Abstract

During the Post-Classic cultural period in the Mixteca Alta, locally referred to as the Natividad phase (1,250-500 cal BP), economic and socio-political complexity reached a climax. The city of Inguiteria was one of the major centers of this region, which is presently situated in the municipality of Coixtlahuaca. Inguiteria was a commercial urban center with an extensive settlement of over 3,000 hectares and a population that surpassed 100,000 people. However, due to cultural collapse and paleoenvironmental change, very little of this site remains. Pyramids and plazas are the more well-known monumental architecture in the Oaxaca region, but another significant type of architecture in the Mixteca Alta, especially in Inguiteria, concerns widespread landuse management. Since the late Formative period (local late Cruz phase, starting ~3,500 cal BP), lama-bordo constructions, comprising terraces and check-dams constructed across gullies and hillslopes, were important for land use management and agriculture, which became widespread by the Post-Classic period. The lama-bordos were very effective sediment traps, and they supported increasing populations. During the late Holocene, sedimentation rates were estimated to be higher in association with lama-bordos than in the previous 15,000 years. The paleovegetation of these watersheds was also impacted by human activities, such as agriculture, during the late Holocene. Values of δ13C, signifying vegetation change, show a significant rise between 3,500 cal BP and 1,250 cal BP, with one notable cluster of enriched values corresponding to the Post-Classic cultural period. The highly enriched values associated with widespread agricultural lama-bordos suggest the increased importance of maize cultivation and management of succulent plants during this period.