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

Background Literature

This dissertation project grew out of a preliminary analysis of architectural arrangements at secondary centers in the Mixteca Alta. The results of the analysis (Heredia 2001) showed a pattern in which single plaza groups are the main form of elite residential architecture. This pattern contrasts with the Valley of Oaxaca, where multiple plaza groups are more common, and may indicate that forms of state administration in these two areas differed. The Mixteca Alta pattern, with single plaza groups, points to a more centralized state where governance at secondary centers was restricted to single palaces, whereas in the Valley of Oaxaca power was shared across multiple palaces.

These preliminary analyses suggest two alternatives for Mixteca Alta secondary administration: (1) The smaller number of enclosed mound groups suggests less political centralization (broader span of control) at the secondary level by comparison with the Valley of Oaxaca; or (2) more power was centralized in single households in the Mixteca Alta, while in the Valley of Oaxaca power was shared across multiple households in a more corporate form of government (cf. Blanton et al. 1996).

Basing my hypotheses on previous analysis (Heredia 2001), I developed a research project through which I could get at governance in Mixtec secondary centers. The project involved mapping and intensively collecting five sites (Figure 2).

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