13 - Teotihuacan: an early urban center in its regional context

Summary

Teotihuacan is often viewed as an impressive ancient city, but it must be understood as a regional phenomenon that included the city, its suburban periphery and surrounding countryside, as well as more distant rural settlements and populations as part of its sociospatial landscape. The urbanization of Teotihuacan was concurrently a process of ruralization of the surrounding region. This chapter explores Teotihuacan both internally and regionally, in an attempt to consider the social terrain of this early state from a holistic perspective. It discusses current conceptualizations, based on archaeological research, of Teotihuacan's political development and the organization of its rural and urban communities. Additional archaeological research at Teotihuacan period settlements across the Basin of Mexico is needed for fully comprehending the regional economic structure of this ancient state. Abundant research focused within the urban core continues to bring city life at Teotihuacan into focus, from its economic organization and socioeconomic disparities to the materialization of its governing institutions.