Epi-Classic Cultural Dynamics in the Mezquital Valley

The Concurrence of Close Links in the Construction of Macroregional Networks

The wares shared by the human groups that inhabited that geographic strip are a residual testimony of the construction and endurance of social links. As seen at least since the Mid Classic and the Early Post Classic, the North-Central Plateau participated in a system of communication and exchange whose major flow moved in an east-west direction, as a consequence of the fluvial systems Lerma/Santiago and Moctezuma/Pánuco (Diehl, 1976:280; Jiménez, 1989; Sánchez et al., 1995:145; Faugère, 1996:142; Ramos and López, 1999:258). At first sight, the connections become evident in the distribution of specific resources such as obsidian, and the joint use of materials such as clay pipes or some ceramic types, but no doubt they derive of a much larger interest. In fact, as stated by Peter Jiménez, "raw materials that circulated at the heart of this wide economic system were not the cause of the system, but rather, its results" and "It would seem that the exchange networks emerged parallel to the interaction per se." (Jiménez, 2001:4).

The origins and consequences of these connections must have had larger expressions and implications than the sole adoption of vessels. In this case, among the most significant ones is the probable engagement with neighbor networks (see Pollard, 2000a:64) and the subsequent emergence of macroregional networks:

"[…] the economic spaces of the Epi-Classic were not an exception; on the contrary, they interacted, creating channels through which artifacts from different regions could travel. Such channels tended to be preferential in regard to a specific type of good, and in this sense, they were limited networks regarding the class and number of artifacts, although they could be very wide in terms of spatial scope" (Cervantes and Fournier, 1996:117).

It is not difficult to realize the advantages that the participation in such networks represented for these societies. Definitely, one of them was the exchange of products with a remote origin, resulting from consolidated connections between intermediate regions. Guanajuato and northeastern Michoacán, for instance, were crucial in the integration of the northern and western spheres (see Diehl, 1983:114, 116; Jiménez, 1992:180; Williams, 1999:160-161), also connected with the State and the Basin of México (Jiménez, idem; Williams, idem), and via the Toluca valley, possibly with the western valley of Morelos (see pages 49-51 in this volume). San Luis Potosí contributed its connections with the northwest, the north and the Huasteca region, while from southern Querétaro and Mezquital, some kind of connection may have existed with the Basin of México, the Sierra Gorda, and again, with the Huasteca (see Sánchez et al., 1995:145; Fournier, 1995:61), while maybe from the Gulf Coast, with Southern Veracruz and even the Maya Area (see Diehl, 1983:114).

Therefore, we may think that the different "luxury" or "prestigious" objects we have considered in this work have "traveled" along such networks, although we are still far from understanding the ideological platform on which all that was taking place. Viewed in this way, it no longer seems so much "surprising" to find, during the Early Post Classic in Tula, abalone shell from the Gulf of California…ornamenting a Plumbate vessel from the Maya region.⁹⁸

The efficacy of this system allowed that at least since the Epi-Classic, some sites from the inlands were able to gain access to keratic materials, for instance Cerrito de Rayas (Ramos et al., 1988:314; Ramos and López, 1996:104)⁹⁹  and Cañada de la Virgen (Nieto, 1997:101), Guanajuato, Barrio de la Cruz (Crespo and Saint-Charles, 1996:130; 1991; Saint-Charles, 1991a:7-8, 11), Querétaro, or Sabina Grande (Carrasco et al., 2001), El Zethé (Morett, 1991; López and Fournier, 1992:240-257) and El Pañhú (Morett, personal communication, 1996), in Hidalgo. At times, the obtention of shell from the Pacific and the Gulf was possible, for instance in Tula, in southwestern Hidalgo (Diehl, 1976:263; Cobean and Estrada, 1994:78), in Urichu (Pollard, 2000b), and Loma Santa María (Cárdenas, 1999:223) in Michoacán.¹⁰⁰

The importance and contextual junction of shell from both coasts, in inland sites, allows to consider that there was a relative facility regarding the moving of objects between the societies engaged in the network.¹⁰¹

Less of a surprise is the presence of shell in sites from Michoacán, as, and although this has not always been proven, a good portion of it must have come from the Pacific. In addition to the ones mentioned above, and among the northeastern sites with an Epi-Classic occupation where keratic materials have been recorded, we may mention Tingambato (Pollard, 1995:37; 2000a:63); Tres Cerritos (Pollard 2000a:63) and the area of the Lerma Basin (Faugère, 1992:39; 1996:132). In the latter place, ceramic figurines from the west have been found (Faugère, 1996:93-132).

It is important to trace the connections between northeastern Michoacán and the coast, as it is possible that the exchange of some products (i.e. shell) was engaged during the Epi-Classic with the mechanism of distribution of obsidian from Ucareo/Zinapécuaro, one that in an eastward direction, may have taken advantage of the septentrional plateau network to reach Tula, and maybe even Veracruzan territories (it has been found, for example, in El Tajín, Healan, 1998:102, 104). In due time, this may help to explain the presence of Pacific shell in sites from western Hidalgo, the presence of wheeled figurines in Michoacán (see note 94), the presence of figurines apparently from the west in Tula (Diehl, 1976:263), and, via central and southern Veracruz, the presence of obsidian from the Michoacán deposit as far as northern Campeche (i.e. Edzná, Healan, 1998:104), the north of the Yucatán peninsula (Healan, 1997:77; 1998:102, 104, Healan and Hernández, 1999:137; Schmidt, 1999:445) or the coast of Belize (Healan, 1998:102, 104; Healan and Hernández, 1999:137).

The distribution of obsidian from Ucareo/Zinapécuaro traveled a different, important route; one that probably crossed the Toluca Valley to reach Xochicalco and one that maybe continued to the south via the Morelos territory, as obsidian from this source has been identified in the coast and the central valleys of Oaxaca (Healan, 1997:77; Healan, 1998:102, 104).

At least through the Epi-Classic, turquoise may have traveled along the two routes of this network,¹⁰² as suggested by the presence of this material, on one side, in Urichu (Pollard, 2000b), Tingambato (Pollard, 1995:37; 2000a:63), Loma Santa María (Cárdenas, 1999:215, 221-222; see note 137), Cerrito de Rayas (Ramos and López 1996:104); Barrio de la Cruz (Saint-Charles, 1991a:9; Crespo and Saint-Charles, 1991, n/p), Sabina Grande (Carrasco et al., 2001), Tula (Cobean and Estrada, 1994:77-78; Mastache and Cobean, 2000:121) and even in Chichén Itzá (Morris et al., 1931:186-188; Marquina, 1990 [1951]:854-855, photos 426 and 427); and on the other side, in Xochicalco (Sáenz, 1962b:1-2).

There is no need to outline the important incidence that these connections may have had for the dispersion, the other way around, of our jade plaques.

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Endnotes

98. The applications on the Plumbate vessel that represent a human face emerging from coyote fauces, presently exhibited at the National Museum, have been identified as abalone shell (Braniff, 1994:137). In her text, Braniff points out that the place of origin of this species is restricted to the north of parallel 28º in the Pacific Coast, northern Baja California, and Alta California (idem).

99. Ramos et al., (1988:314) refer to a pottery in Cerrito de Rayas that may have originated in the Gulf.

100. Loma Santa María had an important occupation connected to Teotihuacán. However, the analysis of the ceramic materials and the architectural features from the site has allowed Efraín Cárdenas to distinguish two major moments, the first well within the Classic (A.D. 300-600) and the second in the Epi-Classic (A.D. 600-900) (1999:217, 228). We ignore the context where the shell and other materials included here come from, and we have no information on time frame. Apparently, the record produced during the archaeological explorations (1977-1982) was insufficient and the analysis of materials was not completed, so much of that information has been lost (Cárdenas, 1999). If we include Loma Santa María when we talk about a network that was active during the Epi-Classic, it is because of the great coincidences existing between the materials that jointly circulated along the network and the associated ones that were recovered at the site. The obsidian from Ucareo is among them (Cárdenas, 1999:222), and its exploitation was probably not limited to the Epi-Classic, but as we have seen, it was then when it reached the highest peak of demand.

101. In La Negreta, a Classic site south of Querétaro, shell from both coasts was also imported (Brambila and Velasco, 1988:291). Although in a period preceding the one we are dealing with in this work, the possibility that the north-central network already existed as of the Classic, is interesting. Why not, considering that this was one of the reasons why Teotihuacán connected itself with the northern regions of the central plateau? Shell from the Gulf of California and from the Pacific Ocean was recovered at the Temple of Quetzalcóatl (Rubín de la Borbolla, 1947:65; Sugiyama, 1989:92-93). Would it be possible that sites such as La Negreta had played an important role, at least in regard to the shell supply from the West, instead of the other way around, as suggested before, in the sense that shell objects "reached La Negreta through Teotihuacán" (Brambila and Velasco, 1988:292-293, see also Brambila et al., 1988:17)?

102. It is widely known that turquoise was imported into Mesoamerican territories from the American Southwest. Although of a poorer quality, in México there are also deposits that were exploited during pre-hispanic times. According to Weigand’s studies, these occur in Santa Rosa, west of San Luis Potosí, Saucedo de Mulatos, Zacatecas, Coahuila, Chihuahua and Sonora (Weigand, 1995:127). Until the analysis of the composition of this material in its different sources is completed, together with the pieces recovered in archaeological contexts, it is difficult to establish an accurate provenience; however, it would seem that the overall distribution of turquoise was closely linked to the social system responsible for the mining activities in Chalchihuites, Zacatecas: "Besides their own mining operations, the inhabitants of the Chalchihuites area would frequently buy chemical turquoises from other regions […] Part of this turquoise was obtained in nearby deposits of a rather poor quality located in Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Coahuila. While these were the closest deposits available […] they have not been so intensely exploited as others of a much better quality farther north" (Weigand, ibid.:120-121). The first chemical turquoises in the Chalchihuites area appeared around A.D. 500 (idem), but their use was intensified during the final portion of the Classic (see Weigand, ibid.:130, fig. 1).

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