Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T21:23:06.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

CRAFT PRODUCTION IN A CENTRAL MEXICAN MARKETPLACE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2009

Kenneth Hirth
Kenneth Hirth*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, 409 Carpenter Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The marketplace was an important institution for household provisioning and elite resource conversion in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica. Despite their importance, marketplaces are difficult to identify because exchange relationships are generally invisible in the archaeological record. This study examines the evidence for marketplaces at the Epiclassic period site of Xochicalco, Morelos, Mexico. It explores the role of craft production in the marketplace as a possible indicator of market activity. Excavations in a suspected market area at Xochicalco uncovered evidence for the production of obsidian prismatic blades on the floor of a public plaza. The results of these explorations are discussed and it is concluded that craft production can be a useful indicator for market activity if production debitage is found in primary contexts in public plazas.

Type
Special Section: New Directions in the Study of Mesoamerican Lithic Economy
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , Spring 2009 , pp. 89 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abbott, David 2006 Marketplaces in Middle-Range Societies: A Hohokam Case. Paper presented at the 72nd annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, Texas.Google Scholar
Abbott, David R., Stinson, Susan L., and Van Keuren, Scott 2001 The Economic Implications of Hohokam Buff Ware Exchange during the Early Sedentary Period. Kiva 67:7–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, Arthur, Berdan, Frances, and Lockhart, James 1976 Beyond the Codices. The Nahua View of Colonial Mexico. University of California Press, Berkeley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aoyama, Kazuo 1999 Ancient Maya State, Urbanism, Exchange, and Craft Specialization: Chipped Stone Evidence of the Copan Valley and the La Entrada Region, Honduras. Memoirs in Latin American Archaeology, No. 12. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Beals, Ralph 1967 The Structure of the Oaxaca Market System. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 21:333–342.Google Scholar
Beals, Ralph 1973 Ethnology of the Western Mixe. Cooper Square, New York.Google Scholar
Beals, Ralph 1975 The Peasant Marketing System of Oaxaca, Mexico. University of California Press, Berkeley.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berdan, Frances 1982 The Aztecs of Central Mexico: An Imperial Society. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York.Google Scholar
Berdan, Frances 1989 Trade and Markets in Precapitalist States. In Economic Anthropology, edited by Plattner, Stuart, pp. 78–107. Stanford University Press, Stanford.Google Scholar
Blanton, Richard 1978 Monte Alban: Settlement Patterns at Ancient Zapotec capital. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Blanton, Richard 1996 The Basin of Mexico Market System and the Growth of Empire. In Aztec Imperial Strategies, edited by Berdan, Frances, Blanton, Richard, Boone, Elizabeth, Hodge, Mary, Smith, Michael, and Umberger, Emily, pp. 47–84. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Carrasco, Pedro 1978 La economía del México prehispánico. In Economía política e ideología en el México prehispánico, edited by Carrasco, Pedro and Broda, Johanna, pp. 13–74. Editorial Nueva Imagen, México.Google Scholar
Chase, Arlen 1998 Planeación cívica e integración de sitio en Caracol, Belize: definiendo una economía administrada del período clásico Maya. Investigaciones de la Cultura Maya 6:26–44.Google Scholar
Clark, John 1982 Manufacture of Mesoamerican Prismatic Blades: An Alternative Technique. American Antiquity 47:355–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, John 1989 Obsidian: The Primary Mesoamerican Sources. In La obsidiana en Mesoamérica, edited by Gaxiola, Margarita and Clark, John, pp. 299–319. Colección Científica 176. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Cook, Scott, and Diskin, Martin 1976 Markets in Oaxaca. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Cortés, Hernando 1962 Five Letters of Cortes to the Emperor. Norton and Company, New York.Google Scholar
Dahlin, Bruce 2003 Chunchucmil: A Complex Economy in NW Yucatan. Mexicon 25:129–138.Google Scholar
Dahlin, Bruce, Jensen, Christopher, Terry, Richard, Wright, David, and Beach, Timothy 2007 In Search of an Ancient Maya Market. Latin American Antiquity 18:363–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Peso, Charles 1974 Casas Grandes. The Medio Period, Vol. 2. The Amerind Foundation, Northland Press, Flagstaff, AZ.Google Scholar
Diaz del Castillo, Bernal 1956 The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico 1517–1521. Farrar, Straus, and Cudahy, New York.Google Scholar
Diskin, Martin 1976 The Structure of a Peasant Market System in Oaxaca. In Markets in Oaxaca, edited by Cook, Scott and Diskin, Martin, pp. 49–66. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Feinman, Gary 1999 Rethinking Our Assumptions: Economic Specialization at the Household Scale in Ancient Ejutla, Oaxaca, Mexico. In Pottery and People, edited by Skibo, James and Feinman, Gary, pp. 81–98. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Feldman, Lawrence 1978 Inside a Mexica Market. In Mesoamerican Communication Routes and Culture Contacts, edited by Lee, Thomas and Navarete, Carlos, pp. 219–222. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 40. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Flenniken, J. Jeffrey, and Hirth, Kenneth 2003 Handheld Prismatic Blade Manufacture in Mesoamerica. In Mesoamerican Lithic Technology: Experimentation and Interpretation, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 98–107. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Folan, William, Kintz, Ellen, and Fletcher, Laraine 1983 Coba: A Classic Maya Metropolis. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
García Cook, Angel 2007 The Role of the Puebla-Tlaxcala Region in the Emergence of the Great Cities of the Central Highlands: Cholula, Cantona, and Teotihuacan. Paper presented at the 7th Mesoamerican Conference on Urbanism, Leiden, Holland.Google Scholar
Garraty, Christopher 2006 The Politics of Commerce: Aztec Pottery Production and Exchange in the Basin of Mexico, A.D. 1200–1650. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Garraty, Christopher 2009 Evaluating the Distributional Approach to Inferring Market Exchange: A Test Case from the Mexican Gulf Lowlands. Latin American Antiquity, 20:157–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassig, Ross 1982 Periodic Markets in Pre-Columbian Mexico. American Antiquity 47:346–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassig, Ross 1985 Trade, Tribute, and Transportation. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Healan, Dan 1995 Identifying Lithic Reduction Loci with Size-Graded Macrodebitage: A Multivariate Approach. American Antiquity 60:689–699.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 1993 Identifying Rank and Socioeconomic Status in Domestic Contexts: An Example from Central Mexico. In Household, Compound, and Residence: Studies of Prehispanic Domestic Units in Western Mesoamerica, edited by Santley, Robert and Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 121–146. CRC Press, Boca Raton.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 1995 The Investigation of Obsidian Craft Production at Xochicalco, Morelos. Ancient Mesoamerica 6:251–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 1998 The Distributional Approach: A New Way to Identify Market Behavior Using Archaeological Data. Current Anthropology 39:451–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 2000 Ancient Urbanism at Xochicalco. The Evolution and Organization of a Prehispanic Society. Archaeological Research at Xochicalco Vol. 1. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 2006a Flaked Stone Craft Production in Domestic Contexts at Xochicalco. In Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 137–178. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 2006b Market Forces or State Control: The Organization of Obsidian Production in a Civic-Ceremonial Context. In Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 179–201, The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth 2007 Housework: Craft Production, Risk, and Domestic Economy in Mesoamerica. Paper presented at 72nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Austin, Texas.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth, Andrews, Bradford, and Flenniken, Jeffrey 2006 A Technological Analysis of Xochicalco Obsidian Blade Production. In Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 62–95. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth, Bondar, Greg, Glascock, Michael, Vonarx, A. J., and Daubenspeck, Thierry 2006 Supply Side Economics: An Analysis of Obsidian Procurement and the Organization of Workshop Provisioning. In Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 115–136. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth, and Flenniken, Jeffrey 2006 More Interesting than You'd Think: The Percussion, Ground Stone and Lapidary Industries in Xochicalco Obsidian Workshops. In Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 63–114. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth, Hirth, Susan, and Pauer, Gyula 2000 The Xochicalco Architectural Atlas. In The Xochicalco Mapping Project. Archaeological Research at Xochicalco Vol. 2, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 197–325. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth, and Webb, Ronald 2006 Households and Plazas: The Contexts of Obsidian Craft Production at Xochicalco. In Obsidian Craft Production in Ancient Central Mexico, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 18–62. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth, and van Rossum, Peter 2000 The Gobernador Phase Architectural Sample (GPAS): Analysis Data. In The Xochicalco Mapping Project. Archaeological Research at Xochicalco Vol. 2, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 356–371. The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Jones, Christopher 1996 Tikal Report No. 16. Excavations in the East Plaza of Tikal Vol. I. The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
López de Gómara, Francisco 1966 Cortes. The Life of the Conqueror by his Secretary. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los AngelesGoogle Scholar
Malinowski, Bronsilaw, and de la Fuente, Julio 1957 La economía de un sistema de mercados en México. Acta Anthropologica, Epoca 2, Vol. 1, No. 2. Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Mastache Flores, Alba Guadalupe, and Morett Sáchez, Elia Nora 1997 Entre dos mundos: artesanos y artesanías en Guerrero. Colección Científica 359. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Millon, Rene 1973 Urbanization at Teotihuacan, Mexico. The Teotihuacan Map Vol. 1, Part 1. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Minc, Leah 2006 Monitoring Regional Market Systems in Prehistory: Models, Methods, and Metrics. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 25:82–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 1990 The Misidentification of Mesoamerican Lithic Workshops. Latin American Antiquity 1:268–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Renfrew, Colin 1975 Trade as Action at a Distance: Questions of Integration and Communication. In Ancient Civilization and Trade, edited by Sabloff, Jeremy and Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C., pp. 3–59. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Rojas, José Luis de 1995 México Tenochtitlan. Economía y sociedad en el siglo XVI. Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Ruppert, Karl 1943 The Mercado, Chichen Itza, Yucatan. Contributions to American Anthropology History No. 43, pp. 223–260. Carnegie Institution of Washington D.C.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy, and Tourtellot, Gair 1991 The Ancient Maya City of Sayil: Mapping of a Puuc Region Center. Middle American Research Institute Publication No. 60. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Sahagún, Fray Bernardino de 1981 Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España. 4 vols. Editorial Porrua, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Smith, Carol 1972 Market Articulation and Economic Stratification in Western Guatemala. Food Research Institute Studies in Agricultural Economics, Trade and Development 11:203–233.Google Scholar
Smith, Carol 1983 Regional Analysis in World-System Perspective: A Critique of Three Structural Theories of Uneven Development. In Economic Anthropology: Topics and Theories, edited by Ortiz, Sidney, pp. 307–359. University Press of America, Lanham, MD.Google Scholar
Smith, Ledyard 1982 Excavations at Seibal, Department of Peten, Guatemala. Number 1. Major Architecture and Caches Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 15. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael 1979 The Aztec Marketing System and Settlement Pattern in the Valley of Mexico: A Central Place Analysis. American Antiquity 44:110–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Titmus, Gene, and Clark, John 2003 Mexica Blade Making with Wooden Tools: Recent Experimental Insights. In Mesoamerican Lithic Technology: Experimentation and Interpretation, edited by Hirth, Kenneth, pp. 72–97. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
van Broekhoven, Laura 2007 The Market in the Urban City Form: Diachronic Examples of Market Dynamics and Urban Adaptation. Paper presented at the 7th Mesoamerican Conference on Urbanism, Leiden, Holland.Google Scholar
Warner, John 1976 Survey of the Market System in the Nochixtlan Valley and the Mixteca Alta. In Markets in Oaxaca, edited by Cook, Scott and Disken, Martin, pp. 107–131. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waterbury, Ronald, and Turkenik, Carole 1976 Marketplace Traders of San Antonio. In Markets in Oaxaca, edited by Cook, Scott and Disken, Martin, pp. 209–229. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winter, Marcus, and Payne, William 1976 Hornos para ceramica hallados en Monte Alban. Boletin 16:37–40.Google Scholar
Wolf, Eric 1959 Sons of the Shaking Earth. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Yoma Medina, María Rebeca, and Martos López, Luis Alberto 1990 Dos mercados en la historia de la ciudad de México: El volador y la merced. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City.Google Scholar