Sedentism and Mobility in a Social Landscape

Sedentism and Mobility in a Social Landscape PDF Author: Mark Varien
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816519040
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Research on hunting and gathering peoples has given anthropologists a long-standing conceptual framework of sedentism and mobility based on seasonality and ecological constraints. This work challenges that position by arguing that mobility is a socially negotiated activity and that neither mobility nor sedentism can be understood outside of its social context. Drawing on research in the Mesa Verde region that focuses on communities and households, Mark Varien expands the social, spatial, and temporal scales of archaeological analysis to propose a new model for population movement. Rather than viewing sedentism and mobility as opposing concepts, he demonstrates that they were separate strategies that were simultaneously employed. Households moved relatively frequently--every one or two generations--but communities persisted in the same location for much longer. Varien shows that individuals and households negotiated their movements in a social landscape structured by these permanent communities. Varien's research clearly demonstrates the need to view agriculturalists from a perspective that differs from the hunter-gatherer model. This innovative study shows why current explanations for site abandonment cannot by themselves account for residential mobility and offers valuable insights into the archaeology of small-scale agriculture.

Sedentism and Mobility in a Social Landscape

Sedentism and Mobility in a Social Landscape PDF Author: Mark Varien
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816519040
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Research on hunting and gathering peoples has given anthropologists a long-standing conceptual framework of sedentism and mobility based on seasonality and ecological constraints. This work challenges that position by arguing that mobility is a socially negotiated activity and that neither mobility nor sedentism can be understood outside of its social context. Drawing on research in the Mesa Verde region that focuses on communities and households, Mark Varien expands the social, spatial, and temporal scales of archaeological analysis to propose a new model for population movement. Rather than viewing sedentism and mobility as opposing concepts, he demonstrates that they were separate strategies that were simultaneously employed. Households moved relatively frequently--every one or two generations--but communities persisted in the same location for much longer. Varien shows that individuals and households negotiated their movements in a social landscape structured by these permanent communities. Varien's research clearly demonstrates the need to view agriculturalists from a perspective that differs from the hunter-gatherer model. This innovative study shows why current explanations for site abandonment cannot by themselves account for residential mobility and offers valuable insights into the archaeology of small-scale agriculture.

Sedentism and Mobility in a Social Landscape

Sedentism and Mobility in a Social Landscape PDF Author: Mark Varien
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780816548811
Category : SOCIAL SCIENCE
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Varien's research clearly demonstrates the need to view agriculturalists from a perspective that differs from the hunter-gatherer model. This innovative study shows why current explanations for site abandonment cannot by themselves account for residential mobility and offers valuable insights into the archaeology of small-scale agriculture.

Ancient Households of the Americas

Ancient Households of the Americas PDF Author: John G. Douglas
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
ISBN: 1457117444
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 582

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Book Description
In Ancient Households of the Americas archaeologists investigate the fundamental role of household production in ancient, colonial, and contemporary households. Several different cultures—Iroquois, Coosa, Anasazi, Hohokam, San Agustín, Wankarani, Formative Gulf Coast Mexico, and Formative, Classic, Colonial, and contemporary Maya—are analyzed through the lens of household archaeology in concrete, data-driven case studies. The text is divided into three sections: Section I examines the spatial and social organization and context of household production; Section II looks at the role and results of households as primary producers; and Section III investigates the role of, and interplay among, households in their greater political and socioeconomic communities. In the past few decades, household archaeology has made substantial contributions to our understanding and explanation of the past through the documentation of the household as a social unit—whether small or large, rural or urban, commoner or elite. These case studies from a broad swath of the Americas make Ancient Households of the Americas extremely valuable for continuing the comparative interdisciplinary study of households.

Mimbres During the Twelfth Century

Mimbres During the Twelfth Century PDF Author: Margaret Cecile Nelson
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816518685
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
During the mid twelfth century, villages that had been occupied by the Mimbres people in what is now southwestern New Mexico were depopulated and new settlements were formed. While most scholars view abandonment in terms of failed settlements, Margaret Nelson shows that, for the Mimbres, abandonment of individual communities did not necessarily imply abandonment of regions. By examining the economic and social reasons for change among the Mimbres, Nelson reconstructs a process of shifting residence as people spent more time in field camps and gradually transformed them into small hamlets while continuing to farm their old fields. Challenging current interpretations of abandonment of the Mimbres area through archaeological excavation and survey, she suggests that agricultural practices evolved toward the farming of multiple fields among which families moved, with small social groups traveling frequently between small pueblos rather than being aggregated in large villages. Mimbres during the Twelfth Century is the first book-length contribution on this topic for the Classic Mimbres period and also addresses current debates on the role of Casas Grandes in these changes. By rethinking abandonment, Nelson shows how movement by prehistoric cultivators maintained continuity of occupation within a region and invites us to reconsider the dynamic relationship between people and their land.

Great House Communities Across the Chacoan Landscape

Great House Communities Across the Chacoan Landscape PDF Author: John Kantner
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816520725
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
Beginning in the tenth century, Chaco Canyon emerged as an important center whose influence shaped subsequent cultural developments throughout the Four Corners area of the American Southwest. Archaeologists investigating the prehistory of Chaco Canyon have long been impressed by its massive architecture, evidence of widespread trading activities, and ancient roadways that extended across the region. Research on Chaco Canyon today is focused on what the remains indicate about the social, political, and ideological organization of the Chacoan people. Communities with great houses located some distance away are of particular interest, because determining how and why peripheral areas became associated with the central canyon provides insight into the evolution of the Chacoan tradition. This volume brings together twelve chapters by archaeologists who suggest that the relationship between Chaco Canyon and outlying communities was not only complex but highly variable. Their new research reveals that the most distant groups may have simply appropriated Chacoan symbolism for influencing local social and political relationships, whereas many of the nearest communities appear to have interacted closely with the central canyon--perhaps even living there on a seasonal basis. The multifaceted approach taken by these authors provides different and refreshing perspectives on Chaco. Their contributions offer new insight into what a Chacoan community is and shed light on the nature of interactions among prehistoric communities.

Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective

Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective PDF Author: Alan P. Sullivan
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
ISBN: 1607324946
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
In Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective, contributors illustrate the virtues of various ecological, experimental, statistical, typological, technological, and cognitive/social approaches for understanding the origins, formation histories, and inferential potential of a wide range of archaeological phenomena. As archaeologists worldwide create theoretically inspired and methodologically robust narratives of the cultural past, their research pivots on the principle that determining the origins and histories of archaeological phenomena is essential in understanding their relevance for a variety of anthropological problems. The chapters explore how the analysis of artifact, assemblage, and site distributions at different spatial and temporal scales provides new insights into how mobility strategies affect lithic assemblage composition, what causes unstable interaction patterns in complex societies, and which factors promote a sense of “place” in landscapes of abandoned structures. In addition, several chapters illustrate how new theoretical approaches and innovative methods promote reinterpretations of the regional significance of historically important archaeological sites such as Myrtos-Pyrgos (Crete, Greece), Aztalan (Wisconsin, USA), Tabun Cave (Israel), and Casas Grandes (Chihuahua, Mexico). The studies presented in Archaeological Variability and Interpretation in Global Perspective challenge orthodoxy, raise research-worthy controversies, and develop strong inferences about the diverse evolutionary pathways of humankind using theoretical perspectives that consider both new information and preexisting archaeological data. Contributors: C. Michael Barton, Brian F. Byrd, Gerald Cadogan, Philip G. Chase, Harold L. Dibble, Matthew J. Douglass, Patricia C. Fanning, Lynne Goldstein, Simon J. Holdaway, Kathryn A. Kamp, Sam Lin, Emilia Oddo, Zeljko Rezek, Julien Riel-Salvatore, Gary O. Rollefson, Jeffrey Rosenthal, Barbara J. Roth, Sissel Schroeder, Justin I. Shiner, John C. Whittaker, David R. Wilcox

Communities and Households in the Greater American Southwest

Communities and Households in the Greater American Southwest PDF Author: Robert J. Stokes
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
ISBN: 1607328852
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Communities and Households in the Greater American Southwest presents new research on human organization in the American Southwest, examining families, households, and communities in the Ancestral Puebloan, Mogollon, and Hohokam major cultural areas, as well as the Fremont, Jornada Mogollon, and Lipan Apache areas, from the time of earliest habitation to the twenty-first century. Using historical data, dialectic approaches, problem-oriented and data-driven analysis, and ethnographic and gender studies methodologies, the contributors offer diverse interpretations of what constitutes a site, village, and community; how families and households organized their domestic space; and how this organization has influenced researchers’ interpretations of spatially derived archaeological data. Today’s archaeologists and anthropologists understand that communities operate as a multi-level, -organizational, -contextual, and -referential human creation, which informs their understanding of how people actively negotiate their way through and around community constraints. The chapters in this book creatively examine these interactions, revealing the dynamic nature of ancient and modern groups in the American Southwest. The book has two broad complementary themes: one focusing on household decision-making, identity, and structural relations with the greater community; the other concerned with community organization and integration, household roles within the community, and changes in community organization—violence and destabilization, coalescence and cooperation—over time. Communities and Households in the Greater American Southwest weaves a rich tapestry of ancient and modern life through innovative approaches that will be of interest not only to Southwestern archaeologists but to all researchers and students interested in social organization at the household and community levels. Contributors: James R. Allison, Andrew Duff, Lindsay Johansson, Michael Lindeman, Myles Miller, James Potter, Alison E. Rautman, J. Jefferson Reid, Katie Richards, Oscar Rodriguez, Barbara Roth, Kristin Safi, Deni Seymour, Robert J. Stokes, Richard K. Talbot, Scott Ure, Henry Wallace, Stephanie M. Whittlesey

Inscribed Landscapes

Inscribed Landscapes PDF Author: Bruno David
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824824723
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Annotation. Inscribed Landscapes explores the role of inscription in the social construction of place, power, and identity. Bringing together twenty-one scholars across a range of fields-primarily archaeology, anthropology, and geography-it examines how social codes and hegemonic practices have resulted in the production of particular senses of place, exploring the physical and metaphysical marking of place as a means of accessing social history.

Ancestral Landscapes of the Pueblo World

Ancestral Landscapes of the Pueblo World PDF Author: James Elliot Snead
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816523085
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
The eastern Pueblo heartland, located in the northern Rio Grande country of New Mexico, has fascinated archaeologists since the 1870s. In Ancestral Landscapes of the Pueblo World, James Snead uses an exciting new approachÑ landscape archaeologyÑto understand ancestral Pueblo communities and the way the people consciously or unconsciously shaped the land around them. Snead provides detailed insight into ancestral Puebloan cultures and societies using an approach he calls Òcontextual experience,Ó employing deep mapping and community-scale analysis. This strategy goes far beyond the standard archaeological approaches, using historical ethnography and contemporary Puebloan perspectives to better understand how past and present Pueblo worldviews and meanings are imbedded in the land. Snead focuses on five communities in the Pueblo heartlandÑBurnt Corn, TÕobimpaenge, Tsikwaiye, Los Aguajes, and TsankawiÑusing the results of intensive archaeological surveys to discuss the changes that occurred in these communities between AD 1250 and 1500. He examines the history of each area, comparing and contrasting them via the themes of Òprovision,Ó Òidentity,Ó and Òmovement,Ó before turning to questions regarding social, political, and economic organization. This revolutionary study thus makes an important contribution to landscape archaeology and explains how the Precolumbian Pueblo landscape was formed.

Social Violence in the Prehispanic American Southwest

Social Violence in the Prehispanic American Southwest PDF Author: Deborah L. Nichols
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816550697
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
Spontaneous acts of violence born of human emotions like anger or greed are probably universal, but social violence—violence resulting from social relationships within and between groups of people—is a much more complex issue with implications beyond archaeology. Recent research has generated multiple interpretations about the forms, intensity, and underlying causes of social violence in the ancient Southwest. Deborah L. Nichols and Patricia L. Crown have gathered nine contributions from a variety of disciplines to examine social violence in the prehispanic American Southwest. Not only offering specific case studies but also delving into theoretical aspects, this volume looks at archaeological interpretations, multidisciplinary approaches, and the implications of archaeological research for Native peoples and how they are impacted by what archaeologists say about their past. Specific chapters address the impacts of raiding and warfare, the possible origins of ritual violence, the evidence for social violence manifested in human skeletal remains, the implications of witchcraft persecution, and an examination of the reasons behind apparent anthropophagy. There is little question that social violence occurred in the American Southwest. These contributions support the need for further discussion and investigation into its causes and the broader implications for archaeology and anthropology. CONTENTS 1. Introduction Patricia Crown and Deborah Nichols 2. Dismembering the Trope: Imagining Cannibalism in the Ancient Pueblo World Randall H. McGuire and Ruth Van Dyke 3. An Outbreak of Violence and Raiding in the Central Mesa Verde Region in the 12th Century AD Brian R. Billman 4. Chaco Horrificus? Wendy Bustard 5. Inscribed in the Body, Written in Bones: The Consequences of Social Violence at La Plata Debra L. Martin, Nancy Akins, Bradley Crenshaw, and Pamela K. Stone 6. Veneration or Violence: A Study of Variations in Patterns of Human Bone Modification at La Quemada Ventura R. Pérez, Ben A. Nelson, and Debra L. Martin 7. Witches, Practice, and the Context of Pueblo Cannibalism William H. Walker 8. Explanation vs. Sensation: The Discourse of Cannibalism at Awat’ovi Peter Whiteley 9. Devouring Ourselves George J. Armelagos References Cited About the Contributors Index