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Salt Production and Commerce in Guerrero, Mexico. An ethnographic contribution to historical reconstruction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2010

Catharine Good
Catharine Good
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico, DF, Mexico
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Abstract

This paper provides data on the salt industry along Guerrero's Costa Chica and on itinerant salt trading conducted by highland Nahuatl villagers. The findings are compared with studies of salt production elsewhere in Mesoamerica, and the nature and quality of oral-historical sources are evaluated. Based primarily on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, the paper explores technical and social-organizational features of salt production and marketing useful for model building among archaeologists and ethnohistorians. In crossing disciplinary boundaries the paper raises methodological issues of concern to scholars who attempt to reconstruct historical or contemporary Mesoamerican cultural and economic patterns.

Resumen

El presente artículo aporta datos sobre la industria de la sal en la Costa Chica de Guerrero y sobre el comercio de la sal practicado por indígenas Nahuas de la cuenca del Río Balsas. Se comparan los resultados con las investigaciones sobre la sal realizadas en otras regiones, y se evalúa la calidad de los datos obtenidos a través de la historia oral. Basado principalmente en el trabajo de campo etnográfico a largo plazo, el articulo examina los aspectos técnicos y sociales en la producción y comercio de la sal; este material puede ser útil para construir modelos arqueológicos y etnohistóricos. Por su enfoque inter-disciplinario el presente trabajo aborda temas metodológicos importantes para investigadores quienes pretenden reconstruir patrones culturales y económicos en Mesoamérica.

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 6 , Spring 1995 , pp. 1 - 13
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

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References

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