Society for American Archaeology Power without Bounds? Middle Preclassic Political Developments in the Naco Valley, Honduras Author(s): Patricia Urban, Edward Schortman, Marne Ausec Source: Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Jun., 2002), pp. 131-152 Published by: Society for American Archaeology Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/971911 . Accessed: 29/01/2011 10:20 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. 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MIDDLE PRECLASSIC POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTSIN 1HE NACOVALLEY, HONDURAS PatriciaUrban, Edward Schortman, and MarneAusec Recently completed investigations in the Naco Valley,located within the Rio Chamelecondrainage of northwesternHonduras, suggest that, by 1200 B. C., emergent elites were experiencing variable success in their efforts to construct sociopolitical hier- archies. Thoughable to harness labor in the construction of large platforms, these scions apparentlydid not monopolize cru- cial economicprocesses nor could theycommand the exclusive allegiances of their subordinatesover protracted periods. Political centralization, social heterogeneity,and boundaryformation processes were, therefore,not mutually reinforcingand the poli- ties that resulted were small and ephemeral. Comparisonof Naco's trajectory with contemporarydevelopments in neighbor- ing portions of southeastern Mesoamerica hint at the varied developmentalpaths that ultimately laid the foundation for the emergence of relatively stable, hierarchically organizedpolities in the subsequent Classic period (A.D. 200-900). Las investigacionesque recientementese concluyeronen el Vallede Naco, que se localiza en la cuenca del Rfo Chameleconen el noroestede Honduras,indican que allf habfa un desarrolloprecoz en te'rminospolfticos. Hacia 1200 a. C. se fundan centrosadmin- istrativos,cada uno al menos con una plataformade 3 m de altura, quefungen comofocos polfticos para la poblacion que hab- itabaen caserfospequenos. Las e'litesemergentes experimentaron un e'xitovariable en la conformacionde jerarqufas sociopolfticas, y aun cuandopudieron dirigir los trabajosencaminados a la construccionde plataformasgrandes, al parecer no monopolizaron procesos economicos cruciales ni fueron capaces de controlar la devocion exclusiva de sus subordinadosdurante periodos pro- longados. En consecuencia, los procesos de centralizacionpolftica, de heterogeneidadsocial y de formacion de fronteras, no se reforzaronmutuamente y las unidades sociopolfticas que resultaronfueron pequenas y effmeras.Al compararla trayectoriade Naco con la de desarrollos contemporaneosen zonas proximas del sureste de Mesoame'rica,se observa que existierondistintas vfas de desarrollo quefinalmente constituyeronla base para el surgimientode unidades sociopolfticas relativamenteestables y jerarquicamenteorganizadas durante el periodo Clasico (200-900 d. C.). The MiddlePreclassic (1100-400 B.C.) wit- nents may or may not have been relatedin specific nessedthe initial development of sociopolit- cases. We mustalso eschew the temptationto let our ical complexity in many portions of knowledge of how the story ends determine our Mesoamerica.Though there is significantagreement understandingof its beginning.That hierarchically on thispoint, it is oftenunclear what the statement organized, socially heterogenous polities would means."Complexity" is a proteanconcept consist- eventuallybe establishedthroughout Mesoamerica ingof variableswhose expressions and interrelations by the Classicperiod (A.D. 20S900) does not imply are historicallycontingent (de Montmollin1989; that their developmentwas inevitable,uniform, or Feinmanand Neitzel 1984; McGuire 1983; Nelson free of setbacks.Identifying failed effortsto estab- 1995;Roscoe 1993). Understanding when, how, and lish complex polities is as importantas recognizing why people forgedthe novel politicalrelations successfuloutcomes. glossedas "complexity"requires clarifying what we The present essay reviews evidence for the meanby this termand specifying how its compo- appearanceof sociopoliticalcomplexity during the Patricia Urban * Anthropology/SociologyDepartment, Kenyon College, Gambier,OH, 43022; [email protected] Edward Schortman * Anthropology/SociologyDepartment, Kenyon College, Gambier,OH, 43022; [email protected] Marne Ausec * Departmentof Anthropology,University of Massachusetts,Amherst, MA 01003; [email protected] Latin AmericanAntiquity, 13(2), 2002, pp. 131-152 CopyrightC)2002 by the Society for AmericanArchaeology 131 LATINAMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 13, No. 2, 2002 132 MiddlePreclassic Achiote phase in the Naco Valley, and Peregrine 1997:6-7). This variable concerns northwestern Honduras, and compares these impedimentsto transactionsoccurring among peo- processeswith ouremerging understanding of com- ple withdifferent political allegiances. Boundedness parable developments throughout contemporary is a complex phenomenonthat refers both to who southeastern Mesoamerica (eastern Guatemala, interacts with whom and what passes among the westernHonduras, and E1 Salvador). Three elements interactors. Variation along the first dimension integralto this process will be examinedbecause of extendsfrom situations in whichcontacts are monop- their general importancein modeling complexity olizedby a particularfaction to thosewhere all social and our abilityto addressaspects of themusing data membersare free to establishextra-polity ties. The from Naco and southeasternMesoamerica gener- second continuum encompasses a wide range of ally. The factorsin questionare politicalcentraliza- interpolitytransfers associated to varying degrees tion, social heterogeneity,and social boundaries. with different population segments. For our pur- Political centralization refers to the extent to poses, we distinguishonly two types of connections: which power, defined as the ability to direct the those throughwhich goods andideas pass. The arti- actions of others,is differentiallydistributed across ficialityof this divisionis immediatelyapparent and factions within a social unit largerthan the domes- we hastento acknowledgethat the two categoriesare tic group (Balandier1970; Roscoe 1993:113-114; not mutually exclusive. There is some analytical Webster1990). This variableis measuredhere by the advantageto the distinctionin the Naco case, how- presence,dimensions, and numbers of monumental ever, allowing us to discernthe kinds of cross-bor- constructions(platforms rising at least 1.5 m) data- der contacts that valley inhabitants might have ble to the MiddlePreclassic at Naco sites. Recourse maintainedand the developmentalsignificance of to this criterionpresupposes that power is oftenused those ties. to mobilize laborin raisingconstructions associated Goods transfersare recognized through the iden- withrulers and the polities they lead. The morepower tificationof importsin local assemblages,their ide- magnatesaccrue, the largerand more elaborateare ologicalcounterparts being manifest by artifactstyles the buildings they commission (Hirth 1993:123; of foreigninspiration. Styles, those aspects of human Starkand Hall 1993). creationswhose forms and combinationsare deter- "Social heterogeneity"is a gloss for the degree mined more by choice than functionalor techno- to whichpopulations are divided into interestgroups logical necessity, are sufficientlyfree of utilitarian by anynumber of factors(McGuire 1983 :92; Roscoe constraintsto expressconcepts of varyingsorts (Carr 1993). Of particularconcern in this case aredistinc- 1995; Hegmon 1992; Sackett1982; Wiessner 1983, tions based on wealth and occupation.The latteris 1984). Stylisticpatterning, therefore, is a crudeesti- evaluatedusing evidence of varying commitment matorofidea flows, eventhough we mayneverknow amongsite residentsto diversecrafts, reflected in the whatprecepts were expressedthrough the analyzed differentialdistribution of productiondebris, tools, motifs. and, where appropriate,manufacturing facilities Tightlybounded sociopolitical entities are those (e.g., Costin 1991). Wealthdiscrepancies can be dis- in which cross-bordereconomic and ideological cerned by chartingthe prevalenceof valued items transfersare restricted, resulting in highly localized among sites or portionsof largersettlements (Smith materialand stylistic patterning. At the otherextreme 1987). An object's value is crudely estimatedhere thereis