Below are the titles and abstracts from the 13 papers we have
for the ‘Reconstructing the Natures of Communities in the Intermediate
Area’ electronic symposium.

Patterns of Community Dynamics through the Development of Early Complex
Society
C. Adam Berrey

Regional-scale studies of different social trajectories are beginning to
reveal a considerable degree of variation in the way that prehistoric
societies developed throughout Lower Central America and Northern South
America. As it is through means of human interaction within communities
that the forces behind such development are carried out, investigation
into the changing patterns of community-scale dynamics provides a
complimentary perspective from which to understand these long-term
processes of social change. This paper pursues such investigation by way
of comparative analysis, examining three separate trajectories of
community-scale development, emphasizing aspects of demographic
composition and domestic activity within the community.

Social and Geographical Landscapes in the Formation of the Bogotá
Chiefdom, Colombia
Ana Maria Boada Rivas

The purpose of this article is to document the development of the Bogotá
paramount chiefdom through analysis of its settlement pattern. Spanish
ethno-historical documentation from the 16th and 17th centuries identified
thirteen “partes” (parts, a kind of social unit) that comprised the Bogotá
chiefdom. I will use these ethno-historical sources to complement
archaeological evidence gathered during a systematic archaeological
regional surface survey. The resulting settlement pattern analysis will
show whether these partes constituted discrete settlements. From this, I
will describe the nature of the partes, the rules that governed their
spatial arrangement, and how the partes interacted with each other. These
conclusions will then be compared and contrasted with European
descriptions of Muisca social and political organization encountered in
the Sabana de Bogotá during the 16th century.

Formative Dynamics in the Gran Cocle Region of Panama
Patricia Hansell, Temple University

Settlement in the Gran Cocle region dramatically changes from the Early
Ceramic Period (5000-2500 BP) to the Middle Ceramic Period (2500-1250
BP).The former is represented by widely dispersed sites ranging in size
from 1/3 to 1 ha. Sites in the latter period mostly range from 1 to 10 ha
but large agricultural villages begin to appear early in the sequence with
the coastal site of La Mula-Sarigua being the earliest and largest
recorded at ~ 60 ha.In this paper I discuss evidence for the production,
consumption and distribution of specialized products at the site (and
elsewhere) to assess its role as a central place in integrating the larger
socio-economic community.

Re-evaluating social ceremonial centers and community in the Diquis:
Initial findings from the site of El Cholo, Upper General Valley, Southern
Costa Rica.
Roberto Herrera, University of New Mexico

Questions into what constitutes community in the Intermediate Area remain
an evolving topic of study. Ongoing investigations at the site of El Cholo
in the Upper General Valley of Southern Costa Rica offer new data
suggesting a multi-community hypothesis reframing previous interpretations
for exclusive elite occupation. Data from El Cholo initially suggest that
activities at the site were more accessible to the common population than
previously thought. Rather than elite centers, causewayed platform mound
sites such as El Cholo may be areas where various groups participated in
socially cohesive funerary and commensal activities.

The Reconstructing the Nature of pre-Colombian Communities in the Lower La
Villa Valley, Gran Coclé, Panama
Ilean Isaza, Boston University

A settlement survey of the lower La Villa valley in Panama documented
archaeological sites within the territory controlled by the 16th century
chief called Parita. The evidence that was accumulated from the sites,
including their material components, internal differentiation, and
inter-relations, complemented the Colonial accounts. According to the
chroniclers, the La Villa valley was heavily populated and cultivated, an
observation confirmed by the study. During the presentation of this paper,
I will address the nature of the La Villa pre-Colombian communities
through the physical evidence of surface features and material culture.

Evaluating the Nature of Social Inequality at the Community Level
William Locascio, University of Pittsburgh

Ethnohistoric accounts and mortuary data that attest to patently
hierarchical social organization in the prehispanic Intermediate Area
represent only the most ostentatious expressions of inequality. Status
differences among individuals involved in daily interactions within
communities in the region were surely not as conspicuous. This paper
examines household and community-level data from elite and non-elite
contexts at three chiefly centers in Lower Central America/Northern South
America. Patterns that emerge between elite and non-elite contexts are
compared across cases and the results are used to support broader
conclusions regarding the expression and nature of social inequality at
smaller scales of interaction.

PROYECTO ARQUEOLÓGICO EL CAÑO. AVANCE DE LOS RESULTADOS DE LA CAMPAÑA DE
EXCAVACIÓN 2008
Julia Mayo y Carlos Mayo, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

A orillas de Río Grande de Coclé, Panamá, se encuentran dos de los
yacimientos arqueológicos más extensos de la región, Sitio Conte y El
Caño los cuales presentan elementos característicos de sociedades
jerarquizadas -estructuras semimonumentales y entierros de pompa- entre
otros. En 2008 realizamos excavaciones en el Caño. Se encontraron 71
unidades estratigráficas, tres estructuras de combustión, dos paquetes de
huesos humanos quemados y 97.738 fragmentos de artefactos. El análisis de
carbono 14 realizado sobre una muestra de carbón de una de las estructuras
de combustión arrojó una fecha Cal AD640 a 720 y Cal AD 740 a 770.

Practice and Habitus in Postclassic Communities of Pacific Nicaragua
Geoff McCafferty (University of Calgary), Rhianne McKay (Trent
University), Tanya Chiykowski (University of Calgary)

Recent community-focused investigations along the western shore of Lake
Nicaragua have revealed interesting patterns between residential mounds
and between the sites of Santa Isabel (Rivas) and Tepetate (Granada).
This presentation will document variations in such artifact classes as
ceramics, lithics, ornamentation, and production specialization in order
to discuss inter-community practices, while contrasting the larger habitus
of the two sites. Such an analysis considers material culture on
different interpretive scales, with particular attention to social
identities performed during a period of dramatic culture change with
Mesoamerican influences into lower Central America.

A comparative perspective on central place communities
Adam C. Menzies, University of Pittsburgh

This paper focuses on the nature of household interaction (e.g. craft
specialization, feasting, exchange) in central place communities in three
regions in the Intermediate Area: Central Panama, Barinas (Venezuela), and
the Muisca region of Colombia. A comparative perspective on the
developmental trajectories of local scale communities allows us to
evaluate various models for the emergence of complex society in Central
America and northern South America. The organization of household
production, the focus of the chiefly political economy and patterns of
community growth and interaction are compared between these three regions.

The Range of Social Structure within the Intermediate Area: Two Cases
Mauricio Murillo (University of Pittburgh) and Alex Martin (University of
Pittsburgh)

Comparative works in the Intermediate Area have focused on the study of
the similarities amongst regions, primarily because classificatory schemes
are privileged. However, to ascertain what social variables were more
preponderant in social change, differences are more enlightening since
they can highlight the mechanisms behind this change. In our paper two
trajectories of social change—San Ramón, Costa Rica and Manabí,
Ecuador—are compared. By analyzing differences among different social
variables in these two cases we expect to find patterns in the way
different social variables relate to each other and to the general process
of social change.

The Development of Complex Society in the Volcán Barú region of Western
Panama
Scott Palumbo, University of Pittsburgh

While previous work from the western slopes of Volcán Barú suggested that
complex society may have developed sometime during the Aguas Buenas (A.D.
200-800), little information existed on the organization of activities nor
the political economies associated with the development or persistence of
social inequality over time. Using domestic data from Sitio Barriles and
other sites in the region, this paper will examine the evidence for social
differentiation and evaluate its possible connections to political
organization.

Household Social Composition and Community Nature Compared: The cases of
Muisca (Colombia), Alto Magdalena (Colombia), and Marajora (Brazil)
Chiefdoms
Francisco Romano, University of Pittsburgh

Variations in supralocal community formation were present in several
prehistoric societies. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the
social composition over time in smaller social units (households) and its
link to the formation of communities, both used to contribute to our
knowledge about demographic changes and social interaction. Three
trajectories of chiefdom development were considered: the Muisca
(Colombia), the Alto Magdalena (Colombia), and the Marajoara (Brazil). Two
aspects made up the nature of the social composition, the number of
members per social unit, and its relation to possible structure units.

Politicized Identity in the Manteño Society of Coastal Ecuador
Sarah Rowe, University of Illinois

Building on a theory of community politization and materialized practice
(e.g., Pauketat 2000), this paper examines the development of community
identities in the Manteño society on the coast of Ecuador during the
Integration Period (A.D. 800-1532). The trait-list approach previously
used by archaeologists to examine coastal identity (e.g., Estrada 1957)
has had limited success and a reassessment is necessary. I use
ethonhistoric accounts and archaeological evidence to examine the
politization of communities and development of regional identities on the
coast, and discuss this evidence in light of my on-going work at the site
of Dos Mangas.