Barbara J. Mills - Böcker

The American Southwest is one of the most important archaeological regions in the world, with many of the best-studied examples of hunter-gatherer and village-based societies. Research has been carried out in the region for well over a century, and during this time the Southwest has repeatedly stood at the forefront of the development of new archaeological methods and theories. Moreover, research in the Southwest has long been a key site of collaboration between archaeologists, ethnographers, historians, linguists, biological anthropologists, and indigenous intellectuals. This volume marks the most ambitious effort to take stock of the empirical evidence, theoretical orientations, and historical reconstructions of the American Southwest. Over seventy top scholars have joined forces to produce an unparalleled survey of state of archaeological knowledge in the region. Themed chapters on particular methods and theories are accompanied by comprehensive overviews of the culture histories of particular archaeological sequences, from the initial Paleoindian occupation, to the rise of a major ritual center in Chaco Canyon, to the onset of the Spanish and American imperial projects. The result is an essential volume for any researcher working in the region as well as any archaeologist looking to take the pulse of contemporary trends in this key research tradition.

Network research has recently been adopted as one of the tools of the trade in archaeology, used to study a wide range of topics: interactions between island communities, movements through urban spaces, visibility in past landscapes, material culture similarity, exchange, and much more. This Handbook is the first authoritative reference work for archaeological network research, featuring current topical trends and covering the archaeological application of network methods and theories. This is elaborately demonstrated through substantive topics and case studies drawn from a breadth of periods and cultures in world archaeology. It highlights and further develops the unique contributions made by archaeological research to network science, especially concerning the development of spatial and material culture network methods and approaches to studying long-term network change. This is the go-to resource for students and scholars wishing to explore how network science can be applied in archaeology through an up-to-date overview of the field.

In considerations of societal change, the application of classic evolutionary schemes to prehistoric southwestern peoples has always been problematic for scholars. Because recent theoretical developments point toward more variation in the scale, hierarchy, and degree of centralization of complex societies, this book takes a fresh look at southwestern prehistory with these new ideas in mind. This is the first book-length work to apply new theories of social organization and leadership strategies to the prehispanic Southwest. It examines leadership strategies in a number of archaeological contexts from Chaco Canyon to Casas Grandes, from Hohokam to Zuni to show striking differences in the way that leadership was constructed across the region. These case studies provide ample evidence for alternative models of leadership in middle-range societies. By illustrating complementary approaches in the study of political organization, they offer new insight into power and inequality. They also provide important models of how today's archaeologists are linking data to theory, providing a basis for comparative analysis with other regions.CONTENTS-Alternative Models, Alternative Strategies: Leadership in the Prehispanic Southwest / Barbara J. Mills-Political Leadership and the Construction of Chacoan Great Houses, A.D. 1020-1140 / W. H. Wills -Leadership, Long-Distance Exchange, and Feasting in the Protohistoric Rio Grande / William M. Graves and Katherine A. Spielmann-Ritual as a Power Resource in the American Southwest / James M. Potter and Elizabeth M. Perry-Ceramic Decoration as Power: Late Prehistoric Design Change in East-Central Arizona / Scott Van Keuren-Leadership Strategies in Protohistoric Zuni Towns / Keith W. Kintigh-Organizational Variability in Platform Mound-Building Groups of the American Southwest / Mark D. Elson and David R. Abbott-Leadership Strategies among the Classic Period Hohokam: A Case Study / Karen G. Harry and James M. Bayman: The Institutional Contexts of Hohokam Complexity and Inequality / Suzanne K. Fish and Paul R. Fish- Leadership at Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico / Michael E. Whalen and Paul E. Minnis-Reciprocity and Its Limits: Considerations for a Study of the Prehispanic Pueblo World / Timothy A. Kohler, Matthew W. Van Pelt, and Lorene Y. L.Yap-Dual-Processual Theory and Social Formations in the Southwest / Gary M. Feinman

Southwestern ceramics have always been admired for their variety and aesthetic beauty. Although ceramics are most often used for placing the peoples who produced them in time, they can also provide important clues to past economic organization. This volume covers nearly 1000 years of southwestern prehistory and history, focusing on ceramic production in a number of environmental and economic contexts. It brings together the best of current research to illustrate the variation in the organization of production evident in this single geographic area. The contributors use diverse research methods in their studies of vessel form and decoration. All support the conclusion that the specialized production of ceramics for exchange beyond the household was widespread. The first seven chapters focus on ceramic production in specific regions, followed by three essays that re-examine basic concepts and offer new perspectives. Because previous studies of southwestern ceramics have focused more on distribution than production, Ceramic Production in the American Southwest fills a long-felt need for scholars in that region and offers a broad-based perspective unique in the literature.The Southwest lacked high levels of sociopolitical complexity and economic differentiation, making this volume of special interest to scholars working in similar contexts and to those interested in craft production.

With contributions from sociocultural and linguistic anthropologists as well as archaeologists, this volume is the first to present case studies of social identity and feasting from throughout the Greater Southwest. A section of the book is also devoted to a synthesis and set of case studies on the archaeology of the pivotal Mexican State of Chihuahua. Unlike many previous studies, the authors of this volume place emphasis on how differences within and between societies came about rather than why dissimilar structures arose, elevating the place of both agency and history in understanding the past. Identity, Feasting, and the Archaeology of the Greater Southwest will be of interest to all doing archaeological research in the Southwestern United States and those conducting research on social identity, cultural affiliation, and commensal politics. Contributors include Karen R. Adams, Jeffrey J. Clark, Patricia L. Crown, T. J. Ferguson, Catherine S. Fowler, Robert J. Hard, Jane H. Hill, Jane H. Kelley, Frances Levine, Micah Loma'omvaya, K. Tsianina Lomawaima, A. C. MacWilliams, Paul E. Minnis, Scott G. Ortman, David Phillips Jr., James M. Potter, John R.Roney, Lynne Sebastian, Katherine A. Spielmann, Joe D. Stewart, Scott Van Keuren, Laurie D. Webster, Michael E. Whalen, and W. H. Wills

Archaeological ideas and practices have experienced transformative change since the Society for American Archaeology’s fiftieth Anniversary. Authors in this volume from the SAA press consider critically some of today’s most noteworthy issues. Their voices—like their views—are as diverse as the discipline. Nonetheless, they repeatedly recognize deep articulation between archaeology and social, economic, and political milieus, from local to global scales. And they share conviction that much is to be done in the years ahead. This volume aims to rouse more voices to join the lively ongoing conversation.