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Jeffrey R. Parsons

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description Jeffrey R. Parsons Overview

Jeffrey R. Parsons is an American archaeologist who served as a professor at the University of Michigan. During the 1960s and 1970s, he conducted extensive regional surveys of pre-Hispanic settlements in the Basin of Mexico, documenting hundreds of sites using systematic surface survey methods. His work on settlement patterns in the Teotihuacan Valley and Aztec-period agricultural systems has been influential in Mesoamerican archaeology.

Parsons later applied similar survey techniques at sites near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia.

help Jeffrey R. Parsons FAQ

Who was Jeffrey R. Parsons?

Jeffrey R. Parsons was an American archaeologist and University of Michigan professor known for regional settlement surveys in Mexico. His field training was influenced by William Sanders and the cultural-ecological approach to settlement and land use. [University of Michigan](https://lsa.umich.edu/ummaa/news-events/all-news/search-news/jeffrey-r--parsons.html)

What did Jeffrey Parsons survey in the Basin of Mexico?

Parsons conducted systematic surveys of pre-Hispanic settlements in the Basin of Mexico, especially the eastern Texcoco region. His work documented settlement patterns around the same broader region as Teotihuacan and helped show how urban systems were distributed across the landscape. [University of Michigan](https://lsa.umich.edu/ummaa/news-events/all-news/search-news/jeffrey-r--parsons.html)

When did Parsons begin his major Basin of Mexico survey work?

After completing his doctorate in 1966, Parsons joined the University of Michigan and began building its archaeology program. In 1967 he received his first National Science Foundation grant for a survey of eastern Texcoco. [University of Michigan](https://lsa.umich.edu/ummaa/news-events/all-news/search-news/jeffrey-r--parsons.html)

How did Jeffrey Parsons's method differ from an excavation-only approach?

Parsons used regional surface survey to record many settlements and compare land use across a large area rather than focusing on a single monumental site. That approach made settlement density, rural communities, and changing regional organization central archaeological evidence. [University of Michigan](https://lsa.umich.edu/ummaa/news-events/all-news/search-news/jeffrey-r--parsons.html)