Stuart's Explanatory Model PDF

**Stuart's Explanatory Model** - Societies split into **"power"** and **"efficiency"** systems. - **Chaco**: An experiment in power politics and rapid economic growth. - **"Kicker"**: Collapse driven by climate change (environmental determinism). - **Lessons**: Imbalance between...

**Stuart's Explanatory Model** - Societies split into **"power"** and **"efficiency"** systems. - **Chaco**: An experiment in power politics and rapid economic growth. - **"Kicker"**: Collapse driven by climate change (environmental determinism). - **Lessons**: Imbalance between power and efficiency poses risks for sustainability. **Power** - **Control & Influence**: Ability to direct actions and mobilize resources. - **Elites**: Leaders control trade, labor, and rituals. - **Maintenance**: Requires constant effort (coercion or rewards). - **Risk**: Power declines if resources run out or loyalty wanes. **Efficiency** - **Resource Use**: Maximize output with minimal waste. - **Environmental Fit**: Adaptation of farming, water use, and labor to local conditions. - **Fragility**: Systems break down if demands exceed limits or conditions change. **Key Differences** - **Focus**: - Power = Social control - Efficiency = Sustainable resource management - **Trade-off**: Power demands can reduce efficiency. - **Outcome**: Chaco's collapse linked to imbalance between power and efficiency. **Role of Agriculture** - **2000 BC**: Corn arrives from Mexico; greater precipitation. - **500 BC**: Beans + corn/squash = Full replacement of hunter-gatherer diet. - **AD 1**: Increased rainfall → Pithouse communities (3--5 houses). **Early Basketmaker (AD 1--400)** - Small pithouse villages in upland locations near good farming soil. - Still relied on hunting and gathering; villages were not permanent. **Late Basketmaker (AD 400--750)** - Larger pithouse villages (10--20 pithouses). - **Kiva**: Circular pithouse with bench and foot drum -- a social hub. - **Key needs**: - Hunter-gatherers: Space to roam and forage - Farmers: Time to plant, harvest, and store supplies **Pueblo I (AD 700--900)** - Villages grow larger, with **above-ground storage** and **early pueblos**. - **Long-distance trade** shared risks across communities. **\ ** **Pueblo II (AD 800--1000)** - Small agricultural settlements spread widely. - Earliest **great houses**: Large, arc-shaped rows of rooms with storage. - **Power dynamics emerge** during this period. **Chaco Phenomenon (1020--1130)** - **Great house construction** expands in Chaco and outlying areas. - **Outliers**: Multi-story sandstone buildings with oversized kivas and T-shaped doors. - Communities linked by **trade, reciprocity, and ritual**. - **Pueblo Bonito**: 33 kivas, 700 rooms, covering 5 acres---the largest U.S. residence until the 1880s. - **Storage increase** in great houses, but local households' stores remained the same. - **Surplus** production was taken by elites. **Chaco Roads** - 12--30 ft wide, with berms and staircases. - Served **economic and religious** purposes. - **Center place**: All roads converged on Chaco Canyon. **Social Inequality** - **Small houses**: - Severe dental caries, spinal arthritis, high infant mortality (poor diet, intense labor). - **Great houses**: - Taller people, lower child mortality, better diets, and more game access. - **Rich burials** with luxury items (e.g., copper bells, turquoise, fine pottery). **Religion & Disintegration** - Religion was the **organizing principle** of Chaco society. - Open society (no fortifications). - **Population growth**: Created stress---food shortages, labor migration to Chaco. - **1090 drought**: - Chaco began to disintegrate by the 1100s. - Elites responded with more roads, rituals, and construction. - **Great houses** shifted north to San Juan River (e.g., Salmon Ruin, Aztec). - Farmers **abandoned** Chaco. - **Violence**: Warrior burials and violent deaths followed. - **Diminishing returns**: Society persisted with old strategies even after their benefits eroded.