Cultural biography of archaeological pottery in the Toluca valley

Abstract

Teotihuacan controlled a vast region, from the West to the Southeast of what is now known as Mexico. Its influence during the Classic period (AD 200-600/650) has been a central topic of Mesoamerican archaeology. Teotihuacan has influenced many aspects of the everyday life and also expressions of ideology. Its political power has been identified not only in its core area but also in different regions. The Toluca Valley, in the State of Mexico, was one of those with a close relationship with Teotihuacan. Among the wide range of cultural materials on which archaeological interpretations are based, pottery occupies a privileged place. It allows us to approach the dynamics between Teotihuacan and those regions under its influence. In this paper, centred on materiality as a theoretical foundation, we analyze, as a case study, the history of Toluca Valley during the Mesoamerican Classic period. Highlighting the cultural biography of archaeological pottery, we propose that the populations occupying the valley of Toluca adopted and reinterpreted the dominant ideology emanated from Teotihuacan. The aim of this paper is to interpret the complex process of historical changes.