Book contents
- Ancient Southeast Mesoamerica
- Case Studies in Early Societies
- Ancient Southeast Mesoamerica
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Ways of Understanding Southeast Mesoamerica
- 2 Power, Hierarchy, and Social Differentiation
- 3 Early Arrivals, Domestication, and Emerging Sociopolitical Complexity in Southeast Mesoamerica (10,000 (?)–400 BCE)
- 4 Reformulating Social Networks through the Novel Uses of Things (400 BCE–CE 200)
- 5 The Arrival of Divine Lords
- 6 The Copán Realm, Its Colonies and Allies (CE 600–800)
- 7 The End of Days
- 8 Concentrating Power and Building Hierarchy beyond the Copán-Centered Network (CE 600–800)
- 9 Concentrating Power in the Terminal Classic beyond Copán (CE 800–1000)
- 10 Power and Political Economy in the Late Classic Naco and Middle Chamelecón Valleys (CE 600–800)
- 11 Hierarchy to Heterarchy in the Terminal Classic Naco and Middle Chamelecón Valleys (CE 800–1000)
- 12 Contrasting Forms of Complexity
- 13 Contesting for Power, Challenging Hierarchy, Making History
- References
- Index
2 - Power, Hierarchy, and Social Differentiation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 April 2024
- Ancient Southeast Mesoamerica
- Case Studies in Early Societies
- Ancient Southeast Mesoamerica
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Ways of Understanding Southeast Mesoamerica
- 2 Power, Hierarchy, and Social Differentiation
- 3 Early Arrivals, Domestication, and Emerging Sociopolitical Complexity in Southeast Mesoamerica (10,000 (?)–400 BCE)
- 4 Reformulating Social Networks through the Novel Uses of Things (400 BCE–CE 200)
- 5 The Arrival of Divine Lords
- 6 The Copán Realm, Its Colonies and Allies (CE 600–800)
- 7 The End of Days
- 8 Concentrating Power and Building Hierarchy beyond the Copán-Centered Network (CE 600–800)
- 9 Concentrating Power in the Terminal Classic beyond Copán (CE 800–1000)
- 10 Power and Political Economy in the Late Classic Naco and Middle Chamelecón Valleys (CE 600–800)
- 11 Hierarchy to Heterarchy in the Terminal Classic Naco and Middle Chamelecón Valleys (CE 800–1000)
- 12 Contrasting Forms of Complexity
- 13 Contesting for Power, Challenging Hierarchy, Making History
- References
- Index
Summary
The volume considers how processes of political centralization, hierarchy building, and social differentiation were related in the political histories of ancient Southeast Mesoamerican societies. We define the above terms here and review how proponents of world systems, prestige goods, and community of practice theories have understood these connections. Subsequently, we summarize our approach to the topic. This perspective models political formations as the variably successful, never fully stable, outcomes of efforts made by agents of different ranks and identities to secure power by drawing on resources obtained through social networks of differing spatial extents. The resulting social webs were thus means for promoting cooperation among agents who were allied in the pursuit of shared goals even as they competed with those seeking comparable objectives through different social connections.
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- Information
- Ancient Southeast MesoamericaPolitical Economies without the State, pp. 25 - 46Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024