Settlement heterogeneity in the Zapotec state: A view from Yaasuchi, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Abstract

This dissertation presents the results of research conducted at Yaasuchi, an archaeological site in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, occupied from the Middle Formative (ca. 500 B.C.) to the Early Postclassic (ca. A.D. 1000). During this period, the Zapotec state---one of the few archaic states which developed from pre-state societies---emerged, flourished, and dissolved. New data from Yaasuchi illuminate the spatial, functional, and temporal heterogeneity which characterized ancient settlements in the Valley of Oaxaca. Recognition of this heterogeneity contributes to a more nuanced and dynamic understanding of Zapotec state evolution. The fieldwork conducted at Yaasuchi included (1) mapping; (2) systematic collection of artifacts from the surface of the site in order to infer changes in the size and configuration of settlement through time; and (3) excavation of four structures, two dating to the Monte Alban II period (100 B.C.--A.D. 200) and two to the Monte Alban IIIb--IV period (A.D. 500--1000). Research at Yaasuchi yielded data from an area of the Valley of Oaxaca where few excavations have been conducted. This more comprehensive geographical coverage results in local perspectives that counterbalance traditional views of Oaxacan prehistory, which have tended to focus on Monte Alban, the capital of the Zapotec state. Local perspectives also reveal variability in the ways, and the degrees to which, people living in different parts of the valley participated in the macro-scale processes of Zapotec state evolution. Excavation data from Yaasuchi indicate some of the activities engaged in by the site's inhabitants and, therefore, the various roles those people played in broader social, political, and economic networks. Intersite comparisons demonstrate that Yaasuchi's functions as a lower-order center were both similar to and different from those of contemporaneous settlements. Finally, the history of Yaasuchi involved changes in the size of its resident population, the activities in which those people engaged, and the relationships they had with social groups living elsewhere. Documenting the unique developmental histories of Yaasuchi and other sites in the Valley of Oaxaca leads to a greater appreciation of how local-level change was related to the large-scale and long-term processes of Zapotec state evolution.