THE CHANGING STRUCTURE OF MACROREGIONAL MESOAMERICA: WITH FOCUS ON THE CLASSIC-POSTCLASSIC TRANSITION IN THE VALLEY OF OAXACA

Abstract

To date, macro-scale analyses of ancient Mesoamcrica principally have debated whether or not Mesoamerica was a world-system and have described macroregional processes at the eve of the Spanish Conquest. This paper defines two alternative organizational modes (corporate-based/network-based) that serve to conceptualize diversity in strategics of leadership, production, and exchange. Collective mechanisms of integration arc central to corporate strategics, while network-based organization is heavily rooted in the personal connections and material accumulations of individuals. Consideration of these modes helps to define patterns of temporal and spatial diversity in the structure of the prehispanic Mesoamerican world.