Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Neighborhood Dynamics at Calixtlhuaca, Mexico

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Under the supervision of Dr. Michael E. Smith, Juliana Novic will examine the social composition of the neighborhoods of the ancient city of Calixtlahuaca. Social clustering is evident today in U.S. cities with phenomenon such as white flight, ethnic neighborhoods, and urban ghettos. Are these phenomena unique to modern society or do they have a deep historical trajectory? Did social clustering occur in ancient cities? Ms. Novic seeks to address these questions by looking at social clustering in the Aztec-period city of Calixtlahuaca, Mexico (AD 1100-1520). She will investigate the ways in which class, ritual, consumer culture, and resource procurement influenced the social fabric of Calixtlahuaca's neighborhoods. Very few archaeological case studies exist where the researcher is able to examine more than one facet of social clustering. Physical, chemical and mineralogical studies of artifacts from a NSF funded 2006 surface survey are used to provide data for statistically assessing social clustering.Ms. Novic uses physical and mineralogical characteristics of the pottery to identify producers and styles. She then examines what people were purchasing in this early market economy, determine what that indicates about the consumer socially, and the relationship to neighborhood organization. The chemical analysis allows a precise reconstruction of the places from which people obtained their imported goods. Ms. Novic can look at the interrelationships among class, ritual, consumer preference, and resource procurement in neighborhood life. Similar questions about the relationship among class, religion, and economics are asked about modern cities, and this project is unique in asking these questions about past cities. The historical path that cities take is influenced by previous urban forms. Understanding neighborhood composition in Precolumbian cities can help one to understand the processes that lead to similar forms in modern cities. This can inform planners and developmental organizations seeking to improve the urban environment. This project is highly transdisciplinary, combining insights from Urban Studies, Sociology, Economics, Geography, and Archaeology. The new ideas produced will in turn influence the above mentioned fields. The urban core of Calixtlahuaca is unique, with many different temples spread out and no paramount temple. This is different from most Mesoamerican cities and suggests that ritual life was highly varied at this site. Historical records state that many languages were spoken in the city. If social clustering occurred in Mesoamerican cities, Calixtlahuaca would be an ideal place to find it.This research will seek to have broader impacts beyond the research topics presented. The project involves women from the local community in the analysis, thus providing them with an opportunity to learn a skill and learn about their history. The field laboratory is located at the Colegio Mexiquense. This provides an opportunity for intellectual exchange between scholars at the Colegio and US researchers on Precolumbian Mexico. The project is the final step in Ms. Novic's doctoral degree. Ms. Novic is Puerto Rican, a group that is underrepresented in the archaeological profession and in academia as a whole.