Unraveling Sociopolitical Organization using Lithic Data: a Case Study from an Agricultural Society in the American Southwest

Summary

Archaeologists that conduct research in agricultural societies of the American Southwest have contributed little discussions and interpretation regarding sociopolitical organization using lithic data; several negative factors may be at the root of the problem. These factors include 1) archaeologists in the American Southwest have developed a remarkable level of pottery analysis that allows for the reconstruction of some aspects of sociopolitical organization, 2) none has developed a comprehensive debitage analysis technique that allows for the understanding of sociopolitical organization using lithic data, and 3) archaeologists have not fruitfully developed research questions regarding sociopolitical organization using lithic data. In this paper, I demonstrate that the study of tool-stone procurement in agricultural societies has tremendous opportunities for archaeologists to understand and reconstruct sociopolitical organization. To support my points, I discuss the results from a lithic analysis conducted in the central Mesa Verde region of the American Southwest.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Global Perspectives on Lithic Technologies in Complex Societies

Keywords

Spatial Coverage