Smallholders (Other Keyword)
1-3 (3 Records)
In this introduction, I discuss the literature on smallholders in complex societies and directions for current and future archaeological research. I attempt to answer several questions: What is a smallholder? How can we detect them in the archaeological record? How does a focus on smallholders contribute to studies of other social groups, such as classes, gender, and ethnicity? I conclude my presentation with a discussion of the role of smallholders in pig husbandry in Chalcolithic and Bronze...
Smallholders, Social Practices, and the Advent of Inequality: A Case Study from the Society Island Chiefdoms (East Polynesia) (2016)
I discuss comparative analyses of Society Island residential complexes to understand the role of smallholders in the advent of social complexity. In particular, I investigate the role of commoner production and its relationship to the elaboration of social inequality in late prehistory. Integrated spatial analysis of activity areas, artifacts, and sub-surface features provides data for understanding variation in production and consumption activities (tool production, subsistence production,...
Upward Mobility Among Smallholders of the Desert North Coast of Peru (2016)
Mobility among smallholders or campesinos is a crucial element for understanding the development of both ancient and modern-day Peru. In the case of the ancient agricultural landscape of Mocán, the movement of people, products, and possibly plants, lead to increasing network complexity eventually culminating in the area’s incorporation into an important coastal polity. Archaeological evidence suggests changing approaches to landscape and water management over the 2,000 years of occupation in the...