essay
The political organization of the trans-Tarascan zone of western Mesoamerica on the eve of Spanish conquest
culture and contact : charles c. di peso's gran chichimeca • (2) • Published In 1993 • Pages: 191-217, 253-291
By: Weigand, Phil C..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Weigand discusses the political organization of west Mexico shortly before the Spanish conquest. To do this he first discusses some of the inherent difficulties of using the ethnohistorical data and what he calls the maximalist and minimalist schools of thought. Weigand discusses population levels before the Spanish arrived. He believes the best estimates are those of Guzman and Tello. The epidemics which followed the Spanish would have disrupted the region and effected the nobility, military, and traders first. The political organization of west Mexico changed because of Tarascan conquest attempts; the various states formed political alliances for defense. The Tarascan state seems to have wanted access and control of rare resources (such as salt, copper, obsidian, etc.) and of trade routes. Weigand discusses some of the resources of the various prehispanic states of west Mexico, especially Sayula/Techaluta and Etzatlan. The evidence that these were complex societies can be seen by examining, 'zonal settlement patterns, settlement specialization, craft specialization, demography, resistance to Tarascan imperialism, and expansion and consolidation,' (p. 211). Weigand also discusses trade routes, particularly that of turquiose.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Identification
- Reviews and critiques
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Acculturation and culture contact
- Settlement patterns
- External trade
- Routes
- External relations
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- West Mexico Postclassic
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2001
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Central Mexico
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry ; 1999
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- Late Postclassic Period to 1530 A.D.
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- west Mexico
- NotesAdditional notes
- Phil C. Weigand
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 253-291)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 93004535
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Indians of Mexico--Antiquities