Alternative Pathways to Complexity: A Collection of Essays on Architecture, Economics, Power, and Cross-Cultural Analysis
edited by Lane F. Fargher and Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza
University Press of Colorado, 2016 Cloth: 978-1-60732-532-1 | eISBN: 978-1-60732-533-8 Library of Congress Classification CC72.4.A47 2016 Dewey Decimal Classification 930.1
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Alternative Pathways to Complexity focuses on the themes of architecture, economics, and power in the evolution of complex societies. Case studies from Mesoamerica, Asia, Africa, and Europe examine the relationship between political structures and economic configurations of ancient chiefdoms and states through a framework of comparative archaeology.
A group of highly distinguished scholars takes up important issues, theories, and methods stemming from the nascent body of research on comparative archaeology to showcase and apply important theories of households, power, and how the development of complex societies can be extended and refined. Drawing on the archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic records, the chapters in this volume contain critical investigations on the role of collective action, economics, and corporate cognitive codes in structuring complex societies.
Alternative Pathways to Complexity is an important addition to theoretical development and empirical research on Mesoamerica, the Old World, and cross-cultural studies. The theoretical implications addressed in the chapters will have broad appeal for scholars grappling with alternative pathways to complexity in other regions as well as those addressing diverse cross-cultural research.
Contributors: Sarah B. Barber, Cynthia L. Bedell, Christopher S. Beekman, Frances F. Berdan, Tim Earle, Carol R. Ember, Gary M. Feinman, Arthur A. Joyce, Stephen A. Kowalewski, Lisa J. LeCount, Linda M. Nicholas, Peter N. Peregrine, Peter Robertshaw, Barbara L. Stark, T. L. Thurston, Deborah Winslow, Rita Wright
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Lane F. Fargher is investigator in the Department of Human Ecology, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN—Unidad Mérida, Yucatán, México, and codirector of the Tlaxcallan Archaeological Project (in Tlaxcala, Mexico). A Mesoamerican archaeologist and cross-cultural researcher, he is interested in the role of cooperation and collective action in markets, ancient cities, landscapes, and households.
Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza is investigator in the Centro de Estudios Arqueológicos of El Colegio de Michoacán, A.C. and codirector of the Regional Survey and the Trajectory of Complexity in the Magdalena Lake Basin (in Jalisco, Mexico) and the Tlaxcallan Archaeological Project (in Tlaxcala, Mexico). Her research interests are alternative pathways to complexity, political economy, settlement patterns, regional analysis, and cross-cultural research.
REVIEWS
“Convincing, compelling and impressive.”
—Verónica Pérez Rodríguez, SUNY Albany
"[T]he volume represents an important contribution to the examination of issues for which Blanton has furthered scholarship, organized as three sections with cases from Mesoamerica, the Old World, and cross-cultural studies." —American Antiquity
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction - Lane F. Fargher, Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza, and Cynthia L. Bedell
Section 1: Mesoamerican Cases
Chapter 1. It Was the Economy, Stupid - Stephen A. Kowalewski
Chapter 2. Alternative Pathways to Power in Formative Oaxaca - Arthur A. Joyce and Sarah B. Barber
Chapter 3. Built Space as Political Fields: Community versus Lineage Strategies in the Tequila Valleys - Christopher S. Beekman
Chapter 4. Complexity without Centralization: Corporate Power in Postclassic Jalisco - Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza
Chapter 5. Central Precinct Plaza Replication and Corporate Groups in Mesoamerica - Barbara L. Stark
Chapter 6. Featherwork as a Commodity Complex in the Late Postclassic Mesoamerican World System - Frances F. Berdan
Chapter 7. Classic Maya Marketplaces and Exchanges: Examining Market Competition as a Factor for Understanding Commodity Distributions - Lisa J. LeCount
Section 2: Old World Cases
Chapter 8. Enduring Nations and Emergent States: Rulership, Subjecthood, and Power in Early Scandinavia - T. L. Thurston
Chapter 9. The Bakitara (Banyoro) of Uganda and Collective Action Theory - Peter Robertshaw
Chapter 10. Cognitive Codes and Collective Action at Mari and the Indus - Rita Wright
Chapter 11. “We Shape Our Buildings and Afterwards Our Buildings Shape Us”: Interpreting Architectural Evolution in a Sinhalese Village - Deborah Winslow
Section 3: Cross-Cultural Studies
Chapter 12. Network Strategy and War - Peter N. Peregrine and Carol R. Ember
Chapter 13. Framing the Rise and Variability of Past Complex Societies - Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas
Chapter 14. Pathways to Power: Corporate and Network Strategies, Staple and Wealth Finance, and Primary and Secondary States - Tim Earle
Chapter 15. Corporate Power Strategies, Collective Action, and Control of Principals: A Cross-Cultural Perspective - Lane F. Fargher
References
List of Contributors
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Alternative Pathways to Complexity: A Collection of Essays on Architecture, Economics, Power, and Cross-Cultural Analysis
edited by Lane F. Fargher and Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza
University Press of Colorado, 2016 Cloth: 978-1-60732-532-1 eISBN: 978-1-60732-533-8
Alternative Pathways to Complexity focuses on the themes of architecture, economics, and power in the evolution of complex societies. Case studies from Mesoamerica, Asia, Africa, and Europe examine the relationship between political structures and economic configurations of ancient chiefdoms and states through a framework of comparative archaeology.
A group of highly distinguished scholars takes up important issues, theories, and methods stemming from the nascent body of research on comparative archaeology to showcase and apply important theories of households, power, and how the development of complex societies can be extended and refined. Drawing on the archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic records, the chapters in this volume contain critical investigations on the role of collective action, economics, and corporate cognitive codes in structuring complex societies.
Alternative Pathways to Complexity is an important addition to theoretical development and empirical research on Mesoamerica, the Old World, and cross-cultural studies. The theoretical implications addressed in the chapters will have broad appeal for scholars grappling with alternative pathways to complexity in other regions as well as those addressing diverse cross-cultural research.
Contributors: Sarah B. Barber, Cynthia L. Bedell, Christopher S. Beekman, Frances F. Berdan, Tim Earle, Carol R. Ember, Gary M. Feinman, Arthur A. Joyce, Stephen A. Kowalewski, Lisa J. LeCount, Linda M. Nicholas, Peter N. Peregrine, Peter Robertshaw, Barbara L. Stark, T. L. Thurston, Deborah Winslow, Rita Wright
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Lane F. Fargher is investigator in the Department of Human Ecology, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN—Unidad Mérida, Yucatán, México, and codirector of the Tlaxcallan Archaeological Project (in Tlaxcala, Mexico). A Mesoamerican archaeologist and cross-cultural researcher, he is interested in the role of cooperation and collective action in markets, ancient cities, landscapes, and households.
Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza is investigator in the Centro de Estudios Arqueológicos of El Colegio de Michoacán, A.C. and codirector of the Regional Survey and the Trajectory of Complexity in the Magdalena Lake Basin (in Jalisco, Mexico) and the Tlaxcallan Archaeological Project (in Tlaxcala, Mexico). Her research interests are alternative pathways to complexity, political economy, settlement patterns, regional analysis, and cross-cultural research.
REVIEWS
“Convincing, compelling and impressive.”
—Verónica Pérez Rodríguez, SUNY Albany
"[T]he volume represents an important contribution to the examination of issues for which Blanton has furthered scholarship, organized as three sections with cases from Mesoamerica, the Old World, and cross-cultural studies." —American Antiquity
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction - Lane F. Fargher, Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza, and Cynthia L. Bedell
Section 1: Mesoamerican Cases
Chapter 1. It Was the Economy, Stupid - Stephen A. Kowalewski
Chapter 2. Alternative Pathways to Power in Formative Oaxaca - Arthur A. Joyce and Sarah B. Barber
Chapter 3. Built Space as Political Fields: Community versus Lineage Strategies in the Tequila Valleys - Christopher S. Beekman
Chapter 4. Complexity without Centralization: Corporate Power in Postclassic Jalisco - Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza
Chapter 5. Central Precinct Plaza Replication and Corporate Groups in Mesoamerica - Barbara L. Stark
Chapter 6. Featherwork as a Commodity Complex in the Late Postclassic Mesoamerican World System - Frances F. Berdan
Chapter 7. Classic Maya Marketplaces and Exchanges: Examining Market Competition as a Factor for Understanding Commodity Distributions - Lisa J. LeCount
Section 2: Old World Cases
Chapter 8. Enduring Nations and Emergent States: Rulership, Subjecthood, and Power in Early Scandinavia - T. L. Thurston
Chapter 9. The Bakitara (Banyoro) of Uganda and Collective Action Theory - Peter Robertshaw
Chapter 10. Cognitive Codes and Collective Action at Mari and the Indus - Rita Wright
Chapter 11. “We Shape Our Buildings and Afterwards Our Buildings Shape Us”: Interpreting Architectural Evolution in a Sinhalese Village - Deborah Winslow
Section 3: Cross-Cultural Studies
Chapter 12. Network Strategy and War - Peter N. Peregrine and Carol R. Ember
Chapter 13. Framing the Rise and Variability of Past Complex Societies - Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas
Chapter 14. Pathways to Power: Corporate and Network Strategies, Staple and Wealth Finance, and Primary and Secondary States - Tim Earle
Chapter 15. Corporate Power Strategies, Collective Action, and Control of Principals: A Cross-Cultural Perspective - Lane F. Fargher
References
List of Contributors
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE