RESEARCH ARTICLE Genetic Evidence Supports the Multiethnic Character of Teopancazco, a Neighborhood

Multiethnicity in Teopancazco, Teotihuacan, is supported by foreign individuals found in the neighborhood center as well as by the diversity observed in funerary rituals at the site. Stud-ies of both stable and strontium isotopes as well as paleodietary analysis, suggest that the population of Teopancazco was composed by three population groups: people from Teoti-huacan, people from nearby sites (Tlaxcala-Hidalgo-Puebla), and people from afar, includ-ing the coastal plains. In an attempt to understand the genetic dynamics in Teopancazco we conducted an ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis based on mtDNA. Our results show that the level of genetic diversity is consistent with the multiethnicity phenomenon at the neighbor-hood center. Levels of genetic diversity at different time periods of Teopancazco’s history show that multiethnicity was evident since the beginning and lasted until the collapse of the neighborhood center. However, a PCA and a Neighbor-Joining tree suggested the pres-ence of a genetically differentiated group (buried at the Transitional phase) compared to the population from the initial phase (Tlamimilolpa) as well as the population from the final phase (Xolalpan) of the history of Teopancazco. Genetic studies showed no differences i