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F O U R The Basin of Mexico A.D. 1450–1620 Archaeological Dimensions Thomas H. Charlton, Cynthia L. Otis Charlton, and Patricia Fournier García 49 Abstract: Although spectacularly depicted in the written records, the Spanish conquest of the TenochtitlánTlatelolco imperial city-state and its immediate Basin-wide hinterland varies in its archaeological expression throughout the Early Colonial period (1521–1620). This variability was conditioned by two factors. First a greater number and variety of Spaniards settled in Tenochtitlán-Tlatelolco, as opposed to other areas of the Basin of Mexico. This meant that there was a greater impact in the Aztec and Hispanic imperial center as opposed to the rest of the Basin. Second, although all areas of the Basin witnessed major population losses from the incidental introduction of European diseases, the losses were proportionately greater outside of the Mexico-Tenochtitlán urban area from 1521 to 1620. Using archaeological materials from Mexico-Tenochtitlán, including Tlatelolco, and one of the tributary city-states, Otumba, in the northeastern Basin of Mexico, we examine the introduction of non-indigenous cultural materials and ideologies and the impact of contact as reflected in such changes which occur within the indigenous artifact traditions for the first hundred years following the conquest.We treat population decline from the point of view of the processes involved as well as from the role it played in the variable changes that occurred in material culture during the Early Colonial period. Resumen: A pesar de la espectacular forma en que se ilustra la conquista hispana en los registros escritos, para el caso de la ciudad-estado imperial de TenochtitlánTlatelolco y su periferia inmediata que cubría toda la Cuenca de México, hay variaciones en sus expresiones arqueológicas durante el período Colonial Temprano (1521–1620). Esta variabilidad fue condicionada por dos factores. En primer lugar, fue más grande la cantidad y eran más diversos los orígenes de los españoles que se asentaron en Tenochtitlán-Tlatelolco, en comparación con otras áreas de la Cuenca de México. Esto implica que hubo un mayor impacto en el centro imperial azteca y español respecto al resto de la Cuenca. En segundo lugar, a pesar de que en todas las áreas de la Cuenca hubo decrementos poblacionales sustanciales a causa de la introducción accidental de enfermedades europeas, el decremento fue proporcionalmente más agudo fuera del área urbana de México-Tenochtitlán entre 1521 y 1620. En este estudio se hace uso de materiales arqueol ógicos de México-Tenochtitlán, incluyendo Tlatelolco, y de una de sus ciudad-estado tributarias, Otumba, ubicada en la porción noreste de la Cuenca de México. Con estos datos, se analiza la introducción de materiales culturales e ideologías ajenos a lo indígena, así como el impacto del contacto según se refleja en los cambios que hay en las tradiciones artefactuales de los naturales durante el primer siglo posterior a la conquista. El decremento poblacional se analiza desde el punto de vista de los procesos involucrados así como del papel que tuvo en los cambios variables que ocurrieron en la cultura material durante el período Colonial Temprano. 50 / THOMAS H. CHARLTON, CYNTHIA L. OTIS CHARLTON, and PATRICIA FOURNIER GARCÍA In the historical archaeology of the Basin of Mexico (Figure 4.1) the brunt of the Spanish conquest appears earliest and most clearly in Late Horizon TenochtitlánTlatelolco , the macro-urban center of the indigenous Tenochca city-state’s imperial system and, as Early Colonial Mexico-Tenochtitlán,the regional center of the externally imposed Hispanic worldwide colonial empire centered on Madrid. Outside of this exceptionally large urban environment, and that of much smaller urban Texcoco, there were numerous smaller Late Horizon (1428–1520) city-states. Their cabeceras (city-state capitals ) frequently,but not always,were small,densely occupied urban centers, surrounded by dependent towns of variable population size and density.We define such settings as rural in opposition to Late Horizon and Early Colonial macro-urban centers (Charlton 1986; Evans 1980; Gerhard 1972:26; Sanders et al. 1979b). Archaeological investigations of the Early Colonial period (a.d. 1521–1620) indicate that the physical manifestations of conquest and the conquerors are less obvious and more subtle in the rural settlements of the Basin than in the Mexico-Tenochtitlán urban setting . In part this seems to be due to differential population decline in rural and...

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