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Two heads are better than one: a brief demonstration of the value of interdisciplinary approaches 
to archaeological inquiry at Teopancazco 

 

Review by Andrew Lythe, Université de Montréal 

 

Multiethnicity and Migration at Teopancazco: Investigations of a Teotihuacan Neighborhood 
Center 

Edited by Linda R. Manzanilla 

University Press of Florida, 2017 

 

Key words: interdisciplinary research, paleodiet, migration, pathologies, isotopes 

 

Multiethnicity and Migration at Teopancazco provides its readers with a glimpse into the 
socioeconomic fabric of Classic period (CE 200–550) Teopancazco, a residential compound 
situated in the southeast corner of Teotihuacan, Mexico. The authors achieve this by revealing the 
life histories of Teopancazco’s residents through an interdisciplinary approach. Drawing on the 
disciplines of osteology, biogeochemistry, genetics and archaeology, the authors were able to 
robustly support their interpretation of Teopancazco as a multiethnic and multicultural district, 
with a corporate economic structure administered by an intermediate elite (Chapter One). 

Chapter Two outlines common mortuary practices in Teopancazco, as well as the paleopathology 
of the ailments those interred there endured. The majority of the population were situated in non-
elite burials, and these individuals suffered from numerous pathologies, such as enamel 
hypoplasia, cribra orbitalia and scurvy. In addition, these individuals were accompanied with few 
grave goods and were arranged according to cardinal orientations that conform with other non-
elite burials at Teotihuacan. By contrast, those that were located in elite burial contexts displayed 
negligible pathological indicators.  

Chapters Three and Four provide the reader with an outline of the paleodietary patterns exhibited 
at Teopancazco. Approximately half of the twenty-seven individuals sampled displayed dietary 
isotopic values indicative of diets that consisted of almost 100% maize consumption, while the 



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remaining half revealed a more mixed dietary protein signature (106–109). The authors interpret 
these findings as evidence of the widespread consumption of maize (a C4 crop) and maize fed 
animals (116–118). Those individuals whose isotopic values deviated from the C4 protein line were 
interpreted as potential members of the intermediate elite, who enjoyed a more varied diet that 
included a significant intake of marine protein (Chapter Four). 

Chapters Five through Seven offer an overview of how ethnic diversity and migratory patterns 
changed over time at Teopancazco. Ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups sourced 
from twenty-nine individuals interred in Classic period graves revealed Nei’s genetic diversity 
index readings of 0.6404 (170–174). This value is greater than some modern Mexican populations, 
with the states of Mexico, Hidalgo and Oaxaca yielding diversity index readings of 0.5152, 0.5037 
and 0.5190 respectively (171). Teopancazco subsequently experienced a high degree of 
demographic flux (172). These findings were consolidated by the migratory isotopic data (Chapter 
Five; Chapter Six). An oxygen isotope analysis revealed nineteen of the forty-four sampled 
individuals to be of non-local origin, yielding values corresponding to low, middle and high 
altitudes (134). A corresponding strontium isotope analysis of twenty-seven individuals identified 
fifteen migrants and verified most of the oxygen isotope data (Chapter Six).  

Chapter Eight reveals that children were generally overrepresented at Teopancazco grave sites, 
constituting 27% of the formal burials (176). This indicates that high infant mortality rates 
occurred at Teopancazco, which correlates well with data sourced from elsewhere at Teotihuacan. 
The sex of these individuals was determined using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) 
amplifications, which indicated that the ratio of males to females was 1:1. This value contrasts 
markedly with the ratio of adult males to females, with males disproportionately overrepresented 
in Teopancazco burials.  

In Chapter Nine, the authors attempted to identify ethnic markers using facial reconstructions. 
Broadly speaking, the authors define ethnicity as “cultural differences that arise from social 
interactions and contribute to processes of cultural identity” (187). Moreover, the authors state that 
individuals belonging to a given ethnic group may exhibit shared physical features (187). Judging 
by their analyses, the authors concluded that five distinct ethnic groups were interred at 
Teopancazco. In addition, deliberate cultural modifications were visible in some individuals, who 
exhibited evidence of in vivo cranial or enamel deformations.   

When one combines the migratory data with individual mortuary contexts, activity and pathology 
markers and paleodietary evidence, a clear picture of the socioeconomic structure of Teopancazco 
begins to emerge. Most of those dependent on maize and maize fed animals as dietary staples were 
found to have migrated from costal and lowland regions (204–207). Furthermore, these individuals 
were likely to have worked fibers with their teeth and to have suffered from pathologies caused by 
nutritional stress, such as porotic hyperostosis, scurvy or enamel hypoplasia (204–207). By 
contrast, the five individuals that exhibited evidence of marine protein consumption tended to be 
local or from the Central Highlands of Mexico, with fewer labor activity markers and negligible 
pathological indicators (204–207). Of these individuals, one juvenile male and one juvenile female 
were buried together in an elite mortuary context (81).  



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The authors’ interdisciplinary approach reveals a clear picture of Teopancazco’s corporate 
socioeconomic structure, with poorly nourished low altitude migrant and local laborers working 
as garment makers to serve the interests of a local and highland intermediate elite (Chapter One; 
Chapter Ten). However, this interpretation would quickly become opaque without the clarity that 
an interdisciplinary inquiry provides. Whether intentional or not, the authors of Multiethnicity and 
Migration at Teopancazco make a strong case in favor of interdisciplinary approaches to 
archaeological inquiry. Unlike the practitioners of ethnolinguistics and ethnography, 
archaeologists must interpret their databases without observing the societies that created it. A silent 
set of recovered materials is all archaeologists have to work with. Archaeology’s interpretive 
models are thus extremely vulnerable to forays into the realms of conjecture, especially if these 
interpretations are supported by weak methodological frameworks. In order to interpret the 
archaeological record to the highest degree of contextual integrity, archaeologists sometimes deem 
it necessary to draw upon methods and theories from other disciplines. These interdisciplinary 
approaches arguably enable archaeologists to avoid the pitfalls associated with interpreting their 
mute databases according to a single line of inquiry. 

I would recommend Multiethnicity and Migration at Teopancazco to those with an interest in 
Mesoamerican archaeology, as it offers unique insight into the lifeways of Teopancazco’s 
residents. More generally, biological scientists with an interest in archaeology would also find this 
book to be an engaging read. In the era of the specialist, the interdisciplinary perspective adopted 
by the authors of Multiethnicity and Migration at Teopancazco provides readers with a refreshing 
reminder of the importance and utility of collaborative research projects.   

Andrew Lythe is a PhD student at the University of Montreal, specializing in stable isotopic 
analyses of human and faunal remains to elucidate patterns of diet and migration in prehistory. He 
is currently working on discerning patterns of animal management at Ganj Dareh, Iran, which 
contains the remains of the oldest known domesticated animals in the world.  

 

 

 

© 2019 Andrew Lythe 

 


