Overview

Urbanization and Religion in Ancient Central Mexico examines the ways in which urbanization and religion intersected in pre-Columbian central Mexico, with a primary focus on the later Formative period and the transition to the Classic period. The major societal transformations of this interval occurred approximately two-thousand years ago and over a millennium before Mexico's best known early civilization, the Aztecs. David M. Carballo presents a synthesis of data from regional archaeological projects and key sites such as Teotihuacan and Cuicuilco, while relying on his own excavations at the site of La Laguna as the central case study. A principal argument is that cities and states developed hand in hand with elements of a religious tradition of remarkable endurance and that these processes were fundamentally entangled. Prevalent religious beliefs and ritual practices created a cultural logic for urbanism, and as populations urbanized they became socially integrated and differentiated following this logic. Nevertheless, religion was used differently over time and by groups and individuals across the spectra of urbanity and social status. The book provides a materially informed history of religion, with the temporal depth that archaeology can provide, and an archaeology of cities that considers religion seriously as a generative force in societal change.

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9780190882334

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In a study that is as concise as it is illuminating, David Carballo takes us through a tour of Central Mexico urbanism in the late Formative Period (roughly from ca. 600 BCE to 100 CE), building on extensive scholarship as well as his own archaeological research. The analysis hinges on the connections between ancient urbanization and religion, brought to life through the methodological choice of combining archaeology with religious studies. --Caterina Pizzigoni, Global Urban History David Carballo has bootstrapped fresh theoretical constructs with an innovative approach to prehispanic central Mexican religious traditions. He delves skilfully into extant literatures to offer new diachronic perspectives on the emergence and diversity of a key urban tradition. Through this integration, new perspectives regarding the monumental city of Teotihuacan, and its similarities with and differences from predecessors and contemporaries, are revealed. The overarching approach (and findings) provoke new investigatory questions for prehispanic Mesoamerican studies and beyond...through the application of a novel frame that interweaves the general and specific, while also establishing conceptual bridges across the social and historical sciences, the author has advanced a means to interpret the deep past, which, if broadly applied, could help provide a firmer foundation to assess key questions relevant to the present and the future. --Gary M. Feinman, Cambridge Archaeological Journal An outstanding archaeological synthesis and an interpretive innovation like none other in recent years. Rather than playing it safe by keeping materiality and religion at arms' length, he illuminates through painstaking research and insightful analysis how the 'cultural logic guiding human action' of Mesoamerican urbanization is permeated by religious practices and ideas. Carballo gives new life to knowledge of Mexico's ancient cities. --David Carrasco, Harvard University This is an excellent synthesis of the earliest cycles of urbanization in central Mexico, showing religion always entangled with politics. Later polities changed in some ways, but much endured into Aztec times. It fills a major gap in our understanding of the history of a key region in Mesoamerica. --George L. Cowgill, Arizona State University

This is an excellent synthesis of the earliest cycles of urbanization in central Mexico, showing religion always entangled with politics. Later polities changed in some ways, but much endured into Aztec times. It fills a major gap in our understanding of the history of a key region in Mesoamerica. * George L. Cowgill, Arizona State University * An outstanding archaeological synthesis and an interpretive innovation like none other in recent years. Rather than playing it safe by keeping materiality and religion at arms' length, he illuminates through painstaking research and insightful analysis how the 'cultural logic guiding human action' of Mesoamerican urbanization is permeated by religious practices and ideas. Carballo gives new life to knowledge of Mexico's ancient cities. * David Carrasco, Harvard University * David Carballo has bootstrapped fresh theoretical constructs with an innovative approach to prehispanic central Mexican religious traditions. He delves skilfully into extant literatures to offer new diachronic perspectives on the emergence and diversity of a key urban tradition. Through this integration, new perspectives regarding the monumental city of Teotihuacan, and its similarities with and differences from predecessors and contemporaries, are revealed. The overarching approach (and findings) provoke new investigatory questions for prehispanic Mesoamerican studies and beyond...through the application of a novel frame that interweaves the general and specific, while also establishing conceptual bridges across the social and historical sciences, the author has advanced a means to interpret the deep past, which, if broadly applied, could help provide a firmer foundation to assess key questions relevant to the present and the future. * Gary M. Feinman, Cambridge Archaeological Journal * In a study that is as concise as it is illuminating, David Carballo takes us through a tour of Central Mexico urbanism in the late Formative Period (roughly from ca. 600 BCE to 100 CE), building on extensive scholarship as well as his own archaeological research. The analysis hinges on the connections between ancient urbanization and religion, brought to life through the methodological choice of combining archaeology with religious studies. * Caterina Pizzigoni, Global Urban History *

Author Information

David M. Carballo is Assistant Professor of Archaeology at Boston University.

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