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Production and Consumption in a Sacred Economy: The Material Correlates of High Devotional Expression at Chaco Canyon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Colin Renfrew
Colin Renfrew*
Affiliation:
The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2, 3ER, Englang
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Abstract

The role of production, exchange, and consumption in Chaco Canyon can be analyzed successfully only when the system as a whole is considered. A cognitive-processual approach is used here to develop a model of Chaco as an essentially egalitarian society, centered on the Canyon as a Location of High Devotional Expression. The production and consumption of goods is understood in the context of an ideational/devotional significance of the great houses and great kivas of Chaco and of periodic visits made to them for devotional purposes (i.e., pilgrimages). Consideration is given to the structure of regional pilgrimages and the function of the multiple great houses in Chaco Canyon. This model is compared with two others: Chaco as a secondary trading center and Chaco as an elite power base. Production and consumption in both sacred and profane contexts are examined in order to distinguish among the three models.

Résumé

Résumé

El papel de la producción, intercambio, y consumo en el Cañon Chaco se puede analizar con éxito solamente desde la perspectivo del sistema completo. Aquí se utiliza un enfoque cognitivo y procesual para desarrollar un modelo de la sociedad de Chaco como una entidad igualitaria, en la que el Cañón funcionaba como una Localidad de Devoción Alta (LHDE). Se puede comprender la producción y el consumo de artículos básicos cuando están considerados dentro del contexto del significado de ideas y devoción representado por las Casas Grandes y las Kivas Grandes de Chaco, y de visitas periódicas (o peregrinajes) realizados por motivos religiosos. También se considera la estructura de peregrinajes regionales y la función de las Casa Grandes múltiples en el Cañón Chaco. Se hace una comparación entre este modelo y dos otros: (1) Chaco como un centro secundario de intercambios, y (2) Chaco como una base depoder élite. La producción y el consumo son examinados en contextos sagrados igual como en contextos seculares para distinguir entre los tres modelos.

Type
Special Section
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 66 , Issue 1 , January 2001 , pp. 14 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2001

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