Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Traders and Farmers: The Multi-Settlement Community Organization in the Rio Sonora Region, Mexico

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Under the direction of Dr. Paul Fish, Mr. Matthew Pailes will conduct research for his doctoral dissertation. He will investigate community structure and household exchange patterns in northeastern Sonora, Mexico, which developed between AD 900 and 1600. In this region, the interests of households to maintain subsistence autonomy, in conflict with the need to form larger groups for security and other reasons, led to unique organizational patterns. This research is broadly important because it provides insight into how groups and alliances form in traditional small scale societies and how they are maintained or altered over substantial periods of time.Sixteenth century accounts of Spanish explorers describe hierarchically organized territorial communities in northeastern Sonora. Previous researchers argued defensive needs and elite control of long distance exchange were the foundation of community organization. A pilot study in the Moctezuma Valley provided data contrary to this reconstruction. Communities appear to be small, relatively unorganized, and integrated through local exchange. The insights from this pilot study are the basis for two research questions: 1) Were communities actually composed of small settlement groups lacking in inter- or intra-community political differentiation? and if so, 2) Did the small scale of communities encourage households to maximize local settlement ties as a means of risk mitigation? To answer these questions Mr Pailes will intensively map and excavate a sample of structures at the largest sites in three settlement communities. This will provide data on internal settlement organization and test whether the settlements held structurally equivalent roles in their respective communities. A second line of research will employ microscopic techniques to investigate the provenance of ceramic artifacts. Provenance data determined from petrography will indicate the extent and variability in household economic ties to other communities and will serve as a proxy for inferring social relationships. The project also will refine the poor chronology of this region through ceramic seriation and thermoluminescence dating of pot sherds. This proposed project has broader impacts for several reasons. It will provide detailed information on an understudied region between the better-known U.S. Southwest and Mesoamerica and contribute significantly to reconstructions of pan-regional political trajectories. Simply refining the chronology in northeastern Sonora will have significant impacts. Community outreach is a focus of the planned work. To foster a sense of connectivity to the past, local residents will be employed during excavation. The project will invite local students and residents to visit the excavations. These efforts will inform local residents of the value of archaeological remains and discourage their unneeded destruction. A Mexican collaborator will be involved with the project to encourage international cooperation and interest in shared research questions. The project will provide experience to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Arizona.Data will be disseminated through a variety of means. Traditional scholarly journal articles and formal conference presentations will be produced for Spanish and English audiences. M. Pailes will give several public lectures in the United States and will lead site tours to the area for avocational and other interested groups. Copies of the dissertation will be provided to Mexican government offices and institutions.