Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Anthropology Faculty Publications

Social organization

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Lineage Model And Archaeological Data In Late Classic Northwestern Belize, Jon B. Hageman Jan 2004

The Lineage Model And Archaeological Data In Late Classic Northwestern Belize, Jon B. Hageman

Anthropology Faculty Publications

As central topics of anthropological study from the 1940s through the 1970s, kinship and lineage became largely discredited during the 1980s. Recent scholarship, however, has indicated that kinship and lineage, when considered as the products of social activity, can make important contributions to studies of living and past populations. This paper explores the lineage as a model of social organization distinguished by specific activities practiced by members of Late Classic Maya social groups. This model is derived from cross-cultural literature on lineages, but practices associated with lineage organization are historically and culturally specific. A suite of archaeological correlates, based on …


A Flexible Corporation: Classic Period House Societies In Eastern Mesoamerica, Julia A. Hendon, Rosemary A. Joyce Jan 2001

A Flexible Corporation: Classic Period House Societies In Eastern Mesoamerica, Julia A. Hendon, Rosemary A. Joyce

Anthropology Faculty Publications

House society models, based on the work of Levi-Strauss but since refined by cultural anthropologists and archaeologists, provide a good model for understanding social organization among the ancient Maya and their neighbors in Mesoamerica based on a comparative study of societies in the Copan Valley, the lower Ulua Valley (Sula Valley), and the Cuyumapa Valley, all in Honduras. Social Houses are flexible, enduring social groupings that define kinship flexibly, recognizing adoption, marriage, shared residency, and other factors as ways to create ties that endure over generations.


Household Archaeology And Reconstructing Social Organization In Ancient Complex Societies: A Consideration Of Models And Concepts Based On Study Of The Prehispanic Maya, Julia A. Hendon Jan 2001

Household Archaeology And Reconstructing Social Organization In Ancient Complex Societies: A Consideration Of Models And Concepts Based On Study Of The Prehispanic Maya, Julia A. Hendon

Anthropology Faculty Publications

Studies of the settlement pattern in the Copan Valley, Honduras, indicate that a House society model provides the best way to understand the social organization of the Late Classic period Maya. The House society model, based on Levi-Strauss's original work but since modified by anthropologists and archaeologists, does not replace household archaeology. Instead, the model allows archaeologists to discuss the continuation of social identity over time.