This dissertation explores early mound building and community development on the Pacific coast of Mesoamerica by considering the changing ways that people interacted with the landscape and ecology at the site of Chiquiuitan between 1450 and 600 B.C. Specifically, this study looks at shifts in how the landscape influences peoples lives and vice versa, within the context of the transition to sedentism and the development of agriculture. The approach taken to this topic also pays attention to the relationship between people and social structures (especially those found in features of the landscape, such as earthen mounds), reflecting an agency theory perspective. Archaeological methods include survey and excavation techniques, as well as materials analyses in ceramic type variety and attribute-based studies; lithic technological, typological and LA-ICP-MS analyses; osteological analysis; faunal identification; botanical investigation; and AMS radiocarbon dating. This dissertation contributes to research on the prehistory of Mesoamerica by offering a model for sedentism and community development that considers the environmental conditions that people responded to as well as ideological associations related to place and space. Furthermore, it adds to theory on human interactions with landscapes by focusing on a small-scale and non-complex community.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-03302010-160857 |
| Date | 14 April 2010 |
| Creators | Morgan, Molly |
| Contributors | Tom Dillehay, Beth Conklin, William R. Fowler, Francisco Estrada Belli, Tiffiny Tung, Barbara Arroyo |
| 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-03302010-160857/ |
| 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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