Midterm 2 Flashcards
What is complexity?
Complexity refers to socioeconomic inequality.
Certain members of a society have more wealth and power than other
members of society.
Wealth & power often inherited, rather than earned.
Authority becomes centralized.
Legitimacy becomes important.
The right to authority has to be accepted by the rest of society.
Sometimes achieved through consensus (voting), sometimes through coercion (threat).
What are the levels of social organization?
Hunter gatherer’s
Bands
Tribes
Chiefdoms
Early States
Explain Hunter Gatherer’s
For most of human history, all societies consisted of hunter- gatherers.
Today, this form of social organization barely exists.
Most hunter-gatherer groups have been pushed to extremely marginal environments.
What are Bands?
Population: less than 100.
Architecture: Temporary structures.
Material Culture: Minimal (must be portable).
Social organization: Egalitarian (informal leadership). Economic organization: Mobile hunter-gatherers.
Settlement pattern: Temporary camps.
Religious organization: Shamanism
What are Tribes?
Population: Up to a few thousand.
Architecture: Permanent huts, burial mounds, shrines.
Material Culture: More elaborate, less portable.
Social organization: Less egalitarian, more formalized leadership. Economic organization: Farmers, pastoralists.
Settlement pattern: Permanent villages.
Religious organization: Religious elders, calendrical rituals.
What are Chiefdoms?
Population: 5,000-20,000.
Architecture: Large-scale
monuments.
Material Culture: elaborate artworks.
Social organization: Kinship-based ranking under hereditary leader; high-ranking warriors.
Economic organization: Central accumulation & redistribution; some craft specialists.
Settlement pattern: Fortified centres; ritual centres.
Religious organization: Hereditary chief with religious duties.
What are Early States?
Population: 20,000 or more.
Architecture: Palaces, temples, public buildings.
Material Culture: elaborate, with craft specialists.
Social organization: Class-based hierarchy under king or emperor.
Economic organization: Centralized bureaucracy, tribute, taxation, laws. Settlement pattern: Urban, cities, towns, roads.
Religious organization: Priestly class, pantheistic or monotheistic religion.
Explain the earliest occupation of BC prehistory and Northwest coast archeology
Very recent underwater exploration suggests possible human occupation near Haida Gwaii 14,000 years ago.
May have discovered ancient fish weirs under 100 metres of water.
Not yet sure if these are cultural in origin.
Even more recent work in the tidal areas of Calvert Island (near Haida Gwaii) revealed preserved footprints 13,000 years old.
Demonstrates people were present, although we do not know who they were, or whether they stayed in the area for long.
Very large site nearby does not (yet) date this early.
What was Namu?
Earliest sites in BC from coastal environments.
Suggests coastal migration route from Beringia.
Probable island hopping.
Maritime culture already fully
developed prior to arrival.
Northern coastal sites feature microblade technology, probably brought over from Siberia.
Namu dates: ~10,600 years ago.
Maritime culture already fully developed prior to arrival.
Describe the earliest cultures for BC prehistory
Northern and southern groups had very similar cultures.
Probably small groups, 25-40 people.
No large sites prior to roughly 4500 years ago.
Cultures probably not very similar to modern or ethnographic period cultures anywhere on the coast.
Cedar is a major component of Northwest Coast material culture; not yet abundant prior to ~5000 years ago.
Cultures probably not very similar to modern or ethnographic period cultures anywhere on the coast.
In the south, early cultures have distinctive burial patterns:
Inclusion of high-status (but limited quantity) grave goods.
Antler spoons.
Placed near mouth.
Carved to resemble totem poles.
What was potlatching?
● Surplus, status, competitive feasting & warfare.
● All are interlocking components of social complexity.
● Sharing was central but took form of competitive feasting or potlatches.
● Feasts to which neighbouring populations were invited.
● Often ended in a battle, during which valuable objects were destroyed or distributed.
● Purpose was to exhibit power through wealth.
Explain Distinctive Northwest coast Culture
First appears (north & south) between 4500 & 3500 years ago. Tools made of bone, antler, and ground stone.
Coastally oriented subsistence.
Emphasis on shellfish and fish, also sea mammals.
Land mammals still hunted, but less important.
What was the St. Mungo phase?
Also called Mayne Phase (Gulf Islands, Vancouver Island); very similar appearance & subsistence.
3 primary sites:
St. Mungo Cannery Site Glenrose Cannery Site Crescent Beach
Earliest dates to 4500 years ago.
Ends roughly 3300 years ago.
Human burials
Flexed inhumations.
Limited numbers of grave goods. Small shell disk beads.
Ochre.
No evidence of labret use.
What was the St. Mungo Phase Characteristics: Artifacts?
Chipped Stone
Leaf-shape points Stemmed points
Shouldered points
Ground Stone artifacts Abraders
Ground points
Slate knife is absent
Bone tools
Awls
Unilateral and bilateral harpoons Bone pendants
What was the St. Mungo Phase Characteristics: Diet?
Emphasis on shellfish, probably heavier during certain seasons than others.
Salmon very important.
Other fish include Eulachon, f lounder.
Elk, deer important land animals.
Seals and other marine mammals hunted.
Food storage is occurring by this time.
Explain Developing complexity
Ethnographically, the Northwest Coast was highly complex from a social standing.
At least 3 distinctive social classes present:
Noble
Commoner Slave
This pattern may find its origins following the St. Mungo Phase
Social complexity was reflected in material culture.
Considerable amount of wealth objects.
Wealth objects widely distributed, although control over either manufacturing or sources was tightly controlled.
Wealth items included food as well as artifacts.
Food sources (such as fishing grounds or shellfishing areas) were “owned” by families, and controlled for generations.
Archaeologically, we think we can see complexity through the appearance & increased use of certain types of artifacts & animal remains.
Decorative items seen as indicators of wealth:
Jade items, such as: Earspools.
Labrets (lip plugs). Adze blades.
Other items (whatzits).
Shell beads & other ornaments.
Finely made stone, bone, antler, & shell tools.
Exotic foods, such as items not found locally like California mussel or
scallops.
Explain the Locarno Beach phase
May be the earliest evidence of social complexity.
Named for site at Locarno Beach, but also found throughout southern BC, into the islands, and Washington State.
Roughly twice as many Locarno Beach Phase sites (28) known as those from St. Mungo Phase.
Dates from roughly 3500-3300 years ago, and ends around 2400 years ago.
Typical artifacts include:
Composite toggling harpoon valves.
Slate points (large with hexagonal cross-section).
Shaped and decorated abraders.
Bird-bone needles.
Ground slate stone celts (wood working tools).
Ground slate knives.
Stemmed chipped stone projectile
points.
Obsidian microblades.
Quartz crystal microblades.
Subsistence still concentrates on coastal resources:
Shellfish very important
Sea mammals (otter, seal, sea
lion).
Land mammals (deer).
Fish probably most important.
Salmon in many areas.
Herring also abundant.
Houses little known, although large structures appear to be present.
Possible large house structure from Salt Spring Island.
Labrets initially thought to be worn by some adult males, but not all; later studies showed males & females wore labrets.
Argued to indicate achieved status, rather than ascribed.
Burials similar to St. Mungo phase (f lexed inhumation), but more often with grave goods.
Cairn burials (burial beneath boulders).
Burial rituals may indicate ascribed status, according to some.
Most argue that ascribed status not present during Locarno Beach Phase.
Explain the Marpole Phase of the later BC prehistory
Named for huge midden site in south Vancouver.
2400 - 1500 BP (possibly 1100 BP).
~40 sites known from the Marpole
Phase.
Culture found throughout southern BC mainland, Gulf Islands, Vancouver Island & into Washington state.
Appears to be the first clear evidence of social complexity and socioeconomic inequality in prehistory.
Arguably first archaeological phase to closely resemble ethnographic- period Northwest Coast culture.
Possible evidence for ascribed social status:
Several instances of sub-adult burials located in burial cairns.
Cairns up to 6m in diameter & 2m high.
Some burials of sub-adult individuals have wealth items, others do not.
This seen as evidence of at least 2 distinct social classes.
Sub-adults not expected to have achieved status, but be born with it.
Dentalium beads known from burial of infant; these were a high status item ethnographically.
Subsistence information surprisingly limited.
Several sites interpreted as winter/spring villages have similar resources:
Salmon, herring, flatfish.
Cockles (shellfish).
Specialized herring fishing sites also known from this phase.
Diving birds (cormorants, etc.) present; may have been used for fishing, rather than as food.
Sea mammals also part of diet.
What did the Key artifacts include in the Marpole Phase?
Key Marpole artifacts include:
Large needles
Unilaterally barbed antler harpoons
Stone and antler sculpture
Copper objects, sometimes with
burials
Ground slate knives & projectile points
Celts
Labrets
Hand mauls
Perforated stones (net weights?)
Explain Cedar Plank Houses (Marpole Phase)
Plankhouses/longhouseswere situated in primary winter villages, occupied from fall through spring.
Atcontact,somecommunitieshad80+ houses arranged in rows, houses of most important people facing the ocean, those of lesser status set further away.
Largesthousesupto20mlong, capable of sheltering 100 residents.
Individualhousesledbya”house chief “ – a noble with ultimate authority over the commoners & slaves occupying the house.
House outlines seen at a few sites.
Very large post holes, up to 1m in
diameter, suggest plank houses.
Probably multi-family households.
Probably large villages of plank houses.
At Marpole site, houses appear to have been at least 10X13 metres, althoughthisisunclear. Noclear house boundaries have been found.
Explain the Gulf of Georgia Phase
Last prehistoric phase is unclear, and has multiple names, including San Juan Phase.
Appears very similar to ethnographically documented cultures from the area.
Dates from approximately 1200 years ago until time of European contact.
Fortified sites appear roughly 1200 years ago.
Fortified sites may be concentrated in locations that match historic-period ethnic boundaries.
Possible indicator of increased inter-group hostilities at this time.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Flatfish-lefteyed-flounder.jpg
Subsistence of this period surprisingly poorly understood.
Appears very similar in many ways to Marpole Phase sites.
Emphasis on salmon, herring, f latfish, rockfish.
Shellfish important, including sea urchins in many areas.
Sea urchins may be indicative of climatic f luctuations, similar to El Niño events.
Explain the artifact changes from the Gulf of Georgia
Phase marked by several artifact changes:
Almost complete absence of chipped stone.
Dominance of bone and antler artifacts.
Some ground stone (pecked stone also).
Composite toggling harpoon valves.
Flat-top mauls.
Barbed bone points.
Antler wedges (used for splitting logs).
Explain Clam Gardens
SFU researchers have determined that prehistoric people in coastal BC altered their landscapes.
They created clam gardens by expanding intertidal f lats, building rock retaining walls.
This lead to an increase of clam habitat and a larger harvest.
Features consist of a rock boulder wall constructed near the zero tide line.
Results in a terrace on the landward side of the wall that significantly expands bivalve habitat and productivity.
Clam gardens on the Northwest Coast are tangible evidence of ancient maricultural practices.
Indicates the deliberate modification of biotic and abiotic components of marine ecosystems to enhance resource productivity.
In BC, some regions have higher densities of clam gardens.
Areas such as northern Quadra Island have a higher density of gardens.
Locating clam garden features is an ecological, geomorphological, and cultural question.
Recent research indicates that clam gardens have been in use for at least the past 3,500 years.
Additionally, clam predators, such as sea otters that compete with humans for the same resource, also found their numbers kept in check by human activity.
Although not technically considered either agriculture or a domesticate, this indicates that human interaction artificially increased food production for millennia – exactly the type of behaviour associated with cultural complexity in many parts of the world.
Explain forest gardens
Recent analysis of forest composition surrounding ancient village sites has revealed the presence of another food management behaviour – the planting of “forest gardens.”
“On lands covered in forests dominated by hemlock and cedar trees, these forest gardens represent abrupt departures from the surrounding ecosystem. The dark, closed canopy of the conifer forest opens up and is replaced by a sunny, orchard-like spread of food-producing trees and shrubs, such as crabapple, hazelnut, cranberry, wild plum and wild cherry.”
“These plants never grow together in the wild. It seemed obvious that people put them there to grow all in one spot—like a garden“ notes Chelsea Armstrong (an SFU researcher).
As of 2021,16 of these garden sites have been documented, with more likely to be discovered.
Explain Complexity and Pre State societies
Middle Neolithic Megalithic Monuments
Most appear after 6,000 years ago.
Independent European
innovation.
Coastal Europe; seldom more than ~150 km from the coast.
About 50,000 megalithic tombs survive today.
Hundreds of thousands of megalithic tombs in Neolithic Europe
What was Dolmen of Guadalperal?
7,000-year-old monument consisting of ~100 standing stones, some up to 2 metres tall.
Arranged around an open oval space.
Revealed by extreme drought conditions in 2019; site inundated by dam construction in 1930s.
One stone (dolman) is carved with an anthropomorphic form on one side & may feature an early “map” etched onto the other.
Thought to have once had a roof covering & to have been used as a grave space.
Orientation to the summer solstice would have illuminated any ancestral remains briefly each year.
Explain Megalithic monuments
ChamberTombs:
Walled & roofed with large stones.
Burial structures.
Multiple (even numerous) individuals.
Reused over time.
Bones often moved about inside.
Evidence for ritual activities inside.
Passage graves:
Megalithic chamber under a round mound, entered through a long megalithic passageway.
Re-usable.
Gallery graves:
Long rectangular chamber, usually under a rectangular mound.
Re-usable.
Dolmens:
Smaller.
Covered by a mound; not reused.
Single standing stones (Menhirs).
Rows of standing stones.
Circles of standing stones.
A shift from communal, descent- group orientation to acceptance of individuals of high status (?)
Probably used by a single related clan of settled farmers, over many generations.
Probably served as a visible marker of their connection to that territory.
Lends legitimacy to group’s territorial claim.
What was Stonehenge?
● A ring of massive standing stones on the Salisbury Plain, England.
● Construction of Stonehenge attributed to Romans, Druids, Danes, Greeks.
● Some see it as the product of mystical forces or “earth mysteries”.
● Archaeological research demonstrates that its not a single monument, but
a sequence of monuments built over time.
What was the development of Stonehenge?
● Stonehenge was developed through a series of stages.
● Construction began in the Late Neolithic ~5000 BP.
● Stonehenge continued to be developed until the Early Bronze Age ~3500 years ago.
● Major archaeological project conducted over a 10-year span in early 2000s is altering our understanding of construction history.
● Traditional view: three major phases of development.
Explain the phases of Stonehenge
Phase 1
● The Earthwork Circle.
● The first monument at Stonehenge was a round ditch:
● The ditch enclosed an area 110 metres in diameter.
● Slight embankments were built up inside and outside of the ditch.
● Wooden posts were erected in a ring of holes called Aubrey holes, dug along the inside of the ditch.
● Phase 1 dates to the Late Neolithic, about 5000 B.P.
Phase 2
● Burials & Timber Structure.
● Ditch & Aubrey holes largely filled in during this phase.
● Human remains, including remains from cremated burials, are found in the fill of both the ditch & some of the Aubrey holes.
● A structure of standing timber posts was constructed near the centre of the monument.
● Phase 2 dates to the Late Neolithic, 5000-4500 years ago.
Phase 3
● Stone Monument.
● The monumental stones that are the most impressive aspect of
Stonehenge were erected in a series of six sub-phases.
● Phase 3 occurred during the Early Bronze Age, 4500-3500 years ago.
Phase 3a
● The Bluestones, ring of standing stones about 2.0-2.5 m high at the centre of Stonehenge.
● Source is the Preseli Mountains, Wales, over 240 km away.
● Why these stones had a value to justify such enormous effort is a mystery.
Phase 3b
● Sarsen Circle and Trilithons.
● Sarsen Circle: stone monoliths set up around the perimeter of Stonehenge.
● Sarsen: a very hard sandstone found 30km from Stonehenge.
● Circle of sarsen stones was capped by lintels made of solid blocks. ● Trilithons are another set of sarsen monoliths set up in a horseshoe
arrangement inside the Sarsen Circle, each capped by a lintel.
● Trilithons are massive, about 7 metres high.
Phases 3c-f
● Rearranging Bluestones & Digging Holes.
● During these phases the bluestones were reorganized & a series of holes
was dug in concentric circles around the site.
● One set of bluestones was set up in the shape of a horseshoe inside the
trilithons & another set erected between the trilithons & Sarsen Circle. ● Two concentric rings of pits were excavated outside of the monument.
Explain how recent evidence changes our understanding of Stonehenge
Our understanding of Stonehenge – particularly the construction history – is in a state of flux, undergoing change on a regular basis as new data & analyses become available.
Recent data suggest that both the bluestones & possibly the entire plan of Stonehenge may originate in a slightly earlier monument from Wales called Waun Mawn.
Current view is that the bluestones did not just originate in Wales, but were actually part of this earlier monument, deliberately moved to Stonehenge within a few generations of its construction.
Explain Bluestonehenge
Excavations between Stonehenge & the nearby Avon River revealed the location of a once existing stone circle – dubbed Bluestonehenge – consisting of bluestones that were later moved to Stonehenge itself.
Construction date for Bluestonehenge is still unclear.
Appears to be close in time to construction of the Avenue ditches, connecting Stonehenge to nearby Amesbury, a much larger henge structure.
Approximate timing (4475-4360 BP) suggested to connect to arrival of outsiders
(referred to as “Beaker folk” into Britain)
Were some of the Sarsen Stones imported to Stonehenge?
Recent research suggests that at least some of the Sarsen stones at Stonehenge occurred naturally.
The heel stone & stone 16 are not shaped, placed near areas of large- scale ancient digging.
Naturally occurring along a solstice axis, these two stones may be responsible for the entire geometry of Stonehenge.
Although at least some of the Sarsen at Stonehenge was local, recent chemical & geological analysis shows that the origin of most of these specimens (50 of 52) lies elsewhere.
Chemical signatures strongly suggest that an area some 25 km north of Stonehenge – known as West Woods, Wiltshire – is the most likely source of the bulk of the enormous construction stones.
What was the Stonehenge jewelry?
Bush Barrow burial, near Stonehenge.
Skeleton with prestige artifacts.
A gold lozenge that fastened his cloak was on his chest.
A bronze dagger adorned with an intricate handle design hung from his belt.
Microscopic elements, smaller than the head of a pin, were used in forming dagger handle.
More than 1,000 years before the invention of any form of magnifying glass
Argued that children did the manufacturing, because adults rarely retain that level of visual acuity.
Was there Saunas in Stonehenge?
A woodhenge discovered in Yorkshire may have had a very different kind of ritual purpose.
~4,000 years old, large circle, rectangles at edges & a pile of small stones in middle.
Rectangles at edges were bases for either wood pole buildings or simple benches.
Central pit filled with burnt stones, suggesting they were brought in after heating.
Possibly used for cremation?
Also possibly used for heating water to create a sauna or sweat bath, used ritually by many societies.
Who built Stonehenge?
Recent re-analysis of cremated remains from Aubrey Holes brought surprising results.
At least 10 of the 25 individuals studied appear to have lived in western Britain, probably Wales, near the source of the Bluestones.
Suggests that perhaps these people not only brought the Bluestones to Stonehenge, but also proceeded to settle, live, & die there.
What were the megalithic origins?
Megaliths are widespread throughout western Europe, the Mediterranean, & northern Europe.
Question: are these independent inventions, or does the idea spread?
Recent re-analysis of dates suggests that the idea may originate in Brittany (NW France) & spread throughout the rest of Europe.
Megalithic burials appear originate ~6,500 years ago in Brittany, developing over a period of 250-300 years, then spreading.
Implies widespread use of boats.
What is the meaning of Stonehenge?
● Many view Stonehenge as a mystery waiting to be unlocked.
● There is no lack of explanations for the monument:
● Prehistoricobservatory?
● Druidsanctuary?
● Stonehenge must have had a ritual function and many aspects of its
arrangement correspond to celestial orientations.
● However, multiple meanings/uses of the site occurred over time.
● There is no single meaning for Stonehenge—It was used for over 80 generations.
Explain the distinctive cultural area’s of the pre-state societies of the American southwest and northern southwest
3 major cultures:
1. Ancestral Puebloan (AKA Anasazi)
2. Mogollon
3. Hohokam
“Anasazi” translates as “ancient enemy.”
Concentrated in “4-Corners” area.
Northern Arizona/New Mexico.
Southern Colorado/Utah.
Explain the Ancestral Puebloan origins
Unclear, although they seem to have developed out of local archaic culture.
Transition begins about 1500 BC.
Linked to use of corn agriculture.
Earliest farmers did not make pottery, but relied on basketry.
Referred to as Basketmaker peoples.
Later Basketmaker culture continued to
use baskets, but less frequently.
Ceramics began to replace baskets as the preferred type of container.
This trend continued for the remainder of prehistory, where pottery was predominant.
Explain the basketmaker culture
Once crops were harvested, food storage became important.
Underground storage pits protected preserved crops from insects,
rodents, & other animals.
Pits were typically lined, covered with slabs of stone & sealed with adobe.
Explain the Pueblo 1 culture
Around AD 750, the Ancestral Puebloan culture changed.
Basketmaker groups with pithouses were replaced with above-ground structures called pueblos.
These were small initially, but eventually grew into very large room blocks, with dozens (sometimes hundreds) of rooms.
Between AD 750 and 900, populations begin to increase.
Villages become permanent, occupied year round.
Agriculture is enhanced through the use of irrigation canals.
Pithouses still in use, although above-ground structures are also present.
What were Kiva’s?
Ceremonial structures.
Usually subterranean.
Typically round, although early kivas sometimes square.
Used for religious & other communal purposes.
Pit room completely below-ground.
Roofed, with a central rectangular
opening at ground-level.
A hearth, wind deflectors, & a ventilator (opening at top center) also present.
Explain the Pueblo 2 culture
Changes between AD 900 & 1150.
Population increase.
Large-scale sites with populations of up to 5,000 people.
Construction of planned towns with connecting roads.
Widespread trade and transport of goods.
AD 900 - 1150.
Chaco Canyon sees major occupation during this time.
Chaco is an important regional centre, and may have even functioned more as a ceremonial centre than a residential area.
Suggests tremendous importance of area, although we are unsure why.
Sandstone blocks were quarried for construction.
Timber used in construction transported from distances of hundreds of miles.
Assembled 15 major complexes which remained the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century.
Construction within Chaco Canyon indicates a great deal of planning.
Structures are aligned with astronomical phenomena, such as solar and lunar cycles.
Indicates generations of observation.
Buildings separated by many miles – out of visual contact with each other – are also aligned to each other and to astronomical phenomena.
Indicates ability to perform mapping survey-style calculations.
Explain the Great Houses of Pueblo 2 culture
Immense complexes of rooms are called”Great Houses.“
Architectural styles changed through time, but Great Houses maintained core traits.
Great houses averaged more than 200 rooms each, some up to 700 rooms.
Large individual rooms ,with high ceilings.
Well-planned with large construction phases, rather
than incremental growth.
Large Chacoan buildings did not have the meticulous designs until after about AD 1030.
When this change occurred, buildings took on a combination of planned architectural designs, geometry, astronomical alignment, engineering, and landscaping.
Resulted in public architecture.
What were the functions of the Chaco canyon in Pueblo 2 culture?
Considerable debate about the function(s) of Chaco Canyon.
Few researchers feel it was a residential village.
Most argue it was a ceremonial complex, with a small local population and annual influxes of people making “pilgrimage” to this sacred area for ceremonies.
Some small residential sites around the Great House complexes within Chaco Canyon.
Chaco Canyon happens to lie along a line of lunar alignment, which may have given the area mystic significance.
Explain the Chacon Roads
Chacoan roads excavated to bedrock or soil.
Most suspected roadways have no “topographic expression”.
Roads frequently follow terrain, although linearity was clearly a focus of the roadway construction.
Misconception that many Chacoan roads, including the Great North Road, went “nowhere.”
Many roads radiated out & appeared to end after only a few kilometers.
However, they pointed to other places–Great Houses, Outliers, or other prominent features on the landscape like buttes or mesas.
Function debated. Two arguments:
1. Chacoan roads were primarily utilitarian, main roads
used to transport goods, especially timber.
2. Chacoan roads were non-utilitarian, demonstrating the existence of overarching political authority within region.
Did Chacon Canyon have kings?
Oral history claims Chaco Canyon had “kings” with great power over the people.
The Great Houses were their residences.
Little or no evidence Great Houses were temples.
Monumental buildings indicate authority over people.
Smaller Great Houses part of a regional bureaucracy.
Exotic Goods indicate trade, some from great distances.
Chief is not a Native American word; some Native people refer to the elites as “kings” and the Great Houses as “palaces.”
Their power and authority is displayed in the construction of the large “Great Houses” and public works such as irrigation projects and road building.
Smaller Great Houses spread across the landscape were most likely kin-based local leaders controlling the surrounding populations, much like a government bureaucracy; probably reported to the Chaco Canyon Elites.
Chaco as an egalitarian, communal society based on religion is out of line with the archaeological evidence.
Some agreement that religion played a part, but some researchers see a stratified political community that organized and administered a huge regional state.
The exact nature of that state is still in question.
What did the burials contribute to evidence of Chacon kings?
Archaeologists have long wondered whether there is evidence for hereditary leaders in places like Chaco Canyon.
Recent research (Feb 2017) on ancient DNA (aDNA) from several Pueblo Bonito elite burials suggests that this practice was present.
Room 33 functioned as a crypt, with human remains added to it over time.
The earliest burial within, Burial 16, is one of the richest ever discovered in western North America.
>11,200 turquoise beads; >3,300 shell beads; a conch trumpet; abalone shells from the Pacific Cost found with skeleton.
Additional remains interred above this individual, also with prestige items.
aDNA studies of 9 elite burials from Room 33 in Pueblo Bonito show virtually no differences.
This demonstrates that all of these individualsare blood relatives.
Variations in the dates of the burials leads researchers to suspect that this represents a matrilineal descent line (mother to daughter).
How does the Pueblo 2 culture end?
By AD 1130, Chaco Canyon loses its position of power and inf luence, along with most of its population.
Climate change is thought to have led to the emigration of Chacoans.
Chaco Canyon was eventually abandoned.
Probably as the result of a fifty- year drought beginning around AD 1130.
Explain Pueblo Culture 3
Occupation of Mesa Verde as old as Chaco Canyon; settlements move to cliffs ~AD 1100.
Around the time of the Chacoan collapse & abandonment, Mesa Verde grows substantially.
Results in the creation of famous cliff dwellings.
Towers were built near kivas; used as lookout posts?
Explain the housing in Pueblo culture 3
Mesa Verde settlements move from top to cliffs ~ AD 1100.
Famous for cliff dwellings.
Houses situated in caves or below
rock overhangs along canyon walls.
Structures made of blocks of sandstone, typically plastered with adobe (mud).
Reflects regional trend towards population aggregation and the use of highly defensible living areas during the AD 1200s.
Not everyone in the region lived in cliff dwellings.
Canyon rims are covered with multi-family structures, many of substantial size due to population increases.
Both surface & cliff dwellings preferred to use window & door openings in a T-shape, a design first seen at Chaco Canyon.
Explain Kiva’s in pueblo culture 3
A stone bench ran entirely around the circular room a few feet up from the floor; at intervals along the bench were 5 or 6 stone pilasters supporting the roof beams.
Mesa Verde kivas are ~3-4 m in diameter, but deep enough that a person could stand upright beneath the cribbed roof – wooden beams laid between pilasters in the kiva wall, forming a polygonal framework around the top of the wall.
Cribbing left only a central smoke / access hole.
Set into the floor were a firepit & a smaller hole called a sipapu.
The sipapu is a symbolic portal commemorating the opening through which the first ancestors of the Puebloan peoples emerged into this world.
Fresh air supplied by a ventilator shaft set in a side wall & separated from the fire by a stone deflector.
What 2 things caused Pueblo culture 3 to end?
Two constants of the late occupation: increasing population & climate change.
Both caused stress on the communities.
Mesa Verde began to be abandoned by the late AD 1200s, experiencing a 24 year drought; area nearly devoid of human population by AD 1300.
Unclear where people went, although they may have simply moved into other areas of the southwest.
There is some evidence for post- abandonment hunting at Mesa Verde, but not for any substantial re-occupation.
Explain Pueblo 4 culture
Although many of the great pueblos were abandoned by the early 1300s, some continued to be occupied
These took on a different appearance.
In many cases these were carved into cliffs, rather than built onto them.
What was the Pueblo Collapse?
Once thought that the pueblo societies of the northern Southwest all collapsed at once.
Single cause was sought.
Now: multiple collapse events, all
triggered by local conditions.
Over-population and prolonged drought seem to be a common theme.
Puebloan peoples did not disappear.
Appear to have moved to different regions.
There are modern puebloan cultures in places like Zuni and Hopi Pueblos.
Some modern southwest groups, such as the Navajo and Apache, only migrated into the area after about AD 1400.
Explain the Mimbres Mogollon
Mimbres refers to a tradition within a sub-region of the Mogollon culture area, primarily during the “Classic Mimbres phase” AD 1000-1130.
People constructed single-story room blocks usually arranged around plazas, along with rectangular Great Kivas for community use.
Mimbres people typically buried their dead in a squatting position beneath their house floors, with bowls placed over the head of the deceased.
These bowls–many of which show prior use–were ritually “killed” by punching a hole in the bottom.
11th-12th C. Mimbres people began producing black- on-white pottery using representational forms & complex geometric designs that are much admired by collectors.
What inspired the Mimbres women potters to create this new style is unknown.
Explain Mimbres ceramics
Black-on-white Mimbres pottery was a local development, common after A.D. 900; naturalistic designs after 1000.
Studies of clay & temper demonstrate that pottery was made in many locations, perhaps most villages; it was moved /
traded across the region & beyond.
Modern Pueblo pottery is made mostly by women; one female burial recovered with pottery-making equipment suggests this apply to the past.
Mimbres pottery found in many contexts.
Most whole bowls recovered from burials, where they were placed over the deceased’s head
Majority show use wear, indicating use in daily life before burial.
Mimbres ceramics are sometimes imperfectly round.
Bowls only decorated on the insides, with exteriors
simply plain brown clay body.
Designs, painted in black-on-white, most frequently geometric; show certain similarities to the geometric designs of Ancestral Puebloan black-on-white pottery, but also local inventions.
Many Mimbres geometric designs distinct due to a sense of visual movement – as though the bowls were intended to be turned in the hands to appreciate the graphic imagery.
Designs include geometric patterns, human, animal, & insect forms, appearing as single images, inverted pairs, & quartered designs.
Images are often realistic but presented with a sense of whimsy; many vessels show genre scenes – everyday activities such as hunting parties or women, recognized by their string aprons or anatomical features, tending children or training macaws.
Macaws were imported from farther south & raised for their highly prized scarlet feathers.
Some researchers argue that men painted at least some of the designs, as some vessels depict rituals carried out by men.
Other researchers argue that, because birth scenes are anatomically unusual (or even incorrect), they were likely painted by people unfamiliar with the details of birth, probably men.
Naturalistic designs are stylized, but not inaccurate.
Many show details, almost like naturalist field guides, that allow us to identify the particular species being depicted.
Many of the fish depicted in Mimbres pots are saltwater species.
Suggests some people traveled more than 350 miles, from the Mimbres region to the California coast.
What was the Southern Culture: Hohokam
Settled in Sonoran Desert of central & southern Arizona around 200 CE.
Extensive irrigation canals permitted agriculture in this arid region, permitting fields of corn, cotton, tobacco, agave, & amaranth.
Also engaged in long-distance trade networks, extending north into the Great Plains, west to California, & southward into parts of Mexico.
Traded commodities such as salt, shell, carved stone, & macaw feathers.
From their Mesoamerican trading partners, the Hohokam seem to have borrowed architectural concepts for ball courts & platform pyramids, along with many varieties of portable material culture.
Explain the significance of Hohokam canals
Canals excavated using hand tools.
Extremely labour-intensive.
Although these are quite different from public architecture – a typical hallmark of complex society – the Hohokam canals do indicate a social system with centralized authority.
It would be impossible to construct extensive canals without some kind of central authority.
Explain Hohokam villages
Hohokam villages called rancherias–large, square-to-rectangular pit houses developed directly out of earlier local traditions.
Individual residential structures were excavated 40cm below ground level; floors compacted or plastered, had a circular, bowl-shaped clay-lined hearth near entry.
Clusters of houses opening onto common courtyard; interpreted as extended family groups.
Social stratification appearing by AD900 or so, suggested by different house sizes, and ornate
grave goods in some cases.
What were Mexican influences
Mexican influence present.
Trade goods from Mexico. Copperbells
Mosaic artworks
Stone mirrors
Exotic birds such as macaws.
Construction of ball courts,
similar to Mexican sites.
Ball courts may also have functioned as general ritual areas, perhaps dance platforms.
What is social complexity?
Increasing population growth resulted in a need for increased organization and political authority.
Social complexity appears to have been fully present, with an elite class, and probably increasing social stature for craftspeople.
Platform mounds appear, and may be associated with an upper class and have some ritual/ceremonial function.
How did Hohokam houses change?
By the 13th Century, Hohokam structures were beginning to change.
Hohokam peoples traditionally built pithouses, and did so for hundreds of years.
Around AD 1150 or so, above- ground houses appear in the area, along with a new pottery type.
This has been viewed by some as an invasion of outside peoples (called Salado), into the Hohokam heartland.
Explain late Hohokam/ Salado
Communities from this time period usually had clusters of adobe-walled compounds, typically ranging from 5 to 25 compounds.
Communal buildings were present at the centre of these compounds, often taking the form of Great Houses, such as that seen at Casa Grande or Pueblo Grande.
In the middle 1300s, there were a series of floods, which resulted in deepening river beds and rendering the man-made canals ineffective.
The canals required continuous extensions into the upstream areas.
Additional flooding damaged the canal systems further, destroying areas that could not be rebuilt.
This rendered hundreds of miles worth of canals useless for agriculture.
Explain Case Grande
Situated within a large walled enclosure 128m by 79m were several multiroom structures & a tall rectangular building known as Casa Grande.
Three-story rectangular structure, 18m by 13m footprint, sitting a top a 2 m platform.
Built~1350CE; used for about a century before the Hohokam abandoned the site.
Building functions unknown, although it was aligned for viewing solstice & equinox sunrises & sunsets over their 18.5- year cycles.
Walls would have been smoothed with plaster coats & painted.
No murals survived the 600 years of abandonment & weather, although early visitors described seeing wall paintings: in 1908 Fewkes recorded seeing a fragment of a mural in one of the Other buildings in the compound, which he described as figures of “birds and other animals, painted in red.”
Between AD 1130 and 1300, populations congregate in small settlements in this wide fertile valley.
Settlements expanded during the 14th century, ultimately resulting in multi-storied communities which may have housed up to 2,500 people.
Paquimé is aligned on roughly the same longitudinal axis as Chaco Canyon & Aztec Ruin, with an error of only a few miles.
The similarities among these sites may indicate a ceremonial connection among the ruling elites of these sites, possibly moving from one site to another.
The settlement featured T-shaped doorways & stone disks at the bottom of ceiling support columns, both distinctive of Puebloan architecture.
Living spaces evidently varied greatly in size, and buildings may have originally been up to six or seven stories.
Excavations in one compound produced eggshell fragments, bird skeletons & traces of wooden perches.
Suggests that the community raised birds, argued to be either scarlet macaws, important in Mesoamerican rituals, or turkeys, or both.
Casas Grandes was burned around 1340, & almost completely rebuilt during the 14th century.
Multi-storied apartment buildings replaced the smaller dwellings. Paquimé was abandoned in the early 15th century.
What was Cash Grandes or Paquimé
Pottery has a white or reddish surface, with ornamentation in blue, red, brown or black.
Effigy bowls & vessels formed in the shape of a painted human figure.
Pottery was traded into modern New Mexico, Arizona, throughout northern Mexico.
