Title
Cuisine and Feasting in the Copan and Lower Ulua Valleys in Honduras
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
12-2020
Department 1
Anthropology
Abstract
This chapter considers cuisine and feasting in Late to Terminal Classic period societies living in what is now Honduras. During this time period, approximately the seventh to eleventh centuries CE, people living in the Copán valley in the mountains of western Honduras and in the Lower Ulúa valley, a broad, low-lying flood plain in the central part of the country, prepared, served, and ate meals made from local and imported ingredients. These meals most often brought together members of the same household and took place in the intimate confines of domestic space. However, food also played an important role in bringing together larger groups of people, including relatives, neighbors, acquaintances, and strangers. By turning the everyday acts of eating into elaborate and structured social occasions, meals became feasts. [excerpt]
Recommended Citation
Hendon, Julia. “Cuisine and Feasting in the Copan and Lower Ulua Valleys in Honduras.” Essay. In Her Cup for Sweet Cacao: Food in Ancient Maya Society, edited by Traci Ardren, 219–42. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2021.
Required Publisher's Statement
The book containing this chapter is available from the University of Texas Press.