FARMING SYSTEMS AND POLITICAL GROWTH IN ANCIENT OAXACA

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1967-10, Vol.158 (38 OCT 27), p.445-454
• Main Authors: Flannery, Kent V, KIRKBY, ANNE V.T., Kirkby, Michael J, Williams, Aubrey W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture/Agricultural; Ancient times; Archaeology/Archaeological (see also Archeologist); Farm/Farms/Farming; Mexico/Mexican/Mexicans; Politics; Society, The, of; Uruguay/Uruguayan/ Uruguayans
• ISSN: 0036-8075

An archeological-geographical study of the Zapotec Indian civilization in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico, was conducted to test theories about the processes involved in the establishment of village life & the evolution of chiefdoms & early states. The location of the valley, its physiography & vegetation, agri'al potential & soil erosion, its soils & water table, climate, precipitation & hydrology are described in detail. Archeological materials recovered in 1966 from caves & rock shelters near Milta give evidence that this area had the richest & most varied assemblage of edible wild plants of the entire region. The Indians who camped seasonally in Guila Naquitz Cave collected acorns, pinyon nuts, mesquite beans, prickly pear & organ-cactus fruits, wild onion bulbs, hackberry, maguey & a dozen other species. Several parts of the valley were selected to investigate early village farming communities, with subsequent test excavations. Evidence from these early village & farming communities suggest that water control was practiced in the early village farming period. Towns & ceremonial centers arose in the period 600-200 BC. The pattern of settlement appears to be connected with the availability of water for irrigation. Actual indications of early irrigation canals are virtually eradicated & remain only in instances where the water used for irrigation was so rich in dissolved travertine that the canals themselves have been 'fossilized' through the deposition of calcareous material. Some considerations re trading & marketing activities of the early communities are offered. It is stated that slash-&-burn agriculture was most likely not the sole early farming technique in Mesoamerica. Given the locations of the cave areas where farming began, it is possible that some kinds of water control (like the terracing of wet arroyos) are as old as agriculture itself. Strong support is found for A. Palerm & E. R. Wolf's view that the ability to assimilate new agri'al techniques through time is a key factor in retain nuclearity (SONS OF THE SHAKING EARTH, Chicago, Ill: U of Chicago Press, 1949). It is suggested that the development of pot-irrigation early in the formative period gave the Oaxaca Valley a head start over other villages, where the low water table did not permit such farming. Initial disparaties in wealth & status arose. Oaxaca maintained its advantage by assimilating canal irrigation, infieldoutfield systems, flood-water farming, & hillside terracing. Trade in e