Population Nucleation and Functional Interdependence in Prehistoric Coastal Ecuador
Journal Title: Social Evolution & History - Year 2017, Vol 16, Issue 2
Abstract
Increased specialization within communities is often explained as an epiphenomenal effect of political expansion and surplus accumulation. Here, I examine the possible role that community demography and settlement structure might have in promoting (or inhibiting) full-time specialization and interdependence in the functions of various social institutions. Through the use of multivariate iconographic representations and diversity indices this article puts forth a methodology for the systematic large-scale comparison of archaeological remains and tests it on three prehistoric settlements in coastal Ecuador. The results indicate that nucleated communities exhibit more evidence of internal functional differentiation and interdependence in social roles than dispersed ones. This suggests that larger networks of interaction might provide ripe social environments for increased specialization of activities. By contrast, dispersed settlement arrangements and the smaller networks of interaction they make available seem to pressure households into becoming increasingly autonomous and self-reliant, resulting in strong tendencies towards functional redundancy.
Authors and Affiliations
Alexander J. Martín
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP265928
- DOI -
- Views 142
- Downloads 0
Great Divergence and Great Convergence in a Global Perspective
A review of Leonid Grinin and Andrey Korotyaev, Great Divergence and Great Convergence in a Global Perspective, Springer International Publishing, 2015
The Developmental State Model in Ethiopia: A Path to Economic Prosperity or Political Repression?
The most significant policy framework that has been shaping the political and economic dynamics in Ethiopia is the doctrine of the developmental state model. The rhetoric is a new form of policy direction that has been a...
The Interplay of Town Planning and Colonialism: The Contributions of Albert Thompson to Urban Development in Lagos, 1920–1945
This paper examines the historical development of town planning in Lagos under colonialism. Unfortunately, the contributions of British town planners to the development of Lagos have not been given scholarly attention by...
The Benin Kingdom (13th – 19th Centuries) as a Megacommunity
The article provides an anthropological analysis of the socio-political system of the Benin Kingdom from coming to power of the Oba dynasty till the British conquest. The course of this system formation and its basic cha...
Diffusion and Inheritance of Language and Culture: A Comparative Perspective
Using three worldwide databases, we investigate how average similarity between pairs of languages and cultures are influenced by geographic distance and time of common ancestry. Generally, the similarity between language...