Gardens anD parks are part of urban open space, with elite gardens often constituting substantial investments. Proportions of open space assist evaluation of settlement nucleation. Three Mesoamerican cities demonstrate sufficient open space near elaborate resIdences to have had associated gardens. Cerro de las Mesas, Veracruz, Mexico, exhibits peripheral reserve spaces, which, in combination with comparative data, suggests an urban model that combines aspects of Burgess's (1925) concentric zones and Sjoberg's (1960) model of the preindustrial city. Archaeological practices for definition of settlement boundaries obscure the potential for a mosaic periphery that includes important green space as part of elite or other gardens and parks.
Issues concerning Mesoamerican urban open space, especially gardens and parks, have received scant archaeological attention despite crucial implications for interpretations of ancient urbanism as well as for archaeological practices. To address a selection of these issues, the paper is organized in four parts. First, I discuss the concepts of gardens and parks as part of urban open space. Ancient gardens and parks range in elaborateness well beyond ordinary household gardens (also termed kitchen or home gardens); similarly, the range of functions includes food production, but extends far beyond. Elite and royal gardens are substantial investments in most ancient states and empires, and they serve a variety of symbolic and social functions in addition to producing "practical items" (e. g., comestibles, wood, or medicines). Social ostentation is a frequent aspect of elaborate gardens and parks (for the Aztecs, see Evans 2000).
Second, I note the utility of open-space measurement for settlement density comparisons. Third, I examine Mesoamerican research concerninG dispersed or low-density cities in the lowlands, where spaces among residences and other structures provided ample
OpportunIties for gardens at both palatial and ordinary household scales. I focus on elaborate gardens, a neglected subject in comparison to home gardens. Possible palatial gardens are not solely an issue for low-density urbanism, however. I demonstrate that space was available for palatial gardens in Mesoamerican capitals through examples in both lowland Veracruz and highland Oaxaca. Fourth, I examine the implications of peripheral gardens and parks for archaeological decisions about settlement boundaries, arguing that settlement definitions require consideration of possible peripheral green space.
World History
