Archaeology of Households, Kinship, and Social Change offers new perspectives on the processes of social change from the standpoint of household archaeology.
This volume develops new theoretical and methodological approaches to the archaeology of households pursuing three critical themes: household diversity in human residential communities with and without archaeologically identifiable houses, interactions within and between households that explicitly considers impacts of kin and non-kin relationships, and lastly change as a process that involves the choices made by members of households in the context of larger societal constraints. Encompassing these themes, authors explore the role of social ties and their material manifestations (within the house, dwelling, or other constructed space), how the household relates to other social units, how households consolidate power and control over resources, and how these changes manifest at multiple scales. The case studies presented in this volume have broader implications for understanding the drivers of change, the ways households create the contexts for change, and how households serve as spaces for invention, reaction, and/or resistance. Understanding the nature of relationships within households is necessary for a more complete understanding of communities and regions as these ties are vital to explaining how and why societies change.
Taking a comparative outlook, with case studies from around the world, this volume will inform students and professionals researching household archaeology and be of interest to other disciplines concerned with the relationship between social networks and societal change.
List of Figures; List of Tables; List of Contributors; Acknowledgement; Chapter 1: Introduction: Global Comparative Approaches to Households and Change in Past Societies; Chapter 2: Perspectives: Households as Assemblages; Chapter 3: Pottery, Social Memory, and Household Cooperation in the Woodland-Period Southeast US; Chapter 4: Household Dynamics and the Reproduction of Early Village Societies in Northwest Argentina (200 BC-AD 850); Chapter 5: Houses of Power: Community Houses and Specialized Houses as Markers of Social Complexity in the Pre-Contact Society Island Chiefdoms; Chapter 6: Perspectives: Situating Households within Broader Networks; Chapter 7: Mitigating Stress through Organizational Change in a Thirteenth-Century Mesa Verde Alcove Village; Chapter 8: Collective Action, Cooperation, and Olmec Sociopolitical Organization: A Household Archaeology Approach; Chapter 9: Monumentality of Houses: Collective Action, Inequality, and Kinship in Pithouse Construction; Chapter 10: Perspectives: Household-Centered Approaches to Transformative Change; Chapter 11: The Persistence of Sedentism throughout Cahokia's Urban Moment: Historical Materialism and Insights into the Dominant Built Form; Chapter 12: The Spaces and Networks Between Households; Chapter 13: Changes in Household Organization and the Development of Classic Period Mimbres Pueblos; Chapter 14: New Roles, New Rules: Elite Residence, Succession to Public Office, and Political Evolution in Oaxaca; Chapter 15: Conclusion: Reflections and Implications; Index.
Lacey Carpenter is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Anthropology Department at Hamilton College and a Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History. Anna Marie Prentiss is Regents Professor of Anthropology at the University of Montana.
