Papers by Arthur Demarest
Journal de la société des américanistes, 2007
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2020
This chapter presents a critique of factors inhibiting progress in Maya economic studies, an intr... more This chapter presents a critique of factors inhibiting progress in Maya economic studies, an introduction to approaches that avoid those pitfalls and examples of successful applications of strategic management theory and sociological organization studies. Some errors identified in current studies include shifts in terminology from relative to absolute; huge spatial and temporal frames of reference obscuring patterns and creating continuities, thus minimizing the degree of change; arguments unacceptable in logical and scientific discourse to criticize alternative interpretations, and other fallacies. Strategic management analysis can be applied to specific features of economies, avoiding such errors and overly broad typological concepts (e.g., “market economy,” “redistribution,” “barter,” “inalienable property”). Instead specific aspects of those and other parts of economies are studied as sets composed of variable elements each of which can be evaluated on relative scales. Successful recent applications to Maya economy are summarized, guiding to a vast literature in the sociology organization and of strategic management on “embeddedness,” manipulation of the “biographies of things,” “economic cultures,” “Trust,” innovation legitimation, vertical integration, institutional agency, and hopefully, providing a new direction in the study of Maya economies.
The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2018
Includes descriptive metadata provided by producer in MP3 file: "Arthur Demarest, Ingram Pro... more Includes descriptive metadata provided by producer in MP3 file: "Arthur Demarest, Ingram Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Mesoamerican Anthropology and Development, presented a lecture entitled 'War Crimes, Present and Past: The Royal Massacre at the Ancient Maya City of Cancuen.'"
The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2017
Ancient Mesoamerica, 1997
Hahr-hispanic American Historical Review, Aug 1, 1987
The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2016
National Geographic, 1993
... rústico onde Stephen Houston e Kevin Johnston, na altura estudantes da Universidade de Yale, ... more ... rústico onde Stephen Houston e Kevin Johnston, na altura estudantes da Universidade de Yale, mapeavam o local e estudavam as suas estelas, monumentos de pedra gravada. Tinham acabado de tropeçar numa pista interessante muralhas defensivas rodeando o centro ...
The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2015
University Press of Florida eBooks, Mar 30, 2021
American Anthropologist, Mar 1, 1989
University Press of Florida eBooks, Sep 8, 2020
This chapter presents a critique of factors inhibiting progress in Maya economic studies, an intr... more This chapter presents a critique of factors inhibiting progress in Maya economic studies, an introduction to approaches that avoid those pitfalls and examples of successful applications of strategic management theory and sociological organization studies. Some errors identified in current studies include shifts in terminology from relative to absolute; huge spatial and temporal frames of reference obscuring patterns and creating continuities, thus minimizing the degree of change; arguments unacceptable in logical and scientific discourse to criticize alternative interpretations, and other fallacies. Strategic management analysis can be applied to specific features of economies, avoiding such errors and overly broad typological concepts (e.g., “market economy,” “redistribution,” “barter,” “inalienable property”). Instead specific aspects of those and other parts of economies are studied as sets composed of variable elements each of which can be evaluated on relative scales. Successful recent applications to Maya economy are summarized, guiding to a vast literature in the sociology organization and of strategic management on “embeddedness,” manipulation of the “biographies of things,” “economic cultures,” “Trust,” innovation legitimation, vertical integration, institutional agency, and hopefully, providing a new direction in the study of Maya economies.
Current Anthropology, Feb 1, 1996
riods of piedmont expansion, many of these communities collapsed. Elites were not immune from the... more riods of piedmont expansion, many of these communities collapsed. Elites were not immune from the long-term consequences of their behavioral strategies. While elite status increased dramatically during the Late Formative and Classic, it is possible that the ideology that legitimated their power also contributed to its sudden collapse. The collapse of Classic-period polities is not well understood, although it probably involved a combination of ecological, economic, and sociopolitical factors (Blanton I983a, Culbert I973, Winter Ig8gb). It is possible that as factors uch as environmental degradation, warfare, and inequality intensified, people began to question the dominant ideology. The relatively sudden collapse of sites like Monte Albain, Cerro de las Minas, and Yucufiudahui might have occurred when people abandoned the dominant ideology as well as the rulers it supported (see Habermas I975). The shared identity of elites might also have facilitated the collapse of many Mesoamerican polities between about A.D. 700 and goo. If the dominant ideology could be overthrown or abandoned in one region, there would be greater eason to question it in others. Regardless of the causes for decline of the urban centers, it would seem that the elite strategies that had held these polities together for centuries ceased to be effective. We do not know whether the final collapse was peaceful or violent, but it certainly would not have occurred in a vacuum. Other leaders probably took over in the resulting chaos and began to recast their ideology to support he developing political relations of the Postclassic city-states.
Ancient Mesoamerica, 2019
Excavations at the Late Classic Maya site of Cancuen (Petén Department, Guatemala) uncovered a sm... more Excavations at the Late Classic Maya site of Cancuen (Petén Department, Guatemala) uncovered a small-scale hydraulic system including stone-lined canals and reservoirs within the architectural core of the site. The abundance of other nearby potable water sources along with the elaborate form of the system demonstrate that it served an ideological rather than practical function. Artifacts deposited in the reservoirs support this interpretation. Moreover, the reservoir located in front of the site's royal palace contained the remains of at least 30 individuals who may represent members of the royal court massacred during the site's collapse. This paper reports the animal remains found within the site's reservoirs to further explore the nature and extent of ritual and disposal activities within these aquatic contexts. Inter- and intrasite comparisons are used to contextualize the results within broader discussions of how we identify ritual activity in the zooarchaeological record, and the role of water in ancient Maya ideological and political systems.
The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2015
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2021
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Papers by Arthur Demarest