Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Alternate Models of Community Formation

Suny At Binghamton, Binghamton NY

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Dr. Ruth Van Dyke, Kellam Throgmorton (Binghamton University) will undertake research that evaluates the role of population movement in the development of political complexity. Anthropologists have long been interested in the origins of large-scale, politically complex societies. Some models imply that political complexity arises when societies seek more efficient modes of subsistence, labor organization, or exchange. Others highlight the role of historical contingencies in the development of political complexity, focusing on how different groups negotiate power relationships during periods of population movement or social transformation. The debate has broad implications for contemporary society, as these models offer fundamentally different characterizations of the capacity for human agents to create change. Furthermore, archaeological research on this topic can inform the present by illuminating alternative modes of political organization and by challenging taken-for-granted assumptions about the nature of power, politics, and population movement in human societies. Finally, unlike many other disciplines, archaeology investigates the spatial components of political relations, since evidence for the emergence of complex societies is often inscribed on the landscape as monumental structures and patterns in settlement organization. These landscapes are affected by development and continued human habitation. As a consequence, archaeological investigation of political landscapes also serves as a potent means of documenting and preserving critical records of past political negotiation. In addition, the project will engage a broad spectrum of stakeholders that are working to preserve aspects of the greater Chacoan landscape, including tribal groups and federal agencies. The research will demonstrate how archaeological theory and method can contribute to broader goals of landscape preservation and development planning. Dr. Van Dyke and Mr. Throgmorton will use precolumbian Chacoan society as a case study. Chaco was a politically complex Ancestral Pueblo society that flourished in what are now parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona between A.D. 840-1140, but its origins are murky. Some archaeologists suggest that Chacoan society arose largely in situ, while others argue that large-scale migration into the area from the north contributed to the development of Chacoan political complexity. The researchers will use geophysical survey, remote sensing, and architectural documentation to produce high-quality, accurate visualizations of the surface and subsurface archaeology of two Chacoan communities. They will analyze ceramic and stone artifacts to understand material culture usage across the communities, which is important for characterizing political relationships between households. Using these data Dr. Van Dyke and Mr. Throgmorton will determine how early Chacoan communities in New Mexico formed - as a result of in situ growth or due to immigration? The results will answer a current debate in Chacoan archaeology, but will also more broadly inform anthropological models on political organization in the ancient past.