Late Classic and Epiclassic Obsidian at Santa Cruz Atizapan, Toluca Valley, México

Settlement History

Throughout its history of human occupation, the Toluca Valley has presented those willing to endure its extremely bitter winter climate, a uniquely rich diversity of wildlife and natural resources. In the eastern lakes region, the successful exploitation of marshland fauna, fish, and vegetation persisted for nearly two thousand years (see McClung and Sugiura 2002: Appendix 3; Sugiura 1998b). Sugiura’s recent ethnoarchaeological study of the Toluca Valley’s marshland environment has demonstrated the central and enduring role lacustrine resources continue to play in the lives of local people. Beginning in the 1940s, however, underground water pumps were built to transport water from the Toluca Valley to México City in the adjacent Valley of México, effectively lowering the Chignahuapan, Chiconahuapan and Chimaliapan lake levels and greatly impacting the marshland region (Sugiura 1998b:18).

The first settlers appeared in the fertile Toluca Valley during the Early Formative period (circa 1200 B.C.) and their presence is marked by a few small sites with dispersed dwellings. The subsequent Middle Formative period (circa 1000-500 B.C.) witnessed increased settlement along the piedmont zones to the west and along river regions, but the net population increase appears to have been minimal within the lacustrine zone of the lake regions. The Late and Terminal Formative periods (500 B.C.–A.D. 200) did not continue this trend, as much of the Toluca Valley appears to have been deserted with only remnant populations remaining. New settlements again appear during the Middle Classic (A.D. 200-400), particularly within the lacustrine zones. McClung and Sugiura (2002) illustrate the significance of the lacustrine zones at that time by noting that extensive areas of remaining land within the valley were not substantially inhabited despite their subsistence potential.

The Middle Classic period also witnessed a continued rise of economic and political power by the Teotihuacán state in the adjacent Valley of México. At its apex in the Late Classic period (A.D. 400-650) Teotihuacán’s urban sector included numerous residential compounds, expansive public architecture highlighted by the Sun and Moon pyramids and specialized lithic workshops located on the outskirts of the city (Manzanilla 1995). Complex religious and exchange networks connected the city to nearly every existent site in Mesoamerica. Teotihuacán leaders did not overlook the tremendous woodland resources of the adjacent Toluca Valley, nor its rich lacustrine zones. Sugiura (2001:356) believes that during the Late Classic period, Teotihuacán leaders encouraged and perhaps directed increased settlement in the Toluca Valley to take advantage of the rich lacustrine resources available there.

The number of lake islands constructed increased yet again during the Epiclassic period (A.D. 650-900) as the Toluca Valley absorbed immigrants from the Valley of México seeking refuge following the demise of the Teotihuacán state at the end of the Classic period. A few large pyramid sites, strategically situated at entry points into the Toluca Valley, come into existence during this period. One of these sites is La Campana-Tepozoco which was established among the existing artificial islands on the fringes of lake Chignahuapan. It served as the civic-religious center for a large complex of surrounding islands that comprise the Santa Cruz Atizapan site. Apart from the increased settlement of the lacustrine zones, less hospitable regions of the valley are also intensely populated for the first time during the Epiclassic. The tremendous number of people moving into the valley meant that many of the later arrivals were forced to live in the less populated and unfavorable parts of the valley. Sugiura (1998a:113) notes a particularly large increase in number of sites in the northeastern part of the Toluca Valley.

Recent paleo-climatic data suggests that the construction of artificial islands in the Chignahuapan lake occurred at the inception of a long dry period in the valley when lake levels were their lowest circa A.D. 500 (Caballero et al., 2002). To create the earthen islands, soil was brought up from the bottom of the lake and placed into an intricately prepared framework of upright and angled branches which could support the construction of public and domestic structures. Over one hundred islands were eventually constructed in the shallow waters of the Chignahuapan lake. Results of the paleo-climatic study also indicate a substantial rise in lake levels around A.D. 900, which, not coincidentally, corresponds to the abandonment of the entire island complex. We can surmise that rising waters probably caused periodic flooding of the islands and posed drainage problems that eventually forced residents to move elsewhere and abandon the region (Caballero et al., 2002).

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