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CLAS Lecture Series: Counter-Mapping the History of El Tajín, Veracruz, Mexico

March 4, 2016 -
12:30pm to 1:20pm
Bolivar House, 582 Alvarado Row

Lunch Provided | No RSVP Necessary

Counter-Mapping the History of El Tajín, Veracruz, Mexico

Sam Holley-Kline, Doctoral Candidate, Stanford Department of Anthropology

Sam Holley-Kline will discuss the results of an ethnographic “counter-mapping” project focused on trails called caminos reales in El Tajín, Mexico. He'll begin by discussing the theoretical and methodological foundations of counter-mapping, and argue that analyzing these trails offers a novel, grounded way of understanding the history of the region. In the present and recent past, local understandings of these trails are associated with commerce (particularly of agricultural products) as well as violence (as a result of the vanilla trade and feuding). In contemporary evaluations of the caminos reales, memories are marked by both nostalgia for the landscapes they traversed and relief that they are no longer necessary. He will conclude by discussing counter-mapping as a potential means of understanding the recent history of the archaeological site. 

Sam Holley-Kline is a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology. His research focuses broadly on the history and development of the archaeological site of El Tajín, Veracruz, Mexico. He received his BA in Anthropology and Spanish from DePauw University in 2012, and conducted ethnographic research in El Tajín under the auspices of a Fulbright-García Robles grant in 2012-2013.

Event Sponsor: 
Center for Latin American Studies
Contact Email: 
latinamerica@stanford.edu
Contact Phone: 
(650) 725-0383