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Going against the Grain: Wood Production in Chacoan Society

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Thomás C. Windes  and
Peter J. McKenna
Thomás C. Windes
Affiliation:
U.S. National Park Service, P.O. Box 728, Santa Fe, NM 87504-0728
Peter J. McKenna
Affiliation:
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, P.O. Box 26567, Albuquerque, NM 87125-6567
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Abstract

Wood used in the construction of Chacoan great houses represents a class of bulk artifact collected and prepared for use in buildings that can be reasonably argued to be public structures. The organization of production is generally held to be within the framework of a corporate chiefdom, as defined by cross-culturally inspired position papers for the "Organization of Production" symposium on the Chaco phenomenon. The organizational requirements for the acquisition, processing, and transport of construction elements are discussed through the examination of harvest schedule, the description and comparison of beam treatments, and labor investment for the processing, transport, and stockpile management of the beams. The timing of harvest and the labor effort invested in construction wood is found to be different and more intense than in a sample of comparable-scale non-Chacoan buildings but within the means of self-paced, corporately motivated task groups operating under the parameters of seasonal household schedules. Because of the consistency of handling, and quality of treatment, we envision the development of skilled task groups, perhaps at the level of a formal fraternal society, under the guidance and organizing skill of a limited number of leaders or specialists. More centralized corporate direction may have been an aspect of organization for only a brief period after A.D. 1070.

Résumé

Résumé

La madera usada en la construcción de las Casas Grandes chaqueñas representa un tipo de artefacto voluminoso recolectado y preparado para usarse en la construcción de edificios de los que razonablemente se ha argumentado son estructuras públicas. La organizatión de la productión es generalmente considerada dentro del marco de trabajo de un cacicazgo colectivo, como es definido por articulos conposturas inspiradas transculturalmente presentados en los simposios "Organizatión de la Productión" sobre el Fenómeno Chaco. Los requerimientos organizacionales para la adquisición, procesamiento y transporte de materiales de constructión son discutidos mediante el análisis del calendario de la tala, la descriptión y comparacion de tratamientos de vigas, y el esfuerzo laboral para el procesamiento, transporte y manejo del inventario de las vigas. El calendario de la tala y el esfuerzo laboral invertido en la madera para la construction son diferentes y más intensos que en los de una muestra de edificios nochaquehos de escala comparable, pero de acuerdo a los recursos de grupos con tareas especificas, motivados colectivamente, operando a su propio ritmo y bajo los pardmetros de los horarios de temporada de las actividades de casa. Debido a la consistencia del manejo y la calidad del tratamiento, imaginamos el desarrollo de diestros grupos con tareas especificas, quizds al nivel de una sociedad formal fraternal, bajo la gula y la habilidad organizadora de un limitado numero de lideres o especialistas. Una directión colectiva más centralizada pudo haber sido un aspecto de la organization por un breve período de tiempo despues de 1070 D.C.

Type
Special Section
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 66 , Issue 1 , January 2001 , pp. 119 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2001

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