@article{d1c47f93247b415e9440d827ae28e46a,
title = "Prosperity, power, and change: Modeling maize at Postclassic Xaltocan, Mexico",
abstract = "Documenting the relationship between agriculture and political economy occupies the center of much research and debate in anthropological archaeology. This study examines this issue by focusing on maize at Xaltocan, a Postclassic community located in the northern Basin of Mexico. We consider how different mechanisms of distribution, circulation, and production can influence maize variation. We analyze maize variability through time at Xaltocan and the community's chinampa system and interpret patterns of variation in relation to its historical trajectory. This methodological and interpretive approach offers an innovative means to understand how agricultural practices transformed in relation to changing conditions of prosperity and power, especially the links between tribute, market exchange, conflict, and regional demography. Our study also speaks to broader, dichotomous perspectives that model the organization of agricultural systems, revealing that the strategies of both agriculturalists and the state often converge at local levels.",
keywords = "Agriculture, Aztec, Basin of Mexico, Maize, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Paleoethnobotany, Political economy",
author = "Morehart, {Christopher T.} and Eisenberg, {Dan T.A.}",
note = "Funding Information: The analysis of maize remains and the investigations of Xaltocan{\textquoteright}s chinampa system were conducted by the Proyecto Chinampero Xaltocan (PCX), directed by Morehart. Funding for PCX (to Morehart) was provided by a NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant; a Wenner Gren Dissertation Grant; a Fulbright Hays Dissertation Abroad Fellowship; two Northwestern University Graduate Research Grants; a Northwestern University, Weinberg College Information Technology Grant; a Northwestern University, Kaplan Humanities Center-Mellon Foundation Research Grant; and two Northwestern University, Friends of Anthropology Research Grants. Eisenberg{\textquoteright}s research is funded by a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Permission for fieldwork was granted by Mexico{\textquoteright}s Instituto Nacional de Antropolog{\'i}a e Historia. Institutional support was provided by the Instituto de Investigaciones Antropol{\'o}gicas at the Universidad Nacional Aut{\'o}noma de M{\'e}xico, and Morehart thanks Emily McClung de Tapia and Carlos Serrano S{\'a}nchez of UNAM for allowing UNAM to serve as a host institution. The analysis of archaeobotanical remains was greatly enhanced due to the guidance and advice of scientists at UNAM, especially Emily McClung de Tapia, Diana Mart{\'i}nez Yrizar, Emilio Ibarra Morales, and Cristina Adriano Mor{\'a}n. Moreover, thanks are extended to Elizabeth Brumfiel and Emily McClung de Tapia for permission to analyze maize remains recovered from central Xaltocan. Investigations of Xaltocan{\textquoteright}s chinampa system benefited from the advice of Charles Frederick and Aleksander Borejsza. The suggestions of Elizabeth Brumfiel, Jeffrey Parsons, Andrew Wyatt, Christina Halperin, and anonymous reviewers strengthened this article, though any errors of fact, analysis, or interpretation are the authors{\textquoteright} responsibility.",
year = "2010",
month = mar,
doi = "10.1016/j.jaa.2009.10.005",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "29",
pages = "94--112",
journal = "Journal of Anthropological Archaeology",
issn = "0278-4165",
publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",
number = "1",
}