A Cumulative Interaction Path Analysis for Santo Domingo Tonaltepec, Mixteca Alta, Mexico

Abstract

We present a Cumulative Interaction Path Analysis (CIPA) that combines a Least Cost Path (LCP) analysis with a gravitational principle of political interaction to examine the development of a peripheral area in relation to a peer polity system and its changes through time. We performed this analysis on a large settlement pattern database of pre-Hispanic sites in the Mixteca Alta region of Mexico, centered on the modern-day pottery-making community of Santo Domingo Tonaltepec. The results of the analysis suggest that in early periods Tonaltepec was relatively isolated from the larger network and in later times it became an important node between polities. This change related not so much to Tonaltepec itself, but to changes in the relative importance of the polities that developed around it. This supports the idea that the locational advantages of a site are dependent on the broader interaction network and the political developments that occur at larger scales. Our methods and results are significant not only in understanding the historical trajectory of this corner of the world but also serves as a case study on how to approach broader processes in other world regions where large settlement-pattern databases exist.