THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION AND CERAMIC PRODUCTION IN THE VALLEY OF OAXACA, MEXICO.
Item
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Title
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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION AND CERAMIC PRODUCTION IN THE VALLEY OF OAXACA, MEXICO.
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Identifier
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AAI8014965
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identifier
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8014965
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Creator
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FEINMAN, GARY M.
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Contributor
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Gregory Johnson
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Date
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1980
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Anthropology, Archaeology
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Abstract
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This study examines long-term change in the prehispanic Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. It focuses on the complex interrelationships between regional systems of administrative decision-making, exchange, craft production and land-use during the two thousand year period between the initial occupation of the city of Monte Alban (500 B.C.) and the Spanish Conquest. More specifically, based on an interpretive analysis of data collected by the Valley of Oaxaca Settlement Pattern Project, this study concludes that diachronic shifts in the organization of administrative decision-making were closely associated with changes in the structure of Valley-wide ceramic production and distribution. Those phases characterized by high degrees of administrative involvement in economic transactions were also marked by highly centralized large-scale ceramic production industries, while low degrees of overlap between administrative and economic networks were associated with more localized, small scale industries. In addition, it is noted that large scale ceramic production industries operated during those phases when periodic, localized food shortages must have been a serious problem for Valley administrators. At these times, large scale ceramic production was apparently part of a Valley-wide strategy that included intensive farming in the piedmont zone and the operation of region-wide systems of exchange. Alternatively, more decentralized ceramic manufacturing strategies are shown to have existed during those phases when Valley agriculture was oriented more to the less risky alluvial zone and when temporary population-resource imbalances could have been resolved through the operation of localized exchange networks alone. Additional implications can also be drawn from this research. Ceramic production in the Valley of Oaxaca is best understood in a broad systemic context. Simple models of linear or progressivistic change in technological processes could not satisfactorily explicate the complex cycles of change in the Oaxacan ceramic industry and there is no reason to believe that such models will work in other regions either.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Anthropology
