Resumo

SUGIURA YAMAMOTO, Yoko. Caminando el valle de Toluca: arqueología regional, el legado de William T. Sanders. Cuicuilco [online]. 2009, vol.16, n.47, pp.87-111. ISSN 0185-1659.

It is during 1960's when the Regional Archaeological Survey started to be accepted in Mesoamerica. Since then, different surface surveys have been conducted, mapping archaeological sites not only of the basin of Mexico, but also of many other regions in order to describe settlement patterns. These data are considered fundamental for the studies of prehispanic history from the point of view of evolutionary theories with strong ecological perspectives. The main objective for the archaeology of settlement pattern is to understand the social and political processes toward complex society. In this context, the influence of William T. Sanders and his regional archaeology has been indisputable. In effect, it is hard to understand the development of this type of archaeology without his contribution. Being convinced by the great utility of the archaeology of settlement pattern in order to study population history processes, I applied, basically, his field methods and techniques to survey the valley of Toluca. In this article, I discuss some problematic which I considered fundamental for the surface survey I conducted in the Archaeological Project of Toluca Valley. Also, the most relevant aspects resulted from the surface survey in the region are presented. As well, based on the settlement pattern study, the synthetic description of population history which covers from the first sedentary settlement in the Early Formative period more than three millennia till the Mexica Conquest, in the second half of the 14^th century, during the Late Postclassic period is presented.

Palavras-chave : Regional archaeology; surface survey; settlement pattern; Toluca valley; William T. Sanders.