Democracy Has Existed in the Americas Longer Than We Thought - Not All Leaders Were Kings Alanna Martinez - Observer Daily
go to original March 21, 2017

Aerial view of the Moon Pyramid at Teotihuacan in Mexico (Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty)

Most commonly, democracy is associated with the white-robed senates of ancient Greece and Rome. However, newly uncovered evidence by archaeologists in Mexico may suggest that the social practice has much earlier roots in the Americas than previously believed. Scientists excavating at Tlaxcallan, a civilization that flourished between 1250 A.D. until the Spanish colonized the region in the 1500s, now believe that its people, as well as those in several other cities in central America, operated under a system of “collective” governing similar to that of a democratic republic, according to a report from Science magazine.

The theory that democratic societies existed in pre-colonial Mesoamerica was first introduced by anthropologist Richard Blanton, of Indiana’s Purdue University, in a 1996 essay he co-authored for Current Anthropology, after excavating at several sites where representations of autocratic rulers were no where to be found and central buildings could neither be identified as palaces nor royal burial chambers. Blanton proposed that these civilizations, which existed at the same time as known monarchies and autocracies in the cities of San Lorenzo and La Venta, were supported by taxes and ruled by leaders who had ascended via “political initiation” rather than inherited power.

“I think it’s a breakthrough,” Arizona State University archaeologist Michael E. Smith, told Science. “I’ve called it the most important work in the archaeology of political organization in the last 20 years.”

Today, Blanton’s theories are starting to hold real weight among experts in the archaeological community as further evidence has been uncovered which supports his initial findings. One recent example is a 600-year-old house found in Tlaxcallan adjacent to the city’s main public plaza. In its day, the house wouldn’t have appeared any more special than one owned and occupied by a typical citizen, but archaeologist Lane Fargher - a mentee of Blanton’s who has been excavating in the city since 2007 - notes that its location is unusual. Typically, he says, such important real estate would have been occupied by an ornate palace.

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