Power, Social Organization, and Subsistence in the Teuchitlan Tradition of Central Jalisco: A First Attempt at a Synthesis
Organizer - Christopher S. Beekman (University of Colorado Denver)
The Teuchitlan tradition of central Jalisco is a complex society defined by distinctive circular public architecture found in 8 states of western Mexico over the period 300 B.C. - A.D. 900. Only recently have four field projects in the tradition's core in highland central Jalisco begun to test the fundamental cultural historical reconstruction laid down by Phil Weigand and based upon 35 years of surface survey, salvage, and excavation. This unprecedented concentration of fieldwork on a society long dismissed as a "tomb culture" provides fresh new data relating to subsistence, feasting, mortuary practices, and lineage based forms of social organization.

Introductory Remarks

Scales of social action at the sites of Llano Grande and Navajas, Jalisco
Christopher S. Beekman (University of Colorado Denver)
Archaeological research into agency has made scant reference to the numerous social theorists emphasizing specifically collective agency and its emergent properties. Research at the central Jalisco sites of Llano Grande and Navajas was originally designed to examine competition among political agents during the Late Formative and Early/Middle Classic. Excavations support the proposal that multiple social segments had considerable independence in the construction and maintenance of different elements of the public architecture. However, a greater understanding of group ritual and the symbolic significance of the public architecture itself suggests the social recognition of other scales of group action.

Paleoethnobotanical Studies at Llano Grande, Jalisco, Mexico
James Schoenwetter (Arizona State University) and Bruce F. Benz (Texas Wesleyan University)
62 samples examined for macrobotanical material and 40 pollen samples were selected to represent the range of structures and stratigraphic units at this guachimontón in the core district of the Teuchitlan Tradition. 17 samples were examined for both forms of botanical remains. An intra-site pollen chronology based on changes in pollen concentration values suggests details of the construction and occupation sequences that are not obvious from site stratigraphy. Vegetation and ecosystem patterns seem to have been very little impacted by the site's construction and occupation. Maize kernels and cob fragments on occupation surfaces, as well as seeds of disturbed-ground weeds and small amounts of maize, bottle gourd and cotton pollen, document agricultural production but the site was not embedded in an agricultural landscape. Similarly small quantities of walnut, cottonwood, willow, nettle, dock and cattail pollen were inadvertently introduced to the site by people working or visiting wetland agricultural systems in the lowlands of the core district. A ubiquitous sedge pollen record, accompanied by sedge seeds in the remains of burnt buildings of the terminal occupation, suggests use of reeds for thatch and flooring.

New Interpretations of the Circular Architectural Complexes in the Teuchitlan Tradition
Sarah Jennings (Metcalf Archaeological Consultants)
West Mexican ceramic models have often been a useful tool for understanding the function of the circular architectural complexes of the Teuchitlan Tradition. In 2003, the Tequila Valley Regional Archaeological Project conducted extensive excavations near the village of Navajas in Jalisco to test for evidence of the performance of pole rituals and other ceremonial activities as seen in these ceramic models. This paper will discuss two circular complexes investigated during this project, detailing similarities and differences between the architecture of these two circles while relating them to previous knowledge and providing new interpretations.

Ceramic Evidence for communal feasting at the West Mexican Site of Navajas
Gregory Tyndall (University of Colorado at Denver)
This study utilizes a large ceramic collection from the recent excavations at the site of Navajas in Western Mexico to examine the political nature regarding feasting practices of the prehistoric Indians of the Teuchitlan Tradition. Analysis of these ceramics has shown that the participants in the feasts had very similar ceramic assemblages, despite their separation into eight groups occupying architecturally unique structures around a central altar. These results suggest that these rituals were communally based, as no aggrandizing behavior is evident in the ceramic collection.

The Architectural Sequence at the Guachimontones de Teuchitlán
Phil C. Weigand (El Colegio de Michoacán)
After 5 years of excavations, the building sequence at the region's largest precinct of concentric circular architecture, which covers 19 has, is now clear. We have excavated at 8 of the 10 circles. Four circles have been extensively excavated. We have been able to document how the circular structures were articulated and how they are related to the 2 ball-courts and 4 rectangular plazas. Interior construction detail of many platforms and pyramids has been obtained. It is evident that teams of workers, often utilizing different traditions of construction techniques, were employed during the edification of many platforms. This is a characteristic of public architecture.

Jerarquia e identidad social a través de las figurillas de la tradición Teuchitlán
Lorenza López Mestas C. and Marisol Montejano Esquivias (Centro INAH Jalisco)
A fines del Preclásico la zona nuclear de la tradición Teuchitlán vivía un proceso de complejización social. Sus figurillas de representaciones humanas fueron abundantes. Se analizarán las figurillas encontradas en contextos arqueológicos controlados en los sitios de Guachimontones y de Huitzilapa, Jalisco. Se partirá de contextos de uso y deposicionales, al igual que aspectos estilísticos y morfológicos, insistiendo en la dinámica de jerarquización social e integración política, como procesos interactuantes en dicha complejización, pues dichas figurillas se elaboraron por especialistas y fueron un reflejo de la identidad social involucrada en las diferencias étnicas y de status.

Las costumbres funerarias de la tradición Teuchitlán: la exploración del altar 6 de Los Guachimontones
Eric Cach (Universidad de Guadalajara)
Esta ponencia describe el hallazgo de un altar funerario de la tradición arqueológica de Los Guachimontones en Jalisco, México. Este es uno de los raros casos en que se descubre dentro de un edificio de arquitectura circular un conjunto de entierros y ofrendas que datan del 300 a.c. al 900 d.c. La ubicación de este altar circular dentro del recinto de los Guachimontones indica su importancia dentro de los rituales políticos de los gobernantes del sitio. En la ponencia se abordará la importancia que este depósito cultural tuvo dentro del contexto ritual y político de los Guachimontones.

La complejidad de los grupos sociales de la Tradición Teuchitlán vista mediante la exploración de la zona habitacional La Joyita en el sitio arqueológico Guachimontón
Jorge Herrejón Villicaña (Proyecto Arqueológico Teuchitlán)
Durante la temporada de campo del año 2003 se excavaron 7 estructuras del conjunto habitacional La Joyita. La detallada exploración de esos vestigios reveló diferencias importantes entre ellos mismos en cuanto a técnica constructiva, forma, función y materiales hallados en ellas. Dichas diferencias permiten proponer algunas inferencias en cuanto a la complejidad social del grupo humano que construyó este conjunto. Además, el hallazgo de una tumba permite enlazar la información obtenida de las habitaciones con aquella del círculo 6 del conjunto ceremonial principal, sugiriendo entonces una relación directa de las personas que habitaron el conjunto con aquellas que vivían dentro de él.

Una interpretación de los niveles linásticos en el núcleo de la Tradición Teuchitlán a través del estudio de los círculos monumentales y no monumentales del sitio arqueológico Los Guachimontones, Jalisco, México
Sean Smith (Proyecto Arqueológico Teuchitlán)
A principios de 2003 se localizó el círculo número 10 en la ladera Este del centro ceremonial, el cual conserva las mismas características de las demás estructuras representativas de esta tradición y comparte la misma temporalidad con los guachimontones monumentales del sitio. Con las excavaciones y el análisis de los materiales podemos inferir que el círculo 10 mantiene ciertos detalles en cuanto a su tamaño y localización que contemplan una nueva perspectiva de investigación para éste tipo de edificios y con ello permite observar algunas diferencias en los niveles linásticos con base en su patrón de asentamiento.

Excavation of a Medium-sized Circle at the Los Guachimontones site
Jennifer Griffin (Tulane University)
The site of Los Guachimontones is the largest and most architecturally complex site containing the distinctive circular architecture of the Teuchitlan Tradition. My work at the site has focused on Circle 3, the third largest circle at the site. Excavations in 2003 of the central altar and one platform revealed information about the construction and history of use of this circle during the Classic period and later reoccupation of the site. Investigations of this circle allow us an unusual opportunity to study a medium-sized architectural circle in association with adjacent monumental circles.

Los yacimientos de obsidiana de El Pedernal-La Mora: una explotación constante durante el desarrollo de la Tradición Teuchitlán
Juan Rodrigo Esparza López (Colegio de Michoacán)
Uno de los factores más importantes en el desarrollo de la Tradición Teuchitlán fue la explotación de yacimientos de obsidiana del volcán de Tequila. Durante las exploraciones llevadas a cabo dentro del yacimiento de El Pedernal-La Mora, se registraron más de 150 minas de extracción con características distintas según la calidad del material, su ubicación y al periodo cronológico que corresponden. Esto podría confirmar una especialización en el proceso de explotación para posteriormente transformarla en dos tipos de artefactos: las macronavajas y las navajillas prismáticas.

Wetlands Cultivation in West Mexico: Pre-Hispanic Agriculture and the Teuchitlan Tradition
Glenn Stuart (Arizona State University)
The use of wetlands for agricultural production was common to various areas of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. Extensive manipulation of these wetland environments through construction of integrated systems of canals and planting platforms, however, was relatively rare. Recent research confirms not only the existence of such a system in the Teuchitlan tradition core area, but relates its rise, florescence, and abandonment to the rise and fall of the Teuchitlan tradition itself. In this paper I discuss this research, demographic pressure, and the role political economy and elites demands for agricultural surplus may have played in the system's construction, use, and abandonment.

La Tradición Teuchitlán, el maguey y el tequila. Un debate acerca de su confluencia especial, histórica y cultural. Integración o destrucción?
Samuel Ojeda Gastélum (Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa), Bruce F. Benz (Texas Wesleyan University), and Lorenza López Mestas C. (Centro INAH Jalisco)
Se destacará el rol que jugaba el maguey en la tradición Teuchitlán y se realizará un ligero recorrido histórico sobre su papel hasta tiempos actuales. Para ponderar que los sitios arqueológicos de esta tradición y el agave se entrelazan en distintas temporalidades con las configuraciones sociales de los jalisciences. El rescate y conservación de ambas tradiciones debe ser confluyente e integrador, como partes del paisaje natural, histórico y cultural de la región. Resaltará que prácticas más recientes, como la elaboración de tequila, no pueden destruir vestigios antiquísimos que son raíces de nuestro pasado y símbolos de cultura e identidad.

Discussant
Phil C. Weigand (El Colegio de Michoacán)

Comments to Chris Beekman