Santiago Tuxtla Archaeological Project

The Santiago Tuxtla Archaeological Project will investigate boundary dynamics on the eastern frontier of the Aztec Empire in Tuxtla, a tributary of the Tochtepec province. The project will conduct topographic mapping, surface collection, and excavation at Tot6gatl, Veracruz, a Postclassic and Early Colonial site determined by archival research and archaeological reconnaissance to be the probable location of the cabecera of Tuxtla. Fieldwork will be conducted from March 15 through September 30, 2004, by the project co-PI Marcie Venter as part of her doctoral dissertation research. This proposal requests funds for the excavation and analysis portions of the project, scheduled to begin May 15. Current research on boundary dynamics in the precapitalist world emphasizes their multidimensionality (Parker 2002; Weber and Rausch 1994; Whittaker 1994). It is imperative that boundary situations are also examined in Mesoamerica (Berdan 2003), where their study is lacking, especially at a time when pan-regional syntheses are being written (Smith and Berdan 2003a), largely from the perspective of core states. This project will address how the Tuxtla-Aztec boundary was configured along political, economic, and socio-cultural dimensions, how social groups at Tuxtla differently responded to imperial encroachment into the region, and how they may have affected it to their advantage. The dynamic of Tuxtla-Imperial relations appears to have varied along political, economic, and socio-cultural dimensions. Tuxtla (Toztlan) is recorded to have paid tribute to the Aztec Empire (Barlow 1949; Berdan and Anawalt 1992), but it was also part of an economically productive region characterized by commercial success and relative autonomy (Smith and Berdan 2003b). Furthermore, 16thCentury reports indicate that segments of the population of Tuxtla spoke Nahuatl, a language shared with the Aztecs of Central Mexico, while others spoke Popoluca, a Mixe-Zoque language indigenous to the southern Gulf Coast (Foster 1940, 1945; Foster and Foster 1948; Paso y Troncoso 1905; Scholes and Warren 1965). The Santiago Tuxtla Archaeological Project will clarify the character of Tuxtla-Aztec boundary relations by testing three models representing variable power scenarios: 1) domination and imperial control of Tuxtla, 2) Tuxtla independence and competition with the Aztec Empire, and 3) shared authority with imperial representatives, where Tuxtla controlled certain dimensions of boundary relations, the Empire others. The project will evaluate these models through topographic mapping, surface collections, and targeted excavations designed to identify areas of foreign and local occupation and to document changes in settlement, craft production, and material inventories reflecting the character of interaction with the Aztec Empire. In addition, this project will provide much-needed information on the poorly understood Postclassic period in the Tuxtla Mountains. Despite ethnohistoric descriptions of a well populated, dynamic, sociopolitical landscape in the Tuxtlas, currently only one other site in the region, Isla Agaltepec, is confirmed as containing a Postclassic component (Arnold 2003; Arnold and Venter n.d.). While some archaeologists have interpreted the lack of identified Postclassic sites as indicative of a massive pre-conquest depopulation of the area, others attribute it to substantial continuity in material culture and the failure of previous artifact classifications to discern subtle changes in decoration and technology (Killion and Urcid 2001; Pool 1995; Santley and Arnold 1996). Beyond the substantive and theoretical merits of the proposed study, this project has broader impacts. The Santiago Tuxtla Archaeological Project will provide specimens and educational resources for the Tuxtla Regional Museum. A steady flow of tourists and school groups passes through the Museo Tuxteco, which is undergoing a major remodeling. Likewise, field and laboratory work will provide training opportunities for Veracruz university students and employment for these students and local citizens.