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Pre-Columbian Foodways

Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food, Culture, and Markets in Ancient Mesoamerica

  • Book
  • © 2010

Overview

Editors:
  1. John Staller

    1. Dept. Anthropology, Field Museum, Chicago, U.S.A.

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  2. Michael Carrasco

    1. Florida State University, Tallahassee, U.S.A.

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Interdisciplinary contributions from archaeology, the humanities, and earth sciences

  • Covers the Mesoamerican region as a whole

  • Demonstrates new methods of isotopic data research

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Table of contents (26 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Agriculture and Social Complexity: The Roles of Feasting and Ritual Economies

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 22-22
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    2. Pre-Columbian Foodways in Mesoamerica

      • John E. Staller, Michael D. Carrasco
      Pages 1-20

    3. Ethnohistoric Sources on Foodways, Feasts, and Festivals in Mesoamerica

      • John E. Staller
      Pages 23-69

    4. Development of Agriculture in Prehistoric Mesoamerica: The Linguistic Evidence

      • Cecil H. Brown
      Pages 71-107

    5. The Pastoral Niche in Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica

      • Jeffrey R. Parsons
      Pages 109-136

    6. The Drink Mescal: Its Origin and Ritual Uses

      • Mari Carmen Serra, Carlos Lazcano A
      Pages 137-156

    7. Forming Mesoamerican Taste: Cacao Consumption in Formative Period Contexts

      • Rosemary A. Joyce, John S. Henderson
      Pages 157-173

    8. Salt Production and Trade in Ancient Mesoamerica

      • Eduardo Williams
      Pages 175-190

    9. The Dirt on Food: Ancient Feasts and Markets Among the Lowland Maya

      • Bruce H. Dahlin, Daniel Bair, Tim Beach, Matthew Moriarty, Richard Terry
      Pages 191-232

  3. Ethnography, Ethnobotany, Language and Diet

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 234-234
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    2. An Epigraphic Analysis of Classic-Period Maya Foodstuffs

      • Kerry Hull
      Pages 235-256

    3. Sweet Cacao and Sour Atole: Mixed Drinks on Classic Maya Ceramic Vases

      • Dmitri Beliaev, Albert Davletshin, Alexandre Tokovinine
      Pages 257-272

    4. Prehistoric Chronology of the Common Bean in the New World: The Linguistic Evidence

      • Cecil H. Brown
      Pages 273-291

    5. Death and Chocolate: The Significance of Cacao Offerings in Ancient Maya Tombs and Caches at Copan, Honduras

      • Cameron L. McNeil
      Pages 293-314

    6. Feasting with Foam: Ceremonial Drinks of Cacao, Maize, and Pataxte Cacao

      • Judith Strupp Green
      Pages 315-343

    7. Corn, Colanders, and Cooking: Early Maize Processing in the Maya Lowlands and Its Implications

      • David Cheetham
      Pages 345-368

    8. Potographies and Biographies: The Role of Food in Ritual and Identity as Seen Through Life Histories of Selected Maya Pots and People

      • Linda Howie, Christine D. White, Fred J. Longstaffe
      Pages 369-398

    9. Dietary Diversity in the Upper Belize River Valley: A Zooarchaeological and Isotopic Perspective

      • Carolyn R. Freiwald
      Pages 399-420

    10. Power Plants: Paleobotanical Evidence of Rural Feasting in Late Classic Belize

      • David J. Goldstein, Jon B. Hageman
      Pages 421-440
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Keywords

About this book

The significance of food and feasting to Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures has been extensively studied by archaeologists, anthropologists and art historians. Foodways studies have been critical to our understanding of early agriculture, political economies, and the domestication and management of plants and animals. Scholars from diverse fields have explored the symbolic complexity of food and its preparation, as well as the social importance of feasting in contemporary and historical societies. This book unites these disciplinary perspectives — from the social and biological sciences to art history and epigraphy — creating a work comprehensive in scope, which reveals our increasing understanding of the various roles of foods and cuisines in Mesoamerican cultures.

The volume is organized thematically into three sections. Part 1 gives an overview of food and feasting practices as well as ancient economies in Mesoamerica. Part 2 details ethnographic, epigraphic and isotopic evidence of these practices. Finally, Part 3 presents the metaphoric value of food in Mesoamerican symbolism, ritual, and mythology. The resulting volume provides a thorough, interdisciplinary resource for understanding, food, feasting, and cultural practices in Mesoamerica.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Dept. Anthropology, Field Museum, Chicago, U.S.A.

    John Staller

  • Florida State University, Tallahassee, U.S.A.

    Michael Carrasco

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Pre-Columbian Foodways

  • Book Subtitle: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Food, Culture, and Markets in Ancient Mesoamerica

  • Editors: John Staller, Michael Carrasco

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0471-3

  • Publisher: Springer New York, NY

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag New York 2010

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4419-0470-6Published: 08 December 2009

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4899-8319-0Published: 02 September 2014

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4419-0471-3Published: 24 November 2009

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 691

  • Topics: Archaeology, History, general, Regional and Cultural Studies

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