Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

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Selfishness and despotism were once considered the prime drivers of social complexity in premodern societies, and democracy was imagined as a modern and “Western” invention. However, recent theory driven by Richard Blanton, Gary Feinman, and others has revealed that these notions are couched in Orientalism and ethnocentrism—many ancient societies were more cooperative from the onset. Governance changes through time. In the past, as in today, tensions exist between good governance (with a focus on the greater good) and despotism (with a focus on the ruling elite). Of course, societies are not one or the other but exist along a continuum. Some societies are more cooperative, and others are more despotic. For various reasons, the organization can change over time. At some times in history, such as in 19<sup>th</sup> century France, such shifts can be sudden and extreme. At other times, they can be gradual or even approach a near stasis. The papers of this session consider archaeological evidence of the tension between despotism and cooperation (or lack thereof) in various parts of the world.

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Other Keywords
Warfare • Violence • Monumentality • Social and Political Organization • and Conflict • Worldwide

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-12 of 12)

  • Documents (12)
Documents
  • The Complex Politics of Political Complexity, an Andean Example (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Justin Jennings.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In recent years, archaeologists have noted an oscillation between more pluralistic and more autocratic forms of governance in the same societies. This paper argues that our understanding of these transitions has been hampered by oversimplified models of political complexity. Decision-making today is often...

  • Council Houses and Shifts Toward Cooperative Political Governance in the Terminal Classic Maya Lowlands (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Christina Halperin.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Governance during the Classic period in the Maya Lowlands was heavily based on the institutions and relationships surrounding divine kingship, which was characterized by paramount rulers and their hierarchical relations with other political officials and the populace. This paper examines changes to this governing...

  • Despots, optimization, and cooperative transitions in Maya society (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Keith Prufer.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Major evolutionary transitions in sociality are premised on the formation of cooperative groups and transformation of the collective group into an entity. Prior to the development of institutions, the kin group was the primary locus of cooperation and was limited largely by environmental and physical constraints....

  • Dispersed Iron Production in the Urban-Rural Interface of Great Zimbabwe (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ezekia Mtetwa.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Great Zimbabwe, the major civilization south of the pyramids, had a vibrant metallurgical industry within the urban center, but the most significant iron production was located in the hinterland. Here, extensive clusters of natural draft furnaces—some with unique rectangular morphologies—alongside abundant tap...

  • Fauna in Preclassic (800 BC-AD 200) and Late Classic period (AD 600-930) Ritual Contexts at Nixtun-Ch’ich’, Petén, Guatemala (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jemima Georges.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Nixtun-Ch’ich’ in Petén, Guatemala was heavily occupied in the Middle Preclassic (800-300 BC) and Late Preclassic (300 BC-AD 200) periods. The site was abandoned in the Early Classic period (AD 200-600), then reoccupied in the Late/Terminal Classic (AD 600-930) and Postclassic period (AD 930-1525). Excavations at...

  • From Palace to Council House: The Postclassic Cooperative Transition in Petén, Guatemala (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Yuko Shiratori.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Classic Maya kings were often considered sacred and divine and at the top of the hierarchy of kingdoms. On monuments and decorated vessels, they were depicted as super-human beings, different from other members of society. The royal dynasties of Classic period Petén disappeared from the archaeological eye by the...

  • The Nested Nature of Inequality in Classic Maya Cities: Continuums of Cooperative Neighborhoods to Despotic Rulership (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Amy Thompson.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Recent research suggests that locations on the continuum of collective to despotic forms of governance correlate with degrees of inequality. Among more despotic forms of governance, certain individuals disproportionately accrue resources, increasing wealth inequality. However, how governance affects different...

  • Polity, collectivity and trade: a Mediterranean island across temporal and social boundaries (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Zachary Griffith.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper examines the organization and control of trade on Sicily and the different forms of polities on Sicily during shifts across the traditional archaeological boundaries of Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age. In other parts of Europe, these periods are currently conceptualized as going from more egalitarian,...

  • Reimagining governance in the Zimbabwe culture: Some lessons from ancient Mberengwa (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Robert Nyamushosho.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This study examines the persistent challenges in the historiography of early governance and state formation in the Zimbabwe culture (CE 1000–1900). Traditional analyses of Great Zimbabwe, and other large collectives such as Mapungubwe and Khami rely heavily on outdated socio-evolutionary models that portray these...

  • Shifting Prosperity amid Cycles of Collective and Autocratic Governance at Caracol, Belize (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Adrian Chase.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The city of Caracol, Belize shifted back and forth between more collective and more autocratic governance at least four times over its 1,500-year history. In the Preclassic, early conurbation between three centers (Downtown Caracol, Hazcap Ceel, and Cahal Pichik) created the initial conditions for Caracol’s...

  • The Space Between Cooperation and Despotism: The Archaeology of Maya Architecture and Raised Field Agriculture in the Petén Lakes Region, Guatemala during the Classic to Postclassic Transition (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kevin Schwarz.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The space between cooperative society and despotism is vast, and understanding how ancient societies worked with archaeology can be challenging. But, in the current era, with democracy and authoritarianism contending, it is important to study such phenomena, particularly in periods of transition. The Collapse of...

  • The “Streetlight Effect” and the Late Preclassic/Early Classic Transition in Petén, Guatemala (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Timothy Pugh.

    This is an abstract from the "Cooperative and Noncooperative Transitions in the Archaeological Record" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Collapses are frequently observed in the archaeological record, though they are rarely catastrophic events. They generally involve migration and reorganization, which is an opportune time to reevaluate the existing system of organization. Despotic systems tend to be more visible since rulers overtly proclaim their...