Domestic Multicrafting for Exchange at Prehispanic Ejutla, Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

Archaeological investigations at the prehispanic Ejutla site in Oaxaca, Mexico, have had a foundational role in reframing our perspectives on Mesoamerican economies, specifically craft specialization. This volume reports on the excavations of a residential complex located at the southern limits of the Valley of Oaxaca system, where evidence was recovered for multiple craft activities associated with a single non-elite domestic unit. The residential occupants crafted a variety of ornaments from marine shell, mostly sourced to the Pacific Coast, but few were consumed by the householders themselves. In addition, the Ejutla craftworkers produced a range of ceramic utilitarian vessels, including domestic wares and figurines, as well as small lapidary objects. Many of the craft goods produced were destined for exchange, circulating in both local and longer-distance networks. The findings have laid a basis for new theorizing on prehispanic economic production and the revision of prior notions that presumed principally local economies, in which specialized production for exchange was centered in nondomestic workshops.