Mesquite Pods to Mezcal: 10,000 Years of Oaxacan Cuisines (Linda Schele in Maya and Pre-columbian Studies)

New case studies documenting ten thousand years of cuisines across the cultures of Oaxaca, Mexico, from the earliest gathered plants, such as guajes, to the contemporary production of tejate and its health implications. Among the richest culinary traditions in Mexico are those of the “eight regions” of the state of Oaxaca. Mesquite Pods to Mezcal brings together some of the most prominent scholars in Oaxacan archaeology and related fields to explore the evolution of the area’s world-renowned cuisines. This volume, the first to address food practices across Oaxaca through a long-term historical lens, covers the full spectrum of human occupation in Oaxaca, from the early Holocene to contemporary times. Contributors consider the deep history of agroecological management and large-scale landscape transformation, framing food production as a human-environment relation. They explore how, after the arrival of the Spanish, Oaxacan cuisines adapted, diets changed, and food became a stronger marker of identity. Examining the present, further studies document how traditional foodways persist and what they mean for contemporary Oaxacans, whether they are traveling ancient roads, working outside the region, or rebuilding after an earthquake. Together, the original case studies in this volume demonstrate how new methods and diverse theoretical approaches can come together to trace the development of a rich food tradition, one that is thriving today. Contents 8 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 14 Foreword. Food and the Sacred | Lila Downs 16 Acknowledgments 18 1. The Making of Oaxacan Foodways | Andrea M. Cuéllar, Verónica Pérez Rodríguez, Shanti Morell-Hart, and Stacie M. King 24 Part I. The Roots of Oaxacan Cuisine 48 2. Food from the Barranca: A 13,000-Year Perspective from the Yuzanú Drainage of the Mixteca Alta | Aleksander Borejsza, Arthur Joyce, and Jon C. Lohse 50 3. Archaic-Period MRG-6 and the Deep Culinary Roots of Oaxacan Cuisine | Shanti Morell-Hart and Éloi Bérubé 72 4. The Cooked, the Burned, and the Modified: Early Formative Cuisines and Human-Animal Relations in the Mixteca Alta | Víctor E. Salazar Chávez and Jeffrey P. Blomster 94 Part II. Oaxacan Foodways in Economic and Spiritual Life 120 5. Perspectives on Dietary Variability in the Classic-Period Valley of Oaxaca | Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas 122 6. Eating in the City: Investigating the Dietary Impact of Urban Life in Ancient Oaxaca | Verónica Pérez Rodríguez 146 7. Nourishing the Ancestors among the Zapotecs of the Valley of Oaxaca during the Late Classic and Postclassic Periods | Robert Markens and Cira Martínez López 172 8. Foodways and Diet in the Prehispanic Mixteca Alta: Ceramic and Isotope Analyses of the Tomb 1 Burial in Nduatiucu (San Felipe Ixtapa, Teposcolula) | Jennifer Saumur and Aurélie Manin 196 Part III. Disrupted, Innovated, and Resilient Cuisines 214 9. Foregrounding Food: Mixtec Cuisine, Identity, and Ritual at Tututepec, Oaxaca | Marc N. Levine and Kathryn Puseman 216 10. Preserving Oaxacan Foodways in the Face of Conquest: A Seed Bank in the Nejapan Sierra Sur | Stacie M. King and Shanti Morell-Hart 242 11. Oaxacan Cuisine at Achiutla during the Early Colonial Period: A Story of Resilience | Éloi Bérubé and Jamie E. Forde 266 Part IV. Living Culinary Traditions 292 12. Itacate para el Camino: Prepared Meals for Prehispanic and Colonial Travelers | Nelly M. Robles García 294 13. Isthmus Zapotec Food: Community, Ecology, Markets, Makers | Anya Peterson Royce 306 14. Maize Cuisine on the Move in the Twenty-First Century: Persistence and Migration of Tejate, a Traditional Mesoamerican Maize and Cacao Beverage | Daniela Soleri, María del Carmen Castillo Cisneros, Flavio Aragón Cuevas, and David A. Cleveland 330 Contributors 355 Index 359 "This volume explores the roots of traditional Oaxacan food, how it has evolved from its Mixtec origins, and how some traditions exist today; the essays included were written by archaeologists, ethnohistorians, anthropologists, and others with an interest in traditional Oaxacan food"-- Provided by publisher