Postclassic Period Research Articles

Book Review: The Codex Mexicanus: A Guide to Life in Late Sixteenth-Century New Spain, by Lori Boornazian Diel

Book Review| October 01 2019 Book Review: The Codex Mexicanus: A Guide to Life in Late Sixteenth-Century New Spain, by Lori Boornazian Diel The Codex Mexicanus: A Guide to Life in Late Sixteenth-Century New Spain, by Lori Boornazian Diel. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2018. 228 pp., 82 color, 35 black and white, 3 black and white charts/graphs. Paperback $55.00. Reviewed by Helen Burgos-Ellis. Helen Burgos-Ellis Helen Burgos-Ellis UCLA, Chicana and Chicano Studies Department Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture (2019) 1 (4): 123–124. https://doi.org/10.1525/lavc.2019.140013 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Helen Burgos-Ellis; Book Review: The Codex Mexicanus: A Guide to Life in Late Sixteenth-Century New Spain, by Lori Boornazian Diel. Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture 1 October 2019; 1 (4): 123–124. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/lavc.2019.140013 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentLatin American and Latinx Visual Culture Search In the late Postclassic period (ca. 1250–1521), which immediately precedes the Spanish conquest, the practice of recording a number of subjects—including history, timekeeping, religion, tribute, botany, and genealogy—in manuscripts was widespread in Mesoamerica (comprising parts of modern-day Mexico and Central America). The significance of Mesoamerican manuscripts cannot be overstated; however, analyzing them is an arduous exercise. Unlike the Maya, who developed hieroglyphic writing, the Aztecs (also Nahuas) used imagery and calendar glyphs exclusively. After 1521, during the colonial period, the manuscript-making practice continued and indigenous scribes adopted alphabetic text, which elucidates images and glyphs in Pre-Columbian manuscripts. Yet, the complexity of sixteenth-century society, straddling an esteemed indigenous past as it confronted new cultural realities, particularly the advent of Christianity and Aztec responses to the new religion, renders colonial manuscripts difficult to study. While Mesoamerican manuscripts have been widely analyzed, some, including the Aztec Codex Mexicanus (ca. 1580s)—currently conserved at the... You do not currently have access to this content.

14C and 40Ar/39Ar radiometric dating and geologic setting of young lavas of Rancho Seco and Mazcuta volcanoes hosting archaeological sites at the margins of the Pátzcuaro and Zacapu lake basins (central Michoacán, Mexico)

Geologic mapping of two neighbouring areas (totalling ∼770km2) centred around the Rancho Seco and Mazcuta monogenetic scoria cones and situated between the Pátzcuaro and Zacapu lake basins in the Michoacán-Guanajuato Volcanic Field (central portion of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt), allowed the recognition of 62 Quaternary monogenetic volcanic structures, which include cinder cones with associated lava flows, domes, and small-to-medium sized shields. 40Ar/39Ar and 14C radiometric dating, petrography, and whole-rock chemical analyses of volcanic products provide a stratigraphic framework and insight into different eruptive styles, and erupted volumes (∼45km3 of calc-alkaline magma). Pliocene to Holocene monogenetic activity has been frequent in this region, forming structures, which are generally aligned along an ENE-WSW direction associated to the Morelia-Cuitzeo-Acambay normal fault system.The young Rancho Seco and Mazcuta volcanoes are of particular interest because their distal lava flows host the pre-Hispanic archaeological urban centres of Angamuco and Cortijo Viejo, respectively. The Rancho Seco scoria cone was radiocarbon-dated at 27,845+445/−425yr BP and emitted at least six andesitic lava flows which were emplaced toward the SW (Lake Pátzcuaro) covering an area of 21.3km2 with a volume of ∼0.64km3. The Mazcuta scoria cone dated at 7970±135yr BP produced five basaltic andesite-andesite lava flows toward the NW (Lake Zacapu), where they cover an area of 28.85km2 with a volume of ∼0.57km3. The recently studied archaeological site of Angamuco became an important urban centre during the rise of the Tarascan Empire in the Post-Classic period (AD 900–1521), while the Cortijo Viejo site remains largely unexplored, but its occupation might fall within the same period. Although the young lava flows on which these sites are built seem inhospitable and barren with a rugged topography and rocky substrate unfit for agriculture, early inhabitants adapted and modified its surface according to their needs. Hence, these archaeological sites exemplify how a seemingly hostile landscape was ingeniously modified to establish population centres with patterns similar to those observed on lava flows elsewhere.

Simbolismo cinegético y agrario de los sacrificios guerreros entre los mayas de Yucatán durante el Postclásico

En este artículo se pretende aportar información relacionada con el simbolismo guerrero de los sacrificios humanos durante el Posclásico entre los mayas de Yucatán. Se recurrió al análisis de fuentes arqueológicas, visuales y documentales, y al uso de diversas herramientas metodológicas como la iconografía y la hermenéutica del simbolismo religioso. Se establece que los sacrificios humanos seguían el modelo de la caza, pero integran algunos aspectos del simbolismo agrario; asimismo, los sacrificios manifiestan un ejercicio de poder que hace referencia a una sociedad organizada en torno a la agricultura y la caza, pero que colocó en primer plano la guerra y el comercio.

All That Glitters Is Not Plumbate: Diffusion and Imitation of Plumbate Pottery during the Early Postclassic Period (AD 900–1200) at the Malpaís of Zacapu, Michoacán, Mexico

In Mesoamerica, the Early Postclassic (AD 900–1200) is characterized by the long-distance circulation of pottery with a very hard and shiny coating with a metallic aspect, known as Plumbate ware. Plumbate is linked stylistically to the Toltec culture but was produced in workshops in Soconusco (Chiapas). The discovery of a similar collection of sherds during recent work at the site of El Palacio (Zacapu, Michoacán) shows that Plumbate ware also reached this region of Western Mexico. We carried out instrumental neutron activation analyses (INAA) on 11 of the Zacapu fragments and compared the results to the data from ceramic pastes from the region of Soconusco and Pátzcuaro Basin (Michoacán). Ten sherds were produced in Michoacán and are thus a local imitation, whereas the last fragment corresponds to a Tohil-type Plumbate paste and was transported over a long distance. This raises questions of the modalities for the circulation of this pot and the conditions allowing for production of an imitation (transfer of technical know-how?), which we suggest is linked to the Toltec culture in the center of Mexico.

Sacrificial layers: an alternative for the conservation of the lime stuccos from Templo Mayor's Structure B in Mexico City

Structure B is an archaeological structure from the post-classic period of the Mexica culture located within the archaeological site of Templo Mayor in Mexico City. The various alteration dynamics caused by its exposure to the weather have generated severe conservation problems in the stuccos that cover the reliefs of the stone skulls of Structure B. Since the alteration effects are mainly due to the crystallization of salts, the absorption of direct humidity because of stagnation of water and the impact of rainwater, the use of sacrificial layers is presented as a measure for the long-term conservation of the stuccos. This investigation proposes a methodological framework for the elaboration of diverse models of sacrificial layers, as well as for their qualitative evaluation after submitting them to resistance tests that imitate the environmental dynamics to which the structure is subjected, in order to design a suitable sacrificial layer for a given structure and context.

Pre‐Hispanic Maya fisheries and coastal adaptations in the northern lowlands from the Classic (500–900 AD) to Postclassic (900–1400 AD) periods

AbstractRecent studies of fish remains at Mayan settlements from the Classic (500–900 AD) and Postclassic (900–1400 AD) periods are examined. These analyses deepen our understanding of ancient Maya fishing practices and coastal ecosystems and call into question traditional paradigms of environmental stability in the northern Maya lowlands. The effects of droughts recorded during the Maya collapse (800–1000 AD) led to an overall reduction in freshwater inflow into the estuaries combined with episodic increases of sedimentary output. The latter fostered the development of muddy bottoms along the coast, in particular around estuaries formed by underwater river discharges. Ecological characterization and trophic level shifts of fish assemblages from the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean shores help elucidate environmental stress episodes. These findings set a preliminary baseline for pre‐Hispanic Maya fisheries, which can further our understanding of present day fisheries along the Maya coast.

Integrating U-Th, 14C, and 210Pb methods to produce a chronologically reliable isotope record for the Belize River Valley Maya from a low-uranium stalagmite

Social and environmental changes had great spatiotemporal variability in the Maya Lowlands during the Classic and Postclassic Periods, and stalagmites promise high-resolution paleoclimate data that can refine our understanding of this complex time. Unfortunately, stalagmites in this region are often difficult to date by U-Th methods because of low initial uranium concentrations. Other dating techniques can be used on such stalagmites, and we present here an age–depth model for BZBT1, a low-uranium stalagmite sampled from Box Tunich cave in the Belize River Valley. This age–depth model dates the growth of BZBT1 to between 400 and 1610 yr BP (340–1550 CE) by combining evidence from U-Th results, radiocarbon dating of both stalagmite CaCO3 and trapped organic material, and 210Pb dating. The resulting stable isotope record from BZBT1 reveals paleoclimate changes that affected local Maya populations during the Classic and early Postclassic Periods. This record is further refined by isotopically tuning the BZBT1 data with two other regional stalagmite records. Our work offers additional paleoclimate insight into the relationship between the Maya and their environment from a stalagmite that would typically be disregarded for research purposes. Continued research into alternative dating techniques for speleothems can enable additional scientific discovery while promoting speleothem conservation.

Ancient mitochondrial DNA and population dynamics in postclassic Central Mexico: Tlatelolco (ad 1325–1520) and Cholula (ad 900–1350)

The past composition and genetic diversity of populations from Central Mexico during the Postclassic period (ad 900–1520) are still little understood. Two of the largest centres of ancient groups, Tlatelolco and Cholula, declined after European conquest and questions about their relationships with other Central Mexican cities and ritual activities have been debated. Tlatelolco was a Mexica group that practiced the Quetzalcoatl cult and human sacrifice, including the sacrifice of children, while Cholula was considered the main pilgrimage centre and multiethnic city during the Postclassic. This study analysed the mitochondrial DNA control region of 28 human skeletal samples to estimate the genetic affinities of individuals buried at Tlatelolco and Cholula. Amelogenin analysis and whole genome sequencing (WGS) were also applied to determine the sex of the 15 Tlatelolco subadults from sacrificial contexts. Networks, PCoA and Nei genetic distances were calculated to compare Tlatelolco and Cholula haplotypes with available ancient haplotype data from Mesoamerican groups and the two borderland areas, Paquime and Greater Nicoya. Mitochondrial haplogroups were characterized for 11 of the 15 samples from Tlatelolco (73%) and 12 samples out of 13 from Cholula (92%), revealing the presence of four distinct Amerindian mitochondrial lineages at Tlateloloco, A (n = 6; 55%), B (n = 2; 18%), C (n = 1; 9%) and D (n = 2; 10%); and three lineages in Cholula, A (n = 5; 42%), B (n = 5; 42%) and C (n = 2; 16%). Statistical analysis of the haplotypes, haplogroup frequencies and Nei genetic distances showed close affinity of Tlatelolco’s subadults with ancient Mexica (Aztecs) and closer affinities between Cholula and the Xaltocan of the Basin of Mexico. Sex determination of Tlatelolco subadult sacrifice victims revealed that 83% were females, in contrast to previous studies of subadult sacrificial patterns at the site. Together, these results demonstrate the multi-ethnic nature of religious and economic centres in Postclassic Central Mexico.

THE ANCIENT SHELL COLLECTORS: TWO MILLENNIA OF MARINE SHELL EXCHANGE AT CEIBAL, GUATEMALA

AbstractThis study examines 2,000 years of marine trade to the ancient Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala. Located almost 150 kilometers from the nearest coast in Belize, Ceibal was a large community spanning the Middle Preclassic through early Postclassic periods (1000b.c.–a.d.1200). It therefore provides an excellent opportunity to assess the marine resources imported through the southern Maya lowlands over many centuries, offering insight into trade networks, uses of shell ornaments, religious beliefs and rituals, and other activities involving marine species. The study compares marine invertebrate data from Ceibal to a neighboring subordinate community, Caobal, as well as data previously reported from sites in the southern Mesoamerican lowlands, in order to understand regional sociocultural and trade connections over time. The majority of Ceibal's marine taxa are Atlantic species and reflect shell trends observed elsewhere in Guatemala and Belize, suggesting strong ties to trade networks eastward to the coast that lasted many centuries.

Ceramic production and consumption in an in-between place: Instrumental neutron activation analysis of ceramics from the Manialtepec Basin of Oaxaca, Mexico

This paper reports the results of instrumental neutron activation analysis of 66 pottery samples from seven archaeological sites in the Manialtepec Basin of Oaxaca, Mexico. Located on the central Pacific coast, the Manialtepec Basin is a 60 km2 pocket surrounded by mountains and dominated by a 1200-ha lagoon. Settlement survey of the basin has identified 21 archaeological sites spanning the Late Formative (400–150 BCE) to the Late Postclassic (1100-1522CE) periods. Although the basin's small size and circumscribed agricultural terrain likely limited precolumbian populations, its geographic position would have placed it interstitially between several significant regional political centers, notably the lower Río Verde valley (57 km to the west), the Valley of Oaxaca (130 km to the north), and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec (300 km to the east). Recent research has focused on understanding how inhabitants of the Manialtepec Basin engaged with other regions of Oaxaca and Mesoamerica. INAA results confirm the existence of a local ceramic industry, with pottery production and intra-basin exchange continuing for nearly 2000 years. The evidence also indicates that the basin's inhabitants were aware of, and actively involved in, broader regional trends in ceramic manufacture. They nonetheless maintained an independent and distinct local ceramic industry despite major geopolitical shifts like the collapse of Oaxacan metropoles and the conquest of the basin by the Mixtec Tututepec Empire in the Late Postclassic period. Our results highlight the agency and dynamism of potters in an in-between place.

Baños de vapor en sitios arqueológicos zoques. Nuevos datos desde el occidente de Chiapas.

Las excavaciones arqueológicas llevadas a cabo por el Proyecto Arqueológico Río La Venta en la Selva El Ocote, Chiapas, han permitido investigar varios baños de vapor en sitios zoques fechados entre el Clásico Tardío-Terminal y el Posclásico Tardío; entre ellos destaca un monumental baño de vapor rectangular del periodo Clásico Tardío-Terminal, ubicado en el centro del sitio arqueológico de El Higo. Este temazcal es casi idéntico a los previamente excavados en los sitios de San Antonio, Chiapas, y Malpasito, Tabasco, ambos asociados a juegos de pelota. Los tres baños de vapor monumentales del Clásico Tardío-Terminal pertenecen a una misma tipología relacionada con una fase de gran florecimiento cultural de los grupos zoqueanos de Chiapas y Tabasco. Sus características sugieren que una modalidad específica de juego de pelota, junto con los rituales asociados a ella, constituyó un fuerte elemento de cohesión sociopolítica de la esfera cultural zoqueana. Los datos relativos a los baños de vapor posclásicos, de forma circular y a veces asociados a plataformas también circulares, son un primer acercamiento a una fase tardía de la cultura zoque, aún poco conocida desde el punto de vista arqueológico. En el presente artículo se resumen, asimismo, los datos arqueológicos relativos a otros baños de vapor hallados en el área zoque, contextualizando así los hallazgos del Proyecto Arqueológico Río La Venta, que se describen en forma sistemática por primera vez.

De Teotihuacan a Tenochtitlan. Dos trayectorias de cambio social

I review quantitative data for several major social and economic changes in central Mexico from the Classic Period through the Late Postclassic Period. Two kinds of trajectories through time can be identified. First, population and urbanization exhibited U-shaped curves of change: High values for Teotihuacan in the Classic, then lower values during the Epiclassic and Early Postclassic periods, followed by high values again in the Late Postclassic (Aztec) Period. On the other hand, economic measures (trade and commercialization) increased over this interval, while measures of well-being or standard of living declined. This is a preliminary study that points to the importance of quantitative archaeological data for research on the changes that took place in ancient Mesoamerica.

Historia y arqueología de la formación del "altepetl" en la Cuenca de México durante el Posclásico Medio

this paper, we consider the socio-political development process of the altepetl in the Mexican Basin during the Middle Postclassic Period. Chichimec societies are especially interesting to understand the various processes of socio-cultural development in a well-defined space and time. The study of the various altepeme will allow us to understand the different socio-political dynamics used by different groups in order to consolidate themselves in power.

Navigating the past in the aftermath of dramatic social transformations: Postclassic engagement with the Classic period past in the northeast Yucatan peninsula

Dramatic social transformations are common events in world history and raise several questions. How, for example, do individuals navigate the past during these critical times? Do they emphasize their ties to the past, distance themselves from the past, alter the past, or eschew the past? An analysis of modifications to existing built environments – and particularly whether existing features are venerated, destroyed, re-contextualized, or ignored – offers one means to answer this question. Using Henri Lefebvre’s notion of relational space and Walter Benjamin’s notion of temporal constellations, this article examines Postclassic period (1100–1500 CE) engagement with the Classic period (250–1100 CE), and in some instances Late Preclassic period (400 BCE – 250 CE), past in the northeast Yucatan Peninsula. Specifically, it uses data from a variety of sources to compare Postclassic modifications to existing features at eight sites: El Meco, Xcaret, Xelha, Muyil, T’isil, El Naranjal, Punta Laguna, and Cobá. Data from these sites suggest, among other insights, that the past was indeed a critical resource at each of these communities, but that Postclassic peoples navigated the past in heterogeneous ways: They engaged in a variety of practices, each with a multiplicity of meanings. This article concludes by suggesting that the Postclassic, like other time periods, is usefully understood as a temporal constellation.

Rural responses following collapse: insights from Monte El Santo, Oaxaca, Mexico

ABSTRACTIn archaeology, rural areas are increasingly understood as dynamic places where inhabitants negotiate with the local and wider community in diverse ways to ensure their well-being. Developments have also been made in research that explores the variety of responses to collapse scenarios. This paper engages with both lines of inquiry to examine how the rural community of Monte El Santo responded to the political collapse of the Río Viejo polity in the Early Postclassic period on the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. The lack of powerful political institutions following the Río Viejo collapse allowed both commoners at Río Viejo and rural people from Monte El Santo to gain greater access to trade networks and prestige goods. Data from spindle whorls and obsidian from both sites, however, demonstrate that rural actors did not necessarily engage with the post-collapse situation in the same way as their urban counterparts.

Wetland geomorphology and paleoecology near Akab Muclil, Rio Bravo floodplain of the Belize coastal plain

To understand wetland geomorphology and paleoecology, we collected a 2.6 m sediment core from a flooded swamp adjacent to the Maya archaeological site of Akab Muclil in the Maya Lowlands of northwestern Belize. The site of Akab Muclil has a known occupation that persisted from Early Maya Classic (1700–1350 BP) through the Terminal Maya Classic (1180–1050 BP) and into the Postclassic (1050–450 BP) and lies near a vast network of ancient Maya canal and field systems. We analyzed this core using a combination of paleoecological and geochemical techniques to determine the history of land use and natural change over time within this wetland. Accelerator Mass Spectrometry dating, pollen, charcoal analysis, micropaleontology, geochemical analysis, and magnetic susceptibility provide a suite of methods from which we interpret the geomorphic and ecological history of this wetland system. Four AMS dates from the length of the core provide us with an age model that runs from 1675 cal BP through the Maya Classic onward to the present. At the base of this system, soil composition and chemistry provide evidence that the system changed from a seasonally wet terrestrial soil to a perennially wet swamp, as the basal Mollisol soil lies buried by peats and calcareous sediments. This shift to a perennial wetland could be related to ancient Maya water management or a natural geomorphic change, though we suspect the former because of nearby ancient Maya large-scale geomorphic and hydrological manipulation in the form of intensive canalization and agriculture. Evidence of ancient Maya uses and impacts, including sedimentation, Zea mays pollen, and high charcoal counts occur from the lowest levels of the sequence through the Classic and into the Postclassic period. Above this level, the strata change to stable peats, laminated deposits of light gray/dark gray gypsum, authigenic carbonate, and layers of fibrist peat, with little evidence of human impact until recent increases in charcoal and phosphorous. This study, compared with other regional studies, indicates a later transition from terrestrial to wetland, later human impacts in the Postclassic, and a geomorphic impact record closely tied to the history of the adjacent site rather than broader land use trends.

Prehispanic and colonial landscape change and fluvial dynamics in the Chalco Region, Mexico

The late Quaternary deposits of the lakeshore plain and western edge of Lake Chalco in the southeastern Basin of Mexico were explored in order to understand the influence of alluvial sedimentation on archeological visibility and preservation, as well as to seek out records that would permit direct comparison of erosion and sedimentation with the demographic record derived from the archeological survey. The Chalco lakeshore plain is traversed by two of the largest rivers in the region, and the pattern of human settlement recorded here by archeological survey is partly an artifact of alluvial sedimentation, where the most prominent settlements were observed in areas with little or very slow sedimentation. Detailed radiocarbon dating of the alluvial deposits indicates that prior to the establishment of a sedentary lifestyle, alluvial sedimentation was slow. Catastrophic soil erosion is inferred from a period of widespread rapid alluviation and mass movements during late Preceramic, Early and Middle Formative periods, which were periods of rapid population growth. Mass movements appear to coincide also with periods of wetter climate. No evidence of sedimentation was noted during the population collapse that occurred at the end of the Formative. The next phase of alluvial sedimentation occurred during the Early Classic to Late Toltec periods, which were also periods of population expansion during a gradually drying climate. The Postclassic period, which was the largest Pre-Columbian demographic expansion, was paradoxically accompanied by minor evidence of alluvial activity. The last and most widespread period of alluvial activity occurs in the post-Conquest period and is difficult to date with precision but appears to occur primarily during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

FIFTY SHADES OF GREEN: INTERPRETING MAYA JADE PRODUCTION, CIRCULATION, CONSUMPTION, AND VALUE

AbstractThis work addresses varying interpretations of the production, circulation, and consumption of jades in the Maya area from the Preclassic through the Postclassic periods (600b.c.–a.d.1697). Traditionally, exchange of jades has been seen as a dyadic relationship between elites (gifting and tribute). Some have argued for gradations of value in the circulation of jades, which probably circulated in both elite and commoner spheres. More recent research argues that jade blanks were commoditized because they could be standardized. In this article, we evaluate this last claim, concluding there is no evidence for standardization and commodification of jade blanks, and a dearth of jade blanks in archaeological deposits. We critique the expectation that commodities in some nonindustrial economies should be standardized, and make suggestions about what kinds of jade objects, if any, have greatest potential to become commodities in the Maya area.

The organization of stingless beekeeping (Meliponiculture) at Mayapán, Yucatan, Mexico

This article presents evidence for the importance of traditional stingless beekeeping (meliponiculture) at the Postclassic period (CE 1150–1450) Maya political capital of Mayapán, Yucatan, Mexico, with a particular focus on the domestic and public contexts of this practice and its association with metallurgy and balché production. The spatial and social distribution of beekeeping activities throughout the city refines scholarly understanding of an integrated and functionally complex Maya agro-urban cityscape. Beekeeping activities are identified through the distribution of small limestone disks, interpreted as the covers for traditional hollow log hives, which were widely distributed throughout the Mayapán’s urban landscape. High concentrations of limestone disks at the outlying ceremonial/administrative center of Itzmal Ch’en and also at an elite palace group, may indicate concentrated honey production for crafting fermented honey wine, balché. Limestone disks are also widely distributed at other contexts such as temples and halls of the site’s monumental center as well as secondary elite and commoner house groups. Limestone disks are regularly recovered (although not exclusively) in association with metallurgical ceramics, suggesting that meliponiculture and lost-wax metallurgy were often practiced by the same households. Honey and wax production was a complex undertaking, involving by-products essential for other industries that were not solely produced for commercial exchange. Instead, these activities were frequently embedded into symbolically charged consumption spheres and specialized artisanal practices.

The Diversity of the Postclassic Mimbres Periods (AD 1150–1450): Insights from Las Animas Village in Southwestern New Mexico

The Postclassic period (ca. AD 1150–1450) in the Mimbres region is diverse and variable. Excavation data from Las Animas Village (LA3949) is used to explore this variability and better delineate the regional sequence. Las Animas Village is a large multicomponent site with Pithouse, Classic, and Postclassic occupations. Focus here is on the Postclassic component, a roughly oval adobe pueblo, two-story in parts, that surrounded a plaza. There was extensive evidence of remodeling; some lower story rooms were filled in and use of the second story continued, in one case the second story was remodeled into small storage units. Both ceramic and chronometric dates indicate that the adobe pueblo was used in the AD 1300s and probably after 1400; it has numerous late types though little Roosevelt Red Ware. Las Animas Village is one of the only eastern Mimbres sites known for this time period, and it may have been where remaining populations gathered in late prehispanic times.