Archaeological Survey of Coistlahuaca

University Of Georgia Research Foundation Inc, Athens GA

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Stephen Kowalewski will conduct archaeological fieldwork in Mexico to study ancient population growth, collapse, and environmental degradation. The work will address the following question: did high population density lead to the destruction of the environment (chiefly though soil erosion), or was it the opposite, that high populations actually maintained a stable landscape and that it was abandonment and the consequent lack of maintenance that led to environmental degradation? The study area of Coixtlahuaca is crucial because it was a major prehispanic kingdom, an agricultural breadbasket, a trading center of Mesoamerica-wide renown, and a province conquered by the Aztecs. It is little-known archaeologically. Previous archaeological studies of nearby regions show a slow-down and some local abandonments about 1 AD, a major abandonment in several areas about AD 600, and very high population levels just before the Spanish conquest (AD 1521). Based on the pilot studies by the research team in 2008 and 2009, Coixtlahuaca may have gone through similar cycles of growth and collapse. The project will study growth and abandonment, not just at the last population peak and the Colonial-period collapse, but for the two earlier contractions: Did population growth in those earlier times lead to degradation of the environment or was the landscape relatively stable until abandonment? The project will use methods from multiple disciplines to measure population, land use, and environmental change. Geomorphology will describe cycles of hillside erosion and valley-floor deposition. Non-destructive geophyscial and geochemical techniques will aid in tracing buried sites and in estimating population density. The project will carry out a systematic archaeological survey of the whole Coixtlahuaca basin (about 400 sq. miles) to find all visible habitation and other sites. The project will use radiocarbon, optically stimulated luminescence, and ceramic style dating. This project will result in systematically collected data on hundreds of previously unknown archaeological sites, many of them large and well preserved. This information will be useful for a long for cultural heritage management as well as for evaluating new scientific hypotheses. The project will also train young archaeologists in current standards for regional survey, geophysical applications, and local community relations. The study will respond to the considerable interest among local citizens in the history of the people and the environment in Coixtlahuaca and the Mixteca Alta.