Prehispanic chiefdoms of Central Panama provide interesting cases for investigating why
societies first began to organize themselves hierarchically and why members began to relate to
one-another in ways that emphasized the relative status of each. The particular activities through
which a small number of individuals elevated their social status above the majority of a
population, gaining influence over them, and the broader social circumstances that permitted this
transformation are critical to understanding processes that lead to the emergence of social
inequality. This dissertation presents data from archaeological excavations of households at the
village of El Hatillo/He-4 the principal political center of a prehispanic chiefdom that existed in the Río Parita Valley of Central Panama between about A.D 700 and A.D. 1522. These data and the patterns they reveal provide a basis for comparison of domestic activities and contexts across time within El Hatillo/He-4. Identifying differences in households (observed synchronically and diachronically), like the organization of space and activities that were undertaken within, is among the best ways to understand why certain groups were socially more important and influential than others. The Río Parita chiefdom, like most, also consisted of multiple villages socially unified under an elite leader, or chief, forming a more-or-less cohesive political unit, or chiefdom. Thus, principles of social organization and bases of authority extended beyond relationships among households at El Hatillo/He-4 to also include larger communities and outlying villages. Since household data do not permit us to understand interactions among groups across the village, let alone other villages in the polity, as clearly, the data presented in this dissertation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-08022010-182903 |
| Date | 30 September 2010 |
| Creators | Locascio, William A. |
| Contributors | Dr. Robert D. Drennan, Dr. Mikael Haller, Dr. Olivier de Montmollin, Dr. Marc Bermann |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-08022010-182903/ |
| 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 University of Pittsburgh 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. |
Page generated in 0.0021 seconds