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Ref ID: 25195
Ref Type: Book Section in a Series
Authors: Nelson, Ben A.
Chase, Adrian S. Z.
Hegmon, Michelle
Title: Transformative Relocation in the U.S. Southwest and Mesoamerica
Date: 2014
Source: The Resilience and Vulnerability of Ancient Landscapes: Transforming Maya Archaeology through IHOPE
Publisher: American Anthropological Association
Abstract: A comparative perspective, drawing from cases in the U.S. Southwest and Northern Mexico, is used to illuminate the iconic Classic Maya “collapse,” and to define the concept of transformative relocation. In some of the cases we discuss—including La Quemada and Classic Mimbres, as well as Maya—the end of a social configuration is not the end of a people. Rather, a broad temporal and regional perspective demonstrates that the dramatic change we see in the archaeological record is best characterized as a transformative relocation in which people relocated themselves and adopted new ways of life. The comparative perspective allows us to identify factors that contribute to this kind of transformation, including a compounding of vulnerabilities and situations of path dependence.
Date Created: 8/13/2019
Editors: Chase, Arlen F.
Scarborough, Vernon L.
Number: 24
Page Start: 171
Page End: 182
Series Editor: Goldstein, Lynne
Series Title: Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association