Toyah Mitotes: Feasting in the Terminal Late Pre-Hispanic Southern Plains

Summary

The proto-historic period within North America provides a framework for assessing the transformations brought on by contact and conflict between indigenous peoples and European colonizers. In central and south Texas, a distinct archaeological culture, Toyah, spans some 400 years, 1250-1650 CE. The hallmark projectile point and first systemic, locally-produced ceramic tradition in the area have intrigued archaeologists for over a hundred years; interpretations of the phenomena have been unsatisfactory as to the factors responsible for such a distinctive change in material culture within a foraging society. This paper argues that feasting theory provides an interpretative and explanatory lens for Toyah. With increasing population pressure on the landscape, interactions between foraging and farming groups across southern North America increased during the late Pre-Hispanic period. Large feasts, which the Spanish called mitotes, became important social mechanisms for crucial intergroup meetings for trade as well as political, marriage, and spiritual negotiations. Ethnohistorical accounts of mitotes complement the archaeological assessment of a feasting society.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20884