Beyond Collapse: Archaeological Perspectives on Resilience, Revitalization, and Transformation in Complex Societies

553 Pages·2015·49.19 MB·English

by  Ronald K. Faulseit (ed.)

Beyond
Collapse
Archaeological
Perspectives
on Resilience,
Revitalization, and
Transformation in
Complex Societies
Edited by
Ronald K. Faulseit
Center for Archaeological Investigations
Occasional Paper No. 42
Beyond Collapse
Visiting Scholar Conference Volumes
Processual and Postprocessual Archaeologies: Multiple Ways of Knowing the
Past (Occasional Paper No. 10) edited by Robert W. Preucel
Paleonutrition: The Die and Health of Prehistoric Americans (Occasional Paper
No. 22) edited by Kristin D. Sobolik
Integrating Archaeological Demography: Multidisciplinary Approaches to
Prehistoric Population (Occasional Paper No. 24) edited by Richard R. Paine
Studies in Culture Contact: Interaction, Culture Change, and Archaeology
(Occasional Paper No. 25) edited by James G. Cusick
Material Symbols: Culture and Economy in Prehistory (Occasional Paper No.
26) edited by John E. Robb
Hierarchies in Action: Cui Bono? (Occasional Paper No. 27) edited by Michael
W. Diehl
Fleeting Identities: Perishable Material Culture in Archaeological Research
(Occasional Paper No. 28) edited by Penelope Ballard Drooker
The Dynamics of Power (Occasional Paper No. 30) edited by Maria O’Donovan
Hunters and Gatherers in Theory and Archaeology (Occasional Paper No. 31)
edited by George M. Crothers
Biomolecular Archaeology: Genetic Approaches to the Past (Occasional Paper
No. 32) edited by David M. Reed
Leadership and Polity in Mississippian Society (Occasional Paper No. 33) edited
by Brian M. Butler and Paul D. Welch
The Archaeology of Food and Identity (Occasional Paper No. 34) edited by
Katheryn C. Twiss
The Durable House: House Society Models in Archaeology (Occasional Paper
No. 35) edited by Robin A. Beck Jr.
Religion, Archaeology, and the Material World (Occasional Paper No. 36) edited
by Lars Fogelin
The Archaeology of Anthropogenic Environments (Occasional Paper No. 37)
edited by Rebecca M. Dean
Human Variation in the Americas: The Integration of Archaeology and Biological
Anthropology (Occasional Paper No. 38) edited by Benjamin M. Auerbach
The Archaeology of Hybrid Material Culture (Occasional Paper No. 39) edited by
Jeb J. Card
Making Senses of the Past: Toward a Sensory Archaeology (Occasional Paper
No. 40) edited by Jo Day
The Archaeology of Slavery: A Comparative Approach to Captivity and
Coercion (Occasional Paper No. 41) edited by Lydia Wilson Marshall
Beyond Collapse
Archaeological
Perspectives on
Resilience, Revitalization,
and Transformation in
Complex Societies
Edited by
Ronald K. Faulseit
Center for Archaeological Investigations
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Occasional Paper No. 42
Southern Illinois University Press
Carbondale
Copyright © 2016 by the Board of Trustees, Southern Illinois University
All rights reserved
Chapter 6 copyright © 2016 by Scott R. Hutson
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other-
wise, except as may be expressly permitted by the applicable copyright statutes or in writ-
ing by the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
19 18 17 16 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Beyond collapse : archaeological perspectives on resilience, revitalization, and transfor-
mation in complex societies / edited by Ronald K. Faulseit.
pages cm. — (Visiting scholar conference volumes) (Occasional paper ; no. 42)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-8093-3399-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 0-8093-3399-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8093-3400-1 (ebook)
ISBN 0-8093-3400-3 (ebook)
1. Social archaeology. 2. Civilization, Ancient. 3. Social systems—History. 4. Social evolu-
tion. 5. Ethnoarchaeology. 6. Excavations (Archaeology) I. Faulseit, Ronald K., 1970– editor.
II. Series: Occasional paper (Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Center for Archaeo-
logical Investigations)
CC72.4.B46 2015
930—dc23 2015006390
For information, write to the Center for Archaeological Investigations, Faner 3479, Mail
Code 4527, Southern Illinois University, 1000 Faner Drive, Carbondale, IL 62901; phone
[phone]; or visit us online at www.cai.siu.edu.
Printed on recycled paper.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American Na-
tional Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Ma-
terials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xv
Preface xvii
I. Setting the Stage
1. Collapse, Resilience, and Transformation in Complex Societies:
Modeling Trends and Understanding Diversity
Ronald K. Faulseit 3
2. Why Collapse Is So Difficult to Understand
Joseph A. Tainter 27
II. Reframing Narratives of Societal Transformation
3. After Monte Albán in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca: A Reassessment
Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas 43
4. New Perspectives on the Collapse and Regeneration of the
Han Dynasty
Tristram R. Kidder, Liu Haiwang, Michael J. Storozum, and Qin Zhen 70
5. Requestioning the Classic Maya Collapse and the Fall of the Roman
Empire: Slow Collapse
Rebecca Storey and Glenn R. Storey 99
6. A Historical Processual Approach to Continuity and Change in
Classic and Postclassic Yucatan
Scott Hutson, Iliana Ancona Aragón, Miguel Covarrubias Reyna,
Zachary Larsen, Katie Lukach, Shannon E. Plank, Richard E. Terry,
and Willem Vanessendelft 124
v
vi Contents
7. The Dangers of Diversity: The Consolidation and Dissolution of
Cahokia, Native North America’s First Urban Polity
Thomas E. Emerson and Kristin M. Hedman 147
III. Resilience Theory and Societal Transformation
8. Release and Reorganization in the Tropics: A Comparative
Perspective from Southeast Asia
Gyles Iannone 179
9. Reestablishment of Complex Societies following Collapse and
Abandonment in Nasca, Peru
Christina A. Conlee 213
10. The Decline and Reorganization of Southwestern Complexity:
Using Resilience Theory to Examine the Collapse of Chaco
Canyon
Jakob W. Sedig 237
11. Transformation without Collapse: Two Cases from the U.S.
Southwest
Andrea Torvinen, Michelle Hegmon, Ann P. Kinzig, Margaret C. Nelson,
Matthew A. Peeples, Colleen Strawhacker, Karen G. Schollmeyer, and
Laura Swantek 262
12. Tres Zapotes: The Evolution of a Resilient Polity in the Olmec
Heartland of Mexico
Christopher A. Pool and Michael L. Loughlin 287
IV. Long-Term Resilience and Adaptive Strategies
13. Finding Resilience in Ritual and History in the Lake Okeechobee
Basin
Victor D. Thompson 313
14. Resilience and Persistent Places in the Mississippi River Delta of
Southeastern Louisiana
Christopher B. Rodning and Jayur M. Mehta 342
15. Political Economy and Craft Production before and after the
Collapse of Mississippian Chiefdoms
Maureen Meyers 380
Contents vii
V. Postcollapse Resilience and Reorganization
16. Crafting a Response to Collapse: Ceramic and Textile Production in
the Wake of Tiwanaku State Breakdown
Nicola Sharratt 407
17. Collapse, Regeneration, and the Origins of Tula and the Toltec State
J. Heath Anderson, Dan M. Healan, and Robert H. Cobean 431
18. Reconsidering Collapse: Identity, Ideology, and Postcollapse
Settlement in the Argolid
Katie Lantzas 459
19. A Tale of Two Cities: Continuity and Change following the Moche
Collapse in the Jequetepeque Valley, Peru
Kari A. Zobler and Richard C. Sutter 486
20. Household Adaptation and Reorganization in the Aftermath of the
Classic Maya Collapse at Baking Pot, Belize
Julie A. Hoggarth and Jaime J. Awe 504
Contributors 529

Figures
1-1. Adaptive cycle 13
1-2. Nested adaptive cycles and cross-cycle interaction 14
2-1. Energy-complexity spiral 36
3-1. State and Valley of Oaxaca in southern Mexico 45
3-2. Late Classic/Early Postclassic sites in the Valley of Oaxaca 50
3-3. Sites in the Valley of Oaxaca with genealogical registers 52
3-4. Genealogical registers from Tomb 6 at Lambityeco and Matatlán 53
3-5. Residences and ballcourt of the penultimate surface in the upper
precinct at El Palmillo 54
3-6. Late Classic ballcourt next to elite residence at Monte Albán 55
3-7. Late Classic ballcourts at Atzompa including two associated with
elite residences 56
3-8. Warrior and ballplayer figurines from the Mitla Fortress and El
Palmillo 57
3-9. Obsidian assemblages at the Ejutla site, El Palmillo, and Mitla
Fortress from the Early/Middle Classic to the Late Classic/Early
Postclassic 58
3-10. Postclassic small polities in the Valley of Oaxaca 60
4-1. Historical map of the lower Yellow River Valley in the Western
Han Dynasty 72
5-1. Adaptive cycle model of Roman Empire 102
5-2. Adaptive cycle model of Classic Maya 102
5-3. Three phase maps from the southern Etruria survey indicating
the distribution of archaeological sites before the rise of Rome,
during Rome’s height, and in the early medieval period 105
5-4. Map of the Classic Maya centers with their last Long Count data
and Gregorian calendar equivalents 110
5-5. Stela A of the thirteenth ruler of Copán, the Classic Maya center
with the most elaborate sculpture of rulers 111
5-6. Map of the Postclassic Maya sites in the lowlands 117
5-7. Central temple (Castillo), central area of Tulum, a Postclassic Maya
center in Yucatan 118
5-8. Great Plaza of Tikal, partial view, one of the largest of the Classic
Maya centers 118
ix