Excavations at San Martín Tilcajete: Early State Formation in Oaxaca, Volume I

By Elsa M. Redmond and Charles S. Spencer

In this two-volume site report, authors Charles Spencer and Elsa Redmond report the final, comprehensive results of two decades of archaeological fieldwork (1993-2014) on the lands of San Mart n Tilcajete, in the Ocotl n-Zimatl n subvalley of the Oaxaca Valley of Mexico. Their work focused on El Mogote and El Palenque, two archaeological sites with successive occupations spanning 500-100 BC, a time of transformational cultural change in Oaxaca. El Mogote and El Palenque were the largest sites in the Ocotl n-Zimatl n subvalley during their phases of greatest occupation: the Early Monte Alb n I phase (500-300 BC) at El Mogote, and the Late Monte Alb n I phase (300-100 BC) at El Palenque.

Through intensive survey and large-scale excavation of public buildings and residences, Spencer, Redmond, and their crew documented major political and religious changes between the Early Monte Alb n I phase and the Late Monte Alb n I phase, notably the appearance around 300 BC at El Palenque of key state institutions such as the palace and multiroom temple. The evidence also revealed that the Tilcajete locality maintained its political independence from the city of Monte Alb n until the 1st century BC, even though Monte Alb n had conquered far more distant regions by 300 BC. State formation at Tilcajete played a substantial role in this independent polity's ability to resist Monte Alb n's aggressions for two centuries.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1951538838
• ISBN13: 9781951538835
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: U of M Museum Anthro Archaeology
• Length: 550 Pages