Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

284 Chaco Project Synthesissedentization, recently sedentary groups, and complexforager societies that had not yet institutionalized theirhierarchies). Because some form of hierarchy existsin all societies, the problem is determining if, andhow, G. Johnson's (1982) sequential hierarchy mighthave been transformed into a simultaneous hierarchy.Aldenderfer assumed that the function of ritual was asa means of communicating and justifying the acceptanceof existing social forms. An aspiring leaderwith moral authority, who could direct certainactivities that are critical to the survival of a groupthat had to adapt quickly to high-risk circumstances,could expand his control over other aspects of society.Control would be maintained if either environmentalor social circumscription makes it more worthwhile toaccept the hierarchy rather than endanger the good ofthe group, which is necessary for survival. Expansionof the influence of groups over other segments of thesociety would follow a similar pattern. If followersaccept expressions of authority from others that wereassumed to be part of an overall package, controlcould be institutionalized in the position of the ritualleader under favorable circumstances.Although there are several routes to this end,Aldenderefer (1993) thought that prestige is a necessarycomponent. The three ways that ritual leaderscan extend their range of prestige and social power bymanipulating and redefining ritual beliefs are: 1) usingritual to extend and enhance prestige; 2) combiningexisting moral authority (defined by ritual power,prestige, and wealth) into a new social entity; and 3)creating coercive force and protecting it throughchanges in ritual. In small-scale societies, persuasionis the key to cooperation; groups of kinsmen whocooperate effectively may be in a better competitiveposition than others of similar size. "The organizationof large popUlations into lineage or descent groupform appears to be a necessary condition for theeventualization of inequality in egalitarian societies"(Aldenderfer 1993:31). In his model, collapse is alsopossible; it occurs when the directions chosen by theritual leaders escalate and are maladaptive. Althoughthis brief summary does not do justice toAldenderfer's model, it reinforces the need to understandwhen, why, and how a power structure evolveswithin a society. The model allows for segments tocooperate in organizing labor, as well as in acquiringprestige items and surplus production. It integratesenvironmental factors with social variables (e.g.,mobility, ritual, inequality, and hierarchy), and allowsboth the evolution and devolution of ritual orhierarchical power.Aldenderfer's model was applied by Schachner(2001) to the Pueblo I period in the northern San Juanregion, when environmental changes were thought tohave influenced migration of various regional groups.Schachner accepted great kivas as ritual structures; inthe northern region that comprised his database, theywere often constructed away from the habitation sitesbetween A.D. 790 and 840. Between A.D. 840 and860, however, when most residents of the northernSan Juan moved into the Dolores River valley, greatkivas were no longer used; instead, oversized pitstructures with formalized floor features, which includedvaults and floor grooves and had evidence offeasting and ritual paraphernalia, were the integrativefeatures for multiple-family residents living in U­shaped units. The partial enclosure around thesestructures allowed control by particular segments ofthe society who could monitor the movement ofpeople and events. This change was associated withsimultaneous change in land tenure; change in ritualwas both an impetus and justification for such landtenure change. This was a short-term occupation,which may not have been acceptable to all segments ofthe society. After around A.D. 880, there was evidencefor the burning of large pit structures aspopulations abandon~d the Dolores River valley.Those who then settled at Grass Mesa again constructedgreat kivas and smaller pit structures devoidof ritual features, possibly indicative of a return toearlier ritual practicesjust prior to local abandonment.Schachner interpreted his data as evidence for a multitieredsystem in which there was some householdautonomy, as well as participation in large-scalecommunity events. The ritual transformations thatwere controlled by particular segments of the societyexisted for only a brief time. Schachner emphasizedsocial disruption through environmental factors andmigration of populations as forces that would causeritual transformations. He suggested how humanagents take advantage of some changes in the northernSan Juan, and how changes in that area may haverelevance for the Chaco area as populations movedsouth.Schachner's research is one attempt to find correlationsamong mobility, diversity in populations,