Social Organization

Social Organization. Aztalan National Historic Landmark. Specialized crafts, extensive trade networks, and construction of large structures (stockades and mounds) demonstrates a high degree of social organization and complexity., Aztalan's layout, with communal structures atop the Northeast and Southwest Platform Mounds and a distinct residential area where the majority of the population lived and worked, reflects the community members' varied social functions and status. Differences in clothing types, adornment, and use of symbols reinforced these class distinctions., Treatment of the dead, with certain members buried in mounds and others buried in non-mound contexts, again reflects a prevailing social hierarchy. The plaza provided a shared space where elite and lay villagers interacted in communal and ritual activities., Photo caption: At Cahokia, a member of the Mississippian elite and his retinue welcome the rising sun, ever a symbol of renewal and rebirth.