Ancient West Mexicos: Time, Space, and Diversity

Description

The ancient societies of western Mexico have long been understudied and misunderstood. Focusing on recent archaeological data, Ancient West Mexicos highlights the diversity and complexity of the region’s pre-Columbian cultures and argues that western Mexico was more similar to the rest of the Mesoamerican world than many researchers have believed. Chapters that treat investigations in Durango, Colima, Jalisco, Nayarit, Aguascalientes, and Michoacán draw on new evidence dating from across millennia, spanning different periods in Mesoamerican history. Contributors analyze materials including ceramics, architectural remains, textiles, and weaving tools to discern the settlement patterns, political structures, and cosmologies of the people who lived at these sites. Featuring intriguing case studies that point to unexpected pathways to sociopolitical complexity in ancient societies, these essays illustrate that the region’s archaeological record can contribute meaningfully to a more nuanced picture of Mesoamerica as a whole. Contributors: Laura Almendros López | Christopher S. Beekman | Mijaely Castañón | Fabio Germán Cupul-Magaña | Manuel Dueñas García | Joshua D. Englehardt | Rafael García de Quevedo-Machain | Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza | Erika Ibarra | Stephen A. Kowalewski | Martha Lorenza López Mestas Camberos | Michael Mathiowetz | Joseph B. Mountjoy | David Muñiz García | M. Nicolás Caretta | José Luis Punzo Díaz | Diego Rangel | Kimberly Sumano Ortega | Jesús Zarco Cover Ancient West Mexicos Title Copyright Contents List of Figures List of Tables Introduction: Ancient West Mexicos PART 1. TIME: REVISED REGIONAL CHRONOLOGIES 1. The Cultural Sequence during the Formative Period in the Valley of Colima 2. The Early Segment of the Chronological Sequence at Los Guachimontones 3. Revisiting the Archaeology of the Huetamo Area, Southeastern Michoacán, Mexico 4. The Early Postclassic Aztatlán Colonization of the Pacific Coast of Jalisco PART 2. SPACE: OLD QUESTIONS, NEW METHODS 5. Architectural Discourse and Sociocultural Structure at Los Guachimontones, Jalisco 6. Constructing the Pre-Hispanic Landscape in the Santiago Bayacora Basin, Durango PART 3. DIVERSITY: REFINED THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES 7. What the Teuchitlán Tradition Is, and What the Teuchitlán Tradition Is Not 8. Cerro de Santiago: An Epiclassic Site within the World-System of Central-Northern Mexico 9. Weaving Our Life: The Economy and Ideology of Cotton in Postclassic West Mexico 10. Conclusions List of Contributors Index