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MEASURING THE LONG ARM OF THE STATE: TEOTIHUACAN'S RELATIONS IN THE BASIN OF MEXICO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2013

Sarah C. Clayton
Sarah C. Clayton*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 1180 Observatory Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706
*
E-mail correspondence to: sclayton@wisc.edu
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Abstract

The city of Teotihuacan has long been viewed as a primate center, dominating surrounding settlements in the Basin of Mexico politically and economically, but its specific relationships with subordinate polities are not well understood. In this article I consider the diverse roles that two rural settlements played in the intraregional structure of the Teotihuacan state. Specifically, I investigate differences in architecture and ceramic assemblages at Axotlan, in the Cuauhtitlan region to the west, and Cerro Portezuelo, in the Texcoco region to the south. Results of this research demonstrate that Teotihuacan's relationships with smaller settlements in the Basin of Mexico differed considerably in intensity and changed through time. This variation reflects specific administrative and economic strategies crafted by the state as well as varying degrees of political and economic autonomy among rural settlements.

Type
Special Section: Recent Research at Cerro Portezuelo
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , Spring 2013 , pp. 87 - 105
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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