Food and status in the prehispanic Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico

Abstract

Most archaeological analyses of social status focus on variation in burials, elaborate architecture, and prestige items and give less attention to the fact that people express and construct social identities in their everyday lives. In fact, domestic practices are both rooted in social distinctions and used to manipulate them. By expanding analyses to include variation in domestic activities, archaeologists can observe how social variability is expressed in everyday life. The utility of this approach is demonstrated with an example from the Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico, where there is strong evidence for complex social organization, but limited indication of status in prestige indices. Analyses of food-related variables, including macrobotanical remains, food preparation tools, and serving vessels from 10 household middens demonstrate a general, though not direct, correlation between involvement in domestic activities and frequencies of the few prestige markers present. The results suggest that the foundation and manifestation of social differences in the Malpaso Valley was not the same among all elite. This study demonstrates the potential contribution that the inclusion of domestic variables can provide to any study of status variability.