SOCIAL INEQUALITY AT MONTE ALBAN OAXACA: HOUSEHOLD ANALYSIS FROM TERMINAL FORMATIVE TO EARLY CLASSIC by Ernesto González Licón B.A. Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 1982 M.A. Escuela Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Museografía, 1984 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2003 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Ernesto González Licón It was defended on March 12, 2003 and approved by Dr. Olivier de Montmollin ________________________________ Dr. Marc Bermann ________________________________ Dr. Katheryn Linduff ________________________________ Dr. Robert D. Drennan ________________________________ Committee Chairperson ii Copyright by Ernesto González Licón 2003 iii SOCIAL INEQUALITY AT MONTE ALBAN OAXACA: HOUSEHOLD ANALYSIS FROM TERMINAL FORMATIVE TO EARLY CLASSIC Ernesto González Licón, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2003 The main objective of this dissertation is to reconstruct patterns of social organization and degrees of social stratification in Monte Albán, the capital of the ancient Zapotec state in what is now the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. Social stratification has been defined as the division of a society into categories of individuals organized into hierarchical segments based on access to strategic resources. The study of social stratification is an important aspect to research about the development of complex societies, since stratification has its origin in differential access to strategic resources, and, once the state arises as a form of government, this inequality is institutionalized, and social strata or social classes are formed. This research is based on archaeological data from 12 residential units distributed throughout three different parts of the city and attempts to clarify the composition of the social structure at Monte Albán. Architecture, funerary practices, material goods, and health conditions, were used as archaeological indicators for identifying and evaluating domestic rituals, prestige, and levels of wealth throughout time. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As usual in a complex and extensive study such as a doctoral dissertation, many people are involved and it is time to thank them. First of all I want to thank my wife Dr. Lourdes Márquez who participated very actively in this project from its beginnings until its conclusion. To my advisor, Dr. Robert D. Drennan who encouraged me to follow this line of research and oriented me throughout this long process of dealing with data and theory to produce knowledge. To Dr. Olivier de Montmollin and Dr. Marc Bermann, professors and members of my doctoral committee who provided me with important theoretical and methodological insights. I also want to thank INAH authorities Dr. Enrique Nalda, Dr. Mercedes de la Garza, Mtro. Felipe Solís, and Dr. Florencia Peña, for giving me the permission to use office hours on this dissertation. To Dr. Kent V. Flannery and Dr. Joyce Marcus for their friendship, advice, and guidance throughout this research. Also to Dr. Eduardo Matos, Dr. Linda Manzanilla, Dr. Gary M. Feinman, and Linda M. Nicholas for their support and friendship. Fieldwork was financed with INAH-Oaxaca resources and a small amount from the Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes. In later years, budgets for two short field visits from Mexico City to Oaxaca were provided by Dr. Alejandro Martínez, head of the INAH-National Coordination of Archaeology. In 1994 I was honored to receive a Graduate Fellowship in Latin American Archaeology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, supported by a grant from the Howard Heinz Endowment, which made my Ph.D. studies in Pittsburgh possible. During the writing process Dr. Leticia Brito invited me to participate in her Conacyt project (Ref. 34801H) and received a scholarship from July 2001 to June 2002 (Id Beca 3095) which helped me finish this dissertation. I want to thank all of the people who worked with me in the field, in particular archaeologists Raúl Matadamas and Cira Martínez, and Dr. Lourdes Márquez Morfín who provided all of the information related to the osteological material and conducted all of the skeletal examinations and laboratory analysis. Abigail Meza Peñaloza, Rocío Arellín Rosas, Pedro Antonio Juárez, Lorenzo González and Delfino Peguero assisted her in the field. At different periods of time during the field season, I was aided by the collaboration of archaeologists Guillermo Ahuja, Cecilia Urrueta, Uwe Gebauer, Martha Lilia Muñóz Aragón, Verónica Timsonet, and Mariza Carrillo. Topographic survey and archaeological profiles were conducted by Ing Jorge W. Carrasco Silva, José J. Nolasco Martínez, Mario Rubio Martínez, Jorge Carasco Guerrero, David Espina de León, and Eduardo Ruíz Pérez. Drawings were made by Jason Trout, Angela Matusik, Ric Martinec, and Sandy Martinec. I was honored to work with an additional important component of this crew, the enthusiastic people from the villages around Monte Albán: Los Ibañez, Arrazola, Xoxocotlán, Cuilapan, San Pedro Ixtlahuaca, San Andrés Ixtlahuaca, San Felipe Tejalapan, Hacienda Blanca, San Bartolo Coyotepec, and Atzompa, among others. Equally important was the participation of the INAH guards at Monte Albán led by Hector Gaytán. Jorge Acevedo, who was the photographer, and Primitivo García and Esteban Ramírez, who were in charge of the restoration of the archaeological material, were also of great help. For lab analysis and computer capture v in Mexico City I have to thank the assistance of archaeology student Ivan Hernández. I owe much to Pat Wilson, Charlie Knight, and Angela Lockard for a detailed revision of English spelling and grammar, and Adriana Maguiña for assembling figures in the final document, however any mistakes are my own responsibility. I want also to thank all of my Pittsburgh classmates for the friendship, knowledge, and good times shared: José Benitez, Eduardo Forero, Florencio Delgado, Greg Smith, Sonia Alconini, Mariuxi Cordero, and Claudia Rivera; and my professors James B. Richardson III, Jeffrey H. Schwartz, Steven J. C. Gaulin, Kathleen M. DeWalt, and Billie R. DeWalt, with a special mention of Hugo G. Nutini. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 PART I, THEORY AND METHOD................................................................................... 5 CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................................... 6 SOCIAL INEQUALITY AT MONTE ALBÁN, OAXACA ................................................ 6 Nature and Extent of Social Inequality ..................................................................... 7 The Social Structure............................................................................................... 10 The Household as an Analytical Unit of Analysis ................................................... 16 Differences within the Single Domestic Unit ....................................................... 18 Differences between Houses in the Same Area ................................................. 21 Differences between Areas ................................................................................ 26 How Large Were the Differences?...................................................................... 28 When was it Developed?.................................................................................... 29 CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................. 31 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................... 31 Chronology............................................................................................................. 31 Archaeological Indicators ....................................................................................... 33 Architecture ........................................................................................................ 36 Location.............................................................................................................. 36 House size.......................................................................................................... 37 Form ................................................................................................................... 39 Funerary Practices ............................................................................................. 40 Material Goods ................................................................................................... 47 PART II, BACKGRAOUND / OVERVIEW ..................................................................... 50 CHAPTER 4 .................................................................................................................. 51 THE PHYSICAL SETTING ........................................................................................ 51 Oaxaca Region and the Valley of Oaxaca ............................................................. 51 The Mixteca........................................................................................................ 51 The Sierra Juárez ..............................................................................................