Over two thousand years ago, Oaxaca, Mexico, was the site of one of the New World's earliest episodes of primary state formation and urbanism, and today it is one of the world's archaeologically best-studied regions. This volume, which thoroughly revises and updates the first edition, provides a highly readable yet comprehensive path to acquaint readers with one of the earliest and best-known examples of Native American state formation and its consequences as seen from the perspectives of urbanism, technology, demography, commerce, households, and religion and ritual. Written by prominent archaeological researchers who have devoted decades to Oaxacan research and to the development of suitable social theory, the book places ancient Oaxaca within the context of the history of ideas that have addressed the causes and consequences of social evolutionary change. It also critically evaluates the potential applicability of more recent thinking about state building grounded in collective action and related theories.
- The book provides a comprehensive archaeological synthesis of one of Mesoamerica's most important sites of early state formation and urbanism
- The book synthesizes a large and complex archaeological literature in highly readable text
- The book could be used in multiple contexts: in a course on Oaxacan or Mesoamerican archaeology, a course on pre-modern sociocultural evolution, or a course on the history of ideas about social complexity and evolution applicable to thinking about past and present
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Product details
- Edition: 2nd Edition
- Date Published: July 2022
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781108926188
- length: 216 pages
- dimensions: 228 x 153 x 10 mm
- weight: 0.37kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
.1 Introduction: Mesoamerica and its pre-Hispanic civilization
2. Theorizing sociocultural evolution
3. Before Monte Albán
4. Origins of Monte Albán
5. The great transformation
6. Thinking about theories of sociocultural evolution from the perspective of Oaxaca
7. Cooperation and the foundation of Monte Albán.
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Authors
Richard E. Blanton, Purdue University, Indiana
Richard E. Blanton is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Purdue University.
Gary M. Feinman, The Field Museum, Chicago
Gary M. Feinman is MacArthur Curator of Anthropology in the Negaunee Integrative Research Center at the Field Museum of Natural History.
Stephen A. Kowalewski, University of Georgia
Stephen A. Kowalewski is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Georgia.
Linda M. Nicholas, The Field Museum, Chicago
Linda M. Nicholas is Adjunct Curator in the Negaunee Integrative Research Center at the Field Museum of Natural History.