Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Development Of Hierarchical Status Systems

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Researchers seek understanding of the processes that led to the very complex, large-scale societies in which most of the world's population now lives, and of the factors that bound their members together and fostered continued development. Archaeology is uniquely able to study the origins of complex societies because their beginnings occurred far back in time, well beyond the reach of written history. The pathways followed in the development of the earliest complex societies were diverse, and they led to forms of complex social organization with highly varied characteristics. In many instances there is conspicuous archaeological evidence of the emergence of permanent institutions of leadership, forged by ambitious individuals pursuing their own aims and objectives. As these aspiring leaders marshaled resources to further their interests, they increasingly comprised an elite group set off from the majority of the population in one or more ways, including the accumulation of wealth, higher standards of living, prestige, power, military authority, ritual roles, and other social characteristics. The economic foundations of these elite groups could be constructed with resources obtained in a variety of ways. Agricultural production could be intensified by constructing systems to regulate water supplies and protect crops from drought or flooding. Control of the importation of materials not available locally could reinforce a privileged elite position. Fostering local craft production and exchange could also provide elites with a source of income with which to pursue their political ambitions. If conflict with neighboring societies were prevalent, elites could solidify their positions of leadership by organizing either offensive or defensive military activities.This research project aims to document the strategies pursued by emerging elites in the Casanare region of the Orinoco drainage in the Llanos zone at the foot of the Andes of Colombia. The overall environmental setting, as well as initial archaeological information, suggest that intensive agriculture in raised field systems was a major source of resources for these elites, as it was elsewhere in the Llanos. The presence of nearby highly developed Muisca chiefdoms, however, provided Casanare elites with particular opportunities for focusing on specialized production and medium-distance exchange--opportunities that were not available to emerging elites in other parts of the Llanos. Warfare appears, initially, to have been less prevalent in Casanare than it was elsewhere. The researchers will verify or correct these initial impressions and determine what impact these different opportunities for emerging elites had on the nature and timing of the development of initial complex social organization in the Casanare region. Local cultural and educational groups will be important collaborators, facilitating access to essential environmental information; the project will in turn contribute data on the archaeological remains of early societies in the region to aid in heritage preservation efforts. Local students will also participate in the field and laboratory work, gaining first-hand experience of scientific research. It will also further the academic and intellectual development of Mr. Juan Carlos Vargas Ruiz the co-Principal Investigator who will conduct the project as part of his doctoral dissertation work.