primary role is singularly defensive. Consequently, the urban
texture of a hilltop fortress is limited and coarse by compari-
son and its social function more abbreviated. Considering its
defensive nature, it can also be assumed that the occupants
of a fortress site are primarily concerned with the business
of defense, thereby limiting the overall social fabric to a nar-
rower fi eld of participants compared with what a larger gen-
eral center might show.
Growth and complexity were constantly evolving ur-
ban traits throughout the ancient period, such that by 250
c.e., in Mesoamerica especially, the following political
structures had developed, in this order: regional economic
centers, elite classes, administrative centers, true urban cen-
ters, a nd some form of state st r ucture. Th is last classifi cation
type, the achievement of some form of state-level society,
presents a unique conundrum for defi ning the qualities of a
city, because city and state are oft en tied together in a kind
of circular redundancy, such that one scholar will say that
there cannot be a city without a state, and another scholar
will say that there cannot be a state without a city. Th us, the
questions become these: In the absence of a so-called state,
is a large, complex urban settlement necessarily a city? And
if a city is, in essence, responsible only for itself and is not
bound to its hinterlands by political, economic, or milita-
ristic terms, is it then a self-sustaining state, a city-state, or
still just a city?
Similarly, if there is a necessary correlation between city
and state, is there a corresponding relation between city and
civilization? What qualities of civilization, if any, are neces-
sary for the development of a “city”? Suggestions presented by
scholars include monumental public architecture, art styles
involving artistic representations in many media, develop-
ment of practical sciences and means of recording (astrono-
my, accounting systems, and, oft en but not always, writing),
populations of a relatively great size and density oft en but
not always including localized areas of great density, diff er-
entiations of the populations into a number of more or less
distinguishable social classes ordered in hierarchical fashion,
a concentration of natural and human resources for public
enterprise, and extensive trade. Th e question of civilization
is intimately tied to defi nitions of culture, and culture is a
defi ning quality of cities.
FEATURES OF CITIES IN THE AMERICAS
Cities in and of themselves are a fairly recent phenomena. As
late as 1900 c.e. there were only 16 cities in the world with
populations in excess of 1 million, and 100 years earlier only
17 cities in Europe had populations over 100,000. A clear
view of the nature of cities in the Americas in the ancient
period is complicated by a lack of written texts and the fact
that many urban centers were only then emerging. Although
many settlements would not satisfy a strict urbanist’s criteria
for a city, many achieved city status in the broader sense of
civilization. Urban settlements everywhere varied in terms
of size, social composition, economic institutions, adminis-
tration, religious institutions, and urban planning and lay-
out, and each settlement needs to be examined individually.
Th e examples mentioned here—San Lorenzo, Teotihuacán,
Monte Albán, Tikal, Pukara, Tiwanaku, and Moche— refl ect
the variety and range of cities in the Americas.
It shou ld be noted t hat wea k a nd insu ffi cient data plagues
much analysis of North American sites prior to the 18th
century and that nothing resembling the level of complex-
ity found farther south in Mexico and in the Mayan civiliza-
tion had developed by the time the Europeans arrived in the
15th century. Most North American indigenous settlements
of this period are more properly classifi ed in the spectrum
of towns, villages, village clusters, ceremonial centers, burial
mound sites, or camps.cities
Th e earliest example of a Mesoamerican urban center is San
Lorenzo, an Olmec site that occupies a long ridge above sur-
rounding riverine lowlands in Mexico’s Gulf Coast region.
First settled around 1500 b.c.e., it covered 1,235 acres, had
a population of several thousand residents, and exhibited
all the major urban characteristics. It is generally defi ned
as a regal-ritual city, an urban center with highly developed
ritual functions but modest populations; relatively weak,
decentralized rulership; and limited economic functions.
One reason for San Lorenzo’s preeminence during this pe-
riod is its choice of site: high enough to remain dry during
the worst fl oods; close enough to fertile farmlands; easily
defendable; near to freshwater springs and other natural
resources such as sandstone, hematite, and limestone; and,
owing to its location, exercising control over important
river and land transportation routes. Prominent features
include a great earthen platform complex honeycombed
with an elaborate drainage system and perhaps laid out in
a zoomorphic, or animal-like, shape. Colossal carved stone
heads made of basalt from the Tuxtla Mountains 60 miles
away, some weighing as much as 20 tons, indicate a level of
complex coordination and centralized authority.
Teotihuacán (ca. 1 b.c.e.–650 c.e.) is the standard by
which all other ancient American cities are judged. Located
40 miles north of contemporary Mexico City, Teotihuacán
was the largest and most complex urban development in the
Americas until the rise of Aztec Tenochtitlán in the 14th
century c.e. By 600 c.e. Teotihuacán was the fi ft h-largest
city in the world, with a population estimated at 125,000.
Its design was based on a central grid plan, sometimes
referred to as the Mexican imperial plan, aligned along a
major north-south axis called the Avenue of the Dead. Th e
primary architectural features of the site are two massive
fl at-topped pyramids called the Pyramid of the Moon and
the Pyramid of the Sun, as well as a ceremonial structure
toward the southern end of the site called the Temple of
Quetzalcoatl contained within an area called the Ciudadela
(or Citadel). Overall, the city’s development and its architec-
tural expressions are a symbol of power.cities: The Americas 231