RUI: Economic Relations and Social Inequality in Terminal Classic Honduras

Gettysburg College, Gettysburg PA

Investigators

Abstract

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Julia Hendon will conduct two field seasons of archaeological research at the site of Cerro Palenque in the Ulua River Valley of north-central Honduras. This large and fertile valley was home to a number of Indian societies prior to Spanish contact with the earliest settlement dating back to 2000 BC. Cerro Palenque is a later site, occupied from AD 600-1000. During the Terminal Classic period, AD 850-1000, it became the largest community in the lower Ulua Valley, with over 500 structures and a large concentration of monumental architecture. Excavations and analyses will be used by Dr. Hendon to address how control of economic production and distribution contributed to the development of social inequality in the Ulua Valley. Three explanations for the relationship between economic control and social inequality will be examined: 1) control of exchange networks; 2) control of specialized production; and 3) manipulation of social networks through competitive generosity. The rapid development of Cerro Palenque as a dominant center during the Terminal Classic period and its relatively short period of occupation make it an ideal case study for testing these three explanations. The first season of research will be devoted to the excavation of the largest residential compound at the site. This compound is located next to the central public area where religious and administrative buildings made up the political core of the community during its peak occupation. The excavations will concentrate on recovering stratified deposits associated with the houses and other structures in the compound that will yield evidence for the location and intensity of specialized craft production and for the participation of Cerro Palenque's residents in long-distance trade in exotic resources such as the volcanic glass obsidian, used for blades and other cutting tools, and marine shell, used for religious offerings. The second season will draw on the expertise of specialists in archaeological chemistry, faunal analysis, and paleoethnobotany by concentrating on technical analyses and specialized study of the variety of materials recovered during the excavations. X-ray diffraction will be used to characterize the chemical composition of the obsidian tools, allowing identification of the source of the raw material. Fine-paste pottery, some of it manufactured at Cerro Palenque or at nearby sites in the Ulua Valley, will also undergo chemical characterization through the use of petrographic and neutron activation analyses to determine manufacturing locations more specifically. Carved marble vessels, a hallmark of the Terminal Classic period in the Ulua Valley, will also be studied to determine their source. The diet of the residents of Cerro Palenque will be studied through the identification of animal bones and plant remains. This research will contribute to the development of valid models of social change and the emergence of social complexity, a goal which lies at the heart of a scientifically informed archaeology. The research will also contribute to expanding our understanding of the history of ancient societies and the processes that shaped them.