Teotihuacan Specialization

Economic Systems Throughout history there has been a common theme of progression towards more complex societies. The advent of agriculture enabled population sizes to increase, and allowed permanent settlements to arise. As extensive cultivation of farmland progressed, a surplus of food was created that enabled some people within a society to be non-food producers. These people who no longer were required to farm in order to survive were able to develop marketable goods that they could exchange for food. This transition towards interdependence, (craftsmen depending on exchanging their goods for food), brought with it an opportunity for the government within each society to exact some tribute for monitoring the economy, and making sure
Within these aforementioned egalitarian societies there is some occupational specialization, but it is based on the skill of the craftsmen, and no one is a full time specialist. The differences in the economies of Copan, Teotihuacan, and ancient Rome, can illustrate why and how economies increase in complexity, and what criteria are necessary for large-scale economic specialization. More specifically, what factors limited Copan and Teotihuacan, preventing them from attaining the population size, and economic complexity of ancient Rome. Teotihuacan was a huge metropolis in what is now southern Mexico. It became a large city before 100CE and reached the height of its size from about 600-650CE. At its height it was home to roughly 125,000 inhabitants. There is a permanent springs nearby the ancient city, and satellite photos have indicated the presence of a possible irrigation system with canals used to water farm sites. Although the age of the irrigation canals has yet to be established it seems to be highly probable that this canal system was
This huge population and relatively high population density would be expected to have a more complex economy than either Teotihuacan or Copan. In Ostia, a port that was a trading hub for the Roman Empire, nearly everyone within the city was an occupational specialist. One of the factors that allowed for such extensive specialization within the economy of the Roman Empire was an efficient means of transportation. In contrast to the cities of Copan and Teotihuacan, Rome had access to less expensive goods from a larger area. This less expensive means of transport was crucial. Rome relied on merchant vessels to bring in goods from overseas, and also had domesticated animals that could haul much larger items over inland routes. While there is evidence of sub-specialists within certain specialties at Teotihuacan, the specialization at Teotihuacan doesn't seem to be as prevalent as in ancient Rome. Within the Roman society there was an extreme amount of interdependence, as a result of this reliance on other workers craftsmen formed their own guilds. These guilds attempted to protect the interests of the workers within that certain subspecialty, and maintain or increase the wages and political influence of the guild