Serpents and Styles in Peten Postclassic Pottery

The snake is a symbol of nearly all Mayan buildings. That is astonishing, for one would have expected a people surrounded by luxuriant rampant flora to leave flower motifs behind on their stone reliefs as well. Yet loathsome snake confronts us everywhere.… How could anyone worship this repulsive creature as a god, and why could it fly as well? [VonDaniken 1974:103–104]
If symbols …are strategies for encompassing situations, then we need to give more attention to how people define situations and how they go about coming to terms with them. [Geertz 1973:141]     

Modern Mesoamerica: The Politics of Identity

Politics and Privilege in a Mexican City. Richard R. Fagen and William S. Tuohy
Being Indian in Hueyapan: A Study of Forced Identity in Contemporary Mexico. Judith Friedlander .
Panajachel: A Guatemalan Town in Thirty-Year Perspective. Robert E. Hinshaw .
Población y sociedad: Cuatro comunidades del Acolhuacan. Marisol Pérez Lizaur .
Princes of the Earth: Subcultural Diversity in a Mexican Municipality. Barbara Luise Margolies .
Servants of the Saints: The Social and Cultural Identity of a Tarascan Community in Mexico.     

Social Patterns in Pre-Classic Mesoamerica

Social Patterns in Pre-Classic Mesoamerica. David C. Grove and Rosemary A. Joyce. eds. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1999. 336 pp.     

Gender and Power in Prehistoric Mesoamerica.

Gender and Power in Prehistoric Mesoamerica. Rosemary A. Joyce. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000. 269 pp.     

Distillation in Western Mesoamerica before European Contact

Distillation in Western Mesoamerica before European Contact. Fermented beverages are almost universal among ancient human societies. Ethanol is an analgesic, disinfectant, and mind-altering substance, and can help to preserve and enhance the nutritional value of food. Fermentation has therefore played a key role in human cultural and technological development. In Mesoamerica, codices and colonial-era sources describe a variety of fermented beverages produced before European contact. Distilled beverages, in contrast, have not been invented in all cultures, and their production in pre-contact Mesoamerica remains controversial. We tested the hypothesis of Needham et al. (1980) that Capacha gourd and trifid vessels described by Kelly (1974) for the Early Formative (1500–1000 BCE) in Colima state, western Mexico, could have been used to produce distilled beverages. Experiments using vessel replicas, techniques, and materials (including agave ferment) available in this region during this period successfully produced ethanol-containing distillates. We propose the possible origin and development of a “Capacha-type Mesoamerican still” from bean pots or from steamer pots used during this period, and discuss the possible production of spirits as part of the prevailing agricultural and cultural system. Average gourd and trifid vessel sizes, their archaeological context, and the ethanol yields of the replicas suggest that, if used as stills, they were used to produce a prestige product for ceremonial purposes, with high social and cultural relevance.     

The Archaic Diet in Mesoamerica: Incentive for Milpa Development and Species Domestication

The Archaic Diet in Mesoamerica: Incentive for Milpa Development and Species Domestication. One of the central questions in the development of Mesoamerican civilization is how the alimentary, agronomic, and ecological complementarities were achieved within the milpa agroecosystem, which is one of its more important and distinctive cultural elements. In the Mesoamerican center of origin of agriculture and domestication of plants, located in western Mexico, we inquired among Náhuatl communities about the ancient dishes prepared with wild plants that are part of their ancient foodways, and the tools and technology used to prepare them. We found that the wild progenitors of Agave spp., Zea mays L, Cucurbita argyrosperma Hort. Ex L.H. Bayley, Phaseolus spp., Capsicum annum L., Solanum lycopersicum L., Physalis phyladelphica Lam, Spondias purpurea L., Persea americana Mill., and Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit are consumed in dishes that remain in the present food culture of the poor peasants, and are prepared with techniques and tools that were available in the Archaic period: Sun drying, roasting, toasting, baking, cracking, grinding, crushing, fermenting, and soaking in plain water or in water with ash, using three–stone fireplaces, stone toasters, crushers, grinders, rock pits, and three types of earth ovens. A remarkable finding was that beans could be incorporated into the diet without boiling, but just by toasting, stone grinding, and baking in corn dough tamales. Results obtained suggest that the basic Mesoamerican diet could have been shaped before the species involved were domesticated. Its nutritional complementarity since the Archaic period could have been one of the incentives for the development of the milpa system and the domestication of its species, achieving in this way also their ecological and agronomical complementarity.     

Prospects for Malaria Elimination in Mesoamerica and Hispaniola

Malaria remains endemic in 21 countries of the American continent with an estimated 427,000 cases per year. Approximately 10% of these occur in the Mesoamerican and Caribbean regions. During the last decade, malaria transmission in Mesoamerica showed a decrease of ~85%; whereas, in the Caribbean region, Hispaniola (comprising the Dominican Republic [DR] and Haiti) presented an overall rise in malaria transmission, primarily due to a steady increase in Haiti, while DR experienced a significant transmission decrease in this period.The significant malaria reduction observed recently in the region prompted the launch of an initiative for Malaria Elimination in Mesoamerica and Hispaniola (EMMIE) with the active involvement of the National Malaria Control Programs (NMCPs) of nine countries, the Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) for Mesoamerica, and the Council of Health Ministries of Central America and Dominican Republic (COMISCA). The EMMIE initiative is supported by the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) with active participation of multiple partners including Ministries of Health, bilateral and multilateral agencies, as well as research centers. EMMIE’s main goal is to achieve elimination of malaria transmission in the region by 2020. Here we discuss the prospects, challenges, and research needs associated with this initiative that, if successful, could represent a paradigm for other malaria-affected regions.     

Women in Prehistory: North America and Mesoamerica

Women in Prehistory: North America and Mesoamerica. Cheryl Claassen and Rosemary A. Joyce. eds. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997. 300 pp.     

In situ management and domestication of plants in Mesoamerica

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Ethnobotanical studies in Mexico have documented that Mesoamerican peoples practise systems of in situ management of wild and weedy vegetation directed to control availability of useful plants. In situ management includes let standing, encouraging growing and protection of individual plants of useful species during clearance of vegetation, which in some cases may involve artificial selection. The aim of this study was to review, complement and re-analyse information from three case studies which examined patterns of morphological, physiological and genetic effects of artificial selection in plant populations under in situ management in the region. METHODS: Information on wild and in situ managed populations of the herbaceous weedy plants Anoda cristata and Crotalaria pumila, the tree Leucaena esculenta subsp. esculenta and the columnar cacti Escontria chiotilla, Polaskia chichipe and Stenocereus stellatus from Central Mexico was re-analysed. Analyses compared morphology and frequency of morphological variants, germination patterns, and population genetics parameters between wild and managed in situ populations of the species studied. Species of columnar cacti are under different management intensities and their populations, including cultivated stands of P. chichipe and S. stellatus, were also compared between species. KEY RESULTS: Significant differences in morphology, germination patterns and genetic variation documented between wild, in situ managed and cultivated populations of the species studied are associated with higher frequencies of phenotypes favoured by humans in managed populations. Genetic diversity in managed populations of E. chiotilla and P. chichipe is slightly lower than in wild populations but in managed populations of S. stellatus variation was higher than in the wild. However, genetic distance between populations was generally small and influenced more by geographic distance than by management. CONCLUSIONS: Artificial selection operating on in situ managed populations of the species analysed is causing incipient domestication. This process could be acting on any of the 600-700 plant species documented to be under in situ management in Mesoamerica. In situ domestication of plants could be relevant to understand early processes of domestication and current conditions of in situ conservation of plant genetic resources.     

Politics with Style: Identity Formation in Prehispanic Southeastern Mesoamerica

Those seeking to ensconce themselves at the pinnacles of emerging sociopolitical hierarchies must forge alliances with both their immediate subordinates and distant peers. In the first case, allegiance to a polity that transcends extant and emerging sectarian affiliations must be achieved if the realm is to survive the passing of individual charismatic rulers. Cooperation with foreign leaders, in turn, guarantees a steady supply of political valuables useful in ensnaring clients within dependency relations that undergird sociopolitical hierarchy. Achievement of these objectives requires creation and propagation of at least two distinct social identities, one linking rulers and ruled within a polity and the other uniting paramounts in a network covering vast territorial expanses. In this article, we examine Late Classic (A.D. 600-950) material patterns from the Naco valley, northwestern Honduras, for the light they shed on the proposed integration of political and cultural processes within developing complex polities. The strategic manipulation of material symbols to fashion new affiliations and the implications of these identities for social change are also considered, [social identity, Mesoamerican archaeology, ideology, political contests, symbols]     

Peasantries and Other Topics: South and Mesoamerica

The Peasant Marketing System of Oaxaca, Mexico. Ralph L. Beals .
Pyramids of Sacrifice: Political Ethics and Social Change. Peter L. Berger .
Struggle in the Andes: Peasant Political Mobilization in Peru. Howard Handelman .
The Moving Frontier: Social and Economic Change in a Southern Brazilian Community. Maxine L. Margolis .
Peasants, Politics, and Revolution: Pressures toward Political and Social Change in the Third World. Joel S. Migdal .
Formaciones economicas y politicas del mundo andino. John V. Murra .
The Shaman and the Jaguar: A Study of Narcotic Drugs among the Indians of Colombia. Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff .
Brazilian Society. T. Lynn Smith .     

Trophic level and macronutrient shift effects associated with the weaning process in the Postclassic Maya

The weaning process was investigated at two Maya sites dominated by Postclassic remains: Marco Gonzalez (100 BC-AD 1350) and San Pedro (1400-AD 1650), Belize. Bone collagen and bioapatite were analyzed from 67 individuals (n < or = 6 years = 15, n > 6 years = 52). Five isotopic measures were used to reconstruct diet and weaning: stable nitrogen- and carbon-isotope ratios in collagen, stable carbon- and oxygen-isotope ratios in bioapatite, and the difference in stable carbon-isotope values of coexisting collagen and bioapatite. Nitrogen-isotope ratios in infant collagen from both sites are distinct from adult females, indicating a trophic level effect. Collagen-to-bioapatite differences in infant bone from both sites are distinct from adult females, indicating a shift in macronutrients. Oxygen-isotope ratios in infant bioapatite from both sites are also distinct from adult females, indicating the consumption of breast milk. Among infants, carbon- and nitrogen-isotope ratios vary, indicating death during different stages in the weaning process. The ethnohistoric and paleopathological literature on the Maya indicate cessation of breast-feeding between ages 3-4 years. Isotopic data from Marco Gonzalez and San Pedro also indicate an average weaning age of 3-4 years. Based on various isotopic indicators, weaning likely began around age 12 months. This data set is not only important for understanding the weaning process during the Postclassic, but also demonstrates the use of collagen-to-bioapatite spacing as an indicator of macronutrient shifts associated with weaning.     

Mitochondrial DNA phylogeography of Caiman crocodilus in Mesoamerica and South America

The Neotropical crocodylian species, Caiman crocodilus, is widely distributed through Mesoamerica, northern South America, and the Amazon basin. Four subspecies are recognized within C. crocodilus, suggesting some geographic variation in morphology. In this study, we utilized mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data from 45 individuals of C. crocodilus throughout its range to infer its evolutionary history and population structure, as well as to evaluate genealogical support for subspecies and their geographic distributions. Our molecular phylogenetic results identified five mtDNA haplotype clades with a mean sequence divergence of 3.4%, indicating considerable evolutionary independence among phylogeographic lineages. Our results were also broadly consistent with current subspecific taxonomy, with some important additional findings. First, we found substantial genetic structuring within C. c. fuscus from southern Mesoamerica. Second, though we confirmed the existence of a widespread Amazonian clade, we also discovered a cryptic and divergent mtDNA lineage that was indistinguishable from C. c. crocodilus based on external morphology. Third, we confirm the status of C. c. chiapasius as a distinct evolutionary lineage, and provide evidence that C. c. fuscus may be moving northward and hybridizing with C. c. chiapasius in northern Mesoamerica. Finally, our results parallel previous phylogeographic studies of other organisms that have demonstrated significant genetic structure over shorter geographic distances in Mesoamerica compared with Amazonia. We support conservation efforts for all five independent lineages within C. crocodilus, and highlight the subspecies C. c. chiapasius as a unit of particular conservation concern.