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Marking and Making Differences: Representational Diversity inthe U.S. Southwest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michelle Hegmon*
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Jacob Freeman
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322
Keith W. Kintigh
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Margaret C. Nelson
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Sarah Oas
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Matthew A. Peeples
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Andrea Torvinen
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
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Abstract

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Diversity is generally valued, although it sometimes contributes todifficult social situations, as is recognized in recent social scienceliterature. Archaeology can provide insights into how diverse socialsituations play out over the long term. There are many kinds of diversities,and we propose representational diversity as a distinct category.Representational diversity specifically concerns how and whether differencesare marked or masked materially. We investigate several archaeologicalsequences in the U.S. Southwest. Each began with the coming together ofpopulations that created situations of unprecedented social diversity; someresulted in conflict, others in long-term stability. We trace howrepresentational diversity changed through these sequences. Specifically, wereview the transregional Kayenta migration to the southern Southwest andfocus empirical analyses on regional processes in the Cibola region and onpainted ceramics. Results show that, initially, representational diversityincreased above and beyond that caused by the combination of previouslyseparate traditions as people marked their differences. Subsequently, insome instances, the diversity was replaced by widespread homogeneity as thedifferences were masked and mitigated. Although the social causes andeffects of diversity are many and varied, long-term stability andpersistence is associated with tolerance of a range of diversities.

La diversidad es generalmente apreciada, aunque algunas veces contribuye asituaciones sociales difíciles, como se reconoce en recientes publicacionesde las ciencias sociales. La arqueología puede ayudar a entender como lassituaciones sociales diversas se manifiestan a largo plazo. Existen muchostipos de diversidades y proponemos la diversidad figurativa como unacategoría distintiva. La diversidad figurativa se refiere específicamente asi esas diferencias están materialmente marcadas o enmascaradas, y de quemanera. Investigamos varias secuencias arqueológicas en el Suroeste de losEstados Unidos. Cada una se inicia con la agregación de poblaciones quecrearon situaciones de diversidad social sin precedente; algunas resultaronen conflicto, otras en una estabilidad a largo plazo. Rastreamos como cambióla diversidad figurativa a través de esas secuencias. Específicamente,revisamos la migración transregional Kayenta hacia el sur del Suroeste yenfocamos análisis empíricos sobre los procesos regionales en la regiónCibola y las cerámicas pintadas. Los resultados muestran que, inicialmentela diversidad figurativa se incrementó mucho más allá que la causada por lacombinación de tradiciones separadas previas ya que la gente marcó susdiferencias. Subsecuentemente, en algunas instancias, la diversidad sereemplazó por una homogeneidad extendida ya que las diferencias fueronenmascaradas y mitigadas. Aunque las causas y efectos sociales de ladiversidad son muchas y variadas, la estabilidad y persistencia a largoplazo se asocia con la tolerancia de un rango de diversidades.

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Copyright
Copyright © 2016 by the Society for American Archaeology.