Archaeology, Wage Labor, and Kinship in Rural Mexico, 1934-1974

Bibliographic Data

ID2741027
AuthorsSam Holley-Kline (0000-0002-2169-2697, Florida State University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume69
Issue2
Pages197-221
Publication date2022-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnohistory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0014-1801 • E-ISSN: 1527-5477
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/00141801-9522189
OpenAlexW4293108352
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited26

This article assesses the relationships between archaeology and wage labor in twentieth-century Mexico through an analysis of governmental payroll records from El Tajín, Veracruz. For Indigenous Totonac workers, the long-term presence of archaeological labor provided opportunities for income and social mobility in a context of dispossession and proletarianization while contributing to socioeconomic stratification. In a region where the traditional agricultural base declined during the twentieth century, participation in wage labor provided a source of regular cash income and opportunities for skill development and social mobility. Participation, however, depended on intermediaries and their kin and social networks, meaning that not all had access. The analysis suggests that state-run archaeology must be understood in practical and economic terms as well as in a regional context

Archaeology · Context (archaeology · Economics · Geography · Kinship · Labour economics · Payroll · Political science · Politics · Proletarianization · Sociology · Wage · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · Law · Politics and Society in Latin America

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