Doctoral dissertation student Omar Alcover Firpi will examine how war shaped settlement design and social organization among early, small-scale villages. In particular, he will examine how networks of communities in defensive positions formed in response to real, or perceived, external threats in pre-modern societies. Previous archaeological scholarship on violence has focused on the formation and maintenance of large states with formalized armies, yet few studies have addressed the role of war in the emergence of social and political complexity among modest sized groups. Because archaeologists can identify long-term social trends in human activity the field is well-suited to answer how societies engaged with, and were altered by, war. In this project, researchers will answer how and why fortresses built and used among early Maya communities in Guatemala, as well as the long-term effects warfare had on the regional development of authority and defensive networks. Building on the premise that collective violence is not an innate human condition, this project will evaluate how war is socially and situationally employed by communities to defend themselves from perceived threats. Results from this investigation provide critical insight into why small communities engage in violence and the long-term effects of such negative encounters. The project will provide educational and professional training for American and Guatemalan students, furthering collaborative ties between the two countries. Moreover, the interdisciplinary dataset will integrate methods in remote sensing analysis along with archaeological survey, excavation, and material analysis to determine the long-term effects of violence during the establishment of early communities in the Americas.
A research team including local community members will examine how fortresses and other defensive features were constructed and used by Maya villagers during the Preclassic period (400BC- AD250) at the hilltop fortress of Macabilero. Macabilero is located on the banks of the Usumacinta River in northwestern Guatemala, in a region that has been continuously occupied since the 4th century BC. Previous archaeological research in the Usumacinta Valley has produced abundant archaeological and historical evidence for warfare during the 6th through 8th century AD, when royal dynasties strove with one another for territorial control. Focusing on the community at Macabilero in the Preclassic period, before the rise of dynastic kingdoms, this research will clarify the intensity and effect of warfare in the emergence of state society in the region. The investigators will lead an interdisciplinary team that includes archaeologists, remote sensing specialists, and environmental scientists to clarify how violence shaped settlement organization in this fractured landscape, and how defensive features relate to different ecological zones in the region. Through excavation of this ancient fortress, in addition to extensive pedestrian survey of the region, and detailed remote sensing analyses, the project will determine how ubiquitous defensive settlements were, and what their role was in the development of political complexity in the region.
