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Spatial Analysis of Ancient Settlements in the Oaxaca Valley

By Aria Klucewicz and Ryan Peterson

Where They Lived and Why

• Study done by Anne Kirkby in 1973 determined that settlement location was primarily based on the quality of the land for agriculture.

• Later studies proposed that agriculture was not the primary factor for where settlements were located.

• Our goal was to use spatial analysis techniques to attempt to find what the primary factor was for settlement location

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Background Information

• Located in Southwest Mexico. Valley is made up of three arms; Etla, Valle Grande, and Tlacolula.

Archeological Importance

• Oaxaca Valley is an important Archeological Area as the valley has been inhabited for a long period of time

• Compared to many other long inhabited locations, artifacts and ruins are common and well preserved.

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Settlement Periods

• Ages broken into various phases, starting with Tierra Largas, Guadalupe, then Monte Alban I-V

• Looked at Settlements from Tierra Largas Period to Monte Alban IV (1400 BCE-900 CE)

Data Collection

• We used a 30 meter DEM of the Oaxaca Valley.

• Data was digitized from maps, published in research articles focusing on populations in the Oaxaca Valley.

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Guadalupe 1150-600 BCE Tierra Largas 1400-1150 BCE

Settlement Phases

Monte Alban Early I 500-300 BCE

Monte Alban Late I 300-200 BCE

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Monte Alban II 200 BCE-200 CE

Monte Alban IIIA 200-450 CE

Monte Alban IIIB 450-650 CE Monte Alban IV 650-900 CE

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Monte Alban V 900-Spanish Contact(1500’s) CE

We did not include Monte Alban V in our analysis as at this time in Mesoamerica there was a great decline in the various civilizations. The reasons for this are still heavily debated today.

Looking at Slope

• Calculated percentage of settlements on slopes at 15 degrees or higher.

Stage % of settlements >= 15 Notes

Alban Early I 16%

Alban Late I 11%

Alban II 16%

Alban IIIA 15%

Alban IIIB 18% Monte Alban at peak

Alban IV 20% Jalieza at peak

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Slope Map

Settlement Height

Used zonal statistics to find the average height of settlements through the different phases.

Stage Settlement Height Average Notes

Alban Early I 1654 meters

Alban Late I 1653 meters

Alban II 1653 meters

Alban IIIA 1614 meters Jalieza secondary

Alban IIIB 1670 meters Monte Alban at peak

Alban IV 1677 meters Jalieza at peak

Center Height

Monte Alban 1909 meters

Jalieza 1752 meters

San Jose Mogote 1636 meters (Base Level)

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Distance to Main Settlements

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Early I Late I Alban II Alban IIIA Alban IIIB Alban IV

Monte Alban

San Jose Mogote

Jalieza

Stage Monte Alban San Jose Mogote Jalieza

Early I 18.8 23.9 25

Late I 22.4 27.7 23.5

Alban II 22.4 27.7 23.5

Alban IIIA 23.2 33.2 18.2

Alban IIIB 13.4 12.9 33.1

Alban IV 27.7 36.1 22.6

Tierra Largas 18.9 17.1 31.7

Guadalupe 18 17.6 29.6

Distance in Kilometers

Looking at the distance between settlement centroids and town points

Settlement Patterns

Legend

occupation

value

newly settled

previously settled

abandoned

resettled

previously abandoned

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Land Class Map

Land Class Grid

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Settlements on Land Classes

Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Class 5

Tierra Largas 27.60% 0% 65.50% 6.90% 0%

Guadalupe 20.50% 2.60% 74.40% 2.60% 0%

Early I 14% 6.60% 58.70% 21% 0%

Late I 10.30% 8.80% 64.40% 15.30% 1.30%

Alban II 10.30% 8.80% 64.40% 15.30% 1.30%

Alban IIIA 7.30% 6% 73% 12.90% 0.07%

Alban IIIB 13.60% 2.20% 55.70% 28.10% 0.05%

Alban IV 1.50% 12.80% 61.40% 23.90% 0.03%

We looked at the percentage of settlement land that was on each land class through the different phases.

Initial Settlement: % of settled squares by land quality

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

tierras largas san jose guadalupe rosario monte albanearly I

monte albanlate I

monte alban II monte albanIIIA

class I

class II

class III (100% arable)

class III (10% arable)

uncultivateable

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Initial Settlement normalized by available squares of each land class

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

10.00

tierras largas san jose guadalupe rosario monte albanearly I

monte albanlate I

monte alban II monte albanIIIA

class I

class II

class III (100% arable)

class III (10% arable)

uncultivateable

Line of Sight visibility tool

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Line of Sight 3D analyst

From a height

Profile Graph Subtitle

18,00016,00014,00012,00010,0008,0006,0004,0002,0000

1,900

1,850

1,800

1,750

1,700

1,650

1,600

1,550

1,500

Valley floor

Profile Graph Subtitle

8,0007,0006,0005,0004,0003,0002,0001,0000

1,900

1,850

1,800

1,750

1,700

1,650

1,600

1,550

1,500

Blocked by mountain

Profile Graph Subtitle

18,00016,00014,00012,00010,0008,0006,0004,0002,0000

2,100

2,050

2,000

1,950

1,900

1,850

1,800

1,750

1,700

1,650

1,600

1,550

In a depression

Profile Graph Subtitle

10,0008,0006,0004,0002,0000

1,900

1,850

1,800

1,750

1,700

1,650

1,600

1,550

1,500

no

n-v

isib

le

visi

ble

All with: observer height 1.5m target height 20m

Conclusions