essay

Land use in prehispanic Oaxaca: periods I through V of the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico

Monte Albán's hinterland, part. 2: Prehispanic settlement patterns in Tlacolula, Etla, and Ocotlan, the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, by Stephen A. Kowalewski ... [et al • (23) • Published In 1989 • Pages: 449-505

By: Nicholas, Linda M..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document

'Nicholas explores the nature of the relationship between the distribution of agricultural land and the prehispanic populations of the Valley. [She focuses] on how the actual population distributions differed from those that would have been expected if the environment was the key factor affecting settlement decisions.' (page 450). She finds that the environment accounts for very little of the specific patterns of settlement location. Once Monte Albán was established the population was no longer located to take advantage of the best agricultural land. Instead, it was the larger settlements that effected the placement of the smaller settlements. 'It appears that social, political, and economic considerations overrode exclusively environmental [settlement decisions] during much of the prehispanic era in the Valley of Oaxaca.' (page 505). Nicholas discusses the settlement patterns and land use from the Tierras Largas through the Monte Albán phases, but only the data from the Rosario through the Monte Albán IIIA phases were marked for OCM codes (Outline of Cultural Materials).

SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF

Land use

Settlement patterns

Tillage

Population

Territorial hierarchy

traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)

Highland Mesoamerican Late Preclassic

HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document

2010

RegionThe area the document pertains to

Middle America and the Caribbean

Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region

General Middle America and the Caribbean

Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs

essay

Evaluation

Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.

Archaeologist

Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection

Sarah Berry; 2008

Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document

1970-1974, 1977, 1980

Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to

3400-500 BP (1400 BC-AD 1500)

Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)

Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico

NotesAdditional notes

by Linda M. Nicholas

LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number

90620264

LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings

Indians of Mexico--Mexico--Oaxaca Valley--Antiquities/Land settlement patterns--Mexico--Oaxaca Valley/Demographic archaeology--Mexico--Oaxaca Valley/Monte Albán Site (Mexico)/Oaxaca Valley (Mexico)--Antiquities