BREAKING DOWN BORDERS: Debating Origins and Directions of Interregional Exchange in Latin America
October 27th-28th, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Understanding the origins and directions of exchange and interaction in Central and South America are curtailed by modern country borders. This workshop brings together emerging and prominent scholars to engage with seminal and developing debates on the origins of key food sources (i.e. cacao and maize), technological advancements (i.e. metallurgy and ceramics), and the changing styles of material remains from prominent pre- and post-colonial contexts (i.e. stonework and textiles) to break down the limitations introduced by contemporary frontiers. The goal of this workshop is to renew interest in how local and long-distance interactions in Latin America bisected modern political barriers to rejuvenate discussion on how strategic planning, resilience, and ingenuity of past societies transformed the trajectory of distinct cultural phases. Chronological overlap between Olmec and Chavin, Maya and Moche, and Aztec and Inca attests to some stylistic similarities but also the emergence of distinct facets of social inequality and political economies. This international workshop provides an unprecedented setting to engage with thoughtful consideration of the origins and directions of interregional interaction that will contribute to meaningful debate and collective interpretations about the role of cross-cultural exchange in Latin America.
Register here: LINK
Friday, October 27th
*All sessions are taking place in the Walter Gage Building, Ruth Blair C Meeting Room
5959 Student Union Blvd. Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1K2
8:30-9:30 AM Breakfast
9:30 AM Land Acknowledgement and Welcome (Aleksa Alaica)
9:40 AM Laboratory of Archaeology (Camilla Speller)
9:50 AM Latin American Studies - Cluster Grant (Ben Bryce)
Session 1: Style, Chronology, and Ideology
Moderator: Arianne Boileau
10:00 AM Orlando Hernandez-Ying, “Castilla del Oro" and the Regional Evolution and Dissemination of Ancient Indigenous Metallurgic Iconography in the Isthmo-Colombian Area
10:40 AM Jaime Awe, Changing Spheres of Interaction in Terminal Classic Western Belize
11:20 AM Angel González López, The Importance of Water and Maize in the Imperialistic Agenda of Tenochtitlan
12:00 PM Víctor Castillo, Zaculeu, Guatemala: el centro ceremonial como nodo de interacción interregional en las Tierras Altas mayas (900 - 1550 d.C.)
12:40-2:00 PM Lunch
Session 2: Animal, Plant, and Cuisine
Moderator: Sonia Zarrillo
2:00 PM Maria Gabriela Musaubach, Toward an Andean Crop Reference Collection of Culinary Preparations in South-Central Andes
2:40 PM Elena Mazzetto, Bebidas fermentadas y sacrificio. Apuntes comparativos sobre el pulque y la chicha en Mesoamérica y el Área Andina
3:20 PM Alejandra Vidal, Trajectories of Pre-Hispanic Agriculture in the Atacama Desert as Observed through Changes in Zea Mays L.
4:00 PM Alejandra Korstanje, Pre-Hispanic Food and Social Inequality: Difficulties and Some Contributions to Organizing Ideas around Peasant and Elite Menus
4:40 PM Christine A. Hastorf, The Movement and Tempo of Plant Domesticates Throughout the Americas: Food Values and Identity
5:20-6:00 PM Break
6:00-9:00 PM Reception at the Orca House Meeting Room (5965 Student Union Blvd, Vancouver, BC V6T 2C9)
Saturday, October 28th
9:00-10:00 AM Breakfast
Session 3: Technological Developments
Moderator: Patricia Aparicio
10:00 AM Daiana Rivas-Tello, Becoming Local: Tracing the Huancas Mitmaqkuna Potting Tradition in Amazonas, Peru from the Late Horizon Period (1470-1532) into the Present
10:40 AM Colleen Zori, Metalworking Technologies of the Prehistoric South-Central Andes: Models for Technology Transfer in the Pre-Inka and Inka Periods
11:20 AM José Luis Punzo, Metallurgy in Mesoamerica. A History from South to North
12:00 PM Marisa Lazzari, Rethinking the Material Histories of Long-distance Exchange. A View from the South-central Andean Landscapes of Circulation During the First Millennium AD
12:40-2:00 PM Lunch
Session 4: Words from a Knowledge Holder on Textile Production
Moderator: Patricia Campos
2:00-3:30 PM Victorina López Hilario
*Please note this workshop will be held in Spanish only.