Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Effects of Social Change on Household Quality of Life and Social Cohesion

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This project will identify how emerging social differentiation can affect household quality of life and community social cohesion in traditional societies. How do local households negotiate an expected quality of life? Do community interactions shift to become more exclusive and focused on elite members of society? Archaeologists have postulated that political authority and economic practices are not just a coercive component of the ruling elite; rather, household quality of life and social cohesion are a balance of wants and needs of both high status groups and everyday people that are grounded in moral expectations and communal trust. Recent political science studies show pronounced social inequality not only undermines trust at the community level, it also threatens governing bodies and civic engagement. The goal of this project is to add meaningfuly to these current conversations because it provides rich data sets of long-term change on how people negotiate, successfully and unsuccessfully, power dynamics. By comparing households and communal spaces, Barry Kidder will examine how household quality of life and community-building interactions changed (or did not) during this transitional period at the Mayan site of Ucanha. Preliminary research indicates a high quality of life and commnunal prosperity during a former period but greater inequality during a latter. Combining broad-scale excavations, geochemical studies in conjunction with spatial statistics, and the analysis of archaeological and paleobotanical remains, Kidder and colleagues will reconstruct past household quality of life by examining five variables: 1) architectural investment, 2) feasting practices, 3) diversity of household goods, 4) costliness of caching/burial rituals, and 5) the use of space. Spatial statistics with geochemical analysis, particularly, will improve archaeology's ability to study ancient households by capturing patterns of overlooked past activity. Furthermore, this project will contribute to local household quality of life by training descendant communities in archaeological methods that will lead to future employment since archaeological salvage projects are rapidly expanding in the area. By working locally, as opposed to seasonal work in Cancun, salaries will be reinvested in local households and the entire community. Research results will be circulated as presentations, summarized field reports, and hands-on activities at local schools. These components will give local populations the opportunity to engage with their cultural heritage and to be a stakeholder in its preservation.