The SoCal Mesoamerican Network will hold its fall meeting at Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday, Oct. 6, featuring presentations from current and former faculty and students, and a local traditional chocolate maker. The conference, “Senses in Mesoamerica,” will take place from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences building, room SB 128, and is free and open to anyone with an interest in Mesoamerica. Parking at CSUSB is $3 on the weekends. The event “is loosely based on themes of the sensorial anthropology of Mesoamerica. Conference participants will discuss the sounds, smells, textures, and flavors of Mexico andCentral America beginning in the Early Formative period (2000-1000 BCE) and extending to modern times,” conference organizers wrote in the meeting’s abstract. “The presentations and discussions will consider Mesoamerican music, feasting, and even the domestication and processing of chocolate! “Another main focus of this event is to encourage student participation. To that end, undergraduate and graduate students will present in a ‘lightning session’ of short talks outlining their individual research topics on any aspect of Mesoamerican studies. Talks will include perspectives from anthropological archaeology and ethnomusicology.” Current and former CSUSB faculty and students will be among the presenters, who will also include students and scholars from elsewhere in the region. Scheduled presenters are:

  • El Buen Cacao, which will discuss traditional chocolate processing;
  • Fran Berdan, CSUSB professor emerita, anthropology, “Tactive Textiles, Embellishments on Aztec and Nahua Cloth and Clothing”;
  • Veronica Pacheco, UCLA lecturer, ethnomusicology, “Sensorial Knowledge of Sound and Music in the Nahua Religious Life”;
  • Jeremy Coltman, UC Riverside graduate student in archaeology, “The Sun God of Chichen Itza”; and
  • Guy Hepp, CSUSB assistant professor of anthropology, “Full Bellies, Ringing Ears, and Smoke in Your Eyes: The Sensations of Social Change in Mesoamerica’s Early Formative Period.”

 In the student lightning session, scheduled to present are:

  • Julian Acuña, CSUSB, “Chipped stone on the Oaxacan coast: A view from La Consentida”;
  • Christopher Brito, CSUSB, “Examination of Looted Obsidian Artifacts from Mexico”;
  • Joel Aspeytia, Cal State San Marcos, “Only What You Take with You: Observations From the Maya Underworld”; and
  • Ariana Yanez, Cal State San Marcos, “The Meaning of Spondylus: Maya and Wari Civilizations.”

 For information on the conference, contact Guy Hepp, CSUSB assistant professor of anthropology at guy.hepp@csusb.edu. Follow the SoCal Mesoamerican Network on its Facebook page, @SoCalMesoamericaNetwork.