Resources, Power, and Interregional Interaction

261 Pages·1992·7.56 MB·English

by  Edward M. Schortman

Resources, Power,
and Interregional
Interaction
INTERDISCIPLINARY CONTRIBUTIONS
TO ARCHAEOLOGY
Series Editor: Michael Jochim, University of California, Santa Barbara
Founding Editor: Roy S. Dickens, Jr., Late of University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Editorial Board: Lewis R. Binford, Southern Methodist University
Jane E. Buikstra, University of Chicago
Charles M. Hudson, University of Georgia
Stephen A. Kowalewski, University of Georgia
William L. Rathje, University of Arizona
Stanley South, University of South Carolina
Bruce Winterhalder, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Richard A. Yarnell, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST AND MESOAMERICA
Systems of Prehistoric Exchange
Edited by Jonathon E. Ericson and Timothy G. Baugh
APPROACHES TO CULTURE CONTACT
Ethnohistorical and Archaeological Perspectives on Change
Edited by J. Daniel Rogers and Samuel M. Wilson
ECOLOGY AND HUMAN ORGANIZATION ON THE GREAT PLAINS
Douglas B. Bamforth
FROM KOSTENKI TO CLOVIS
Upper Paleolithic-Paleoindian Adaptations
Edited by Olga Soffer and N. D. Praslov
HOLOCENE HUMAN ECOLOGY IN NORTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA
Edited by George P. Nicholas
HUNTER-GATHERERS
Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory
Robert L. Bettinger
THE INTERPRETATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SPATIAL PATTERNING
Edited by Ellen M. Kroll and T. Douglas Price
THE PLEISTOCENE OLD WORLD: Regional Perspectives
Edited by Olga Soffer
POTTERY FUNCTION
A Use-Alteration Perspective
James M. Skibo
RESOURCES, POWER, AND INTERREGIONAL INTERACTION
Edited by Edward M. Schortman and Patricia A. Urban
SPACE, TIME, AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL LANDSCAPES
Edited by Jacqueline Rossignol and LuAnn Wand snider
Resources, Power,
and Interregional
Interaction
Edited by
EDWARD M. SCHORTMAN and
PATRICIA A. URBAN
Kenyon College
Gambier, Ohio
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
ISBN 978-1-4419-3220-4 ISBN 978-1-4757-6416-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4757-6416-1
© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1992
Ali rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher
Contributors
Rani T. Alexander • Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albu
querque, New Mexico 87131
J. Stephen Athens • International Archaeological Research Institute, Inc., 949 McCully
Street, Suite 5, Honolulu, Hawaii 96826
Gary M. Feinman • Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
Mary W. Helms • Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina 27412
Philip L. Kohl· Department of Anthropology, Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mas
sachusetts 02181
Linda M. Nicholas • Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
Robert S. Santley • Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albu
querque, New Mexico 87131
Edward M. Schortman • Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Kenyon College,
Gambier, Ohio 43022
Steadman Upham • The Graduate School, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
97403-1219
Patricia A. Urban • Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Kenyon College,
Gambier, Ohio 43022
Phil C. Weigand' Department of Anthropology, Museum of Northern Arizona, Route
4, Box 720, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
Peter S. Wells • Center for Ancient Studies, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,
Minnesota 55455
Joseph W. Whitecotton • Department of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma, Nor
man, Oklahoma 73019
v
Preface
Archaeological research on interregional interaction processes has recently reasserted
itself after a long hiatus following the eclipse of diffusion studies. This "rebirth" was
marked not only by a sudden increase in publications that were focused on interac
tion questions, but also by a diversity of perspectives on past contacts. To perdurable
interests in warfare were added trade studies by the late 196Os. These viewpoints, in
turn, were rapidly joined in the late 1970s by a wide range of intellectual schemes
stimulated by developments in French Marxism (referred to in various ways; termed
political ideology here) and sociology (Immanuel Wallerstein's world-systems model).
Researchers ascribing to the aforementioned intellectual frameworks were united in
their dissatisfaction with attempts to explain sociopolitical change that treated in
dividual cultures or societies as isolated entities. Only by reconstructing the complex
intersocietal networks in which polities were integrated-the natures of these ties,
who mediated the connections, and the political, economic, and ideological
significance of the goods and ideas that moved along them-could adequate ex
planations of sociopolitical shifts be formulated. Archaeologists seemed to be re
discovering in the late twentieth century the importance of interregional contacts in
processes of sociopolitical change. The diversity of perspectives that resulted seemed
to be symptomatic of both an uncertainty of how best to approach this topic and the
importance archaeologists attributed to it.
It was within this context that we decided that archaeologists and others inter
ested in interaction processes might be well served by an attempt to sort through the
different major viewpoints on ancient intersocietal interaction. This led us to organ
ize, in 1987, a symposium at the Society for American Archaeology meeting in
Toronto, where active researchers, who were representing the world systems, po
litical ideology, and warfare perspectives, kindly agreed to present their views. We
were so encouraged by the results of this session that we decided to bring these
papers to the printed page so that they could be made available to as wide an
audience as possible. The result is the present volume. Built on revised and updated
versions of most of the papers of the Toronto meeting, the current collection also
includes contributions of scholars who were unable to attend the 1987 meeting. Our
vii
viii PREFACE
goal has not been to achieve some sort of consensus among the authors concerning
the best way to approach the study of ancient contacts among polities. Rather, we
want the reader to appreciate how researchers operating from world systems, polit
ical ideology, and warfare perspectives investigate and explain the significance of
intersocietal interaction in processes of sociopolitical change. We will, to be sure,
draw some conclusions of our own on the ways in which interregional interactions
are systemically and predictably related to shifts in sociopolitical organization. The
goal of the book is not to advance our perspective, however. Instead, we will be
satisfied if the reader draws some inspiration of his or her own from the collected
papers and comes to a better understanding of the dynamic and exciting quality of
current interaction research.
The choice of world systems, political ideology, and warfare as the interaction
perspectives represented here is determined by our impression that these viewpoints
currently dominate archaeological discussions of intersocietal contact processes. The
book is organized into parts containing the chapters that are devoted to each of these
viewpoints, introduced in all three cases by brief overviews that set the intellectual
context for the chapters to follow. An introductory chapter investigates historical
patterns in archaeological considerations of interaction processes. The concluding
chapter draws together themes from the preceding chapters and offers some sugges
tions for the construction of a coherent paradigm through which ancient interaction
patterns and their relations to sociopolitical change might be investigated.
More so than most publications, edited volumes are truly cooperative efforts.
Such books rise or fall on the quality and cooperation of their contributors. We
therefore extend our heartfelt gratitude to the authors represented here, not only for
the work they invested in their excellent contributions, but also for their patience and
understanding throughout the lengthy publication process. We also wish to thank
David Webster, one of the original Toronto participants, for his stimulating paper and
commentary on the original session back in 1987. Our thanks are also extended to
Eliot Werner of Plenum Press and Michael Jochim for seeing the value of the manu
script, and to Eliot Werner in particular for his considerable help in all stages of
editing and publication. The collection, especially our own chapters, was greatly
improved thanks to the comments of Mr. Werner and an anonymous reviewer. The
editors also wish to extend their thanks to Sharon Duchesne, the secretary of the
Anthropology-Sociology Department at Kenyon, for her untiring efforts in decipher
ing the editors' cryptic remarks, combining all the papers-many on differently
formatted disks with different versions of Word Perfect-into a single coherent form,
and for cheerfully putting up with the whole typing process.
Contents
PART I. INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 • The Place of Interaction Studies in Archaeological Thought. . 3
Edward M. Schortman and Patricia A. Urban
PART II. THE ANCIENT WORLD SYSTEM
Chapter 2 • The Political Economy of Core-Periphery Systems. . . . . . . . . . 23
Robert S. Santley and Rani T. Alexander
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Variation in the Structure of Core-Periphery Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The Dendritic Political Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The Hegemonic Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The Territorial Empire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Summary......................................................... 31
The Growth of Core-Periphery Systems................................ 32
Disenfranchisement and the Creation of Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Disenfranchisement and Population Redistribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Resource Control, the Organization of Labor, and Power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Summary......................................................... 40
Sequences of Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Transport Mode and System Scale .................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Summary and Concluding Remarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
ix
x CONTENTS
Chapter 3 • Culture and Exchange in Postc1assic Oaxaca: A World-System
Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Joseph W. Whitecotton
Postclassic Oaxaca. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Chapter 4 • Pre-Hispanic Interregional Interaction in Southern Mexico:
The Valley of Oaxaca and the Ejutla Valley................ 75
Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Project Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
The Ejutla Valley and the Valley of Oaxaca .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Settlement Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Economic Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Phase-by-Phase Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Pre-Monte Alban Phases ........................................... 91
Monte Alban Early I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Monte Alban Late I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Monte Alban II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Monte Alban IlIA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Monte Alban I1IB/IV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 106
Monte Alban V. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Summary and Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Chapter 5 • The Transcaucasian "Periphery" in the Bronze Age:
A Preliminary Formulation............................... 117
Philip L. Kohl
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Ecological Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
The Transcaucasian Archaeological Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Comparison with Central Asia (Western Turkestan). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Chapter 6 • Interaction and Isolation: The Empty Spaces in Panregional
Political and Economic Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Steadman Upham
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Considering the Regional and Panregional System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
CONTENTS ri
A Panregional Meaning of Empty..................................... 141
Empty Spaces in Panregional Analyses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Population and Labor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Travel and Trade................................................. 144
Economic Layering............................................... 145
The Jornada in Panregional Perspective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Settlement Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Subsistence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Material Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 147
Rethinking Jornada Developments.................................. 147
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
PART III. THE POLITICAL VALUE OF IMPORTS
Chapter 7 • Long-Distance Contacts, Elite Aspirations, and the Age of
Discovery in Cosmological Context. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Mary W. Helms
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Traditional Concepts of Geographical Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Men of Influence and Geographical Distance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Native Views of Europeans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
European Views of Distance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Chapter 8 • Tradition, Identity, and Change beyond the
Roman Frontier......................................... 175
Peter S. Wells
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
The Roman Frontier in Europe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Sources of Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Roman Goods in Native Contexts: Four Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Near the Frontier: Westick. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 180
On the North Sea Coast: Feddersen Wierde. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
In the Unconquered Heartland: Liibsow Graves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
A New Commercial Center to the North: Gudme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186