This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, published by Elsevier in . The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Researchers have suggested that warfare and environmental factors were key influences on the late Classic (ca. AD 500-900) settlement of the Malpaso valley. Scenarios of violent conflict at varying scales have been proposed, supported by evidence of defensive attributes and abundant mortuary remains at the valley's principal center, La Quemada. In addition, it has been argued that the location of the valley increased its vulnerability to drought conditions through time, provoking or exacerbating conflict over resources. To evaluate the likelihood of these scenarios, I examine settlement pattern data from the valley. I propose a set of general expectations for site configuration and location for each of the proposed warfare models and then evaluate the degree to which the archaeological settlement conforms to each. I then investigate the role of environment in influencing site location using GIS software to identify areas most suitable for dryland agriculture based on proximity to soil type and available moisture. My findings suggest that if warfare occurred in the valley, it was most likely interregional conflict between large centers. I also find that for the majority of the sites in the valley, location is more readily explained by agricultural than defensive concerns. al than defensive concerns.

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Most archaeological analyses of social status focus on variation in burials, elaborate architecture, and prestige items and give less attention to the fact that people express and construct social identities in their everyday lives. In fact, domestic practices are both rooted in social distinctions and used to manipulate them. By expanding analyses to include variation in domestic activities, archaeologists can observe how social variability is expressed in everyday life. The utility of this approach is demonstrated with an example from the Malpaso Valley, Zacatecas, Mexico, where there is strong evidence for complex social organization, but limited indication of status in prestige indices. Analyses of food-related variables, including macrobotanical remains, food preparation tools, and serving vessels from 10 household middens demonstrate a general, though not direct, correlation between involvement in domestic activities and frequencies of the few prestige markers present. The results suggest that the foundation and manifestation of social differences in the Malpaso Valley was not the same among all elite. This study demonstrates the potential contribution that the inclusion of domestic variables can provide to any study of status variability.