The Mesoamerican World System, 200–1200 CE
A Comparative Approach Analysis of West Mexico

This is the first application of the comparative approach of world-systems analysis in Mesoamerican archaeology.

Peter F. Jimenez (Author)

9781108481120, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 August 2020

384 pages, 27 b/w illus. 21 maps 2 tables
26.5 x 18.5 x 2.5 cm, 0.7 kg

Between 200 and 1200 CE Central Mexico was the setting for the formation and disintegration of two states, Teotihuacan and Tula. At their peaks, both urban centers established distant ties throughout Mesoamerica. The nature of their relations has been the focus of analysis and debate for decades. In this study, Peter Jimenez uses the latest advances in world-systems analysis to study interaction networks in West Mexico from the early Classic to Post-classic period. He demonstrates how the archaeological record contains empirical evidence for the impact of global processes on local developments, in detail, in realms, and at spatial scales, which are revealed here for the first time. His examination of West Mexico's relations to the core states of Central Mexico also underscores the critical role that the semi-periphery played in overall world-system configuration and operation in ancient Mesoamerica.

1. West Mexico coalesced
2. The comparative world-systems approach and its application to archaeology
3. The regional setting of West Mexico at 200 CE
4. The late formative-early classic period transition 200/250–550 CE
5. World-system decentralization: spheres and networks in the Epiclassic period 600–900 CE
6. The early Postclassic period transformation of West Mexico 900–1200 CE
7. West Mexico in the Mesoamerican world system.

Subject Areas: Archaeology [HD], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], History of the Americas [HBJK], Regional & national history [HBJ], General & world history [HBG], History [HB], Humanities [H]