ANCIENT WEST MEXICO IN THE CLASSIC PERIOD (2018) (original) (raw)

Ancient West Mexico in the Mesoamerican Ecumene [FullText] (2020)

Archaeopress Precolumbian Archaeology, 2020

This book presents a discussion of the culture history of ancient West Mexico from the time of the first human inhabitants until the last cultural developments that took place before the Spanish invasion in the 16th century. The overall narrative is played out within the context of the Mesoamerican ecumene; that is, the universe of cultural and social interactions that coalesced into one of the few pristine civilizations of the ancient world. The book presents a long-overdue synthesis and update of West Mexican archaeology aimed at scholars, students and the general public. Ancient West Mexico in the Mesoamerican Ecumene is the first book about West Mexican archaeology written by a single author. Another unique feature of this book is that it follows a holistic approach that includes data and perspectives from sociocultural anthropology, ethnohistory, ethnoarchaeology, and general analogy with many ancient cultures within the Mesoamerican ecumene and beyond (including several of the Old World). The focus of interest is the relationship between West Mexico and the rest of the ecumene, and the role played by the ancient West Mexicans in shaping the culture and history of the Mesoamerican universe. Ancient West Mexico has often been portrayed as a ‘marginal’ or ‘underdeveloped’ area of Mesoamerica. This book shows that the opposite is true. Indeed, Williams convincingly demonstrates that West Mexico actually played a critical role in the cultural and historical development of the Mesoamerican ecumene.

Ancient West Mexico in the Mesoamerican Ecumene (2019)

This book (preliminary draft) presents a discussion of the culture history of ancient West Mexico from the perspective of the Mesoamerican ecumene, i.e. the universe of cultural interaction that coalesced into one of the few primary civilizaions of the ancient world.

Ancient West Mexico in the Postclassic Period (2019)

This paper deals with Postclassic West Mexico and its relationship with the rest of the Mesoamerican ecumene. It describes the main players of Mesoamerican civilization during this period, in particular the Toltecs, the Mixtecs and Cholulans. I explore the interaction between these polities and West Mexico, and how this relationship led to the spread of the Mixteca-Puebla tradition to the northwestern region, and also to the spread of the Quetzalcoatl cult.

WEST MEXICO IN THE MESOAMERICAN ECUMENE (INTRODUCTION) (2018)

Chapter I (introduction) of the book Ancient West Mexico by E. Williams (work in progress). Here I discuss the main debates and perspectives that have evolved in Mesoamericanist studies over time, from the 19th century to the present, and how different authors have shaped our current perceptions about Mesoamerica. Next I address the Mesoamerican ecumene: the universe of cultural and social interaction that coalesced into one of the major cultural areas of the ancient world. In the last section I explore the unique role of West Mexico in shaping the Mesoamerican ecumene.

(2018) Orienting West Mexico. The Mesoamerican World-System 200–1200 CE

https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/54584, 2018

As world-systems theory came to the fore in archaeology during the 1980s and 1990s, it became evident that the analysis of pre-capitalist core/periphery relations required modifications of this theory for its further use in the discipline. As a result, the comparative approach for world-systems analysis (Chase Dunn and Hall 1997) discerned four interaction networks that defined pre-capitalist world-systems. The appearance of the comparative approach coincided with archaeology’s detour into the diverse inquiries of postmodernism, for which conceptual advances in world-systems analysis went largely unnoticed by the discipline. The present study applies the nested network interaction framework of the comparative approach to examine material evidence for core/periphery relations between on the one hand two state level societies of central Mexico: Teotihuacan and Tula; and, on the other, West Mexico, one of the largest subareas of Mesoamerica. The operationalization of the nested networks as a material culture model for the Early Classic and Early Postclassic periods indicates that West Mexico was integrated into macroregional developments and change between 200-1200 CE. The present study represents one of the first comprehensive applications of the comparative approach in areal research undertaken in Mesoamerica.

Cultural Dynamics and Production Activities in Ancient Western Mexico (2016)

Archaeopress, Oxford (UK)

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. The 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.