TOWARDS FUTURE ECONOMIC RESEARCH IN THE BASIN OF MEXICO

Abstract

AbstractOngoing archaeological site destruction will limit future opportunities to conduct field research in the Basin of Mexico. Preparing for this future requires assessment of the resources that may be lost and the research that might be accomplished. Developing priorities to assist future studies of ancient economies is complicated by the evolving nature of this research. Nonetheless, trends in this research over the past few decades highlight the increasingly heavy data requirements associated with addressing economic issues. Much future research will be undercut if the required data are neither gathered nor collectable. Furthermore, many unresolved issues should be addressed while opportunities for further research remain available. The examples presented here focus on the development of the regional economy and generally reflect the author's concerns with the subsistence economy. Among these issues are characterizing more clearly the role of the site of Coapexco within the Early Formative economy, clarifying Teotihuacan's relationship with the rest of the basin when the city first achieved hegemony, and obtaining a more complete picture of the economic concerns and internal economic organization of the city. These examples represent a broader set of research issues than can be discussed in a single paper, but they illustrate the kind of work archaeologists must consider completing while they can.