Irrigation and the Cuicatec Ecosystem : A Study of Agriculture and Civilization in North Central Oaxaca

In this volume, Joseph W. Hopkins III reconstructs the history of the Cuicatec region in Oaxaca, Mexico, from the Aztec empire through the Spanish conquest and into the twentieth century. Hopkins also discusses the archaeology of the region with a particular focus on irrigation systems and agriculture. From 1968 to 1970, Hopkins conducted an archaeological survey and limited excavation in this region, and he presents the results of that fieldwork here. Contents Illustrations Tables Acknowledgments 1. Introduction Cuicatlan, the Canada, and the Cuicatecs The Cuicatec Region 2. The Cuicatec Ecosystem: An Historical Reconstruction Historical Sources Codices Spanish Sixteenth-Century Sources Later Sources Recent Works Definition of the Cuicatec Region The Cuicatec Ecosystem The Canada Towns Integration of the Cuicatec Region Social and Political Structure The Cuicatec in the Aztec Empire 3. The Spanish Conquest: The Cuicatec in Culture Contact Culture Contact and Schismogenesis The Spanish Conquest of the Cuicatec Region The Impact of the Spanish Conquest Post-Hispanic Population Change and the Cuicatec Ecosystem Estimating Population for the Cuicatec Ecosystem Spanish Introductions to Mesoamerica Livestock in the Cuicatec Region in the Sixteenth Century Introduced Plants Summary: The Impact of the Spanish Conquest 4. The Cuicatec Ecosystem from the Conquest to the Present The Seventeenth Century: The Introduction of Sugar Cane The Eighteenth Century: The Spaniards Establish a Foothold The Nineteenth Century: Roads, Railroads, and Haciendas The Cuicatec Ecosystem in the Twentieth Century Analysis: Processes in the History of the Cuicatec Ecosystem Interaction of Factors 5. Archaeological Evidence: The Cuicatec Ecosystem from its Origin The Predassic Period Perdido Phase Lomas Phase The Classic Period Trujano Phase The Postclassic Iglesia Vieja Phase Ancient Irrigation Remnants Population, Irrigation Systems, and Settlements in the Cuicatlan Canada Population and Intensive Agriculture in Mesoamerica Cuicatlan and Mesoamerica Appendix. Archaeological Fieldwork Survey of Cuicatlan, Oaxaca Other Cuicatec Sites El Sabino La Union (Site 28) Atlatlauca Cotahuixtla El Despoblado and the Rio de las Trancas Canals (Site 32) La Coyotera (Site 29) Ojo de Pajarito Santa Cruz Dominguillo Excavations Site 5 Site 16 Artifacts Bibliography Resumen en Espanol