108), these unusually costumedtravelersandtheirleader,Lord4 Jaguar, are markedas Toltecs. Lord4 Jaguarand his followers came from Place of Reeds, a glyph representing the highland communityof San Miguel Tulancingo-a town with unusual links to the Tolteca-Chichimeca (Byland and Pohl 1994:138-150; Smith 1973:70-75). While the advantagesfor Lord 8 Deer of this alliance with prestigious foreigners has been discussed elsewhere--the alliancepavedthe way for his foundationof theseconddynastyof Tilantongo(Byland and Pohl 1994; Pohl 1994; Smith 1973)--the advantagesfor the Toltecs have not been considered. We argue that this alliance instantiates increasedLatePostclassicaccess to coastalgoods for highlandcommunities,heroicallypersonified by Lord4 Jaguarandhis followers. The costumesof Lord4 Jaguarandhis associates supportour interpretationthat highlanders were understoodby codex authorsto have sought an alliancewithLord8 Deerin orderto gainaccess to valuable coastal commodities. As mentioned above, Lord4 Jaguarand his associatesare consistentlydepictedwith stavesand fans (Figure8). For the Aztecs, both of these items were insignia
286
[Vol.15, No. 3, 2004
LATINAMERICAN ANTIQUITY
Lord 8 Deer and Lady 9 Reed at Hillof Blood
Lord8 Deer and Lord4 Jaguar
5241 Lord8 Deer's nose piercing
Lord8 Deer performs sacrifices at Tututepec
conquered sites
50<
51<
49<
Lord12 Motion Lord8 Deer as warrior as warrior
conquered sites
Figure 7. Codex Nuttal, codex pages 49-52 (the sequence begins at the upper right hand corner of page 49, and then proceeds right to left; from Codex Zouche Nuttall 1987).
wedding procession
Place of Reeds
wedding
?
12
D11 ballcourt meeting
Lord8 Deer and Lord 4 Jaguar(?)
cave
Lord8 Deer's nose piercing
>14
13
Lord9 Wind and "Toltecs"
Lord8 Deer and Lord4 Jaguar
conquest of Acatepec
Figure 8. Codex Colombino-Becker,codex pages 11-14 (the sequence begins at the upper left hand corner of page 11, and then travels back and forth across two-page spans; from Codex Colombino 1892).
carriedby thepochteca,the men andwomenof the merchant class (Bitman and Sullivan 1978; Sahagdn 1954-1982:9:4, 22; Codex Mendoza 1980:Folio66r).By portrayingthesemenas "merchant-ambassadors" (Pohl 1994:88-89), the Bodley and Colombino-Beckeraccounts suggest that Lord8 Deer's new access to highly valuedcoastal goods (as depictedin the CodexNuttall)was a key factorin his alliancewith highlandToltecs. This mutuallybeneficial alliance is sealed by Lord 8 Deer's famous nose-piercing ceremony (Figures 7 and 8). In A.D. 1097, Lord 4 Jaguar oversawa ritualwhereLord8 Deer'snasalseptum waspiercedandornamentedwitha turquoisejewel. This ritualinvestedLord 8 Deer with the title of
tecuhtli, designatingmembershipin the ToltecaChichimecaroyal house (Pohl 1994:89-93). This eventtookplaceone yearafterthemysteriousdeath of Lord 2 Rain, the heirless ruler of Tilantongo. Gainingthetitleof tecuhtliwasone aspectof a legitimizing strategyby whichLord8 Deer was ableto claim the throneof Tilantongoand establishthe polity's seconddynastyin A.D. 1098. Lord8 Deer ruledTilantongountil he was capturedand sacrificed in A.D. 1115. Surprisingly, Tututepecdisappearsfromthecodical recordafterLord8 Deer'sascendancyatTilantongo. Despite numerousclaims thatLord8 Deer createda kingdomthatunitedtheMixtecaAltaand coast (Caso 1979:390; Smith 1973:68; Spores
Joyce et al.]
ANDHISTORY OFTUTUTEPEC ARCHAEOLOGY
1993:169), this is never explicitly shown in the codices. Lord 8 Deer neverreturnedto Tututepec afterusurpingthe throneof Tilantongo.Highlandlowlandties were,however,maintainedfor several generationsafterhis deaththroughthe marriages of descendantsof Lord 8 Deer and the rulersof Juquilainto the rulingline at Tulancingo,Lord4 Jaguar'shome(Smith1973:73).Suchalliancesresonate with Alva Ixtlilxochitl's later account of Toltecancestriesalong the southerncoast of New Spain:"los de Tututepecdel Mar Del Sur ... ser del linaje de los tultecas" (Alva Ixtlilxochitl 1975[ca. 1600]:1:283). As Alva Ixtlilxochitl recounts(1975[ca. 1600]:1:272),anddespitecodical silence on the subsequentfortunesof Tututepec and its rulingfamily,by the sixteenthcentury Tututepechadbecome a powerfulimperialcenter, threateninghighlandsettlementsas distantas Mitla andAchiutla.Inorderto understandcoastalhistory for the remainderof the Postclassic,it is necessary to leave heroichistoriesandreturnto the archaeological record. Archaeological Survey of Late Postclassic Tututepec The full-coveragesurveydatashowthatduringthe Late PostclassicTututepecgrew to 2185 ha if San Franciscode Arribais includedas partof the site (Figure2). Tututepecwas the first-ordercenterin a five-tiered settlementhierarchy(Figure 4 and Table1). CharcoRedondo(RV1)was the only second-ordersite at 70 ha. Third-ordersites ranged from6 to 15 ha, fourth-ordersites variedfrom I to 4 ha, and fifth-ordersites were all 1 ha or less. Tututepecwas the only Late Postclassicsite with moundedarchitectureorcarvedstonemonuments. The surveyresultsshow the continuationof an EarlyPostclassictrendof people moving into the piedmontandfromthe west to the east side of the Rio Verde. Piedmont settlement increased from 34.2 percentof the total occupationalarea in the Late Classic to 61.7 percentin the EarlyPostclassic, andthen to 93.2 percentby the Late Postclassic. The settlementshift to higherelevationsis in markedcontrastto Late Postclassic settlementin theMixtecaAlta wherepeoplemovedto lowerelevations adjacentto the valley floors (Byland and Pohl 1994:61;Spores 1972:190;Stiver2001). An even morecurioussettlementchangeinvolvedthe
287
almost complete shift to the east side of the Rio Verde.Duringthe Late Postclassiconly two sites coveringa totalof 3 hawerefoundwest of theriver. These settlementcharacteristicsmay reflect continuedinterpolityconflict.TheMixteccodices and EarlyColonialdocumentsindicatethatmorethan anyotherMixtecpolity,Tututepecwasbenton militaryexpansion(Smith 1973; Spores 1993). Why settlementin the lowerVerdewas concentratedon the east side of the Rio Verdeis not clear,although therivermayhaveprovideda naturaldefensivebarrieragainstthreatsto the west. EarlyColonialdocumentsrecordwarsbetweenTututepecandpolities to the west such as Zacatepec, Jicayain, and Pinotepa(Smith 1973:84-88; Spores 1993:172). Anotherpotentialexplanationfor the Postclassic changes in settlement patterns could relate to changes in land tenureor land use. It is possible thatthe vastincreasein populationduringthe Late Postclassicnecessitatedmoreintensiveagricultural practices,encouragingpeopleto moveoff thefloodplain to open up moreland for cultivation. The 2185 ha size of Tututepecduringthe Late Postclassicmakesit the largestsite by areaknown in Late Postclassic Mesoamerica(Smith 2004). The largestsites in the Oaxacanhighlandsat this timeincludethePuebloViejoof Teposcolulaat239 ha, Diquino at 441 ha (Stiver2001), and several sites in the Nochixtlin Valleythatappearto have covered 100 to 400 ha (see Pohl 1994:Map6). In comparison,theAztec capitalof Tenochtitlinin the Basin of Mexico covers 1250 ha (Smith 2004). While Tututepec is considerably larger than Tenochtitlin,its dispersedsettlementpatternindicatesa muchlowerpopulationdensity.In addition, we recognizethatour site, definedusing standard full-coveragesurveymethods,may not have been conceivedemicallyas a single communityby prehispanicMixtecs.5 Tututepecis locatedalmostentirelyon thepiedmontoverlookingthe lower Rio Verdefloodplain. While Tututepecwas covered with a nearlycontinuousscatterof domesticdebris,the overalldensity of settlement appeared generally lower, althoughmorevariable,thanat earliersites on the floodplainsuch as Rio Viejo. Artifactdensitiesin some areasof the site, especiallytowardits southernend, tendedto be low (
