Landscape ecology, settlement, and land use in the Lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca, México: An unusual case for coastal Mesoamerica

Abstract

This article examines the roles of coastal environments in prehispanic settlement patterns and land use within the lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca, México using interdisciplinary methods. We first compare population levels in the coastal zone—including areas by the estuaries and sea—to inland habitats such as the floodplain. Second, we discuss resource extraction and trade associated with the coastal zone. Excavations and a 224 km2 full-coverage survey indicate that, except during the initial Early Formative period (1600–1350 BC), coastal zone habitats were not a settlement focus. Land use concentrated on the extraction of resources such as fish, salt, and ornamental shell. These goods were consumed locally and exchanged via long-distance networks for obsidian, pottery, and during the Postclassic period (AD 800–1522), copper items. Archaeofaunal and isotopic data suggest that aquatic resources from estuarine and marine environments constituted a small proportion of the total caloric input, but may have been important sources of protein. Finally, we compare settlement patterns between the lower Verde and other Mesoamerican coastal regions. Lower Verde population in the coastal zone was low, especially relative to areas which practiced mixed subsistence into the Middle/Late Formative periods (ca. 700–150 BC). This is related to the proximity of arable lands to estuaries.