Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-17T21:14:47.634Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Productivity of Maguey Terrace Agriculture in Central Mexico during the Aztec Period

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Susan T. Evans
Susan T. Evans*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Maguey cultivators in the Basin of Mexico during the Middle and Late Postclassic (A.D. 1150-1521) periods pioneered the more agriculturally marginal parts of the environment, such as the sloping piedmont zone around the alluvial plain. In their land-use strategy, terraced interplantings of maguey and grain formed the house gardens (calmilli) of their villages. These villages were established sometime around the twelfth century, and by the time of Spanish Conquest they covered the piedmont zones of the Teotihuacan Valley, Texcoco region, and similar areas of the Basin of Mexico. Archaeological and ethnographic evidence permit reconstruction of the caloric productivity of this interplanted terrace system, using modern maguey yields. This productivity is compared with the needs of the maguey cultivators by looking at a particular archaeological example, the Aztec period village of Cihuatecpan, in the Teotihuacan Valley.

Los cultivadores de maguey en el valle de México durante el período Postclásico (1150-1521 D.C.) fueron los primeros en occupar las zonas agrícolas marginales de este ambiente como el somonte inclinado circunvecino a la planicie aluvial. Su estrategia de colonización consistía en entrecultivos de maguey y maíz en terrazas agrícolas. Sus casas estaban dispersas sobre el sistema de terrazas que en effecto formaban los huertos domésticos (calmilli) de sus poblados. Este patrón de asentamiento facilitaba a los residentes del poblado el cultivo de sus huertos domésticos y el mantenimiento de las terrazas. Poblados de esta forma fueron fundados durante el siglo doce, y para el tiempo de la conquista española cubrían el somonte del valle de Teotihuacan, la región de Texcoco, y áreas similares.

El tema de este estudio es uno de estos poblados llamado Cihuatecpan que se localiza en la parte oriental del valle de Teotihuacan. Las 200 casas de Cihuatecpan estaban dispersas sobre el sistema de terrazas cubriendo un área de 3.3 km2 del terreno inclinado del Cerro San Lucas. La evidencia para el cultivo del maguey en esta región durante el período Azteca consiste en documentos etnohistóricos, y en material arqueológico como raspadores de obsidiana y basalto para la extracción de aguamiel y husos de cerámica para la preparación de fibra de maguey.

La productividad calórica de cultivos mixtos de maguey y grano durante el período Azteca se puede calcular de valores obtenidos en México durante el presente. En terrenos marginales el valor calórico de cultivos mixtos es más que el doble de los mismos valores obtenidos de cultivos de maíz solo. Cuando estos valores de productividad calórica son aplicados a los terrenos inclinados de Cihuatecpan los resultados se pueden comparar con los requerimientos de la población estimada de este pueblo.

El modelo resultante de productividad calórica demuestra que Cihuatecpan y otros pueblos de terraza podrían haber sido autosuficientes con respecto a sus requerimientos de comida así como en la manufactura de artículos de maguey y otros recursos.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , June 1990 , pp. 117 - 132
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Abrams, E. M. 1988 Investigation of an Obsidian Midden at Cihuatecpan, Mexico. In Excavations at Cihuatecpan, An Aztec Village in the Teotihuacan Valley, edited by S. T. Evans, pp. 235–238. Publications in Anthropology No. 36. Vanderbilt University, Nashville.Google Scholar
Archivo General de la Nation 1603 Congregaciones serie. Vol. 1, Expediente 48, Folios 30-34. Mexico City.Google Scholar
Armillas, P. 1969 The Arid Frontier of Mexican Civilization. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences 31:697–704. New York. 1971 Gardens in Swamps. Science 174:653-661.Google Scholar
Barlow, R. H. 1949 The Extent of the Empire of the Culhua Mexica. Ibero-Americana No. 28. Mexico City.Google Scholar
Bray, W. 1972 Land-Use, Settlement Pattern and Politics in Prehispanic Middle America: A Review. In Man, Settlement and Urbanism, edited by P. Ucko, R. Tringham, and G. Dimbleby, pp. 909–926. Duckworth, London.Google Scholar
Calnek, E. 1973 The Localization of the Sixteenth Century Map Called the Maguey Plan. American Antiquity 38:190–195.Google Scholar
Calnek, E. 1982 Patterns of Empire Formation in the Valley of Mexico, Late Postclassic Period, 1200-1521. In The Inca and Aztec States 1400-1800, edited by G. Collier, R. Rosaldo, and J. Wirth, pp. 43–62. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Carrasco, P. 1976 The Joint Family in Ancient Mexico: The Case of Molotla. In Essays on Mexican Kinship, edited by H. C. Nutini, P. Carrasco, and J. Taggart, pp. 45–64. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cobean, R., and Mastache, A. G. 1989 The Late Classic and Early Postclassic Chronology of the Tula Region. In Tula of the Toltecs, edited by D. Healan, pp. 34–46. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City.Google Scholar
Cobean, R., Mastache, A. G., Crespo, A., and Diaz, C. 1981 La cronologia de la region de Tula. In Interaction cultural en Mexico central, compiled by E. Rattray, J. Litvak, and C. Diaz, pp. 187–214. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, D.F.Google Scholar
Codex, Mendoza 1980 [1541-1542] Codice Mendoza. Reprint of 1925 facsimile edition by F. del Paso y Troncoso, with notes by J. Galindo y Villa. Editorial Innovation, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Codice, Xolotl 1980 [sixteenth century] Codice Xolotl. Edited by Charles E. Dibble. Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, D.F.Google Scholar
Davidson, S., Passmore, R., Brock, J. F., and Truswell, A. S. 1979 Human Nutrition and Dietetics. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Diehl, R. A. 1981 Tula. In Supplement to the Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 1, edited by J. A. Sabloff, pp. 277–295. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Diehl, R. A. 1983 Tula: The Toltec Capital of Ancient America. Thames and Hudson, London.Google Scholar
Donkin, R. A. 1979 Agricultural Terracing in the Aboriginal New World. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology No. 56. New York.Google Scholar
Drennan, R. D. 1988 Household Location and Compact versus Dispersed Settlement in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. In Household and Community in the Mesoamerican Past, edited by R. Wilk and W. Ashmore, pp. 273-293. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Evans, S. T. 1980 A Settlement System Analysis of the Teotihuacan Region, Mexico, A.D. 1350-1520. Ph.D. dissertation, Pennsylvania State University. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Evans, S. T. 1985 The Cerro Gordo Site: A Rural Settlement of the Aztec Period in the Basin of Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 12:1–18.Google Scholar
Evans, S. T. 1986 Analysis of the Surface Sample Ceramics. In The Teotihuacan Valley Project Final Report, vol. 4, edited by W. T. Sanders, pp. 283–366. Occasional Papers in Anthropology No. 13. Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Evans, S. T. 1988 Cihuatecpan: The Village in Its Ecological and Historical Context. In Excavations at Cihuatecpan, An Aztec Village in the Teotihuacan Valley, edited by S. T. Evans, pp. 1–49. Publications in Anthropology No. 36. Vanderbilt University, Nashville.Google Scholar
Evans, S. T. 1989 House and Household in the Aztec World: The Village of Cihuatecpan. In Households and Communities, edited by S. MacEachern, D. Archer, and R. Garvin, pp. 430–440. Proceedings of the 21st Annual Chacmool Conference. The Archaeological Association of the University of Calgary, Calgary.Google Scholar
Evans, S. T., and Abrams, E. M. 1988 Archaeology at the Aztec Period Village of Cihuatecpan, Mexico. In Excavations at Cihuatecpan, An Aztec Village in the Teotihuacan Valley, edited by S. T. Evans, pp. 50–233. Publications in Anthropology No. 36. Vanderbilt University, Nashville.Google Scholar
Evans, S. T., and Freter, A. C. 1989 Hydration Analysis of Obsidian from Cihuatecpan, an Aztec Period Village in Mexico. Paper presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Atlanta. Gibson, C. 1964 The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule. Stanford University Press, Stanford.Google Scholar
Harvey, H. 1985 Household and Family Structure in Early Colonial Tepelaoztoc. Estudios de Cultura Ndhuatl 18:275–294.Google Scholar
Healan, D. M., Cobean, R. H., and Diehl, R. A. 1989 Synthesis and Conclusions. In Tula of the Toltecs, edited by D. Healan, pp. 239-251. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City.Google Scholar
Ixtlilxochitl, F. de A. 1985 [1600-1640] Obras historicas, vols. 1 and 2, edited by E. O'Gorman. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, D.F.Google Scholar
Kelley, J. C. 1971 Archaeology of the Northern Frontier. In The Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. II, edited by R. Wauchope, pp. 768–801. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Linne, S. 1934 Archaeological Researches at Teotihuacan, Mexico. Publication No. 1 (n.s.). The Ethnographical Museum of Sweden, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Matheny, R. 1978 Northern Maya Lowland Water-Control Systems. In Pre-Hispanic Maya Agriculture, edited by P. Harrison and B. Turner, pp. 185–210. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Motolinia, T. 1971 [1536-1543] Memoriales. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico, D.F.Google Scholar
Nichols, D. 1987 Risk and Agricultural Intensification During the Formative Period in the Northern Basin of Mexico. American Anthropologist 89:596–616.Google Scholar
Palerm, A. 1955 The Agricultural Basis of Urban Civilization in Mesoamerica. In Irrigation Civilizations: A Comparative Study, edited by J. Steward, pp. 28–42. Social Science Monographs I. Pan American Union, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Parsons, J. R. 1971 Prehistoric Settlement Patterns in the Texcoco Region, Mexico. Memoirs No. 3. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Parsons, J. R. 1976 The Role of Chinampa Agriculture in the Food Supply of Aztec Tenochtitlan. In Cultural Change and Continuity, edited by C. Cleland, pp. 233–257. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Parsons, J. R., and Parsons, M. H. 1985 Otomi Maguey Utilization: An Ethnoarchaeological Perspective. Preliminary Report to the National Geographic Society. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Parsons, J. R., and Parsons, M. H. 1987 Maguey Sap Utilization in Highland Central Mexico: An Archaeological Ethnography. Preliminary Report to the National Geographic Society. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Parsons, M. H. 1972 Spindle Whorls from the Teotihuacan Valley, Mexico. In Miscellaneous Studies in Mexican Prehistory, by M. W. Spence, J. R. Parsons, and M. H. Parsons, pp. 81–117. Anthropological Papers No. 45. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Reyes Cortes, M., and Garcia-Barcena, J. 1979 Estratificacion en el area de la Catedral. In El recinto sagrado de Mexico, coordinated by C. Vega Sosa, pp. 16-28. Secretaria de Educacion Publica-Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico, D.F.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T. 1965 The Cultural Ecology of the Teotihuacan Valley. Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T. 1970 The Population of the Teotihuacan Valley, the Basin of Mexico and the Central Mexican Symbiotic Region in the 16th Century. In The Teotihuacan Valley Project Final Report, vol. 1, by W. T. Sanders, A. Kovar, T. Charlton, and R. A. Diehl, pp. 385–457. Occasional Papers in Anthropology No. 3. Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T. 1976 The Agricultural History of the Basin of Mexico. In The Valley of Mexico, edited by E. Wolf, pp. 101–159. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T., Parsons, J. R., and Santley, R. 1979 The Basin of Mexico. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Sauer, C. O. 1963 Land and Life: A Selection from the Writings of C. O. Sauer, edited by J. Leighly. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Siliceo Pauer, P. 1922 Condiciones fisico-biologicas. In La poblacion del valle de Teotihuacan, vol. 4, edited by M. Gamio, pp. 147–201. Instituto Nacional Indigenista, Mexico, D.F.Google Scholar
Simeon, R. 1984 Diccionario de la lengua Nahuatl o Mexicana. Siglo Ventiuno, Mexico, D.F.Google Scholar
Vega Sosa, C. (coordinator) 1979 El recinto sagrado de Mexico. Secretaria de Educacion Publica-Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico, D.F.Google Scholar
Williams, B. J. 1989 Contact Period Rural Overpopulation in the Basin of Mexico: Carrying-Capacity Models Tested with Documentary Data. American Antiquity 54:715–732.Google Scholar
Woot-Tsuen, W. L., with the cooperation of M. Flores 1961 Food Composition Table for Use in Latin America. Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defense and The Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama. Bethesda, Maryland, and Guatemala City.Google Scholar