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doi: 10.1525/aa.1986.88.1.02a00010pmid: N/A
This paper provides an overview of the development of Americanist archeology in the United States.
doi: 10.1525/aa.1986.88.1.02a00020pmid: N/A
Evidence from Bed I, Olduvai, supports the hypothesis that scavenging, not hunting, was the major meat‐procurement strategy of hominids between 2 and 1.7 million years ago. Data used to evaluate the hunting and scavenging hypotheses are derived from studying cut marks on Bed I bovids, comparing adaptations necessary for scavenging with those of early hominids, and a pa‐leoecological reconstruction of Bed I carcass biotnass, carnivore guild, and hominidforaging area.
doi: 10.1525/aa.1986.88.1.02a00030pmid: N/A
The meaning of the imperial capital can be understood as a necessary component of the system that constitutes the authority of its rulers. Urban form relates rulers' behavior to principles of order and to the forces that create this order. Architectural and urban morphology at Vijayanagara, the capital of the most important Hindu empire of medieval south India, embodied several meaningful aspects of royal behavior. Here are considered material elements that expressed the kings' activities as warrior and hunter, as promoter of prosperity and redistributor of wealth, and as maintainer of cosmic order. Three aspects of the city—the structure of the urban plan, the organization of movement, and the mythological associations of the site—asserted that the king embodied the power of Ramachandra, the divine hero‐king.
doi: 10.1525/aa.1986.88.1.02a00040pmid: N/A
In this article I propose that symbolic healing has a universal structure in which the healer helps the patient particularize a general cultural mythic world and manipulate healing symbols in it. Problems currently existing in the explanation of symbolic healing are examined. The relationship between Western psychotherapy and magical healing is explained, the Junction qfshamanic ecstasy is discussed, and symbolic healing is explained in terms of a theory of living systems.
doi: 10.1525/aa.1986.88.1.02a00050pmid: N/A
This paper explores the role of social stratification in the regional organization of the Triple Alliance, or Aztec empire. Unlike previous interpretations that see military coercion as the main force integrating the empire, I argue that the primary integrative factor was collusion between rulers of the core states and the nobility of the provinces, who gained economic rewards for their participation in the tribute empire. The common interest of the Mesoamerican nobility transcended political boundaries. The fundamental social and economic cleavage in Postclassic Mesoamerica was not between the Triple Alliance states and the provinces, as many have argued, but rather between the nobles and the commoners. The proposed model is supported through examination of the provincial polity of Cuauhnahuac in western Morelos, Mexico.
doi: 10.1525/aa.1986.88.1.02a00060pmid: N/A
This paper extends the application of optimal foraging theory to horticultural economies. The Machiguenga, a native Amazonian population of southeastern Peru, are used as a test case. The results demonstrate the theory's utility in structuring questions and predicting the outcome of horticultural production. By extending the range of foraging theory the evolution of subsistence strategies from hunting‐gathering to agriculture can be examined in quantitative terms. The evolutionary sequence is illustrated with a hypothetical population. Additional insights are gained when the theory is used to structure specific production decisions. Disagreements concerning the scarcity of protein in Amazonian economies are shown to be a consequence of the measurement units employed.
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