This dissertation investigates the relationship between power and wealth in past societies by examining the economic networks through which wealth was distributed at Ko, Guatemala from the Terminal Preclassic through the Classic period (AD 150-900). Long-term patterns in construction activity form the basis of long-term estimates of elite power, and Hirths (1998) distributional approach has been employed as part of an examination of wealth. This study has sought to determine the degree to which jade artifacts, shell artifacts, obsidian artifacts, and grinding stones were acquired through elite redistribution, reciprocal luxury gifting among elites, and/or informal barter and marketplace exchange, and tests the hypothesis that a decline in wealth relative to power is dependent upon the networks through which wealth was distributed within this past economy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03242009-093236 |
| Date | 13 April 2009 |
| Creators | Tomasic, John Joseph |
| Contributors | Francisco Estrada-Belli, John Janusek, Tiffiny Tung, William Fowler, Robert Rosenswig |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu//available/etd-03242009-093236/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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