# Domestic Storage Behavior in Mesoamerica: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach ### p54 excess surplus leads to ritual sacrifice > In many pre-state societies abundant surplus is often burned off ceremonially and kinship relations are expanded to include wider social interactions. Under the stressful conditions of food shortages, however, ceremonial activity is often limited, kinship relations are contracted, and food sharing is reduced ### p54 control of food surplus leads to social hierarchy > Those groups or individuals who control access to stored surplus can assume highly advantageous social and economic positions by reneging on their social obligations with impunity. By restricting access to stored surplus, groups or individuals gain an advantageous economic position in the society, thereby developing the basis for social inequality. These conditions may produce the beginnings of class differentiation and cultural complexity ### p55 Mesoamerican political organization > For instance, the halach uinic was the territorial or provincial ruler, with many towns and districts under his domain. The batab was the local head of a town who was often related and subject to the halach uinic. One of the batab's principal responsibilities and obligations to the overlord was the collection of tribute, mainly foodstuffs, from the local populace ### p56 Mesoamerican governments distributed taxed food in times of famine > households undoubtedly benefited from community and central stores during periods of famine government officials met their public obligations by emptying stores to feed the hungry. > > community or group storage of surplus also served the local needs of residents, resembling a kind of community chest. In this regard, cofrad?as Were introduced by the Spanish shortly after the Conquest and were quickly adopted by the native populations throughout Mesoamerica. The cofrad?a was a religious institution designed to support the social and economic needs of the parish community. Indian cofrad?as quickly developed into institutions that were more akin to pre-Conquest community organization than the Spanish system ### p56 storage systems types determine political organization > Since the production and acquisition of material wealth or surplus is widely seen as a fundamental basis for status differences, the control and maintenance of surplus over extended time periods requires storage technology. Types of storage systems that a given society uses to collect, distribute, and house surplus should be reflective of that society's political power base. > > In societies based on corv?e labor, centralized stores or state granaries should be well developed, in order to house and handle large surpluses produced from expansive tracts of state-owned land. Conversely, domestic stores should play a minor role in state surplus generation because farmers either lack sufficient time to generate ### p57 autocratic societies control market activity > Political power can be inferred from the nature of market activity. For instance, the Imperial Inca had an autocratic, power-based system, an interpretation suggested by the nature of Incan market activity. Those markets were tightly regulated by the ruling Incan king directly or by his bureaucratic apparatus. Incan markets were developed and maintained for purposes of the Incan ruler or the state, which were one and the same. > > > Conversely, the presence of open or free markets throughout prehistoric Mesoamerica supports the idea that ruling power was not completely autocratic because many different groups participated and even competed in market activity, something not permitted in the Incan system. Ruling factions undoubtedly participated in and extracted taxes from markets but probably did not control all aspects of market activity as is characteristic of autocratic societies. ### p57 the Inca had stronger control of labor forces than Mesoamerican societies > he material foundation of elite power among the Imperial Inca was based on the control of large corv?e labor forces. This labor force worked on state lands and industries to produce surplus goods used to sustain and enhance elite power. The prehistoric Maya and perhaps many other Mesoamerican societies primarily based elite power on the acquisition of goods extracted from the populace through taxation or tribute and from the control of periodically used corv?e labor forces. Because political control over the populace was considerably weaker in Mesoamerica, less direct methods of surplus extraction, mainly in the form of taxation or tribute, had to be employed. ### p60 collecting taxes is cheaper than controlling labor forces > The Teotihuacan economy was undoubtedly based on agriculture but craft production and long distance exchange, particularly of obsidian products, were also major factors. Teotihuacan elites stood to gain more surplus by allowing producers some control of production levels, thus significantly reducing administrative costs. Simply collecting surplus by taxation or tribute eliminates a great deal of the expensive bureaucratic apparatus required to control large labor forces ### p60 isolated city is a sign of centralized political power > Monte Alban was a large prehispanic site in the Valley of Oaxaca. Blanton (1976a, 1978, 1980) has argued that Monte Alban was a "disembedded capital." To reduce economic stresses on competing commercial centers in the Valley of Oaxaca, a political capital divorced facilitate regional decision making. Alban's location atop a steep mountain in the center of the the lack of nearby quality agricultural land, the absence of levels of craft specialization, and no evidence of a central place. Given the above scenario, political control must have been highly centralized at Monte Alban. To support a city that includes a disportionate number of decision makers required strong government control and heavy investment in food production at hinterland agricultural zone. ### p63 elites can control agriculturalists by controlling surplus and information > Elites generated surplus, wealth, and weak political control over regions by participating in and controlling vital information necessary for coordinating exchange network. ### p63 monocrop agriculture doesn’t work in tropical ecosystems which makes centralization difficult > To support centralized political institutions and dense populations, large surpluses have to be produced from long-term and large-scale monocrop agriculture. In tropical ecosystems, however, intensified agriculture can cause serious long term environmental degradation. At Tikal and in the Maya Lowlands in general, large surpluses necessary to support strong centralized institutions could not have been extracted on a regular basis without also inflicting serious hardships upon the populace. In this light, moderate taxation or tribute policies may have been an effective means of supporting the state by distributing surplus extraction throughout the society and keeping administrative costs to a minimum. Under these conditions, one would expect the complete range of storage systems, but on a smaller scale. ### p64 underground storage has a variety of uses > A chultun is a bottle-shaped underground storage chamber built by the pre-Columbian Maya in southern Mesoamerica. Their entrances were surrounded by plastered aprons which guided rainwater into them during the rainy seasons. Most of these archaeological features likely functioned as cisterns for potable water. Some chultuns may have been used for storage of perishable food (like breadnuts) or for the fermentation of alcoholic beverages. After they were no longer useful, people filled them with human waste and remains. Water storage usually gets discussed as aqueducts and sewers but cisterns are equally important. ### p65&p77 maize storage type has tradeoffs > Successful maize storage is constrained by several variables including moisture content, temperature, humidity, storage time, and the level of fungus present. These factors are all interrelated by a process called "heating” which raises the levels of humidity within the stored maize, creating an atmosphere conducive to fungus growth. The most effective means of combating fungus growth is by drying prior to storage. The reduction of the moisture con of grain will lower the relative humidity of the air around the storage inhibiting fungus growth (Milton and Jarrett 1969). The ambient temperature and humidity has an effect similar to reducing the moisture content of the grain. The storage form of maize, whether on or off the ear, depends on several factors. Among these are storage time, storage space, facilities available. Some researchers contend that insect damage is less on ear maize (Weatherwax 1954), while others have suggest that shelled maize dries better (Leonard 1976). Ear maize requires twice the storage space and is best stored in cribs that can provide good ventilation, while shelled maize stores better in bins. > > Maize is stored within facilities in one of three basic ways, each technique corresponding to a different length of preservation: (1) husked or on the ear without maize leaves (lasting for ca. six months); (2) shelled (ca. one year); or (3) packed vertically on the ear with maize leaves (over 3 years). Packed ear maize is stored exclusively within crib facilities. When packed ear maize is not required for daily food, it can be used as a banking strategy to guard against crop failure or as seed corn. Shelled and husked ear maize are exclusively stored in bins and serve the daily consumption needs of the household > > Different storage techniques not only correspond to storage duration but also condition facility volume. For housing equal amounts of grain, ear maize requires twice the storage volume of shelled maize. In this regard, shelled maize is the most spatially efficient way to store large quantities of maize for up to one year. Husked maize on the ear tossed haphazardly into bins requires the most storage space and preserves for no more than six months. Packed ear maize is moderately efficient in regard to spatial usage and can last for over three years. It is behaviorally, although not statistically, significant. Consequently, cribs, on average, can house enough additional maize to feed a family of five and animals for a period of 2.5 months. > > Households that use shelled maize facilities on average have low population sizes. In contrast, the average population size of house holds that rely on husked ear maize is considerably higher. > > Daily maize consumption by human and animal populations in the solar is another important factor that contributes to storage volume need. Pigeons are regularly fed shelled maize while pigs, horses, and cattle consume ear maize. These two feeding strategies are directly related to storage form and volume. Because large animals require large amounts of ear maize, storage facilities must be voluminous. Similarly, the number of household fowl will affect the volume and size of shelled maize facilities. In this regard, the animal type, number, and feeding strategy are factors in household maize consumption and therefore impact storage volume. ### p71 Maya residential compound layout > ll as the production levels of slash and burn or milpa agriculture. Despite many changes brought on by modern agricultural technology, traditional maize production and storage are still important household subsistence activities to many Maya agriculuralists within this region. The Puuc household or solar is the basic organizational unit where most domestic social and economic activities take place. The solar is generally bounded by a stone wall enclosing an area ranging from 400 to 20,000 square meters: the average area is 2,291 square meters. The basic solar consists of a living residence, a kitchen, a maize store house, and several animal structures. Most buildings are of wattle and daub construction, often with thatched roofs and stone-lined foundations. Other characteristic features include house altars, wells, water storage tanks, kitchen and outside hearths, elevated gardens, clothes washing tubs, and sometimes outdoor maize granaries ### p71 maize requires more complex storage than alternatives > In the Puuc region, maize storage is the only form of storage that requires elaborate facilities and regular activity scheduling. Beans and squash are rarely stored for long periods of time. Beans are generally purchased at the market as needed while squash is only seasonally available, does not store well, and is frequently used as fodder. When beans and dried squash seeds are preserved, they are stored in burlap or nylon sacks. Maize storage and its associated activities are among the most important factors that affect spatial organization within the household by structuring and delimiting available work space. ### p73 maize storehouses are carefully maintained > An important distinction should be made between storehouses and storage facilities. Maize is always stored in a storage facility, but the facility is not always in a storehouse. Storehouses are independent buildings that can be either former residences or buildings constructed especially to contain maize storage facilities. Because store houses play such an important role in the household economy, they are often built, repaired, and maintained as carefully as residences. Walls are meticulously sealed with daub in order to create a stable and secure interior storage environment. On the other hand, maize storage facilities are either cribs or bins (trojes) both of which are elevated rectangular structures constructed from wood poles. The only difference is that bin interiors are generally lined with guano leaves while crib walls are open to allow for air circulation ### p75 middle-aged farmers are more prosperous > Farmers with storehouses regularly produce harvests and are generally economically advantaged. Large harvestss result from either putting more land under cultivation, farming locations with good soils that receive abundant rainfall, or intensifying agricultural production. Under these conditions, storehouses and permanent facilities are needed to handle and preserve surplus. Conversely, less fortunate farmers may not invest in storehouses because of low production levels. Because of limited economic resources, the inability to invest additional labor inputs beyond their own, and restricted access to prime agricultural land, poor farmers—who are often young—are unable to generate high production outputs. > > Puuc land tenure systems favor those individuals who have lived in the community for the longest time or those who are most closely related to local ejido leaders. The ejido system is a federal institution responsible for land redistribution that was implemented by the Mexican government after the Revolution of 1910. Local ejido leadership positions change yearly but are often confined within certain families. Newcomers are frequently young families with few kinship ties within the community, which results in their receiving marginal cultivation areas. Due to the politics of ejido membership, the most established residents generally have access to the most desirable land. > > As a result of local tenure rules, old farmers generally have access to large tracts of fertile land, but because of their age, they are unable to maintain high productive levels. In the absence of large maize harvests, their maize stores are expended and facilities dismantled before the next agricultural cycle can be completed. Because of the age and economic constraints that result in small maize harvests, young and old farmers are either unable or unwilling to construct permanent storehouses. > > Middle-aged farmers are well established community members and frequently produce the most maize. Due to their social position, these farmers have access to large tracts of high quality land and are often economically advantaged. Larger agricultural outputs are possi ble because middle-aged farmers generally have the resources to in vests, farmers can amass more surplus that can be preserved and pluses, storehouses and permanent storage facilities are necessary ### p81 how maize processing works and impacts home layout > Lime is an important component of the daily maize processing system. To begin processing, maize must be shelled, if necessary, and then soaked overnight in an alkali (lime) solution. Afterwards, the maize is cooked by boiling for 30 minutes to one hour (depending upon the amount) to soften the hard kernels. The next step is to wash the maize thoroughly to remove the excess lime. After washing, the excess water is drained off (again in low traffic areas). Finally, the maize is brought into the kitchen or taken to the local general store to be ground into a dough for the daily preparation of tortillas. The kitchen, storage, and water sources are all focal points in maize processing. Because these places contain essential facilities, maize processing activities are located close to them. As a result, these locations act as central nodes affecting the spatial structure of food processing activities > > maize cooking can be classified as a "low-participatory" activity. By low-participatory, I mean an activity that does not necessitate constant uninterrupted involvement by an individual. Maize cooking as part of the processing system requires few materials (a hearth and a durable container) and only occasional attention. Once a fire has been started and cooking has begun, the activity only needs to be monitored periodically. Because maize cooking is almost exclusively a female activity and many female tasks center around the kitchen, maize cooking areas must be within line of sight of the kitchen. If spatial pressures at the houselot are severe enough, maize cooking will be undertaken within the kitchen. The general pattern is to locate maize cooking in the patio far enough away so as not to interfere with the other household activities but also close enough to be monitored at a glance > > maize washing is a "high-participatory activity" that requires the complete attention of the laborer. Since water is the critical ingredient, water sources strongly influence the location and spatial organization of maize washing. The task of maize washing requires a lot of water, which is heavy and difficult to transport. Another important consideration that affects the distances from all three spatial nodes to activity loci is to keep washing areas on patio peripheries to avoid producing muddy areas near high traffic locations. Even though water accessibility strongly affects the location of maize washing, the kitchen and storage also contribute to washing activity placement because they are an intrinsic part of the maize processing system