A Mesoamerican Urban Road Network: An Analysis of Pedestrian Pathways of Angamuco, Michoacán

Abstract

This article examines the urban layout and development of the ancient city of Angamuco (AD 250–1530)—a populated urban center located within the core area of the Purépecha Empire in Michoacán, Mexico—through the lens of its complex road network. Image and network analysis of lidar datasets revealed more than 3,000 roads distributed throughout the site, identified the main patterns of road arrangement, and documented variable accessibility within the city. After presenting a summary of these results, I propose that road networks are fundamental components of urban centers that can help reveal social configurations, local interactions, and models of governance. The study of the road network at the site of Angamuco suggests that this city developed organically without the strong influence of political hierarchy a few centuries prior to the formation of the Purépecha Empire. Angamuco inhabitants organized and negotiated space and settlement within their immediate community and had access to virtually all areas of the city.

Streets and Open Spaces: Comparing Mobility and Urban Form at Angamuco and Chunchucmil, Mexico

“…In between complejos there are several unclaimed areas, like terraces, open spaces, and paths. Throughout the site there is a complex network of more than 3,000 pathways of different dimensions and constructions systems (e.g., elevated, walled, paved, curbed, and simple trails), which, together with other movement infrastructure (e.g., ramps, stairs), connect all areas of the site (Solinis-Casparius 2019). The path network indicates that the shape of the city is largely defined by the natural topography and not by the location of important features.…”

“…The segment and node analysis required a network of path segments and nodes (intersections) in ArcGIS for each of the two cities. Solinis-Casparius (2019) developed the procedure for creating such a network. Segments (lines in GIS) consist of all path-like features, regardless of their dimensions, shape, orientation, or construction system.…”

“…LiDAR data were used to create the network for the entire site, which produced data on certain attributes of segments and nodes such as length, linkage, and shape (see below). Additionally, around 14 percent of the site was ground-verified and more intensively mapped with high-precision GPS units in 2016 to pick up multiple details not visible in LiDAR, such as slope, width, and area (Solinis-Casparius 2019). This 14 percent sample was collected over five weeks of dedicated field mapping in 2016 and consists of four randomly selected, non-adjacent areas that roughly align with neighborhoods as defined by Fisher and Leisz (2013).…”

“…The sample accounts for 1.68 km 2 of the built environment. This sample was also used as a control for LiDAR ground verification, as presented in Solinis-Casparius’ (2019) dissertation.…”

“…With respect to open spaces, we document variation in form and size and connect these attributes to availability of terrain, the growth of path networks, and the purposeful provision of informal locales for mixed activities. We discuss additional details about these methods, developed by Solinis-Casparius (2019), in the section Segment and Node Analysis. We then compare Chunchucmil with Angamuco in terms of quantities, kinds, configurations, and sizes of pathways and open spaces in order to explore how a path network can constrain pedestrians and to study relations between population density and path density.…”