Ancient Oaxaca

by Richard Blanton , G. Feinman , S. Kowalewski , L. Nicholas

• ISBN13: 9780521571142
• ISBN10: 0521571146
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-06-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book investigates the emergence of social complexity and state formation in a New World region. Around 500 BC, the Valley of Oaxaca, in present-day Mexico, was the site of one of the earliest Native American states, when a new regional capital was established at Monte Alban. Today one of Mexico's most famous and spectacular archaeological sites, Monte Alban signalled an important series of changes in regional political structure in the direction of greater political complexity and integration within a larger domain. The four authors of this introductory text have over the years produced much of the most important primary information we have about developing complex societies in this region. Drawing on the abundance of excavated remains and a survey of regional archaeological settlement patterns, they provide a succinct account of the causes and consequences of political change in the region.

Table of Contents

List of figures	vi
Preface	viii
Introduction: Mesoamerica and its pre-Hispanic civilization	1	(21)
The nature of civilizations	4	(2)
Interaction spheres and world systems	6	(1)
Mesoamerican civilization in the Late Postclassic	7	(10)
Mesoamerica in 1000 B.C.	17	(3)
The importance of states	20	(2)
The Valley of Oaxaca: a regional setting for an early state	22	(26)
The physical environment	31	(3)
Before Monte Alban	34	(8)
The Middle Formative	42	(6)
The origins of Monte Alban	48	(20)
The new center	49	(13)
Monte Alban as a disembedded capital	62	(4)
Monte Alban in the Mesoamerican world	66	(2)
The great transformation	68	(43)
The evolution of hierarchy	68	(20)
Agricultural intensification and its consequences	88	(13)
Art, ideology, and ritual	101	(6)
State formation from the perspective of the household	107	(3)
Change after Period I	110	(1)
Synthesis and conclusions	111	(22)
Monte Alban and traditional theories of state formation	112	(8)
New theoretical directions	120	(7)
Additional theoretical issues	127	(2)
How to study early states	129	(2)
Epilogue	131	(2)
Bibliographical essay	133	(2)
Bibliography	135	(15)
Index	150