Introduction

The importance of West and Northwest Mesoamerica as zones of ancient civilization is just becoming apparent to Americanists at large. The role of West and Northwest Mesoamerica as a zone through which long-distance trade could travel has always been appreciated. Western and Northwestern Mesoamerica were rare resource-rich areas, and any demands made upon those resources by the metropoli of Central Mexico would have had prolonged political and economic consequences along the frontiers. Western Mesoamerica experienced resurgence during the fourteenth century, which culminated in the Tarascan kingdom, and the smaller conquest and trading states of Acoliman, Sayula, Tlala, Etzatlan, Sentispac, Acaponeta, and others. Problems for future research in West and Northwest Mesoamerica, aside from large-scale survey and more controlled excavations, are multiple and staggering. Arcnaeologists working in Central Mesoamerica have traditionally paid either no attention to the West and Northwest, or treated them as poor stepchildren.