NETWORKS OF MOBILITY AND EXCHANGE: RECENT ADVANCES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN SOUTHERN CENTRAL AMERICA
Since the beginnings of archaeological research in southern Central America, researchers have attempted to define clear cultural boundaries, establish well-delimited breaks in historical processes, and identify clearly hierarchized social structures, following models developed for neighboring regions such as Mesoamerica or the Andes. In this context, southern Central America has often been characterized as a marginal region, a transitional zone, or a space receiving cultural influences from its neighboring areas.
However, in recent years the idea has become increasingly established that the small-scale, highly mobile societies with weakly marked hierarchies characteristic of southern Central America are by no means inferior to the hierarchical societies of neighboring regions. On the contrary, they developed their own forms of social organization, optimally adapted to the specific conditions of their environment, which allowed them to achieve a high degree of resilience in the face of ecological, political and cultural change.
The diversity of actors and mobility among the numerous centers of activity in southern Central America can be described particularly effectively through network models. Settlements can be understood as nodes within a network, while the connections between them reflect the diversity of exchanges of objects, goods, knowledge and ideas. The interactions developed within these networks gave rise to the formation of communities that did not necessarily operate within clearly delimited territories. These dynamic communities of interest and practice are often called “communities of practice.”
Networks of mobility and the exchange of goods, objects and ideas appear to have been a particularly characteristic feature of the societies of southern Central America. It is therefore necessary to deepen their study through more detailed archaeological research. To achieve this goal, we must continue generating solid and comparable archaeological data, as well as reducing existing gaps in the archaeological record.
We invite all colleagues who can present new data from recent research on the archaeology of southern Central America to participate in this symposium. Contributions on settlement archaeology, landscape archaeology, geoarchaeology, typo-chronology, iconographic studies, dating through archaeometric methods, material analysis, bioanthropological studies, and research on the economic and social organization of pre-Hispanic societies will be welcome. The regional focus should center on the archaeology of Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Likewise, northern Colombia, as part of the so-called Isthmo-Colombian Area, as well as the Caribbean, are regions of interest. However, these should be considered within the comparative framework of the symposium, without constituting its main focus. Papers may be presented in any of the official languages of the congress, preferably Spanish or English.
Through new archaeological data and innovative interpretive approaches, we will be able to better understand the highly mobile and dynamic societies of southern Central America, as well as the unique role they played in pre-Hispanic America.
