Mixtecs, Zapotecs, and Chatinos: Ancient Peoples of Southern Mexico(Peoples of America)

Mixtecs, Zapotecs, and Chatinos: Ancient Peoples of Southern Mexico examines the origins, history, and interrelationships of the civilizations that arose and flourished in Oaxaca. Provides an up-to-date summary of the current state of research findings and archaeological evidence Uses contemporary social theory to address many key problems relating to archaeology of the Americas, including the dynamics of social life and the rise and fall of civilizations Adds clarity to ongoing debates over cultural change and interregional interactions in ancient Mesoamerican societies Supplemented with compelling illustrations, photographs, and line drawings of various archaeological sites and artifacts

Table of Contents:
List of Figures ix Preface xiii 1 People, Culture, and History 1 Sources of Evidence 5 Theorizing Oaxaca's Ancient Past 17 2 Peoples and Landscapes on the Eve of the Spanish Conquest 35 The Physical Geography of Oaxaca 36 Mixtec and Zapotec Peoples at the Time of the Spanish Conquest 42 3 From Foragers to Village Life 64 First Peoples 65 The Archaic Period and the Origins of Agriculture 66 The Transition to Sedentism 70 Negotiating Initial Village Life 73 4 Negotiating Community and Complexity 84 Constructing Community and Identity in the Early Formative 85 Community and Identity in the Early Middle Formative 104 Structures of Authority in the Early to Middle Formative 110 5 From Village to City: The Founding and Early Development of Monte Albán 118 The Late Middle Formative Political Crisis 120 The Founding of Monte Albán 128 Political Consolidation and Upheaval at Monte Albán 155 6 Political Centralization in the Mixteca and Coast 160 Social Transformations in the Mixtec Highlands 160 Interregional Interaction and the Rise of Mixtec Centers 173 Political Authority and Ideology 177 Urbanization in the Lower Río Verde Valley 180 Political Collapse in the Mixteca and the Oaxaca Coast 195 7 Authority and Polity in the Classic Period 197 Classic-Period Society in the Valley of Oaxaca 199 Classic-Period Polities of the Mixtec Highlands 226 Political Fragmentation and Centralization on the Oaxaca Coast 239 8 Collapse and Reemergence 248 The Collapse in the Oaxacan Highlands 249 The Classic-Period Collapse and the Early Postclassic on the Oaxaca Coast 252 Postclassic Heroic History 258 Lord 8 Deer “Jaguar Claw” and the Archaeology of Tututepec (Yucu Dzaa) 266 Late Postclassic Archaeology of the Oaxacan Highlands 270 The Spanish Conquest 280 9 Conclusions 283 Beyond Functionalism and Neo-Evolutionism in Oaxaca 284 Poststructural Theory and the Archaeology of the Mixtec, Zapotec, and Chatino 287 Endnotes 296 Bibliography 299 Index 336

About the Author :
Arthur A. Joyce is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has a Ph.D. from Rutgers University and has carried out field research in Oaxaca since 1986. His current research interests include social theory in archaeology, human ecology, and the origins, development, and collapse of complex societies in Mesoamerica.

Review :
"It is recommended reading for any serious student of Mesoamerican prehistory, and will likely shape the theoretical orientation of much Oaxacan archaeology to come." (Journal of the Royal Astronomical Institute, 2011)