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PRE-HISPANIC-TO-COLONIAL DIETARY TRANSITIONS AT ETZATLAN, JALISCO, MEXICO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2012

Judith F. Porcasi
Judith F. Porcasi*
Affiliation:
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California at Los Angeles, 308 Charles E. Young Drive North, A210 Fowler Building, Box 951510 Los Angeles, CA 90095–1510
*
E-mail correspondence to: porcasi1@verizon.net
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Abstract

Faunal analysis of subsistence remains from four sites in the Etzatlan Basin in western central Mexico presents important contrasts between pre-Hispanic and colonial dietary patterns. Specific changes in animal remains are well correlated with the transition from pre-Hispanic to colonial occupations tracked along a statistically derived timeline in which ceramic evidence for the onset of colonization is found. Allometry is used to calculate faunal biomass, and abundance and diversity indices are used to define these dietary patterns relative to the timeline. There is a decrease in use of large mammals over time and an increased use of smaller mammals, birds, and reptiles/amphibians. In particular, a marked increase in exploitation of the most important native large mammal (for example, deer) is found during early colonial occupation. However, this bounty decreased appreciably during later periods, consistent with widening of dietary breadth by inclusion of less preferred resources.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , Fall 2012 , pp. 251 - 267
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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