INTERACTION, BOUNDARIES AND IDENTITIES: A MULTISCALAR APPROACH TO THE ORGANIZATIONAL SCALE OF PUEBLO IV ZUNI SOCIETY

Summary

Across the northern Southwest, the Pueblo IV period (A.D. 1275-1400) was a

time of dramatic change in settlement patterns, religious configurations, and social

relationships, leading to the constant redefinition of social boundaries and identities and

the establishment of multiple social connections. This dissertation explores the spatial

and social scales at which residents of Zuni region nucleated villages focused social

interactions and defined social boundaries and identities. This is accomplished through

analyses of pottery production and exchange, raw material utilization for glaze paint

manufacture, and both technological and decorative styles. These analyses illuminate

three scales at which individuals negotiated social identities and interactions: among

villages within pueblo clusters, among different pueblo clusters, and with other regions.

A multiscalar perspective on regional organization reveals that individuals used

pottery to negotiate social relationships within overlapping spheres of interaction

characterized by permeable and flexible boundaries. Thus, existing conventional

organizational scenarios fail to fully capture the complex and multifaceted nature of

Pueblo IV Zuni regional social dynamics. A richer interpretation is informed by closer

attention to the organizational parameters of nucleated pueblos, regional population

movement, and differences in pueblo cluster occupational histories.

A key substantive contribution of this research is that it provides a case study for

exploring the complex and heterogeneous nature of regional organizational scale using an

approach grounded in anthropology of technology theory. It develops a methodological

framework that can be applied broadly to anthropological and archaeological inquiry in

other parts of the world, as well as to other types of material culture. In addition, it

provides empirical support for the flexibility and mutability of social identity and group

boundaries in the Pueblo IV Southwest, which has implications for the spatial scales

employed to relate modern social groups to past social groups. This research also has

implications for the ways archaeologists study leadership and power in Southwestern

societies, in that it questions the notion of hierarchical or centralized political and

economic power structures for the Pueblo IV period. It suggests that alternative

strategies, such as successful manipulation of inter-pueblo social connections or control

over long-distance resources, may have been used to concentrate social power.

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