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- All Subjects: ceramic
- Creators: Hegmon, Michelle
Description
The causes and consequences of stylistic change have been a concern of archaeologists over the past several decades. The actual process of stylistic innovation, however, has received less attention. This project explores the relationship between the process of stylistic innovation on decorated pottery and the social context in which it occurred in the Hohokam area of south-central Arizona between A.D. 800 and 1300. This interval was punctuated by three episodes of reorganization, each of which was characterized to varying degrees by significant shifts in ideology, economics, and politics. Each reorganization episode was also accompanied by a rapid profusion of stylistic innovation on buff ware pottery. The goal of this study was to build a framework to understand the variation in the process of innovation as a response to different incentives and opportunities perceived in the changing social environment. By bringing stylistic analyses and provenance data together for the first time in Hohokam red-on-buff studies, I investigated how the process of innovation was variously influenced by social reorganizations at three different periods of time: the 9th, 11th, and 12th centuries A.D. Four variables were used to evaluate the process of innovation at each temporal period: 1) The origin of a stylistic invention, 2) the rate of its adoption, 3) the pattern of its adoption, and 4) the uniformity of its adoption among all buff ware potting communities. To accomplish the task, stylistic innovations and provenance were recorded on over 3,700 red-on-buff sherds were analyzed from 20 sites in the Phoenix Basin. The innovation process was found to vary with each reorganization episode, but often in different ways than expected. The results revealed the complexity and unpredictability of the process of stylistic innovation among the Hohokam. They also challenged some assumptions archaeologists have made regarding the scale and extent of the changes associated with some of the reorganization episodes. The variables utilized to measure the innovation process were found to be effective at providing a composite picture of that process, and thus warrant broader application to other archaeological contexts.
ContributorsLack, Andrew D (Author) / Abbott, David R. (Thesis advisor) / Hegmon, Michelle (Committee member) / Spielmann, Katherine A. (Committee member) / Nelson, Ben A. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Coalescence is a distinctive process of village aggregation that creates larger, socially cohesive communities from smaller, scattered villages. This dissertation asks: how do individual and collective social relationships change throughout the process of coalescence, and how might these relationships contribute to the social cohesiveness of a coalescent community?
Coalescent communities share characteristics that reveal the relationship between collective action and collective identities in their social dynamics. Collective identity is a shared sense of oneness among members of a group. It can be understood as the product of two processes: categorical and relational identification. Categorical identification is a shared association with a specific category, such as an ethnic group or a religious association. Relational identification is the product of direct, interpersonal interaction. The potential for a group to engage in collective action is linked to the intensity (prominence as compared to other aspects of identity) and scale (social unit and size of group) of categorical and relational identification.
Patterns in the intensity and scale of categorical and relational identification are used to trace changing social dynamics through the process of community coalescence. The case study is a sequence of four sites that were successively occupied by the same Ancestral Wendat (Iroquoian) community over a period of 150 years in south-central Ontario. The intensity of categorical identification is assessed by measuring the consistency of decorative styles among pottery vessels. The intensity of relational identification is assessed by measuring production variability among ceramic pots and pipes using microscopic characterization.
The analyses reveal a correlation between the intensity and scale of categorical and relational identification and village-scale social cohesion and collective action. Village-scale categorical identification was less intensive during the period of initial aggregation, with a subsequent increase in intensity observed at fully coalesced sites where evidence of social cohesion and village-scale collective action is present. As coalescence progressed, the intensity of relational identification at the village scale decreased. This evidence suggests that changing dynamics of categorical and relational ties among community members were intertwined with the development of social cohesion and the increased potential for village-scale collective action at the culmination of coalescence.
Coalescent communities share characteristics that reveal the relationship between collective action and collective identities in their social dynamics. Collective identity is a shared sense of oneness among members of a group. It can be understood as the product of two processes: categorical and relational identification. Categorical identification is a shared association with a specific category, such as an ethnic group or a religious association. Relational identification is the product of direct, interpersonal interaction. The potential for a group to engage in collective action is linked to the intensity (prominence as compared to other aspects of identity) and scale (social unit and size of group) of categorical and relational identification.
Patterns in the intensity and scale of categorical and relational identification are used to trace changing social dynamics through the process of community coalescence. The case study is a sequence of four sites that were successively occupied by the same Ancestral Wendat (Iroquoian) community over a period of 150 years in south-central Ontario. The intensity of categorical identification is assessed by measuring the consistency of decorative styles among pottery vessels. The intensity of relational identification is assessed by measuring production variability among ceramic pots and pipes using microscopic characterization.
The analyses reveal a correlation between the intensity and scale of categorical and relational identification and village-scale social cohesion and collective action. Village-scale categorical identification was less intensive during the period of initial aggregation, with a subsequent increase in intensity observed at fully coalesced sites where evidence of social cohesion and village-scale collective action is present. As coalescence progressed, the intensity of relational identification at the village scale decreased. This evidence suggests that changing dynamics of categorical and relational ties among community members were intertwined with the development of social cohesion and the increased potential for village-scale collective action at the culmination of coalescence.
ContributorsStriker, Sarah (Author) / Hegmon, Michelle (Thesis advisor) / Michelaki, Kostalena (Thesis advisor) / Williamson, Ron (Committee member) / Abbott, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018