Through the rearview mirror: Rethinking the Classic Maya Collapse in the light of Postclassic rural social transformation

Schwarz, Kevin

doi:10.1177/1469605313487820

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Finally, the case for agency—for human choice—can be made not only in response to threat and disaster, but also in post-collapse regeneration (Schwarz 2013 ). If there was major disruption of some kind up and down the Rhine valley at the turn of sixth millennium cal BC, this does not seem to have been the case, in our view, everywhere: neither to the west in the Paris basin nor to the east in the Carpathian basin, though that would take several other papers to argue in detail.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cultural Project: Formal Chronological Modelling of the Early and Middle Neolithic Sequence in Lower Alsace

Denaire

Lefranc

Wahl

et al. 2017

J Archaeol Method Theory

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Starting from questions about the nature of cultural diversity, this paper examines the pace and tempo of change and the relative importance of continuity and discontinuity. To unravel the cultural project of the past, we apply chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates within a Bayesian statistical framework, to interrogate the Neolithic cultural sequence in Lower Alsace, in the upper Rhine valley, in broad terms from the later sixth to the end of the fifth millennium cal BC. Detailed formal estimates are provided for the long succession of cultural groups, from the early Neolithic Linear Pottery culture (LBK) to the Bischheim Occidental du Rhin Supérieur (BORS) groups at the end of the Middle Neolithic, using seriation and typology of pottery as the starting point in modelling. The rate of ceramic change, as well as frequent shifts in the nature, location and density of settlements, are documented in detail, down to lifetime and generational timescales. This reveals a Neolithic world in Lower Alsace busy with comings and goings, tinkerings and adjustments, and relocations and realignments. A significant hiatus is identified between the end of the LBK and the start of the Hinkelstein group, in the early part of the fifth millennium cal BC. On the basis of modelling of existing dates for other parts of the Rhineland, this appears to be a wider phenomenon, and possible explanations are discussed; full reoccupation of the landscape is only seen in the Grossgartach phase. Radical shifts are also proposed at the end of the Middle Neolithic.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10816-016-9307-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cultural Project: Formal Chronological Modelling of the Early and Middle Neolithic Sequence in Lower Alsace

Denaire

Lefranc

Wahl

et al. 2017

J Archaeol Method Theory

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“…237-241). These latter studies share similarities with bottom-up models of collapse, which note how the appropriation of formerly elite sacred spaces can serve as forms of resistance, engagement, and independent action in postcontact societies (Janusek 2004;Joyce et al 2001;Middleton 2012;Mixter et al 2014;Schwarz 2013).…”

Section: Gender and Identitymentioning

confidence: 92%

Household Archaeology in Polynesia: Historical Context and New Directions

Kahn

2016

J Archaeol Res

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This review highlights archaeological investigations of precontact and historic house sites in Polynesia, a region noted for its diversity of chiefdoms in terms of scale and elaboration. Anthropological and historical perceptions of the Polynesian household have shifted over time, influencing the ways in which the household has been defined in archaeology. Early research emphasized houses as a unit of study within settlement pattern archaeology and as a means of delineating formal variability between sites and communities. Current studies stress a more holistic view of the household as a nexus of economic, social, and ritual activities. Diverse theoretical perspectives, such as the analytical concept of house societies, feminist archaeologies, landscape approaches, and agent-based models, have led to new archaeological approaches engaged with both the material and the nonmaterial aspects of the house and, in particular, how social relations structure the household. Current prominent themes include functional identification of house sites, understanding social variability, articulation of the household with the community, and comparative analyses of social complexity.

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“…Rural people were innovative ritual practitioners who strategically deployed sacred knowledge and performances also used by city dwellers, including those on top of the social pyramid (Gonlin and Lohse 2007; Hutson et al 2018; Robin 2002; Zaro and Lohse 2005; see also Ingalls and Yaeger 2022; Lamb 2022; Valdez et al 2022). And they were agents of social reproduction and change, integral to processes of social inequality, identity and social memory, urbanization, polity formation, and disintegration, as well as the longevity and transformations of rural places (Eberl 2007; Hutson et al 2015; Lohse 2013; Mixter 2017; Robin 2012, 2013; Schwarz 2013; Yaeger 2000; see also Ingalls and Yaeger 2022; Lamb 2022; Lemonnier and Arnauld 2022; Tiesler and López Pérez 2022; Valdez et al 2022). Rural research has blurred the spatial and social boundaries between the diverse yet articulated regional settlements, underlining commonalities between rural and city life while highlighting some of the specificities of life in the ancient Maya countryside.…”

Section: Developments In Ancient Maya Rural Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking the Rural in Ancient Maya Studies

Lamb

2022

Ancient Mesoam

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This Special Section provides a glimpse into the vitality of rural investigations in the Maya area by presenting recent archaeological research and interpretive perspectives on the ancient rural Maya. This introduction serves to contextualize the articles of this Special Section within and outside of academic discourse and practice. I start by reviewing the common ways in which rural people and places are essentialized, to underscore that these now unpopular ideas continue to implicitly pervade research priorities, definitions, and interpretations. I then provide a brief historical summary of rural research in the Maya area and some of its significant contributions to our current understandings of ancient rural Maya peoples. Finally, drawing from rural studies, I argue for greater theorization of rurality—including how it was constituted, experienced, perhaps even perceived in the past, and its relationship to periurban, conurban, and urban life, and the continued existence and transformation of rural spaces and lifeways within increasingly urbanized societies. This introduction aims to invigorate further theoretical elaboration with regard to ancient Maya rurality and elicit archaeologists to place themselves and their work within the broader historical and cultural trends of how the rural is perceived and addressed.

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Through the rearview mirror: Rethinking the Classic Maya Collapse in the light of Postclassic rural social transformation

Cited by 13 publications

References 25 publications

The Cultural Project: Formal Chronological Modelling of the Early and Middle Neolithic Sequence in Lower Alsace

The Cultural Project: Formal Chronological Modelling of the Early and Middle Neolithic Sequence in Lower Alsace

Household Archaeology in Polynesia: Historical Context and New Directions

Rethinking the Rural in Ancient Maya Studies

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