But robert, where did the pots go? Ceramic exchange and the economy of ancient Matacapan

Among Robert Santley's major contributions to Mesoamerican archaeology was the modeling of ancient economic systems. In particular, Santley proposed that the economies of Teotihuacan's dependents were organized as dendritic central-place systems geared toward the bulking and export of goods and materials. Ceramic production and exchange figured prominently in Santley's dendritic model for the economy of Matacapan and the Tuxtla Mountains. In this paper we assess Santley's model in light of recent data on ceramic production and exchange in the Tuxtlas region. The result is a more informed view of political economy that does not easily fit any one central-place model.