The Milpa and the Feast: A Study of Early Village Life in the Early Formative Community of Etlatongo in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca
Open AccessThis dissertation examines the interplay between people and food in the development of village life and sociopolitical complex organization in Mesoamerica during the Early Formative Period (1900-1000 cal BCE). The subject is approached from the framework of anthropological scholarship in the study of food, a perspective emphasizing the enmeshed nature of food in culture. With this approach as the foundation, this dissertation addresses two specific issues, where food played a significant role in the historical development of nascent Mesoamerican societies, and for which new perspectives are proposed. The first issue focuses on the food systems that underpinned village life, taking an alternative perspective based on the establishment of traditional polyculture-based systems in Mesoamerica. The second issue relates to the influence of feasts on the establishment of social and political relationships, focused on a regional perspective on how these events were formalized within a broader Mesoamerican tradition. These issues are examined through the perspective of Etlatongo in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca (1400-1000 cal BCE). Based on evidence recovered by the Etlatongo Formative Project (2015-2017), this dissertation analyzes the largest faunal and macrobotanical assemblages for Early Formative Mesoamerica and which are associated with the earliest examples of architectural ballcourts in the highlands of Mesoamerica. Etlatongo offers a rare and unique opportunity to investigate the relationship between people and food using direct and exceptionally rich datasets, contributing to more comprehensive understandings of historical processes associated with early villages. The data from Etlatongo sheds important light on the development of sustainable agroeconomic practices in Early Formative Mesoamerica, which became crucial for cultural development in the region, and link historically early villages with Mesoamerican culture and farming traditions. It also provides new information and deeper insights into the development of cuisines, ritual practices, and labor that characterized the increasing ceremonialism of feasts in Mesoamerica, and which redefined the means by which political influence was achieved in nascent Mesoamerican villages. Based on reexamined views of the relationship between food and people, Etlatongo is poised to be a key study in understanding the development of nascent sociopolitical complex villages in Mesoamerica.
- All rights reserved
Notice to Authors
If you are the author of this work and you have any questions about the information on this page, please use the Contact form to get in touch with us.
| Thumbnail | Title | Date Uploaded | Visibility | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
SalazarChavez_gwu_0075A_16521.pdf | 2023-11-14 | Open Access |
|