Social Memory in Ancient and Colonial Mesoamerica

In Social Memory in Ancient and Colonial Mesoamerica, Amos Megged uncovers the missing links in Mesoamerican peoples' quest for their collective past.

Amos Megged (Author)

9781107448766, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 June 2014

360 pages, 43 b/w illus. 2 maps
25.4 x 17.8 x 2.1 cm, 0.65 kg

'[Megged's] sensitive, attentive and informed readings make a major contribution to the unfolding picture of continuity and gradual change in indigenous traditions … a book that reveals much about the colonial experience of the Nahua, and suggests a great deal more.' The Times Literary Supplement

In Social Memory in Ancient and Colonial Mesoamerica, Amos Megged uncovers the missing links in Mesoamerican peoples' quest for their collective past. Analyzing ancient repositories of knowledge, as well as social and religious practices, he uncovers the unique procedures and formulas by which social memory was communicated and how it operated in Mesoamerica prior to the Spanish conquest. He also explores how cherished and revived practices evolved, how they were adapted to changing circumstances, and how they helped various ethnic groups cope with the tribulations of colonization and Christianization. Megged's volume also suggests how social and cultural historians, ethnohistorians, and anthropologists can rethink indigenous representations of the past while taking into account the deep transformations in Mexican society during the colonial era.

Introduction
1. Primers of Mesoamerican social memory
2. The sources and their applications
3. Binding and transcendence
4. In search of harmoniousness
5. Dispersal and fragmentation
6. Rites and times of foundations
7. A new cult, a new temple
Epilogue: a Popolocan memory tale.

Subject Areas: Archaeology by period / region [HDD], Archaeology [HD]