Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America$25.00Edited by Takeshi Inomata and Ronald W. Webb 256 pp. 7 x 10 Large-scale site abandonment in ancient Mesoamerica Foundations of Archaeological Inquiry Foreword by Michael Brian Schiffer Mesoamerican archaeologists have long been interested in the collapse of political systems or civilizations but have been slow to undertake detailed abandonment analyses of specific settlements. The Archaeology of Settlement Abandonment in Middle America explores some of the old questions in Middle American archaeology in light of the newer theoretical approach provided by abandonment studies. Unlike much of the abandonment work previously done in the American Southwest, a number of contributions to this volume examine relatively large population centers. Among the original contributions in this collection is the discovery that deposits resulting from termination rituals are more common than previously thought. Several chapters point out that structures and places can continue to serve ritual functions even after abandonment. Another finding is that the causes of abandonment—warfare, economic marginalization, or natural cataclysm—are likely to have varied effects on different social groups, which in turn sheds light on occupational histories in specific sites preceding major abandonments. Takeshi Inomata is associate professor of anthropology, University of Arizona. He lives in Tucson. Ronald W. Webb is assistant professor, Latin American Studies Center, Temple University. He lives in Philadelphia. Contents and Contributors: Archaeological Studies of Abandonment in Middle America Takeshi Inomata and Ronald W. Webb From Episodic to Permanent Abandonment: Responses to Volcanic Hazards at Tetimpa Patricia Plunket and Gabriela Uruñuela, Universidad de la Américas Xochicalco, Morelos: Research into the Abandonment of Households at an Epiclassic Center Ronald W. Webb and Kenneth G. Hirth, Pennsylvania State University War, Destruction, and Abandonment: The Fall of the Classic Maya Center of Aguateca Takeshi Inomata Volcanic Activity and Abandonment Processes: Ceren and the Zapotitan Valley of El Salvador Brian R. McKee, University of Arizona, and Payson Sheets, University of Colorado-Boulder A Place of Continued Importance: The Abandonment of Epiclassic La Quemada Ben A. Nelson, Arizona State University The Abandonment of Teotihuacan Linda Manzanilla, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México Monte Albán and Late Classic Site Abandonment in Highland Oaxaca Marcus Winter, Centro del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia en Oaxaca Social Status and Differential Processes of Abandonment at the Classic Maya Center of Dos Pilas Joel W. Palka, University of Illinois-Chicago The Tale End Two Cities: Tikal, Yaxuna, and Abandonment Contexts in the Lowland Maya Archaeological Record Charles Suhler and David Freidel, Southern Methodist University Abandonment and Non-Abandonment at Baking Pot, Belize Jim Aimers, Tulane University The Tuxtlas as Volcanic Hazard: Volcanism and its Effects on Site Founding and Abandonment in the Tuxtla Mountains Robert S. Santley, University of New Mexico Push-Pull Archaeological Abandonment Behaviors in Lower Central America Frederick W. Lange, Instituto Nicaraguense de Turismo Collapse and Abandonment in Middle America William T. Sanders, Pennsylvania State University A Consideration of Abandonment from Beyond Middle America Catherine M. Cameron, University of Colorado-Boulder |
