enue of the Dead was the most desirable and elegant living area, located toward the north. As one moved further and further from this section the desirability declined until it reached the outskirts, which was allotted for the lower class housing. Class differentiation was devised from studying the amount of space granted to each individual family unit.Michael Spence, working on Millon's excavation team, was also able to gain insight to residential preference. Through examination of non-metric skeletal remains, genetics played an important role in deciding this partiality. He discovered that the males within a compound were more closely biologically linked than the women, suggesting a patrilocal residence where the women moved into the man's lodging after marriage. This possibly also suggests some sort of gender indifferences as well. (Durham 1997, p 138)These apartment compounds can provide a plethora of information about the life of their occupants. One very important feature determined from analysis of numerous excavated artifacts was that this city was very cosmopolitan and the residents of the compounds were either related by kin or commercial interest. (Coe 1984, p 92) Also, Millon used the dimensions to calculate an estimate of Teotihuacan's population, which was probably around 125,000 up to 200,000 in its peak. This is quite remarkable since no other city in Mesoamerica had seen such proportions up to that time, and only six other cities worldwide were larger by 600 A.D. (Sabloff, 1981, p 208) Sifting, screening and floatation were employed by team member Emily McClung de Tapia in regards to plant analysis and were practiced by David Starbuck on fauna remains, both providing direct data on the Teotihuacano's diet at the time. Tapia's material ranges from about 100-750 A.D. and was collected from the floors of the compounds, as well as being identified in some mural depictions. From the carbonized remains, seeds, fibers, and o...
