The Nature of Governance in Secondary Centers of the Classic Period, Mixteca Alta, México

Objectives

The proposed project collected data on the spatial distribution of decorated ceramics, evidence for specialized production, and exotic goods in relation to public architecture to clarify the nature of secondary center governance in Mixteca Alta states of the Early Classic Period (Table 1). Five (instead of the three proposed sites) were mapped and 1% of the surface at each site collected. The sites were previously surveyed in 1999 during the Central Mixteca Alta Settlement Pattern Project (CMASPP) (Figure 1) (Balkansky et al. 2000).

Evidence for the control of craft production, valuable goods and ritual activities by plaza group residents will reveal the degree to which they controlled important economic and symbolic activities. A state that is less corporate and hence has less power sharing (Blanton et al. 1996; Blanton 1998) will show a correlation of production and consumption of costly goods with public buildings (Brumfiel and Earle 1987). Mixteca Alta states may have developed a comparatively centralized strategy vesting power in single households.

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