What the longest-lasting Mesoamerican cities all had in common
Well-being of locals, as well as infrastructure, are key to a lasting society.
BY LAURA BAISAS | PUBLISHED MAR 6, 2023 9:00 AM EST
Mexico's Monte Alban archaeological site. the city lasted for over 1,300 years. DEPOSIT PHOTOS
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“For years, my colleagues and I have investigated why and how certain cities maintain their importance or collapse,” said study co-author Gary Feinman, the MacArthur Curator of Anthropology at the Field Museum in Chicago, in a statement.
Previously, the team surveyed a wide range of Mesoamerican cities over thousands of years. They found a broad pattern of societies with government structures that promoted the well-being of its people that lasted longer than the ones with large wealth gaps and autocratic leaders.
Their new study focuses more on cities from a smaller time and geographical scale. The 24 cities in the western half of Mesoamerica and were founded between 1000 and 300 BCE, centuries before Spanish colonization dramatically changed the region in the 16th century.
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If remnants contain art and architecture that celebrates larger-than-life rulers, it’s a sign that the society was more autocratic or despotic. By contrast, depictions of leaders in groups, often wearing masks, is more indicative of shared governance.
Among the 24 ancient cities in the study, the cities that had more collective forms of governance tended to remain in power longer, sometimes by thousands of years more than the more autocratic ones.
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The shared central plaza of Monte Alban, a city that lasted for more than 1,300 years. CREDIT: Linda M. Nicholas.
More:
https://www.popsci.com/science/mesoamerican-cities-ancient/
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