Aztec- Period Agricultural Terraces in Morelos, Mexico: Evidence for Household level Agricultural Intensification

Abstract

Abstract Excavation of Aztec-period agricultural features at the sites of Capilco and Cuexcomate in Morelos, Mexico, provides new data on the construction, function, and significance of agricultural terraces in Late Postclassic central Mexico. Stratigraphic and chemical analyses of alluvial deposits associated with cross-channel terraces (“check-dams”) reveal that these features served an agricultural function. Terrace walls were built gradually in small increments, and associated sediments were created by alluvial deposition of eroding topsoil. These findings, together with demographic and social data from nearby excavated houses, suggest that Late Postclassic agricultural intensification was a household-level response to population pressure.