Tamales Souls And Resurrection

The significance of food and feasting to Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures has been extensively studied by archaeologists, anthropologists and art historians. Foodways studies have been critical to our understanding of early agriculture, political economies, and the domestication and management of plants and animals. Scholars from diverse fields have explored the symbolic complexity of food and its preparation, as well as the social importance of feasting in contemporary and historical societies. This book unites these disciplinary perspectives — from the social and biological sciences to art history and epigraphy — creating a work comprehensive in scope, which reveals our increasing understanding of the various roles of foods and cuisines in Mesoamerican cultures. The volume is organized thematically into three sections. Part 1 gives an overview of food and feasting practices as well as ancient economies in Mesoamerica. Part 2 details ethnographic, epigraphic and isotopic evidence of these practices. Finally, Part 3 presents the metaphoric value of food in Mesoamerican symbolism, ritual, and mythology. The resulting volume provides a thorough, interdisciplinary resource for understanding, food, feasting, and cultural practices in Mesoamerica.

Join journalist-turned-culinary historian Nola McKey on a Texas journey as she explores the state’s foodways through heirloom recipes. In this collection of more than one hundred third-generation (and older) recipes, Texans share not only the delicious dishes they inherited from their ancestors but the stories and traditions that accompany them. With a strong focus on Texas’ cultural diversity—recipes include Norwegian rosettes, Italian pizzelle, Czech sauerkraut, Chinese fried rice, Mexican caldo, Wendish noodles, and African American purple hull peas—McKey documents the culinary impact of ethnic groups from around the globe. But this book is not for foodies alone; history enthusiasts will appreciate the snapshots of daily Texas life captured in the narratives accompanying recipes that span more than a century. Told primarily in the words of today’s cooks, these multigenerational family recollections can take anyone on a trip down memory lane, back to a beloved grandmother’s kitchen or a great-aunt’s holiday table. Additionally, McKey provides tips for preserving your own family recipes and for recording the heritage surrounding a special dish. She also includes recommendations for festivals and museums where readers can learn more about Texas foods and cultures. Illustrated with family photos and original watercolors by Cora McKown, From Tea Cakes to Tamales: Third-Generation Texas Recipes will, itself, quickly become a Texas family heirloom.

FISTICUFF OF THE SOULS is a fictional novel based on the premise that man dies, but not his soul, no matter what his transgressions in life amount to. Salvation is the entitlement of the soul. But there is a catch. The soul must earn its amnesty by acknowledging its peccadillos of its volition, with no coercion from angels or allies. It could take eons for some of the souls to swallow pride, to flash a smile, to concede wrongdoing and to opt for salvation above self. The two women with chutzpa, Teru and Awra, show the lesser mortals how the former does it and the latter is likely to attempt it.

From the tombs of the elite to the graves of commoners, mortuary remains offer rich insights into Classic Maya society. In Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Soul, the anthropological archaeologist and bioarchaeologist Andrew K. Scherer explores the broad range of burial practices among the Maya of the Classic period (AD 250–900), integrating information gleaned from his own fieldwork with insights from the fields of iconography, epigraphy, and ethnography to illuminate this society’s rich funerary traditions. Scherer’s study of burials along the Usumacinta River at the Mexican-Guatemalan border and in the Central Petén region of Guatemala—areas that include Piedras Negras, El Kinel, Tecolote, El Zotz, and Yaxha—reveals commonalities and differences among royal, elite, and commoner mortuary practices. By analyzing skeletons containing dental and cranial modifications, as well as the adornments of interred bodies, Scherer probes Classic Maya conceptions of body, wellness, and the afterlife. Scherer also moves beyond the body to look at the spatial orientation of the burials and their integration into the architecture of Maya communities. Taking a unique interdisciplinary approach, the author examines how Classic Maya deathways can expand our understanding of this society’s beliefs and traditions, making Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya an important step forward in Mesoamerican archeology.