EMAP (2008) Social Transformation and Its Human Costs in the Prehispanic Southwest

Part of the EMAP - Reports project

Author(s): Michelle Hegmon; Matthew Peeples; Ann P. Kinzig; Stephanie Kulow; Cathryn Meegan; Margaret Nelson

Year: 2008

Summary

Change is inevitable, but some changes and transformations are more dramatic and fraught with suffering than others. Resilience theory suggests the concept of a “rigidity trap” as an explanation for these differences. In rigidity traps, a high degree of connectivity and the suppression of innovation prolong an increasingly rigid state, with the result that the eventual transformation is harsh. Three archaeological cases from the U.S. Southwest (Mimbres, Mesa Verde, and Hohokam) and new methods for assessing transformations and rigidity are used to evaluate this concept. They reveal the expected association between the severity of transformation and degree of rigidity, suggesting that a rigidity trap contributed to the Hohokam decline, which included significant human suffering. Possible causes of rigidity, with implications for today’s world, are explored. [Keywords: U.S. Southwest, archaeology, social transformation, resilience theory, ecological theory]

Cite this Record

EMAP (2008) Social Transformation and Its Human Costs in the Prehispanic Southwest. Michelle Hegmon, Matthew Peeples, Ann P. Kinzig, Stephanie Kulow, Cathryn Meegan, Margaret Nelson. American Anthropologist. 110 (3): 313-324. 2008 ( tDAR id: 391377) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8CR5V72

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Keywords

Culture
Mimbres • Mogollon

Material
Ceramic • Chipped Stone • Dating Sample • Fauna • Ground Stone • Macrobotanical • Mineral • Shell • Wood

Site Type
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Research Design / Data Recovery Plan • Systematic Survey

Geographic Keywords
Animas Drainage • Eastern Mimbres • Palomas Drainage • Rio Grande Drainage • Seco Drainage • Southwest New Mexico

Temporal Keywords
Black Mountain Phase • Classic Mimbres Period • Early Mogollon Pithouse Period • Late Mogollon Pithouse Period • Mimbres Reorganization Phase

Spatial Coverage

min long: -107.428; min lat: 32.927 ; max long: -107.356; max lat: 32.982 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Michelle Hegmon; Margaret C. Nelson

File Information

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Hegmon-et-al-2008-Social-Transformations_AA.pdf 1.03mb Aug 19, 2013 8:49:28 PM Public

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