February 19, 2024
Dr. Marc Levine and Dr. Kathryn Puseman published a book chapter ("Cotton Thread Production, Communities of Practice, and Value in Postclassic Oaxaca, Mexico") that was published in an edited volume entitled Realizing Value in Mesoamerica: The Dynamics of Desire and Demand in Ancient Economies. The volume, edited by Scott Hutson and Charles Golden, was published by Palgrave Macmillan.
Chapter Abstract:
Cotton textiles were arguably the most valuable commodity in the Postclassic Mesoamerica economy, yet relatively few studies have examined this phenomenon from the perspective of cotton producers. This chapter presents the results of a diachronic analysis of Postclassic cotton thread production from the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, a major cotton-producing region. Drawing on a comparative analysis of ceramic spindle whorls, utilized for spinning cotton thread, we apply the concept of “communities of practice” to examine how changes in thread-spinning practices may have been initiated, in part, by commoner producers themselves—as opposed to top-down policies of political institutions.
