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Situating Copper Bells in Prehispanic Southwest Societies: an Analysis of Their Spatial, Temporal, and Contextual Distribution

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Situating Copper Bells in Prehispanic Southwest Societies: an Analysis of Their Spatial, Temporal, and Contextual Distribution SITUATING COPPER BELLS IN PREHISPANIC SOUTHWEST SOCIETIES: AN ANALYSIS OF THEIR SPATIAL, TEMPORAL, AND CONTEXTUAL DISTRIBUTION A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in the Faculty of Arts and Science TRENT UNIVERSITY Peterborough, Ontario, Canada © Copyright by Ian McKelvie Boyce 2015 Anthropology M.A. Graduate Program © January 2016 ABSTRACT Situating Copper Bells in Prehispanic Southwestern Societies: An Analysis of their Spatial, Temporal, and Contextual Distribution Ian McKelvie Boyce This thesis examines the spatial, temporal, and contextual distribution of copper bells in the Greater Southwest region and how they are situated in archaeological literature. To date, 672 copper bells have been found in at least 113 different Southwestern sites dating from ca. A.D. 900-1450, though there is no archaeological evidence for metallurgical activities in the area at this time. The origin of copper bells has been assumed to be West Mexico, a region known for its metallurgical traditions and whose inhabitants produced copious amounts of similar bells. Various lists of copper bells discovered have been compiled over the years, but little consideration has been given to the role these artifacts may have played in Southwestern societies. Copper bells are frequently labelled as prestige goods in archaeological literature, a term which fails to account for their significant depositional variation. By updating the database of known Southwestern copper bells, it becomes possible to examine these contextual distributions in greater detail. It is concluded that the prestige goods model is not suitable for Southwestern copper bells in many cases, and that alternative frameworks such as inalienable possessions are a better fit for these artifacts. Keywords: Southwest U.S., copper bell, prestige goods, inalienable possessions, interaction, Ancestral Pueblo, Hohokam, Mogollon, Casas Grandes ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project or any other of my intellectual endeavours would be impossible without the constant love and support of my family, especially. Heartfelt thanks must be given to my ever-inquisitive parents, Jeff and Jane, who did all they could to keep me driven and focused, and my brother, Scott, who always helped me forget my frustrations. I would like to thank all the faculty and staff I have had the pleasure of working with over the course of my stay at Trent University. Special thanks goes my committee members, Dr. Gyles Iannone and Dr. Jocelyn Williams, both of whom I enjoyed learning under and working with. Your insight and approachability was greatly appreciated. I also greatly appreciate the input from my external examiner, Dr. Steve Plog. Thanks must go to my fellow peers in the Trent Anthropology M.A. program, who were always supportive and willing to give constructive advice. Thank you to my friends and coworkers who always gave me incentive to push onwards. My research trip to the Smithsonian collections would have been so much less enjoyable and informative if not for Candace and Will Greene, who welcomed me with open arms into their home, and James Krakker and Jennifer Giacci who enthusiastically sought out the information I was looking for. Thanks must also go to all those who responded to my queries for new information regarding copper bells. Finally, I cannot express enough gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Marit Munson. The role her guidance, enthusiasm, patience, and constant support played in my completing this journey cannot be understated. It is impossible to imagine undertaking this task without the renewed sense of optimism and excitement I felt after every discussion we had. Thank you, Marit. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 COPPER BELLS ............................................................................................................ 1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................... 3 THESIS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 2: Mesoamerican-Southwestern Interaction and Copper Bell Studies .................. 9 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 9 EVIDENCE OF PREHISTORIC SOUTHWEST-MESOAMERICA INTERACTION 9 SOUTHWEST-MESOAMERICAN INTERACTION STUDIES ............................... 11 REGIONAL SYSTEMS ............................................................................................... 21 SOUTHWESTERN COPPER BELLS ......................................................................... 28 ARTIFACT USAGE AND SYMBOLIC ADOPTION: A MULTI-SCALAR APPROACH IN INTERACTION STUDIES ............................................................... 38 Chapter 3: Theory and Methods........................................................................................ 40 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 40 PRESTIGE GOODS ..................................................................................................... 40 COMMODITIES AND ORDINARY GOODS ............................................................ 53 INALIENABLE POSSESSIONS ................................................................................. 55 INALIENABLE POSSESSIONS AND SOCIAL VALUABLES: FINAL THOUGHTS ....................................................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 4: Macro-scale Analysis of Copper Bells in the Southwest ................................ 65 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 65 THE COPPER BELL DATABASE ............................................................................. 66 DATA ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 70 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................... 86 COPPER BELLS: VARIATION IN TIME, SPACE, AND CONTEXT ..................... 92 Chapter 5: Interpreting Ancestral Pueblo Copper Bells ................................................... 94 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 94 COPPER BELLS IN THE ANCESTRAL PUEBLO WORLD ................................... 94 iv THE ANCESTRAL PUEBLO WORLD ...................................................................... 95 COMPARING MODELS ............................................................................................. 98 UNDERSTANDING COPPER BELLS IN THE SOUTHWEST .............................. 119 Chapter 6: Discussion and Conclusions .......................................................................... 121 AVENUES FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ................................................................... 130 APPENDIX A – The Copper Bell Database ................................................................... 132 APPENDIX B – Database Context Classifications and Definitions............................... 134 APPENDIX C – Find Sites of Copper Bells ................................................................... 135 APPENDIX D – Chemical Testing and Sourcing of Copper Bells ................................ 138 REFERENCES CITED ................................................................................................... 143 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1. Map of the various levels of the Casas Grandes regional system (from Whalen and Minnis 1999:61). 26 Figure 2.2. An example of the stylistic variety of copper bells from various sites. NMNH; Photo: Ian Boyce. 29 Figure 2.3. Three type IA1a-i bells from Pueblo Bonito, New Mexico The design of this type of bell is probably the most mundane. NMNH; Photo: Ian Boyce. 29 Figure 2.4. A close up of a clapper within a type IC6a copper bell from Delgar Ruin, New Mexico. NMNH; Photo: Ian Boyce. 29 Figure 2.5. Type IC6a copper bell with raised platform at top. From Delgar Ruin, New Mexico. NMNH; Photo: Ian Boyce. 30 Figure 2.6. The variability in Mexican copper bells. (A) A relatively plain tear-shaped copper bell. (B) A tear-shaped bell with an elaborate eyelet and raised serpentine design. (C) A cluster of smaller bells from Guerrero, Mexico, presumably once part of a necklace. NMNH; Photos: Ian Boyce 31 Figure 4.1. Spatial distribution and temporal of Southwestern sites from which copper bells have been discovered. (Photo credit: Marit Munson). 65 Figure 4.2. A comparison of copper bell fragments from Pueblo del Arroyo (A) and Pueblo Bonito (B) in relation to whole-copper
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