Book Review (Gary M. Feinman, 1989) Household and Community in the Mesoamerican Past (Wilk and Ashmore editors, 1988). (original) (raw)

Archaeoastronomy, Ethnoastronomy, and the History of Science

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1982

The conference papers have displayed, above all, the richness of the astronomical and cosmological knowledge of the peoples of tropical America. One theme running through the entire conference has been the notion that these astronomies formed integrated wholes connected to the environmental, social, religious, and personal aspects of life. Many of the papers suggest that this is an anomalous characteristic of these astronomies, for real science, and particularly astronomy, engages in an objective study of the world aimed at accurate predictions and has few relationships to its cultural environment. But, of course, this stereotyped picture of science is no longer accepted by most historians and philosophers of science, nor by those anthropologists studying the relationships between traditional thought and modern science. This being the case, I thought it might be wise for me, as the third historian of science to deal with these papers, to propose some general insights from recent studies of the nature of science, and see what they suggest for the twin disciplines of archaeoastronomy and ethnoastronomy .

Ancient DNA Studies in Mesoamerica: Major Contributions and Limitations

Abstract (English) Ancient DNA is a method that many studies have applied in the last decade. Since 1984, the refinement of the method has been challenging due to contamination issues and difficulties for verification of results, although scientists have overcome such problems. In the last few years, the method has been used for answering question about the dynamics of prehispanic societies in Mesoamerica. The results of these studies have clarified internal social processes suggesting more specific ancestral origins for different ancient populations. Many variables limit the number of studies and the databases are still slowly developing. Here, I explore the major contributions of this method, its more recent technical improvements, and the main challenges that ancient DNA research is facing. Finally, I present the possibilities of this method for future Mesoamerican studies. Resumen (Spanish) El ADN antiguo es método se ha aplicado a varios estudios durante las últimas décadas. Desde 1984, el refinamiento del método ha sido desafiante debido a los problemas de contaminación y las dificultades para la verificación de resultados; sin embargo los investigadores han logrado encontrar soluciones para sobrellevar muchas de estas dificultades. En los últimos años, el estudio de ADN antiguo se ha utilizado para responder preguntas sobre las dinámicas de sociedades prehispánicas en Mesoamérica. Los resultados de estos estudios han arrojado luz sobre procesos sociales internos, y además han corroborado los orígenes de algunas de éstas poblaciones antiguas. Muchas variables limitan el número de estudios paleogenéticos y la construcción de una base de datos genética para la Mesoamérica prehispánica continúa desarrollándose aún lentamente. En este trabajo se presentan las mayores contribuciones del ADN antiguo al conocimiento de sociedades Mesoamericanas, así como las mas recientes soluciones y mejoras técnicas, y los mayores retos que aun enfrenta el ADN antiguo como herramienta de investigación para la arqueología. Finalmente, se presentan las futuras posibilidades para estudios paleogenéticos en Mesoamérica.