Noble houses and palaces: reconsidering the existence of palaces in Late Postclassic (A.D. 1250/1300–1519) Tepeticpac, Tlaxcallan

Abstract

Archaeological research on palaces and architectural spaces related to power factions allow a better understanding of the social dynamics of political economies. Several types of palaces appear in Mesoamerica according to distinct forms of sociopolitical organization. For Tlaxcallan, a Late Postclassic (A.D. 1250/1300–1519) geopolitical state-level polity with a highly collective government, the existence of palaces has been questioned. We reconsider the existence of palaces in Tlaxcallan through the contextual analysis of an architectural complex (CA-2) of Tepeticpac, one of the sectors of the conurbated area. We evaluate the functionality of CA-2 as a palace by examining the processes of occupation and abandonment of the building in relation to its architectural and stratigraphic sequence and the type of associated artifacts. The comparison between archaeological and historical data indicate that Tlaxcallans probably had palaces, but they were less ostentatious compared to others found in societies with more centralized governments.