All fields of inquiry exhibit degrees of historiographic imbalance. Studies of Guatemala, in this regard, reflect particularly skewed characteristics, for the eastern half of the country, the lower-lying Oriente, has been considerably less researched than the highland west. This book is thus a welcome addition, even if its “survey” or “inventory” format, and at times the way in which the author expresses himself, do not promote integrated or coherent understanding.
Feldman marshals enough evidence from archival and published sources to refute the thesis of John Fox that during the late Postclassic eastern Guatemala was, in the Mesoamerican scheme of things, of marginal socioeconomic importance. After the conquest, Spaniards were drawn to the region because it contained “several areas of high population” (p. 1) and possessed exploitable natural resources. Working with contemporary records such as the Cerrato tasaciones of 1549, as well as manipulating archeological evidence and later historical and ethnographic accounts, Feldman reconstructs the economy of the sixteenth century in a serviceable, if uninspired, fashion. The book examines the means of production and exchange before and after Spanish conquest, and focuses on how foods and artifacts, whether essential or exotic, were grown, made, and circulated. In content and structure, Feldman’s work bears resemblance to historical geography as practiced by Daniel Cade, Robert Donkin, and (specifically in the Guatemalan context) Felix Webster McBryde, but his contribution lacks their insight, authority, and careful attention to detail. Nonetheless, specialists will wish to acquire A Tumpline Economy and will find it a useful item of reference.
