I am an archaeologist specializing in the Aztecs of central Mexico. I have directed fieldwork projects at Aztec sites in the Mexican state of Morelos and in the Toluca Valley, and I have published several books and numerous scholarly articles on this work. My research focuses on Aztec social and economic organization, and on the comparative analysis of ancient urban societies. My theoretical and comparative interests derive from a materialist, political-economy approach to ancient state societies. I have published on topics of urbanism, imperialism, households, and economic organization. Current projects include assembly of the final publications on my Morelos excavations, fieldwork at Calixtlahuaca, and work on comparative urbanism. My use of this site is experimental, and it does not have all of my publications. I am uploading more papers gradually as I have time. A more complete set of my papers is posted on my personal web site (see link at bottom right).
Aztec society, general
La época posclásica in Morelos: surgimiento de los Tlahuica y Xochimilca, La arqueología en Morelos: Dinámicas sociales sobre las construcciones de la cultura material. Tomo 2 de: Historia de Morelos: Tierra, gente, tiempos del Sur (2010)
El imperio de la triple alianza (Tenochtitlan, Texcoco y Tlacopan) en el siglo XXI (with José Luis de Rojas), Revista Española de Antropología Americana (2007)
Tula and Chichén Itzá: Are We Asking the Right Questions?, Twin Tollans: Chichén Itzá, Tula, and the Epiclassic to Early Postclassic Mesoamerican World (2007)
Postclassic archaeology, Morelos
La época posclásica in Morelos: surgimiento de los Tlahuica y Xochimilca, La arqueología en Morelos: Dinámicas sociales sobre las construcciones de la cultura material. Tomo 2 de: Historia de Morelos: Tierra, gente, tiempos del Sur (2010)
Sources of Imported Obsidian at Postclassic Sites in the Yautepec Valley, Morelos: A Characterization Study Using XRF and INAA (with Adrian Burke, Timothy S. Hare, and Michael D. Glascock), Latin American Antiquity (2007)
Cities & urbanism: Aztec and Mesoamerican
City Planning: Aztec City Planning, Encyclopaedia of the History of Non-Western Science, Technology, and Medicine, revised Internet edition (2008)
A New Map of the Aztec-Period City of Calixtlahuaca in Central Mexico (with Novic, Juliana; Kroefges Peter; and Huster Angela), Antiquity (2007)
La fundación de los capitales de las ciudades-estado aztecas: la recreación ideológico de Tollan, Nuevas ciudades, nuevas patrias: fundación y relocalización de ciudades en Mesoamérica y el Meditteráneo antiguo (2006)
Postclassic archaeology, Toluca region
A New Map of the Aztec-Period City of Calixtlahuaca in Central Mexico (with Novic, Juliana; Kroefges Peter; and Huster Angela), Antiquity (2007)
Xoo-Phase Ceramics from Oaxaca Found at Calixtlahuaca in Central Mexico (with Lind Michael), Ancient Mesoamerica (2005)
Comercio postclásico en la cerámica decorada: Malinalco, Toluca, Guerrero y Morelos, Arqueología (2003)
Las ofrendas de Calixtlahuaca (with Jennifer Wharton and Melissa McCarron), Expresión Antropológica (2003)
Postclassic Ceramics from the Toluca Valley in U.S. Museums: The Bauer and Blake Collections, Mexicon (2001)
Mesoamerican archaeology, general
Tula and Chichén Itzá: Are We Asking the Right Questions?, Twin Tollans: Chichén Itzá, Tula, and the Epiclassic to Early Postclassic Mesoamerican World (2007)
Xoo-Phase Ceramics from Oaxaca Found at Calixtlahuaca in Central Mexico (with Lind Michael), Ancient Mesoamerica (2005)
Cities & urbanism: comparative
Empirical Urban Theory for Archaeologists, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory (2011)
I review several bodies of empirical urban theory relevant to the archaeological analysis of ancient...
Sprawl, Squatters, and Sustainable Cities: Can Archaeological Data Shed Light on Modern Urban Issues?, Cambridge Archaeological Journal (2010)
Ancient cities as documented by archaeologists and historians have considerable relevance for a broader understanding...