TOPIC AREAS in AZTLAN

 The current Topic areas are the following, with their two-letter
 abbreviations which you will use in posting messages to them.  Some
 suggestions, based on experience, are included on where to send messages
 which do not perfectly fit the one-word name of the Topic.  The short
 name of the Topic may be merely the most obvious or well-known example
 of its culture area.  But what each Topic area covers is in the long
 run determined by the participants themselves, so these suggestions can
 easily become out of date.  Use common sense, or observe what others
 are doing and try to maintain consistency with them. Below the list is
 are instructions how to post to a particular topic.

 Culture areas:

 AZ:   Aztec (including other Postclassic Central Mexico)
 MA:   Maya
 OA:   Oaxaca (Zapotec, Mixtec, etc.)
 ME:   Mesoamerican
               (ME can cover other Mesoamerican cultures without
                their own separate Topics: the Olmec, the PreClassic,
                Teotihuacan, southern borderlands of Greater Nicoya,
                and northern Mexico to Pueblo SWest of the USA.
                ME can also cover subjects which affect all or a very
                substantial portion of the Mesoamerican culture area.
                ME is definitely NOT a bag for "everything else".)
 AN:   Andean cultures (Chavin, Chimu, Inka, Moche, Paracas, etc.)
               (These are its focus, but including also the so-called
                "Intermediate Area" of the Chibchan peoples,
                from Venezuela and Columbia to Panama, Costa Rica,
                Honduras and Nicaragua).
                Amazonia can go here, or in AR or PO if they fit better.
 NO:   North America, including the Moundbuilders, the Southeast,
                the Northwest Coast, the Great Plains, and can also
                include interactions of the Pueblo Southwest of the USA
                with Northern or Central Mexico (an alternative to ME).

 Fields of study:

 AR:   Archaeology, field work, sites, travel to sites
 AS:   Astronomy, calendrics
 EP:   Epigraphy, glyphs, linguistics
 IC:   Iconography, art
 PO:   Population (DNA studies, Epidemiology, Sociology)

 Others:

 OT:   Other.  This is the "CHAT" area, with only minimal rules (see
               above). Any message which does not have one of the
               eleven Topic labels noted above will go to this Area.

 ALL:  This Topic is for use only by the List Owner for necessary
               administrative matters, or with his advance approval for
               a tiny number of messages which are obviously of interest
               to all subscribers. Do not send to this topic, and do not
               reply to this topic, unless you have that approval, as
               you would be sending messages to some of our members who
               do not wish to receive them.