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Intensive Ceramic Production and Classic-Period Political Economy in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Philip J. Arnold III ,
Christopher A. Pool ,
Ronald R. Kneebone  and
Robert S. Santley
Philip J. Arnold III
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Loyola University of Chicago, 6525 N. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60626, USA
Christopher A. Pool
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
Ronald R. Kneebone
Affiliation:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Albuquerque District, P.O. Box 1580, Albuquerque, NM 87103-1580, USA
Robert S. Santley
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
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Abstract

Matacapan, a Classic-period center in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico, is known for its strong stylistic affinities with Teotihuacan. The Comoapan complex is a ceramic-production area situated along the southern edge of Matacapan. Data from Comoapan indicate that pottery manufacture was large scale and intensive, with final products distributed outside of Matacapan and possibly beyond the Tuxtlas. These data suggest that models of Tuxtlas political economy emphasizing long-term Teotihuacan administration should be reconsidered. More reasonable is a perspective that views the Tuxtlas as a source of high-quality prestige goods whose distribution is administered by local elite.

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , Fall 1993 , pp. 175 - 191
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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