A Case Study from Bronze Age Sardinia by Emily Marie Holt
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Economy and Environment in Complex Societies: A Case Study from Bronze Age Sardinia by Emily Marie Holt A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Classical Art and Archaeology and Anthropology) in the University of Michigan 2013 Doctoral Committee: Professor John M. O’Shea, Co-Chair Professor Sharon C. Herbert, Co-Chair Assistant Professor Robin A. Beck Professor Joyce Marcus Associate Professor Lauren E. Talalay Professor Nicola Terrenato Copyright Emily Marie Holt 2013 Dedication In loving memory of Geneva and Joseph Van Balen ii Acknowledgements Writing this dissertation would have been impossible without the help and support of a large number of people to whom I owe an enormous debt of gratitude. First and foremost, I would like to thank my family - Mary van Balen, Rick Holt, Jennifer Holt, and Kathryn Holt - for believing in me, supporting me, and - when necessary - tolerating my excesses of both enthusiasm and despair. They have watched me struggle to achieve my childhood dream of becoming an archaeologist, and have always been ready with their encouragement and love. I would also like to thank my grandparents - Geneva and Joseph Van Balen and Betty and Firman Holt - for always wanting to hear my stories and see my pictures; it meant the world to me. I would still be struggling to put two chapters together without the support and advice of my co-chairs - John O'Shea and Sharon Herbert - and my dissertation committee - Robin Beck, Joyce Marcus, Lauren Talalay, and Nicola Terrenato. I have benefited enormously from their wisdom, experience, suggestions, comments, and criticisms. I also owe a great deal to many other University of Michigan faculty who have helped and supported me. My sincere thanks to Kent Flannery for his advice, constructive criticism, and great stories; I feel lucky to have had my desk in the Zooarchaeology Laboratory all these years. My deep thanks also to Carla Sinopoli and John Speth, who always took the time to give me comments and advice; to Lisa Young, whose constant support has been invaluable; to Richard Redding, who introduced me to zooarchaeology; to Henry Wright, who has always encouraged my work in Sardinia and who has provided many valuable insights; to Jeff Parsons, whose support during my early days in the Museum was crucial; to Laura Motta, who has been an inspiration to work with; to Bob Whallon for his constant collegiality; to Elaine Gazda, who has always been immensely supportive; to David Potter, who has come to my aid many times; and to H. D. Cameron, iii who provided the example of an inspired teacher that I hope to live up to. My friends and fellow graduate students have provided a constant source of intellectual challenge, encouragement, and support. My deepest thanks go to Seth Button, my dear friend and colleague, without whom I could never have made it through graduate school. I owe an enormous debt to Taco Terpstra, whose love, support, and advice have been essential, especially while writing the dissertation. My deep thanks also to Amy Nicodemus, Amanda Logan, Lindsay Ambridge, Ashley Lemke, Colin Quinn, Lacey Carpenter, and to many other friends and colleagues too numerous to mention here. The fieldwork in this dissertation would not have been possible without the enthusiasm, encouragement, and help of my colleagues and collaborators in Sardinia. Most importantly, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Mauro Perra, a great friend and colleague and the Scientific Director of Progetto Pran'e Siddi. My fieldwork would have been impossible without his enthusiastic help, tireless support, and invaluable advice, and together I think we made a pretty fantastic “disaster.” I also owe my sincere thanks to Mario Vacca for his expertise as a draftsman and his amazing patience with my imperfect grasp of Italian. Many thanks also go to Marco Pisanu, former Mayor Siddi, for believing in Progetto Pran'e Siddi and for providing the financial support that turned our idea into an excavation, not to mention letting us borrow his car during that first, experimental excavation season. The project would never have seen a successful conclusion without Stefano Puddu, the current Mayor of Siddi, who also gave the project his full support. Many thanks to my diligent workers – Daniela Abis, Tosella Abis, Otello Uras, Gianpaolo Floris, and Cristiano Cau - who did an excellent job and learned to smile at the strange demands of the American archaeologist. Finally, my heartfelt gratitude to my friends in and around Siddi - Mimmo Atzori, Annaluisa Mugnai, Carmen Pisano, Raffaela Scano, and Davide Uras, among many others - who have made it my second home. My field project was organized and begun during a Fulbright IIE spent in Villanovaforru, Sardinia. I will always be deeply grateful to Mariano Pistis, former Mayor of Villanovaforru, for making me feel welcome in his comune during my Fulbright year, and to my wonderful friends Veronica Pistis, Silvia Pilloni, and Enrica Ibba, who made my stay in Villanovaforru so much fun. Many thanks also to Marco and Angela Figus and their wonderful family at the Hotel Funtana Noa, who watched out for iv me, took care of me, and made me one of their family. A number of international volunteers also made the fieldwork in this dissertation possible. I am particularly indebted Anne Dighton, who was an amazing lab manager, friend, and confidant; Bridgid Purcell, who was exceedingly generous with her time and talent as project artist, not to mention with her enthusiasm; and Kirsten Bradely, whose phenomenal excavation skills moved the project forward immensely. I would also like to thank Jamie Baird, Jessica DeJong, Jane Gagne, Jordan Gavin, Jana Mokrisova, Victoria Moses, Alina Naujokaitis, Susan Palazzo, Karynn Schmidt, Allison Ripley, Aurelien Tafani, Ariel Taivalkoski, Kayla Waldron, and Andrew Weiland for volunteering their time. Finally, I would like to thank the specialists not previously mentioned for contributing to what I hope was an exciting new area of study; my sincere thanks to Andrew Fairbairn, Anke Marsh, and Robyn Veal for their excellent work and collegiality. The work in this dissertation was made possible by a number of grants and generous donors. I would like to gratefully acknowledge the Fulbright Association, the National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant, the Joan B. Kessler Award, the Rackham International Research Award, the Redding Vehicle Fund, the James Bennett Griffin Scholarship Fund, the Etruscan Foundation, the John Griffiths Pedley Travel and Research Fund, and the Richard I. Ford Award for Anthropological Research on Humans and the Environment. v Table Of Contents Dedication ....................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ iii List of Tables .................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ................................................................................................................. x List of Images ................................................................................................................ xi Chapter 1: General Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 Section I .......................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 2: An Economic Perspective on the Emergence and Maintenance of Social Complexity ...................................................................................................................... 6 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 6 THE ECONOMIC FOUNDATION OF INEQUALITY ............................................ 8 MANAGING THE POLITICAL ECONOMY ......................................................... 26 The Role of Innovation ............................................................................................. 28 SUSTAINING THE POLITICAL ECONOMY ....................................................... 32 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 3: Constructing a Model of Elite Strategies in Different Situations ............... 43 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 43 KEY COMPONENTS OF THE MODEL ................................................................ 44 CONSTRUCTING THE MODEL ............................................................................ 52 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................... 64 Section II: Case Study: The Siddi Plateau in the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1750-1365) of Sardinia................................................................................. 66 Chapter 4: Introduction to the Case Study .................................................................... 67 A MIDDLE BRONZE AGE SETTLEMENT SYSTEM: THE SIDDI PLATEAU .. 69 vi Chapter 5: The Geological and Environmental Context of Prehistoric Sardinia .......... 71 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 71 GEOLOGY ..............................................................................................................