Rural responses following collapse: insights from Monte El Santo, Oaxaca, Mexico

In archaeology, rural areas are increasingly understood as dynamic places where inhabitants negotiate with the local and wider community in diverse ways to ensure their well-being. Developments have also been made in research that explores the variety of responses to collapse scenarios. This paper engages with both lines of inquiry to examine how the rural community of Monte El Santo responded to the political collapse of the Río Viejo polity in the Early Postclassic period on the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. The lack of powerful political institutions following the Río Viejo collapse allowed both commoners at Río Viejo and rural people from Monte El Santo to gain greater access to trade networks and prestige goods. Data from spindle whorls and obsidian from both sites, however, demonstrate that rural actors did not necessarily engage with the post-collapse situation in the same way as their urban counterparts.