SOME INTERPRETATIONS OF THE HUITZILAPA SHAFT TOMB

Abstract

The site of Huitzilapa, located northwest of the Tequila volcano, in central Jalisco, is a médium-sized site of the Teuchitlan tradition. An unlooted shaft tomb discovered and excavated at Huitzilapa has provided the most detailed information to date on the funerary customs of the Late Formative period. This article evaluates the place of Huitzilapa in local and regional settlement patterns, updates our understanding of the shaft tomb tradition, and examines whether the Huitzilapa evidence supports the proposition of stratified societies in central Jalsico during the Late Formative period.