Prehistoric Coastal Adaptations

The Economy and Ecology of Maritime Middle America

1st Edition - July 28, 1978
Editors: Barbara L. Stark, Barbara Voorhies
Language: English
eBook ISBN:
9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 2 - 7 6 3 6 - 6

Prehistoric Coastal Adaptations: The Economy and Ecology of Maritime Middle America is a compendium of research papers and treatises on Middle American people who lived within… Read more

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Prehistoric Coastal Adaptations: The Economy and Ecology of Maritime Middle America is a compendium of research papers and treatises on Middle American people who lived within coastal habitats. The collection aims to reveal distinctive coastal adaptations and the role of Middle American people in major social transformations. The book discusses topics on the history of occupations of certain coastal sites; correlation of site location to resource procurement patterns; settlement locations and subsistence evidence in the coastal and inland habitats of Costa Rica; and the maritime adaptation and the rise of Maya civilization. The final chapter of the book also discusses the future research directions in the study of Middle American coastal people. The text will be of value to archeologists, anthropologists, historians, ethnologists, and researchers.

Contents

List of Figures

List of Contributors

Preface

Part I Introduction

Chapter 1 Previous Research on Nearshore Coastal Adaptations in Middle America

Introduction

Beginnings

Procurement Patterns

Exchange Patterns

Settlement Patterns

References

Part II Procurement Patterns

Chapter 2 Use of Dogs for Food: An Adaptation to the Coastal Environment

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Discussion

References

Chapter 3 Early Subsistence Patterns along the Pacific Coast of Central Panama

Introduction

The Environmental Setting

Monagrillo

Zapotal

Cerro Mangote

Aguadulce Shelter

La Cueva de los Ladrones

Discussion

Conclusion

References

Chapter 4 The Prehistoric and Modern Subsistence Patterns of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua: A Comparison 61

Introduction

Modern Subsistence Patterns of the Atlantic Coast

Archaeological Subsistence Data

A Precontact Subsistence Model

Changes in Subsistence from Prehistoric to Modern Times

References

Chapter 5 The Process of Transformation at Pajon: A Preclassic Society Located in an Estuary in Chiapas, Mexico

Introduction

Site Description

Cultural and Chronological Sequence

Early Dunas Subphase

Late Dunas Subphase

Encanto Phase

Summary

References

Part III Settlement Patterns

Chapter 6 Coastal Settlement in Northwestern Costa Rica

Culture History of the Coastal Area

Comparative Overview

Conclusion

References

Chapter 7 Coastal Adaptations as Contact Phenomena among the Miskito and Cuna Indians of Lower Central America

Late Precontact Adaptations

Consequences of Contact

Contemporary Adaptations

Conclusion

References

Chapter 8 Changing Patterns of Resource Exploitation, Settlement Distribution, and Demography on the Southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico

Introduction

Archaeological Research Design

Prehistoric Subsistence

Prehistoric Settlement Patterns

Cultural Change in the Late Postclassic Period

Conclusion

References

Part IV Exchange Patterns

Chapter 9 Long-Distance Exchange and the Growth of a Regional Center on the Southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico

Introduction

Lagunita Phase (1500-1100 B.C.)

Golfo Phase (1100-800 B.C.)

Rios Phase (800-400 B.C.)

Goma Phase (400-200 B.C.)

Kuak and Niti Phases (200 B.C.-A.D. 1 and A.D. 1-300)

Summary and Conclusions

References

Chapter 10 An Ethnohistoric Model for Native Economy and Settlement Patterns in Southern Veracruz, Mexico

Introduction

Ethnohistoric Data Base for the Lower Papaloapan Basin and Vicinity

An Ethnohistoric Model

A Comparison with the Archaeological Record

Summary

References

Chapter 11 Maritime Adaptation and the Rise of Maya Civilization: The View from Cerros, Belize

Introduction

Maritime Maya: The Eastern Littoral

Late Preclassic Communication-Transportation Networks

Maritime Adaptation and the Preclassic Maya

References

Part V Overview 267

Chapter 12 Commentary

Chapter 13 Future Research Directions

Introduction

Procurement Patterns

Settlement Patterns

Exchange Patterns

References

Index