Streets and Open Spaces

Comparing Mobility and Urban Form at Angamuco and Chunchucmil, Mexico

Bibliographic Data

ID6033767
AuthorsR Hutson (0000-0003-4907-2876, University of Kentucky, corresponding author), Rodrigo Solinis-Casparius (0000-0002-4316-8896, University of Illinois Chicago)
Year2023
Volume34
Issue2
Pages338-359
Publication date2023-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAncient Mesoamerica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0956-5361 • E-ISSN: 1469-1787
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s095653612100047x
OpenAlexW4220684610
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited53

Angamuco and Chunchucmil are two of the few Mesoamerican cities with relatively complete street maps. These maps provide a rare opportunity to study how the bulk of the population moved through cities, how people worked together to organize a network of paths and open spaces, what kind of interactions these features afforded, and how they contributed to the formation of social identities. Having found that space syntax methods confirmed intuitive understandings without generating new findings, we apply a segment (paths) and node (intersections) analysis to both sites. With these analyses we recorded and characterized segment variables such as width, length, form, and curvature, and node variables such as size, form, and number of linked segments. Many of the nodes at both sites are open spaces, allowing us to register details about the configuration of shared public spaces that are less formal than monumental plazas. The analyses revealed neighborhood differentiation, local-level coordination of labor, and intentional efforts to create markets or spaces of assembly that may have complemented collective governance proposed for both sites. While Angamuco and Chunchucmil differ in terms of the general pattern of their pedestrian networks, they share similarities in terms of density of paths and types of intersections

Archaeology · Business · Corporate governance · Economic geography · Genealogy · Geography · Pedestrian · Sociology · Space syntax · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Categorization, perception, and language · Computer Science · Engineering · History · Urban Design and Spatial Analysis

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