Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: A Diachronic Analysis of the Valley of Oaxaca Economy from the Classic through the Postclassic

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Under the direction of Dr. T. Douglas Price, Mr. Lane Fargher will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. The research problem is the nature of the household economy in prehispanic Mexico. He will continue work on a study of economic activities at a series of prehispanic settlements located in the Valley of Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico. These sites include San Juan Guelavla, a 32.8 hectare site that was occupied between AD 700 and AD 950, and Santa Cecilia Jalieza, a 26.6 hectare site that was occupied between AD 250 and AD 500. These sites are important because they are both located in areas that have limited agricultural potential, making non-agricultural activities (handicraft production; i.e., pottery production, stone tool production, basketry, or cloth production) important for the survival of site occupants. In order to understand how site inhabitants supported themselves economically a combination of archaeological survey and microscopic analysis of artifacts collected during survey will be used at each site. This information will be refined through the use of ceramic and lithic petrography to identify the source of raw materials used in handicraft production and, in the case of ceramics, to collect information on mass production of vessels. Currently some scholars argue that prehispanic households, in Mexico, were self-sufficient (i.e. households produced everything needed for survival within the house), while others argue that the prehispanic economy was specialized (i.e. households intentionally overproduced a limited number of handicrafts that were exchanged for other items required by the household, including food). However, known examples of specialization are relatively few in number. As a result, the degree to which specialized economies supplanted self-sufficient households, and how households organized handicraft production in relation to agricultural production between AD 300 and AD 1521 remains unknown. Mr. Fargher's research will provide important new data relating to the nature of the prehispanic economy of Mexico. This research is also important because it will provide data on small and medium sized settlements which have generally been ignored by Oaxacan archaeologists working on issues related to the later prehispanic era. Finally, as modern population expands in the Valley of Oaxaca, archaeological sites are destroyed by construction and looted as people attempt to support themselves. Therefore, Mr. Fargher's research will help preserve the cultural heritage of Mexico and save important scientific information.