ANTH 3110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: European Colonialism, Maya Religion, Teotihuacan
Document Summary
Border is a demarcation, denomination, division which establishes two sides. Borders are typically an act of politics (some kind of power structure) Ethnographic reality is often far messier than the dividing lines we put on it. No absolute barriers or boundaries between north, central and south america. While there is the narrowing of panama, it did not have a canal until the 1900s. No clear concrete barriers meant indigenous cultures interacted with one another. When state societies/empires move into an area they attempt to delimit space and establish territorial control through the use of force. Often indigenous networks are cut down the middle by newly established border. Located on both sides of the border as they have always been. Sovereignty concerns, border policy concerns for traveling to family on other side of border. Some oppose border patrol presence on their lands. Mesoamerica as a cultural region for the ancient olmecs, aztecs, maya and modern descendant communities.
