Political Organization (Other Keyword)
1-23 (23 Records)
A change in architectural style is often a result of changes in power and political organization. During the Terminal Classic Period which the Cochuah region exhibited changes in the settlement pattern, in sites layout, and in architectural components. The organization of space, directions, the location and the architectural design of buildings underwent some changes during this period. All registered sites in the Cochuah region were occupied during this period. In addition to occupation...
Big Changes in Little Places: An Examination of the Political Strategies of Leaders at Late Postclassic Xaltocan, Mexico (2017)
During the Late Postclassic the Basin of Mexico underwent dramatic political and cultural shifts, chiefly due to the formation and rapid expansion of the Aztec Triple Alliance. Xaltocan was among the many regional centers to be conquered and incorporated into the Aztec state. Historical documents indicate that prolonged conflict ultimately resulted in Xaltocan’s conquest and partial abandonment, thus local leaders were not integrated into the new political framework and were replaced by Mexica...
Coba: New Findings and Future Directions of Research (2016)
This paper presents new spatial and cultural data on the Maya archaeological site of Coba. As part of the Political Interaction Project of Central Yucatán, we have piloted a new investigation on the political, social, and economic relationship between the two Maya cities Yaxuna and Coba. These two cities are connected by the longest sacbe in the Maya region, Sacbe 1, stretching 100 km across the peninsula. Understanding the relationship between these two cities will require a multi year and...
The Dynamics of an Ancient Hegemony: How the Classic Snake Kingdom Rewrites the Story of lowland Maya Political Organization (2016)
The political organization of the Classic Maya has been a hotly contested topic for many years. Since the 1930s, interpretations have fluctuated between visions of large-scale centralized states and small-scale decentralized polities. However, the recognition of a particular body of data in the inscriptions - statements of royal subordination and allegiance - is giving rise to a new consensus that obviates this this well-worn dichotomy. This introductory paper will set the scene for this...
From Second Tier to First Tier: Cerro Topiltepec in light of new research (2016)
Recent excavations at Cerro Jazmín, a first tier center in the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca, indicate that this center´s main occupations were during the Early and Late Ramos phases and not during the Early Las Flores phase as it was previously established. These new data change our perspective on Cerro Topiltepec, a putative secondary center in the Nochixtlán valley, and its role in the region during the Early Las Flores phase. In this paper, we analyze the changing political landscape in the...
Gathered for the Feast: Community and Polity Ceremony in the Lower Río Verde Valley (2016)
Among Payson Sheets’ many contributions to archaeological method and theory is a long-term commitment to examining the actions and relationships of commoners. Taking inspiration from his work at Cerén on community ceremony, in this paper we examine collective ceremonial practices at two Terminal Formative period (C.E. 100 – 250) sites in the lower Río Verde valley of Pacific coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. The site of Yugüe, like Cerén, was a small site that was located only four kilometers away from a...
The Lords of Lambityeco: Political Evolution in the Valley of Oaxaca during the Xoo Phase (2010)
The Valley of Oaxaca was unified under the rule of Monte Albán until its collapse around AD 800. Using findings from John Paddock's long-term excavations at Lambityeco from 1961 to 1976, Michael Lind and Javier Urcid examine the political and social organization of the ancient community during the Xoo Phase (Late Classic period). Focusing on change within this single archaeological period rather than between time periods, The Lords of Lambityeco traces the changing political relationships...
Navajo Ways in Government: a Study in Political Process (1963)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Not That Stable, Not That Durable, But Very Dynamic: Political Geography and Geopolitical Dynamics in the Río Champotón Drainage, Campeche, Mexico (2015)
The nature, plasticity, and durability of states as geographical and territorial entities has been a topic of longstanding debate in the study of Classic Maya political geography. One of the central tenets of Joyce Marcus’ highly influential ‘Dynamic Model’ is a view of states as comprised of relatively durable small-scale polities that were sometimes incorporated into more volatile larger scale hegemonic states. However, recent research in Central Campeche suggests that local and regional...
Playing for Power: Ballcourts, Political Negotiation and Community Organization in Postclassic Nejapa, Oaxaca, Mexico (2016)
In the politically dynamic Postclassic period (AD 1000-1521), multiple ballcourts were built in different communities throughout the Nejapa region of Oaxaca during a time of significant settlement shifts and pressure from expanding Zapotec and Aztec empires. As a specially marked category of public architecture, ballcourts would have distinguished communities from each other while also serving as socially-integrative locations through hosting games and other important ritual activities. Given...
Political Dynamics in the Northwestern Petén from the Preclassic to the Classic: The View from La Cariba, Guatemala (2016)
La Cariba was a relatively small minor center in the northwestern Petén, but was situated in an area of important political dynamics with far-reaching consequences in the Maya world. During the Late Preclassic, the region may have been heavily influenced by El Mirador. Eventually, during the Late Classic, the nearby center of La Corona became a strong ally and vassal of the Kaan dynasty at Dzibanche and later Calakmul. Formal investigations at La Cariba since 2012 have revealed that La Cariba...
The Political Organization and Law-Ways of the Comanche Indians (1940)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Power and Polity in the Motul de San José Zone: Recent Research at Kantet’u’ul and Chachaklu’um (2016)
Motul de San José dominated a swath of the northern shore of Lake Peten Itza in central Peten, Guatemala, during the Late Classic. Recent excavations at two small sites in the periphery of Motul de San José, Kante’t’u’ul (approx. 3km northwest) and Chachacklu’um (approx. 5km east) investigated the relations between these secondary centers and their political overlords at Motul de San José. The divergent cultural histories, settlement patterns, architecture, and material culture of these two...
Predictive Model for Archaeological Resources in Anne Arundel County, Phase II 1989 - 1990, Interim Report (1990)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico: Their Land, Economy, and Civil Organization (1948)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Reassessing the Late Andean Period in the Moche Valley: the View from Cerro Huancha (2015)
In this paper I review the history of thinking about the Late Andean Period in the Moche Valley and present recent research from the site of Cerro Huancha, a large center located in a tributary of the Moche River in the chaupiyunga ecological niche. Encompassing the duration of the Inca and Chimu Empires, AD 1000 – 1532, the Late Andean Period was a time of change in political power and Cerro Huancha provides insight to how these two empires administered and interacted with populations in the...
The "Snake" Kingdom from the Vantage of Western Belize (2016)
Recent years have seen the evidence from Western Belizean sites—especially Buenavista, Cahal Pech, Caracol, Cuychen, and Xunantunich—beginning to contribute substantially to scholarly understandings of the hegemonic networks underlying Classic Maya politics. Particularly illuminating are a series of seventh-century monuments commissioned by Caracol's king K'an II, which chronicle his polity's shifting fortunes as a client kingdom. While his own father was placed on the throne of Caracol by Wak...
The Social and religious life of a Guatemalan village (1949)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Sociopolitical Networks and the Transformation of Southern Appalachian Societies, A.D. 700-1400 (2017)
This paper investigates how processes of societal transformation, including the emergence of sociopolitical hierarchies and socioeconomic inequalities, are shaped by the scale and structure of social networks. Across Southern Appalachia, during more than seven centuries of population growth and sociopolitical change, two distinct regional political traditions emerged in what are today northern Georgia and eastern Tennessee. Employing data on social signaling practices as materialized in ceramic...
Terminal Classic Maya Political Organization from the Perspective of a Secondary Site Cochuah Region, Quintana Roo (2016)
This paper focuses on characteristics of a secondary center and its satellite settlements to provide evidence for the nature of political organization in the Cochuah Region during the Terminal Classic Period. The examination of these settlements gives insight into the political organization of a secondary center which otherwise would not be available if investigation was limited to the primary centers. The data used for investigation of the nature of political organization during this time are...
Tribe and State in the Sixteenth and Twentieth Centuries: In the Development of Political Organization In Native North America (1983)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Uci and Izamal: Influence and Interaction in the Northern Maya Lowlands (2018)
In the Late Preclassic and Classic periods, several sites in the center of the northern Maya lowlands constructed buildings with distinctive megaliths. Izamal was the largest of these sites by far, and connected itself to other important sites with stone causeways that stretched up to 30 km long. Ucí, located approximately 35km to the northwest of Izamal, had its own long distance causeway which linked it to three smaller sites with monumental architecture. This paper combines data from two...
With Turkeys on Spears and Maize on Arrows: Defining and Defending the Province of Chetumal (2015)
Chetumal Bay had political and economic importance for local Maya populations for more than 2000 years. When the Spaniards entered the region in the 16th century, they settled near its political capital and attempted to incorporate it into a larger colonial world system, only to be met with wide-scale resistance. This paper examines the shifting dynamics of the Chetumal Bay territory, from the Preclassic through Postclassic-Colonial Periods, with perspectives drawn from Cerros and Progresso...