Prehistoric Social Organization in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico: An Alternative Reconstruction

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Abstract
It has been proposed that the social organization of the occupants of two different types of sites in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico was different. Residents of “villages” were organized according to a principle of localized corporate lineages, while residents of “towns” were organized according to a principle of dual division. I propose, as an alternative, that a rank society developed under nearly pristine conditions between A.D. 850 to 1130. The basis for the rank society was differential agricultural productivity. Some local groups that were favored by a fortuitous combination of summer thundershowers and natural catchment systems became the nucleus of the “towns.” Their rights through prior use to the abundant harvests of the favored zones were the basis for the emergence of status differentiation, redistribution and ultimately craft and task specialization. Water control systems developed only after the principles of the rank society had become established and probably in response to a combination of increasing population and increasingly heavy summer thundershowers. Suggestions are presented for future research that would help test the model.

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