Full metadata
Title
Identity and social transformation in the prehispanic Cibola world: A.D. 1150-1325
Description
This dissertation explores the interrelationships between periods of rapid social change and regional-scale social identities. Using archaeological data from the Cibola region of the U.S. Southwest, I examine changes in the nature and scale of social identification across a period of demographic and social upheaval (A.D. 1150-1325) marked by a shift from dispersed hamlets, to clustered villages, and eventually, to a small number of large nucleated towns. This transformation in settlement organization entailed a fundamental reconfiguration of the relationships among households and communities across an area of over 45,000 km2. This study draws on contemporary social theory focused on political mobilization and social movements to investigate how changes in the process of social identification can influence the potential for such widespread and rapid transformations. This framework suggests that social identification can be divided into two primary modes; relational identification based on networks of interaction among individuals, and categorical identification based on active expressions of affiliation with social roles or groups to which one can belong. Importantly, trajectories of social transformations are closely tied to the interrelationships between these two modes of identification. This study has three components: Social transformation, indicated by rapid demographic and settlement transitions, is documented through settlement studies drawing on a massive, regional database including over 1,500 sites. Relational identities, indicated by networks of interaction, are documented through ceramic compositional analyses of over 2,100 potsherds, technological characterizations of over 2,000 utilitarian ceramic vessels, and the distributions of different types of domestic architectural features across the region. Categorical identities are documented through stylistic comparisons of a large sample of polychrome ceramic vessels and characterizations of public architectural spaces. Contrary to assumptions underlying traditional approaches to social identity in archaeology, this study demonstrates that relational and categorical identities are not necessarily coterminous. Importantly, however, the strongest patterns of relational connections prior to the period of social transformation in the Cibola region largely predict the scale and structure of changes associated with that transformation. This suggests that the social transformation in the Cibola region, despite occurring in a non-state setting, was governed by similar dynamics to well-documented contemporary examples.
Date Created
2011
Contributors
- Peeples, Matthew A. (Author)
- Kintigh, Keith W. (Thesis advisor)
- Hegmon, Michelle (Thesis advisor)
- Spielmann, Katherine A. (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
Geographic Subject
Resource Type
Extent
xxiii, [3] 579 p. : ill. (some col.)., maps (some col.)
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.14281
Statement of Responsibility
by Matthew A. Peeples
Description Source
Retrieved on Oct. 18, 2012
Level of coding
full
Note
thesis
Partial requirement for: Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2011
bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. 390-450)
Field of study: Anthropology
System Created
- 2012-08-24 06:07:42
System Modified
- 2021-08-30 01:50:26
- 3 years 2 months ago
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