Household and Status in Formative Central Mexico: Domestic Structures, Assemblages, and Practices at La Laguna, Tlaxcala

Abstract

Abstract Two Terminal Formative (ca. 100 B. C.–A.D. 100) domestic areas of La Laguna, Tlaxcala, are compared to examine variability in residential structures, assemblages, and practices, and their correlation to status differences at this midsize regional center during the period of initial central Mexican urbanization and state formation. Combining multiple lines of evidence, the study assesses the applicability of previous frameworks for investigating household status to this particular community. It demonstrates significant differences between elite and commoner residences in architectural elaboration, labor mobilization, access to certain foreign goods, and particular ritual practices, but general similarities in domestic economies and more restrained differentiation informs of personal adornment and domestic ritual. These conclusions are consistent with demarcated lineage ranking but relatively minor wealth accumulation by a more rural elite located peripherally to larger cities and polities.