Jeffrey R. Parsons and Mesoamerican Ethnoarchaeology. (3rd July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Williams, Eduardo
• Is Part Of: Ethnoarchaeology. Volume 13:Number 1/2(2021)
• Page Start: 123
• Page End: 129
• Publication Date: 2021-07-03
• Subjects: Resolved -- ethnoarchaeology -- saltmaking -- maguey -- aquatic lifeway -- Mesoamerica -- subsistence -- ethnohistory; Ethnoarchaeology -- Periodicals; 930.1
• DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2021.1965075
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1944-2890

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Jeffrey Parsons was a pioneer who expanded the scope of settlement pattern analysis in archaeology. He conducted extensive surveys in Mexico, Peru, and Argentina. Here I discuss Parsons' contributions to ethnographic research with archaeological goals (ethnoarchaeology). His major contributions to the field dealt with Mesoamerican subsistence activities in three broad areas: maguey (Agave sp.) cultivation in the Mexican Highlands; salt-making in aquatic environments (primarily the Basin of Mexico), and the aquatic lifeway (fishing, hunting, gathering, and manufacture). Parsons will be remembered as a scholar who pushed the boundaries of archaeological research, and in so doing greatly expanded our knowledge of Mesoamerican foodways, technology, and cultural adaptations to the environment.