Life on a hilltop in Ancient Mexico More than two-thirds of the Oaxaca Valley’s population resided in these hilltop centers during the height of the Zapotec civilization in the Classic period from A.D. 200-800. At El Palmillo alone, more than 5,000 people may have resided on roughly 1,400 terraces that were arrayed across the site. Nevertheless, because there has been only limited terrace excavation, the function and use of these hilltop communities has been debated. Although ancient terraces in the Andes and other parts of the world are agricultural, the Oaxaca terrace sites have indicators on the surface that suggest they were more residential than agrarian in use. Yet if the terraces were residential, how did the Classic period inhabitants make a living? After four seasons excavating terraces at the hilltop site of El Palmillo, Field Museum scientist Gary Feinman and his team believe that the area was a residential center whose inhabitants produced craft goods for exchange. This year’s expedition seeks more evidence with which to investigate this interpretation. The team will also be working to gather more information about the types of social, cultural, and economic interconnections that organized and integrated life on this inhabited hilltop.