Beaule, Christine Denise
(2003)
Late Intermediate Period Political Economy and Household Organization at Jachakala, Bolivia.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
All households in prehistoric communities without well established sociopolitical hierarchies were concerned, first and foremost, with meeting their subsistence needs. Because the emergence of non-food producing elite households means that, at some point, they began to focus on other activities, the domestic economy is where complexity begins to develop. Participation in craft production and exchange activities can provide opportunities for some households to accumulate wealth and/or prestige; this is the basis for a model of political economy tested against data from a site in the Andean altiplano.One objective of this dissertation project was to reconstruct the local history of Jachakala, a small village in the central Bolivian highlands occupied from ca. AD 170-1200. Artifacts from house floors, middens, and other features are divided into three chronological periods and grouped into three zones. Comparative inter-zonal and diachronic analyses are conducted to test models of the domestic economy and political economy derived from Kenneth Hirth's work in Mesoamerica.The domestic economy model predicts a low degree of socioeconomic differentiation within a subsistence-oriented community. Patterns of staple and craft production, wealth inequalities, and supra-regional exchange are reconstructed to test this model against data from the first occupation, the Niñalupita Period.I also test the hypothesis that differential participation in exchange and craft production activities underwrote the emergence of socioeconomic stratification, the central tenet of the Hirth model of political economy. There are significant inter-zonal differences in exchange goods and craft production refuse from the Isahuara and Jachakala Periods, but participation in these activities did not cause a political economy to develop, because some wealth inequalities predate this diversity.Finally, I used Tiwanaku-style artifacts from Jachakala to assess relations with this pre-Inkan state. Results suggest that Tiwanaku's influence on local processes was minimal and indirect, and implications for models of inter-regional relationships are explored. Although this investigation focuses on one community in the central Bolivian altiplano, I hope that it will be of comparative value for archaeologists investigating domestic economy, household organization, the origins of complexity, and core-periphery relations in and beyond the Andes.
Share
| Citation/Export: |
|
| Social Networking: |
|
Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
|
| Date: |
6 March 2003 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Defense Date: |
22 April 2002 |
| Approval Date: |
6 March 2003 |
| Submission Date: |
18 December 2002 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
334 |
| 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: |
Andean archaeology; core/periphery relations; household archaeology |
| Other ID: |
http://etd.library.pitt.edu:80/ETD/available/etd-12182002-044620/, etd-12182002-044620 |
| Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2011 20:11 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 13:54 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/10413 |
Metrics
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[img]](https://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png)
![[feed]](/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}