Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: The Emergence of Social Complexity

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Archaeology's focus on long-term transformations in society provides a unique perspective to understand the rise and development of political and economic power and its effects on different groups of society. Comparative archaeological analyses of complex societies have demonstrated that there is a high degree of variability in the expression of such complexity, as well as in the processes that led to its emergence around the world. Within this broader context, this study focuses on household economy in order to gain insight about the sources of political and economic power, and reveal other forms of organization that may differ from top-down norms. The results will inform about social and political complexity, domestic and community economy, and occupational differentiation. This project represents an opportunity to collaborate with Costa Rican heritage authorities and the National Parks system to promote public outreach, education, and conservation of cultural heritage. Student participants will receive mentorship, training, and experience in archaeological theories and field and laboratory methods. The project will integrate Latina women as field supervisors and crew in order to broaden their participation as an underrepresented group in science. The results of the project will be shared globally as well as with local communities and National Parks officials through workshops, talks and field visits. University at Albany-SUNY doctoral student, Yajaira Núñez-Cortés, supervised by Dr. Robert Rosenswig, will investigate how the development of economic and political power had an effect on household economies from all segments of the social hierarchy. During AD 800-1500, the appearance of monumental centers in Costa Rica indicates a reorganization of social, political and economic relationships. Such changes coincide with an amplification of interregional exchange and chiefly interaction for Central Costa Rican polities. These large-scale developments are best measured by their impacts in all levels of society, but especially by their impact on the smallest and remote residential units. This study will evaluate previously held assumptions about the relationship between elite power and control of resources and valuable objects by studying household economic differentiation, activity organization, and access to exchange networks at Lomas Entierros site. The researchers will analyze domestic assemblages in combination with house architecture in order to characterize manifestations of wealth, power, and material culture usage. Data from house structures located in the main core of the site and humbler edifices on its periphery will provide contrastive examples from higher and lower social status contexts. This project also incorporates LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data to understand the settlement system and spatial organization of the site. The results will contribute to the debate about sources of political and economic power and will inform anthropological models on political and household organization in the ancient past.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.