Book

Teotilan del Valle: a typical Mesoamerican community

University MicrofilmsAnn ArborPublished In 1979 • Pages:

By: Taylor, Robert Bartley.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This dissertation presents an intensive in-depth study of the ethnography of the Valley Zapotec town of Teotitlan del Valle. The stated purpose for collecting this ethnographic material on Toetitlan was '...to provide a basis for more specialized studies in that community over a period of years, particularly studies of change' (p. ii). Tied in with this general purpose is the question of whether or not the data gathered at Teotitlan is 'typical' of the Mesoamerican area as a whole, particularly with reference to such community studies as Ruth Bunzel's on Chichicastenango, Robert Redfield's on Chan Kom, Elsie Clews Parsons' on Mitla, Oscar Lewis' on Tepoztlan and Ralph Beals' on Cheran. After a detailed presentation of the data, which makes up the bulk of the document, the author compares 226 cultural traits which he calls 'typical characteristics' in terms of their presence or absence in the communities listed above. In his fianl tabulation of these comparisons the author found that Teotitlan exhibited '...184 or 81 per cent of the total number of characteristics as compiled from Redfield and Tax's paper. This high proportion indicates that the assumption that Teotitlan is a typical Mesoamerican community is correct' (p. 332). The cultural data presented in the document are generally well organized and highly detailed in nature, but do lack coverage of kinship relations and social structure.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Towns
Organized ceremonial
Rest days and holidays
Sickness
Cereal agriculture
Normal garb
Woven and other interworked fabrics
Dwellings
Food preparation
Diet
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Zapotec
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2009
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Middle America and the Caribbean
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Central Mexico
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 1979
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1956-1957
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1956-1959
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Town of Teotitlan del Valle, Vallley Zapotec, Oaxaca, Mexico
NotesAdditional notes
Robert Bartley Taylor, Jr.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Oregon, 1960
UM60-05406
Includes bibliographical references (p. 333-334)
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Zapotec Indians