Delgado-Espinoza, Florencio German
(2002)
Intensive Agriculture and Political Economy of the Yaguachi Chiefdom of Guayas Basin, Coastal Ecuador.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
This dissertation examines the relationship between intensive agriculture and the development of chiefly societies in the Lower Guayas Basin, coastal Ecuador. The Yaguachi chiefdom arose in the area at least during the Integration Period AD 700-Spanish contact. This social formation built intensive agriculture technology (raised fields) and large earth mounds. Two approaches, top-down and a bottom-up, are contrasted to identify where along a socio-political continuum the organization of the Yaguachi chiefdom lay. The research aimed to reconstruct regional settlement patterns using the spatial distribution of sites and their relationships to raised field zones. Data gathering included methods such as aerial photogrametry and subsurface testing. Excavation was conducted through shovel tests, auger probes and a limited number of excavation units. The surveyed area consisted of 428. 29 km², and survey results identified 622 mounds clustered into 16 settlements located along the borders of a large zone of raised fields. These settlements form a three-tiered hierarchy with three main regional centers, sub-centers, agricultural villages and isolated households. Raised fields were found in large tracts. Sites show a strong tendency to cluster, and, for the most part, large centers had large supporting populations. Those centers are located adjacent to raised field zones. Evidence at the core of one of the sites indicates that considerable feasting activities took place. Differences in access to resources among households correspond to their location within the three-tiered hierarchy. Raised field construction required large labor inputs, and they provided large outputs. Mound building activities, feasting and burial practices indicate strong sense of community in the local population. This evidence leads to the conclusions that local chiefs were engaged in the management of raised field production, and that public mound building and feasting activities served to make this possible.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
| Title | Member | Email Address | Pitt Username | ORCID |
|---|
| Committee Chair | Drennan, Robert D | drennan@pitt.edu | DRENNAN | | | Committee Member | DeWalt, Billie | | | | | Committee Member | Bermman, Marc | | | | | Committee Member | DeMontmmollin, Olivier | | | |
|
| Date: |
1 August 2002 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Defense Date: |
14 September 2001 |
| Approval Date: |
1 August 2002 |
| Submission Date: |
26 April 2002 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Anthropology |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Archeology of The Guayas Basin; Chiefdoms; Intensive Agriculture; Precolumbian Chiefdoms |
| Other ID: |
http://etd.library.pitt.edu:80/ETD/available/etd-04262002-141659/, etd-04262002-141659 |
| Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2011 19:42 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 13:42 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/7649 |
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