In considerations of societal change, the application of classic evolutionary schemes to prehistoric southwestern peoples has always been problematic for scholars. Because recent theoretical developments point toward more variation in the scale, hierarchy, and degree of centralization of complex societies, this book takes a fresh look at southwestern prehistory with these new ideas in mind. This is the first book-length work to apply new theories of social organization and leadership strategies to the prehispanic Southwest. It examines leadership strategies in a number of archaeological contexts from Chaco Canyon to Casas Grandes, from Hohokam to Zuni to show striking differences in the way that leadership was constructed across the region. These case studies provide ample evidence for alternative models of leadership in middle-range societies. By illustrating complementary approaches in the study of political organization, they offer new insight into power and inequality. They also provide important models of how today's archaeologists are linking data to theory, providing a basis for comparative analysis with other regions.
CONTENTS-Alternative Models, Alternative Strategies: Leadership in the Prehispanic Southwest / Barbara J. Mills-Political Leadership and the Construction of Chacoan Great Houses, A.D. 1020-1140 / W. H. Wills -Leadership, Long-Distance Exchange, and Feasting in the Protohistoric Rio Grande / William M. Graves and Katherine A. Spielmann-Ritual as a Power Resource in the American Southwest / James M. Potter and Elizabeth M. Perry-Ceramic Decoration as Power: Late Prehistoric Design Change in East-Central Arizona / Scott Van Keuren-Leadership Strategies in Protohistoric Zuni Towns / Keith W. Kintigh-Organizational Variability in Platform Mound-Building Groups of the American Southwest / Mark D. Elson and David R. Abbott-Leadership Strategies among the Classic Period Hohokam: A Case Study / Karen G. Harry and James M. Bayman: The Institutional Contexts of Hohokam Complexity and Inequality / Suzanne K. Fish and Paul R. Fish- Leadership at Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico / Michael E. Whalen and Paul E. Minnis-Reciprocity and Its Limits: Considerations for a Study of the Prehispanic Pueblo World / Timothy A. Kohler, Matthew W. Van Pelt, and Lorene Y. L.
Yap-Dual-Processual Theory and Social Formations in the Southwest / Gary M. Feinman