TY - BOOK ID - 138113022 TI - Early Mesoamerican social transformations PY - 2011 SN - 1283291908 9786613291905 0520950569 9780520950566 9781283291903 9780520268999 0520268997 6613291900 PB - Berkeley University of California Press DB - UniCat KW - Indians of Mexico KW - Indian pottery KW - Excavations (Archaeology) KW - Social archaeology KW - Antiquities. KW - Implements KW - Soconusco Region (Mexico) UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:138113022 AB - Between 3500 and 500 bc, the social landscape of ancient Mesoamerica was completely transformed. At the beginning of this period, the mobile lifeways of a sparse population were oriented toward hunting and gathering. Three millennia later, protourban communities teemed with people. These essays by leading Mesoamerican archaeologists examine developments of the era as they unfolded in the Soconusco region along the Pacific coast of Mexico and Guatemala, a region that has emerged as crucial for understanding the rise of ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica. The contributors explore topics including the gendered division of labor, changes in subsistence, the character of ceremonialism, the emergence of social inequality, and large-scale patterns of population distribution and social change. Together, they demonstrate the contribution of Soconusco to cultural evolution in Mesoamerica and challenge what we thought we knew about the path toward social complexity. ER -