Eduardo Williams – författare

This book presents a collection of papers from the Symposium on Cultural Dynamics and Production Activities in Ancient Western Mexico, held at the Center for Archaeological Research of the Colegio de Michoacán on September 18-19, 2014. While these thought-provoking essays on key topics in Western Mexican archaeology will spark debate among scholars interested in this cultural area, they will also be of interest to students of ancient Mesoamerica as a whole. The time is ripe for insightful discussions and new syntheses of archaeological research in Western Mesoamerica, and this volume represents, undoubtedly, a valuable contribution to this urgent task. These papers are grouped into three thematic areas. The first, Cultural dynamics in Western Mexico, includes essays on: The challenges of archaeology in flood-prone areas; Exploitation of local resources and imported products; Settlement systems of the Tarascan state; and Stone tools as indicators of task specialization. The second section, Production of strategic resources, analyzes the following topics: The obsidian jewelry of the Teuchitlán Tradition; Differing obsidian economies in Teuchitlán culture; Source areas and obsidian exploitation in Michoacán; The history of pottery production in Capula, Michoacán; Ethnoarchaeology of Tarascan pottery: domestic production and decoration styles; Ceramics, social status, and the Tarascan state economy; and Copper as a strategic resource in pre-Hispanic Western Mexico; while part three focuses on Trade and exchange: Circulation of goods and communication routes between Western and Central Mexico; Contrasting models of ceramic production in the Tarascan state; and Ceramic evidence of contact between Teotihuacan, the Bajío, and southern Hidalgo.

Pottery is one of humankind’s most important inventions. It is thousands of years old, and it is fair to say that without it the development of civilization as we know it would not have been possible. Food preparation and storage, religion and ritual, wine-making, trade, art, and architecture, among many other human achievements, were all aided by pottery, an artificial material that lent itself to the elaboration of all kinds of objects: vessels, figurines, roof tiles, water pipes, fishnet weights, and tablets inscribed with the earliest forms of writing, to name but a few; a veritable litany of human creativity. This book examines a contemporary pottery tradition in Mesoamerica, but also looks back to the earliest examples of cultural development in this area. By means of ethnographic analogy and ceramic ecology, this study seeks to shed light on a modern indigenous community and on the theory, method and practice of ethnoarchaeology; undoubtedly one of the most important aspects of archaeological research in Mexico today.

Aquatic Adaptations in Mesoamerica explores the subsistence strategies that ancient Mesoamericans implemented to survive and thrive in their environments. It discusses the natural settings, production sites, techniques, artifacts, cultural landscapes, traditional knowledge, and other features linked to human subsistence in aquatic environments. The study is based on analyses of fishing, hunting, gathering, and manufacture (among other activities), all of which were integral elements of aquatic lifeways. In addition to the aquatic lifeways themselves, salt-making, and intensive agriculture developed and practiced in lakes and marshes are also examined. The study adopts a perspective based on ethnoarchaeology and ethnohistory, complemented by archaeological field data.