The Technology of the Lacustrine Lifestyle in Michoacán: Change and Persistence  through Time

The Tarascan Empire was one of the most complex social systems in ancient Mesoamerica. The territory under the dominion of the king or cazonci in the Protohistoric period (ca. AD 1450-1530) covered a wide area of western Mexico. Within this region lacustrine environments abounded, including Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacán, where the core Tarascan power was seated. The region's aquatic resources, exploited through fishing, hunting, gathering, and manufacturing, played a strategic role, as they were an indispensable complement to agriculture, as in other parts of Mesoamerica. Lacustrine, marsh, and riverine environments made ​​possible a sedentary lifestyle and a high level of civilization, despite the fact that indigenous cultures lacked livestock for food and pack animals for the transportation of goods and people, unlike the situation in the Old World.

After the sixteenth-century Spanish conquest, major changes in Mesoamerican technology occurred. Nonetheless, subsistence activities related to aquatic environments maintained many features and processes that were reminiscent of the pre-Hispanic past. In this paper the technology of the lacustrine lifestyle in Michoacán is discussed, analyzing its change and persistence through the centuries.

Dr. Williams earned his Doctorate in archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. He is a Professor/Researcher in the Center for Archaeological Studies at the Colegio de Michoacán. Member of Mexico's National System of Researchers (SNI-Level II) and the Mexican Academy of Science, in 2004 he received the Alfonso Caso Prize (CONACULTA-INAH) for outstanding research in archaeology for his book: La sal de la tierra: etnoarqueología de la producción salinera en el Occidente de México. He is the author of 3 books and editor or co-editor of 13 others, and has published over 40 refereed book chapters and articles (in indexed journals) in Mexico, the U.S. and England.