CONTRIBUTIONS OF GEOARCHAEOLOGY TO MESOAMERICAN STUDIES

A survey of the Mesoamerican geoarchaeological literature published from 1990 to the present—in celebration of Ancient Mesoamerica’s first 20-year katun anniversary—shows the full spectrum of small, focused projects to broad-range programs. Some scholars defend subdisciplinary boundaries and only do their research as physical science. Others combine natural with social science investigations, and some delve well into the humanities. I suggest here that the more successful programs are the latter because I believe the human experience in ancient Mesoamerica does not fit neatly into one or two of our Western disciplinary categories. Hopefully the next katun can be characterized by more open inquiry including the fullest range of scholarship from the natural sciences, through the social sciences, and embracing the humanities. The growth of new “bottom-up” approaches and post-structural theory—often including agency, practice theory, and resistance—help broaden inquiry and therefore bode well for the next katun.