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Etlatongo : social complexity, interaction, and village life in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico / Jeffrey Blomster.

Penn Museum Library F1219.1.O11 B56 2004
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Format:
Book
Author/Creator:
Blomster, Jeffrey.
Series:
Case studies in archaeology series
Case studies in archaeology
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Social structure--Mexico--Oaxaca--History.
Social structure.
Villages--Mexico--Oaxaca--History.
Villages.
Social interaction--Mexico--Oaxaca--History.
Social interaction.
History.
Etlatongo (Oaxaca, Mexico)--Social life and customs.
Etlatongo (Oaxaca, Mexico).
Etlatongo (Oaxaca, Mexico)--Antiquities.
Mexico.
Physical Description:
x, 206 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Place of Publication:
Belmont, CA : Thomson Wadsworth, [2004]
Summary:
This case study examines the rise of social complexity and the impact of interregional interaction at the village of Etlatongo, in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca. A broad perspective is taken, examining relations with other contemporaneous parts of Mesoamerica, including the Gulf Coast Olmec culture. Methods utilized are examined and critiqued. Innovative approaches to examining interregional interaction are employed, such as neutron activation analysis of fragments of ceramic vessels. Houses and how people lived and died are explored, as is growth of parts of the village through time. The book does not just report what the author did, but why he did it.
Contents:
Chapter 1 The Mixtecs of Oaxaca: An Introduction to Complexity, Interaction, and Formative Mesoamerica 1
The Anthropology of Social Complexity and Interregional Interaction 4
World Systems Theory 8
Practice Theory: Putting People in the World 10
Formative Mesoamerica: Olmecs and Zapotecs 11
Digging Deeper: What Is Mesoamerica? 12
Chapter 2 Designing Research for the Nochixtlan Valley: Or Why I Went to the Mixteca Alta 21
The Mixteca Alta and the Nochixtlan Valley 21
Research in the Mixteca Alta 26
Digging Deeper: What Is Glottochronology? 29
Research Design: Great Expectations 35
Drafting the Research Strategy 38
Chapter 3 Community and Change: Etlatongo through Time 45
Site Survey and Mapping at Etlatongo 45
Digging Deeper: To Collect or not to Collect? 47
Site Boundaries: Conceptual Issues and Communities 48
The Site Survey: Research Areas and Occupations 53
Microsettlement Patterning and Diachronic Change at Etlatongo 64
Chapter 4 Middle Cruz Social Complexity and Village Life at Etlatongo: A Formative Primer and Sampler 72
Unit Selection and Excavation Methods 72
Digging Deeper: The Joys of Straight-Sided Units 73
Archaeology at Early Mesoamerican Villages: A Formative Primer 74
Unit 1 Public Space at Etlatongo 78
Higher Status, Storage Space, and Ritual Paraphernalia: Unit 23 85
Chapter 5 Two Middle Cruz Occupations: Higher-Status or Public Space? 97
Digging Deeper: Sondage versus Robotage: Advantages and Disadvantages 99
Occupation 1 Structure 2-5, Floors 10 through 15, and Features 28 through 30 100
Occupation 2 Floor 9 and Features 26 and 27 106
Evidence for Social Complexity and Inequality 111
Chapter 6 Interregional Interaction at Etlatongo: Ceramic Style, Compositional Analysis, and Radioactive Fire-Serpents 115
Digging Deeper: Ceramic Analysis without Tears 116
Style and the San Lorenzo Horizon 117
Middle Cruz Ceramics at Etlatongo 123
Olmec-Style Designs at Etlatongo 128
Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis of Middle Cruz Ceramics 132
Ceramics and Exchange at Etlatongo: Summary 143
Chapter 7 Life and Death at Late Formative Etlatongo: Ancestors and the Yucuita Phase 146
Death and Ancestors in Oaxaca 146
Excavation Area 1 (EA-1) 148
Occupation 1 Floor 7, Burials 1-4, and Features 7-10 149
Digging Deeper: Burial Types from Lenin to Monte Alban 152
Occupation 2 Floor 6 and Features 5 and 6 162
Occupation 3 Structure 2-2, Floors 1 through 5, and Features 3 and 4 163
Life, Death, and the Growth of Villages 166
Defining the Yucuita Phase and Late Formative Ceramic Production 168
Chapter 8 Conclusions: Complexity and Interregional Interaction at Etlatongo 177
Complexity, Inequality, and Prestige Goods at Etlatongo 177
Interregional Interaction at Etlatongo 181
A World Systems Perspective: Mixtecs, Zapotecs, and Olmecs 185
Etlatongo and the Future? 189.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 193-202) and index.
ISBN:
0534612814
OCLC:
53711142

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