TY - JOUR
T1 - The development of prehispanic cotton-spinning technology in western morelos, mexico
AU - Smith, Michael E.
AU - Hirth, Kenneth G.
N1 - Funding Information:
Fieldwork by Hirth was supported by the National Science Foundation (INT-7702030), the National Geographic Society (NGS-5092800), and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (WGF-3337); Smith was supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (WGF-3369) and the Graduate College of the University of Illinois. We would like to thank Jorge Angulo and Raul Arana for permission to examine ceramic artifacts from their respective excavations at Teopanzolco and Coatetelco, and the Field Museum of Natural History for permission to study the Frederick Starr collection. Unpublished data and papers were graciously made available by Frances Berdan, Elizabeth Brumfiel, Thomas Charlton, and Mary Parsons. Frances Berdan and Patricia Anawalt kindly provided advice on technical questions concerning Aztec textiles. Some of the data presented here were included in a paper presented by Smith at the 1985 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Washington, D.C., and part of the paper was written while Smith was a fellow at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. Figures 2-4 were drafted by Patricia Aguirre and Martin Antonio, and Figure 1 by Susan Hirth. Elizabeth Brumfiel provided helpful comments on an earlier draft of this article.
PY - 1988
Y1 - 1988
N2 - Cotton textiles played important economic, social, and political roles in the Prehispanic civilizations ofMesoamerica, yet archaeologists have made little progress in the analysis of textile production beyond the simple identification of spindle whorls. In this article we identify and describe whorls and a second artifactual marker of cotton spinning: ceramic spinning bowls. Quantitative changes in the occurrence of these artifacts in excavated contexts from the Mexican state of Morelos are then used to discuss the development of the local cotton industry from the Epiclassic through the Late Postclassic periods. The Postclassic cultures of Morelos apparently produced a number of innovations in cotton-spinning technology, and these changes along with increased textile production levels are linked to demographic, economic, and political changes occurring throughout Central Mexico at that time.
AB - Cotton textiles played important economic, social, and political roles in the Prehispanic civilizations ofMesoamerica, yet archaeologists have made little progress in the analysis of textile production beyond the simple identification of spindle whorls. In this article we identify and describe whorls and a second artifactual marker of cotton spinning: ceramic spinning bowls. Quantitative changes in the occurrence of these artifacts in excavated contexts from the Mexican state of Morelos are then used to discuss the development of the local cotton industry from the Epiclassic through the Late Postclassic periods. The Postclassic cultures of Morelos apparently produced a number of innovations in cotton-spinning technology, and these changes along with increased textile production levels are linked to demographic, economic, and political changes occurring throughout Central Mexico at that time.
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U2 - 10.1179/009346988791974466
DO - 10.1179/009346988791974466
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84975004540
VL - 15
SP - 349
EP - 358
JO - Journal of Field Archaeology
JF - Journal of Field Archaeology
SN - 0093-4690
IS - 3
ER -