Realizing Value in Mesoamerica by Hutson, Scott R.; Golden, Charles;

Long description:

This edited collection addresses concepts of value and its impact on economies and economic decision-making in Mesoamerica. It brings together various theoretical and methodological approaches to illuminate the little-studied topic of value in ancient economies.

While scholars increasingly note that tangible objects found in the archaeological record could assume different values, depending on how they were used and circulated, less attention has been paid to how we might infer consensus (or lack of consensus) on how value was determined in past cultures so different from contemporary ones. These contributions show how multiple and conflicting understandings of what is important and meaningful coexist within any society even as moments of exchange create the impression of shared formulations of value. They consider divergences between shared understandings based on systems of beliefs and patterns of practice and the individual decisions of social actors. They also discuss howinequalities in social structures might inform our understanding of value, and how a multiplicity of values might encourage closer inspection of inequality in turn.

The book brings together fifteen chapters focused on many parts of Mesoamerica, including Western Mexico, the Basin of Mexico, Veracruz, Oaxaca, and various parts of the Maya Lowlands, and range chronologically from the Classic period (250-900 CE) to the Spanish Conquest in the early 16^th Century. It appeals to those working in archaeology, economic anthropology, economic history, and all those interested in how value can be understood in terms of contemporary cultural and political differences.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Part I: Approaches to Value.- Chapter 2. Postclassic Maya Things and their Entanglements.- Chapter3. Considering Reciprocity and Gratitude in the Postclassic Basin of Mexico Economies.- Chapter 4. Chronotopic Value: Objects and Meaning Through Mesoamerican Timespace.- Part II: Lithics and Land.- Chapter 5: Assembling Value in Mesoamerica.- Chapter 6. Understanding Obsidian Values Among the Ancient Maya.- Chapter 7. On Value and Values: The Displayed and Hidden Action of Classic-Period Maya Jades.- Chapter 8. Shifting Landscapes of Value in the Maya World. Part III: Crafting.- Chapter 9. Crafting Jewels, Creating Value: Techné and Tlateccayotl among the Nahuas in the Basin of Mexico.- Chapter 10. The Social Value of Cotton Textiles in Postclassic Oaxaca, Mexico.- Chapter 11. Soft Infrastructure: Realizing Value of Craft Producers in Small Centers and Settlements in Veracruz, Mesoamerica.- Part IV: Exchange.- Chapter 12. Exchange Value inClassic Period Maya Economies: The View from Western Belize.- Chapter 13. Magic and Marxism: Valuing Enchantment in the Maya Political Economy.- Chapter 14. Classic Maya Tribute as a Social Register.- Part V: Inequality.- Chapter 15. Beyond Economic Inequality: Unmeasurable Values, Collective Demand, and Community Building in Classic Period Mesoamerica.- Chapter 16. Inequality of What? Multiple Paths to the Good Life.