MIGRATION, ETHNOGENESIS AND TRADITION. ZAPOTEC URBAN ORGANIZATION IN POSTCLASSIC GUIENGOLA, TEHUANTEPEC, OAXACA

Abstract

This project determined how and why Zapotec commoners accompanied elites in building new urban spaces outside their traditional home region of the highland Central Valleys of Oaxaca. Most research on the Postclassic Zapotec migration from the Central Valleys to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec has relied heavily on ethnohistoric documents that focus on the lives of nobles to understand sociopolitical dynamics. Consequently, the 13th-15th century Zapotec migration has been interpreted as the outcome of ongoing struggles and competition among elites, which portrays the non-elite Zapotecs who accompanied them as blind followers of their rulers’ political desires. The study focuses on the distribution and variability of residential architecture and material assemblages in different site zones. Detailed records on archaeological artifacts and the urban layout of the site provide the data necessary for drawing comparisons between Guiengola and other Zapotec sites, especially those in the highland Central Valleys from which the Zapotecs who lived in Guiengola may have traveled. Additionally, these data consider how the settlement differs from highland Zapotec sites and other Zapotec sites in the Isthmus in terms of the adoption or changes in everyday practices within this new environment.

Finally, this research looks to encompass ethical field methods that address the relevance of Guiengola as a sacred landscape for the descendant population of Santo Domingo Tehuantepec. This research considers questions and inquiries that members from the town, especially from the Comisariado de Bienes Comunales de Lieza, landowners of the archaeological site and the mountain of Guiengola, have shared and expressed. The community has expressed significant concerns about the impact and consequences of extracting archaeological materials from their lands. This project shows how archaeological research can be improved if researchers incorporate local knowledge, respect protocols to retrieve resources from the mountain, and take community concerns into account as part of ethical scientific practice. This research shows that the use of cutting-edge technology such as LiDAR scanning or photogrammetry are not impediments for ethical research as long as there is a transparent process of consultation with the descendant communities that continue to have sacred connections with their cultural heritage sites.