Archaeology of States

Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa

by J. Cameron Monroe

With Akin Ogundiran. In Power and Landscape in Atlantic West Africa: Archaeological Perspectives, edited by J. Cameron Monroe and Akin Ogundiran (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 1-46.

Preindustrial Markets and Marketing: Archaeological Perspectives (2010)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman and Christopher P. Garraty, 2010)

Markets are key contemporary institutions, yet there is little agreement concerning their history or diversity. To... more Markets are key contemporary institutions, yet there is little agreement concerning their history or diversity. To complicate matters, markets have been considered by different academic disciplines that approach the nature of such exchange systems from diametrically opposed perspectives that impede cross-disciplinary dialogue. This paper reviews the theoretical and methodological issues surrounding the detection, development, and significance of markets in the preindustrial past. We challenge both the view that marketing is natural and the perspective that market exchange is unique to modern capitalist contexts. Both of these frameworks fail to recognize that past and present market activities are embedded in their larger societal contexts, albeit in different ways that can be understood only if examined through a broadly shared theoretical lens.We examine the origins, change, and diversity of preindustrial markets, calling for multiscalar, cross-disciplinary approaches to investigate the long-term history of this economic institution.

A Multiscalar Perspective on Market Exchange in the Classic-Period Valley of Oaxaca (2010)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas, 2010)

Comparative Frames for the Diachronic Analysis of Complex Societies: Next Steps (2012)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 2012)

Beyond States and Empires: Chiefdoms and Informal Politics (2004)

by Gary Feinman

(Patrick Chabal, Gary Feinman, and Peter Skalník, 2004)

Monte Albán: Una Perspectiva desde los Límites del Valle de Oaxaca (2011)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas, 2011)

Durante las últimas décadas, ha habido mucha discusión acerca del ascenso de Monte Albán, pero menos discusión o... more Durante las últimas décadas, ha habido mucha discusión acerca del ascenso de Monte Albán, pero menos discusión o evidencia recuperada de manera sistemática sobre su eventual pérdida de poder y su caída final. Esta ponencia se enfoca sobre la historia posterior de Monte Albán a fines de la época prehispánica, destacando las ventajas de los límites fisiográficos del valle de Oaxaca. Se centra principalmente en investigaciones propias en la parte oriental del valle de Tlacolula y en el valle de Ejutla, asimismo en el trabajo similar de otros colegas. Con este texto ofrecemos nuevos hallazgos y perspectivas acerca de la transición Clásica-Posclásica en el valle de Oaxaca. Nuestro argumento principal es que desde el Clásico Tardío y la monumentalidad de Monte Albán, pero hasta la red de cacicazgos más pequeños del Posclásico Tardío era significante, pero ese milenio de transición no necesariamente involucró ni un mayor cambio étnico ni un breve episodio catastrófico decolapso social total

Reflections on Regional Survey: Perspectives from the Guirún Area (1999)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas, 1999)

Settlement and Land Use in Ancient Oaxaca (1990)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas, 1990)

Social Boundaries and Political Change: Comparative Perspectives (1994)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 1994)

The Mesoamerican World System (1984)

by Gary Feinman

(Richard Blanton and Gary Feinman, 1984)

The Changing Structure of Macroregional Mesoamerica: The Classic-Postclassic Transition in the Valley of Oaxaca (1999)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 1999)

Size, Complexity, and Organizational Variation: A Comparative Approach (2011)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 2011)

In 1963, Melvin Ember illustrated the overarching cross-cultural relationship between societal scale (specifically,... more In 1963, Melvin Ember illustrated the overarching cross-cultural relationship between societal scale (specifically, maximal community size) and hierarchical complexity. Yet this study (and subsequent ones) found much less regularity in the size-complexity relationship when focused down on human groupings of less extensive/narrower size ranges. Here, it is argued that this lack of a more precise fit requires the consideration of a third key parameter, different modes of integration or interpersonal connectivity. Comparative
findings (both synchronic and diachronic) are marshaled to make the case that integrative differences mediate the overarching relationship between demographic size and political complexity. It is proposed that when they are small, groups that operate more collectively often dampen the emergence
of decision-making hierarchies; alternatively large, more collective, or democratic formations may necessitate greater administrative or hierarchical political complexity per capita than is found in more autocratic groups of comparable size.

Patterns in Time and the Tempo of Change: A North Atlantic Perspective on the Evolution of Complex Societies.

by Kevin P. Smith

In Continuity or Change: The Role of Analytical Scale in European Archaeology, edited by James Matthieu and Rachel Scott, pp. 83-99.  British Archaeological Reports, International Series 1261, 2004.

Between 1175 and 1250 AD, medieval Icelanders transformed their society from a network of decentralized simple... more Between 1175 and 1250 AD, medieval Icelanders transformed their society from a network of decentralized simple chiefdoms into a unified proto-state. Uniquely, a vast corpus of vernacular writing - much written by the chieftains themselves - describes actors' ideologies, histories, motivations and understandings of the processes involved. Archaeological data provide alternative perspectives, highlighting processes that extended over temporal scales beyond actors' abilities to observe or manage. How robust can our explanatory frameworks be if the changes we seek to explain occur too rapidly to be monitored by most archaeological methods? Do archaeological perspectives provide valuable or illusory insights on the processes involved?

Five Points about Power (2002)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 2002, in The Dynamics of Power, edited by Maria O’Donovan, pp. 387-393. Occasional Paper No. 30, Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Changes in Regional Settlement Patterns and the Development of Complex Societies in Southeastern Shandong, China (2008)

by Gary Feinman

(Anne P. Underhill, Gary M. Feinman, Linda M. Nicholas, Hui Fang, Fengshi Luan, Haiguang Yu, and Fengshu Cai, 2008)

Boundaries, Scale, and Internal Organization (1983)

by Gary Feinman

(Stephen A. Kowalewski, Richard E. Blanton, Gary Feinman, and Laura Finsten, 1983)

A Dual-Processual Theory for the Evolution of Mesoamerican Civilization (1996)

by Gary Feinman

(Richard E. Blanton, Gary M. Feinman, Stephen A. Kowalewski, and Peter N. Peregrine, 1996)

Scale and Social Organization: Perspectives on the Archaic State (1998)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 1998)

Mesoamerican Political Complexity: The Corporate-Network Dimension (2001)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 2001)

Variability in States: Comparative Frameworks (2008)

by Gary Feinman

(Gary M. Feinman, 2008)