Southern Methodist University SMU Scholar Anthropology Theses and Dissertations Anthropology Summer 2019 Communities of Consumption on the Southeastern Mesoamerican Border: Style, Feasting, and Identity Negotiation in Prehispanic Northeastern Honduras Whitney Annette Goodwin Southern Methodist University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/hum_sci_anthropology_etds Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Goodwin, Whitney Annette, "Communities of Consumption on the Southeastern Mesoamerican Border: Style, Feasting, and Identity Negotiation in Prehispanic Northeastern Honduras" (2019). Anthropology Theses and Dissertations. 11. https://scholar.smu.edu/hum_sci_anthropology_etds/11 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. COMMUNITIES OF CONSUMPTION ON THE SOUTHEASTERN MESOAMERICAN BORDER: STYLE, FEASTING, AND IDENTITY NEGOTIATION IN PREHISPANIC NORTHEASTERN HONDURAS Approved by: __________________________________ Brigitte Kovacevich, Associate Professor University of Central Florida __________________________________ Kacy L. Hollenback, Assistant Professor Southern Methodist University __________________________________ Christopher I. Roos, Associate Professor Southern Methodist University __________________________________ E. Christian Wells, Professor University of South Florida COMMUNITIES OF CONSUMPTION ON THE SOUTHEASTERN MESOAMERICAN BORDER: STYLE, FEASTING, AND IDENTITY NEGOTIATION IN PREHISPANIC NORTHEASTERN HONDURAS A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Faculty of the Dedman College Southern Methodist University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy with a Major in Anthropology by Whitney A. Goodwin B.A., Anthropology and Archaeology, College of Wooster M.A., Applied Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa M.A., Anthropology, Southern Methodist University August 6, 2019 Copyright (2019) Whitney A. Goodwin All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My dissertation work was funded by a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (NSF # 1547770) from the National Science Foundation, a Fulbright U. S. Student Award from the U.S. Department of State, and a P.E.O. Scholar Award from the Philanthropic Educational Organization Foundation International. Internal funding from SMU included a Gary Weber Pre-Dissertation Award from the Department of Anthropology and a Graduate Student Research Award from the Institute for the Study of Earth and Man. I will always be grateful for the patience shown to me by my committee throughout this whole process. My chair, Brigitte Kovacevich, was endlessly understanding and supportive, particularly during the final year of writing. Thank you for always being so kind when things didn’t go as planned. Kacy Hollenback has always been a generous mentor and friend who consistently encourages me to see the bigger picture in my research and in life. Chris Roos was a steady, unfailing source of guidance from my first day at SMU and it made a huge difference in my graduate school experience. And, to Christian Wells, who for some reason keeps saying yes when I make requests of him, I will always appreciate the chances you have taken on me. I know a lot of people think their committee was great but mine showed up for a Monday morning defense in July, so seriously, thank you all. Although not formally on my committee, Pat Urban and Ed Schortman were as generous with their time and knowledge as they have always been, and I thank them both for being such wonderful mentors and friends. iv I would also like to extend my special thanks to the Pech community of Silin and Moradel, especially Sebastian Montes, Marlon Montes, Anibal Lopez, Melvin Escobar, Denis Tome, Gloria Montes, Juana Hernandez, Jorge Lopez, and Lastenia Hernandez. I could not have done any of this without your support and insight. I look forward to continuing to work and learn alongside you all. I am also grateful to my colleagues and the students in the Anthropology Department at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH), especially Carmen Julia Fajardo, Marlen Aguilera, Jennifer Arguijo, Blanca Fajardo, Ridel Morales, Wilmer Elvir, Raquel Otto, Fiama Hernandez, and Kesia Deras. This cohort of UNAH students will always hold a special place in my heart and I am lucky to have had the opportunity to meet you all at this stage in your careers. I hope we can continue to collaborate in the future as you go on to do great things. Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History (IHAH) staff were and continue to be helpful in all respects, including Eva Martinez, Omar Talavera, Rolando Canizales, Oscar Neil Cruz, and Tanya Guardado. Many thanks to other friends from Trujillo and other parts of Honduras that also made this project possible, enjoyable, and memorable: Don Mario Mendoza, Xiomara Romero, Kevin Romero, Tatiana Meza, Jorge Bueso (and family!), Roberto Ramirez, Juan Ramirez, and in loving memory of my infinitely inquisitive and kind-hearted friend, Patty Stone Ramirez. Thank you also to my fellow grad students who helped get me through this. Lorena Mihok, thank you for coming to the field (and staying). My SMU cohort – I am going to miss you all, but none of you are sticking around much longer anyway (Rachel Burger, Dawn Crawford – you got this!). I was also lucky to have the support and guidance of Brooke Morgan, v Kylie Quave, and Leslie Reeder. Your knowledge and willingness to walk me through academic and personal challenges have been absolutely vital to my ability to succeed. Finally, I would not be where I am without the never-ending love and support of my family. Your phone calls, texts, and visits kept me going. To my husband, Alejandro, you have fulfilled so many roles in my life – friend, colleague, collaborator – and your tireless dedication in each has made all of the difference. Watching you approach fatherhood with the same passion and kindness has made this past year the best one yet. I look forward to many more to come. vi Goodwin, Whitney A. M.A., Southern Methodist University Communities of Consumption on the Southeastern Mesoamerican Border: Style, Feasting, and Identity Negotiation in Prehispanic Northeastern Honduras Advisor: Professor Brigitte Kovacevich Doctor of Philosophy conferred August 6, 2019 Dissertation completed July 1, 2019 Prehispanic northeastern Honduran communities were situated at the border between southeastern Mesoamerica and lower Central America. Previous studies of pottery style suggest that local groups shifted their affiliation from north to south at the end of the Classic period (ca. AD 1000). This study examines the contexts in which pottery, as a medium for style, was used, and how the food people prepared, stored, or served in these vessels offers a perspective complementary to pottery style for understanding how identity was actively negotiated in this region. In this view, other parts of the foodways system – the foods chosen to be processed or cooked in pottery, the particular methods of preparation or serving – can also have their own form of style that has the potential to be as important in materializing identities as the designs on pottery vessels. Excavation at the Selin Farm site documented shell midden mounds containing large deposits of shell, pottery, and other materials disposed of as part of feasting events that took place throughout the Selin Period (AD 300-1000). These stratified deposits are the result of repeated consumption and disposal practices that represent groups of people that came together to form a community of consumption in the past. Data from excavation, lithic and faunal analyses, and typological, morphological, and residue analyses of pottery point to variation in the vii form, content, and motivations behind these events over space and time. By tracing the nature and scale of these feasting events over time and space at Selin Farm, this study provides data critical to situating the processes behind identity negotiation at the local level and tying the micropolitics of individual events to broader social and political changes in the region. The timing of changes in local pottery styles and foodways suggests they occurred partly as a result of interaction with groups to the north and south that both spoke to cultural understandings and similarities while also highlighting differences and reinforcing boundaries. However, variation in feasting practices across contexts at Selin Farm demonstrates, for the first time, internal heterogeneity within a northeastern community that helps explain processes of change without relying exclusively on external forces, while also not denying their influence in shaping local change. The study of identity negotiation at Selin Farm demonstrates that aggrandizers, expansionist chiefdoms, or outside influences were not responsible for cultural change in the small-scale societies of Central America. The people who lived and feasted at the site were not passive recipients of innovations from the north or the south. There were complex internal social and political strategies being employed by individuals and groups that led to the structural changes that took place in the region. Through interaction with each other and with outside groups they were continually