The Prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley, Vol. 1 MacNeish, Byers y otros PDF

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• .• ' • Subsistence v\\\V\\\V\\\ m M wWWWV^^ D B3K R. S. MacNeish, Douglas S. Byers, and Others Insatiable curiosity about the origins of New World civilization and agriculture in the — New World this means Indian coni led — archaeologist R. S. MacNeish to undertake a hunt that eventually led h...

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R. S.

MacNeish, Douglas

S.

Byers,

and Others

'

•

•

Insatiable curiosity about the origins of

—

New

World civilization and agriculture in the New World this means Indian coni led archaeologist R. S. MacNeish to undertake a hunt that eventually led him to a cave in the arid Tehuacan Valley of east central

—

Mexico. There, in 1960, he found what he believed

be

to

his

The Tehuacan

goal.

Archaeological-Botanical Project, sponsored

by the

Peabody Foundation for ArchaeAcademy, Andover, Massawas organized by MacNeish in

R. S.

ology, Phillips chusetts,

order to take

full

advantage of

his initial

discovery.

Under

his leadership, field parties spent

four seasons searching through rubbish of

long-dead towns and millennia-old

hunting parties for traces of early its

wild ancestors, and for

civilization.

first

They succeeded

litter of

com and

evidence of

in establishing

an unbroken record spanning 9,000 years and covering most aspects of man’s life. This the longest continuous record of man’s

is

economic activities yet found anywhere. A team of scholars, many trained in fields other than archaeology, have interpreted for us the significance of this record. its

Midway

in

course plant breeders set about improv-

ing wild food plants, with the result that

and other plants of importance today eventually took on their modem corn, avocados,

form.

The

greatly increased yield of the im-

proved plants furnished reserves of food support

artists,

neers, city planners,

com was of

to

astronomers, priests, engi-

and

rulers.

Although

known to be the foundation New World civilizations, its origin re-

mained

long

a mystery until the

chaeological-Botanical

Tehuacan Ar-

Project

uncovered

tiny cobs that almost duplicate the hypothetical wild ancestor of

com

bred by Paul

C. Mangelsdorf.

Volume is

I, Environment and Subsistence, concerned principally with geography,

climate,

and the natural resources exploited (Continued on back

flap)

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2015

https://archive.org/details/prehistoryoftehu01tehu

THE PREHISTORY OF THE TEHUACAN VALLEY

THE PREHISTORY OF THE TEHUACAN VALLEY

VOLUME ONE

Environment and Subsistence

Edited by Douglas

S.

Byers

Published for the

ROBERT

S.

PEABODY FOUNDATION

Phillips

Academy Andover

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS

,

•

AUSTIN &

LONDON

Published in Great Britain by the University of Texas Press, Ltd., London Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-17873 Copyright 1967 by the University of Texas Press All rights reserved

©

The preparation and publication of The Prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley has been assisted by grants from the National Science Foundation.

Typesetting by Service Typographers, Indianapolis, Indiana by The Meriden Gravure Company, Meriden, Connecticut Binding by Universal Bookbindery, Inc., San Antonio, Texas

Printing

EDITOR’S PREFACE

The known

Tehuacan Valley will make The Tehuacan Archaeological-

Prehistory of the the findings of

Botanical Project, which, during four field seasons,

1961-1964, sought to discover the beginnings of agriculture in the

New World

and the concomitant

rise

formation about the development of irrigation that has been gathered by R. B. leagues. In spite of

terial

tions

gathered

in

the course of archaeological excava-

were people trained

in

to better

how

all

contributing sciences. Al-

though preliminary reports of some of the findings have appeared elsewhere, a number of “first” papers for the region will appear in this series. first of the six volumes that present the concerned primarily with fields other than archaeology, with the Tehuacan Valley and its immedi-

This, the

findings,

is

ate surroundings, with

resources, with activities of a

its

its

natural history and natural

people, and with the exploitive

people faced with the necessity of wringwhat appear

ing the greatest possible advantage from

have been the progressively deteriorating resources more hostile and discouraging environment. In this volume are included data bearing on the domestication of native American plants and their subsequent improvement. Findings regarding the domestication of maize should answer many questions to

of an increasingly

concerning the origin of

many more

this

important crop plant, but

be answered. That other economic plants were exploited at an even earlier date w ill come as a surprise to many. Lack of space and problems of time have made it impossible to include in this volume extensive inleave

still

to

be relegated

Volume

II

is

concerned with the nonceramic

facts of the ancient inhabitants of the ley,

and with the

identification

and

arti-

Tehuacan Val-

seriation of types

of artifacts to derive a chronology for the valley.

It

concerned with the distribution of such types and with the possibilities of such distribution in time

is

also

and space as a means of reconstructing cultural units and their relationships, whether locally or on a wider scale.

excavations will be described, discussed, and used in

it is

the project might have been carried out

advantage for

to

well stem from

the pioneering nature of this study. At this stage,

easy to see

had

another volume.

Volume III will be concerned with ceramic artifacts. The sherds, vessels, and figurines unearthed in the

and anthropology. Any lack of either the

may

his col-

“inter-” or the

botany, zoology, geology,

“discipline” in the resulting papers

Woodbury and

obvious connection with agri-

cultural activities, this material to

of autocthonous civilization. This project, supported

hv the National Science Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, was the brain child of R. S. MacNeish, Research Associate, R. S. Peabody Foundation, who envisaged it as an interdisciplinary project. As such, it was the first of its kind to be undertaken in Middle America. Assembled in a team to collect data or analyze ma-

its

the reconstruction of the cultural and mercantile his-

and in the placement of the burand principalities with respect to contemporary developments in Mexico beyond the rim of the Tehuacan Valley. Volume IV will be concerned with chronology, both relative and absolute. Stratigraphic relationships and tory of the valley

geoning

cities

succeeding types of artifacts will provide the key

to

relative chronology, but radiocarbon dating holds the

key

to absolute dating.

the two — absolute —an estimate of the

By combining

chronology and relative chronology

growth of the culture, progressively increasing and complexity, can be derived. Volume V will comprise detailed reports of the archaeological survey and of the several excavations, with sections to show stratigraphic relationships in the ground. It will also attempt to reconstruct the way of life represented by each occupational unit. Volume VI, the concluding volume, is intended to contain a summation of what has been presented in the other volumes and to draw conclusions regarding the processes which transform a simple, gathering society into a complex, sophisticated, and urban civilization based on differences of class and caste. We have attempted to instill some unity into these rate of

in richness

v

EDITORS PREFACE volumes. That these attempts have not been completely

successful

reader.

It

is

will

difficult to

from so many authors all

differences in style.

be

apparent

to

the

casual

many manuscripts way as to eliminate

process so in It

such a is

obviously impossible to

even though some individual contributions depart radically from findings of other contributors. To attempt to do so would be to smother force agreement on

all,

with a protective editorial blue-gray what may eventually prove to be strokes of genius and insight. The National Science Foundation has supported the preparation of these manuscripts, even though it has seemed a never-ending job.

To

the successive

program directors for Anthropology, Allan H. Smith and Richard W. Lieban, and through them, to the

we

National Science Foundation,

express our grati-

in large part reshaped,

The

manuscript for several chapters.

success of illustrations for other chapters

is

entirely

and painstaking care. To Nancy H. Flannery, of the Tehuacan Archae-

attributable to his interest

ological-Botanical Project, pieces of art

work

in

we

are indebted for various

more than one volume. The

skill-

and capable hands of Ashley Baker, of the Robert S. Peabody Foundation for Archaeology, have turned to the illustration of the chapter on the Borgia Codex as well as to other art work and the making of photographic prints. She has been of inestimable help in ful

preparing the It

many complicated

would have been impossible

tables in

Volume work

to carry the

I.

to

completion without the discerning and sympathetic efforts of

Chase

J.

Duffy,

who

has carried the major

editorial load.

tude for their patience and encouragement.

We

gratefully

acknowledge the very considerable volume made by Frederick John-

Douglas

among authors out of He hammered out, and

Andover, Massachusetts August 1966

contributions to this son.

He

which

organized a conference

this

volume took shape.

S.

Byers

Director, Robert

S.

Peabody Foundation

CONTENTS Editor’s Preface

v

Introduction

3

Richard 1.

An

4.

Approach

to

an Archaeological Problem

S.

...

14

MacNeish 25

MacNeish

The Region and Its People Douglas S. Byers

34

Climate and Hydrology

48

Douglas 5.

S.

Field Laboratory and Techniques

Richard 3.

MacNeish

Interdisciplinary

Richard 2.

S.

Byers

S.

Geologic Studies

66

Jean Brunet 6.

The Human Skeletons James E. Anderson

91

7.

Codex Borgia and the Venta Salada Phase Robert Chadwick and Richard S. MacNeish

114

8.

The Vertebrate Fauna and Hunting Kent V. Flannery

132

9.

Prehistoric

10.

Patterns

.

Wild and Cultivated Maize 178 Paul C. Mangelsdorf, Richard S. MacNeish, and Walton C. Galinat Archaeological Phaseolus from Tehuacan

201

Lawrence Kaplan 11.

Curcubits from the Tehuacan Caves

Hugh

C. Cutler and

Remains Earle Smith,

12. Plant

C. 13.

212

Thomas W. Whitaker 220

Jr.

A Cotton Boll Segment from

Coxcatlan Cave

256

Stanley G. Stevens 14.

Analysis of the

Eric O. 15.

Tehuacan Coprolites

261

C allen

A Summary

of the Subsistence

Richard

MacNeish

S.

290

Bibliography

311

Index

321

vn

TABLES 1.

Maximum, Minimum, and Mean Temperatures at Valley Stations,

West Niche

2.

Burials from El Riego Cave,

3.

Burials from El Riego Cave, East Niche

23.

.

92

24.

.

92

25.

26.

Maize Cobs and Kernels by Race Bean Remains from All Sites Characteristics of Remains of Fhaseolus Cucurbit Remains from All Sites Remains of Food and Fiber Plants from All

27.

Maximum Width

22.

4.

Burials from Coxcatlan

Cave

92

5.

Burials from the Ajalpan Site

92

6.

Burials from Quachilco

92

7.

Burials from Purron

8.

Burials from Coatepec

9.

Measurements Measurements Measurements Mandibles

10. 11.

Cave

of Adult Skulls

of of

....

Immature Skulls Male and Female

Length of Immature Diaphyses Comparative Data on New World Skulls Small Rodent Remains from Tehuacan Sites Food Animals from Coxcatlan Cave and

16.

....

17.

19.

20. 21.

viii

32.

Contents of Abejas Phase Coprolites

108

33.

Contents of Selected Santa Maria Phase

142

34.

Contents of Selected Palo Blanco Phase

160

35.

111

.

.

Food Animals from the Arroyo Lencho Diego Food Animals from Teccoral Canyon Food Animals from between Subareas 1 and 2 following Food Animals from Subarea 1 following Maize Remains from All Sites .

.

.... .

257

.... .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

164

Faunal Remains 37.

168 168

182

38.

265 267

269 270

275

Contents of Venta Salada Phase Coprolites 36. Volume of Meat in Liters Estimated from

166

257

273

Coprolites

Coprolites

Terrace 18.

108

29. 30.

13.

15.

31.

103

209

218

Septum and Segment and

105

28.

.

following 232 of

s/r Ratio of Cotton Comparative Average Measurements of 10 Dried Cotton Boll Segments Number of Coprolites per Phase and Cave Contents of El Riego Phase Coprolites Contents of Coxcatlan Phase Coprolites

93 104

Estimated Statures

.

196

204

....

Sites

93

12.

14.

....

71

1952-62

.

279 298

Volume of Food in Liters Estimated from Wild Plants following 304 Volume of Food in Liters Estimated from Cultivated Plants

....

following 304

The Prehistory

of the

Tehuacan Valley

ENVIRONMENT AND SUBSISTENCE

Introduction by Richard

S.

MacNeish

begin the Tehuaean reports ex-

the Christian era in the southwestern United States.

cept on a personal note, because the seasons spent

Contemporary botanical studies concerned with the origin of corn advanced three theories: (1) that corn had evolved from the wild grass, teosinte, in Mesomerica; (2) that com had evolved from a grass in South America; and (3) even that com had been first domesticated from a local grass in southeast Asia. We were a long way from having any answers to the corn problem, and our guesses were not even very close. In 1948 and 1949 the situation changed for the better. Tiny primitive corn cobs were uncovered in

find it

difficult to

I in the field at Tehuaean exciting and satisfying of

have been among the most

my

life.

Since childhood

I

have been interested in Mayan and Mexican archaeology and in the processes by which these civilizations

came

into being. Later, of course,

origin

of civilization

I

learned that the

closely connected with

is

development of agriculture, and that

World

this

undertook

meant this

Tehuaean

in

corn.

spent

I

...