essay
The scream of the butterfly: competition and conflict in the prehistoric Southwest
themes in southwest prehistory • Santa Fe, Nm. • Published In 1994 • Pages: 211-238
By: Wilcox, David R., Haas, Jonathan, Gumerman, George J..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Wilcox and Haas review the evidence for warfare, raiding, violence, and conflict in the Southwest from Basketmaker II to the Pueblo IV period and include the Anasazi, Basketmaker, Hohokam, and Mogollon traditions. Only the data that pertain to the Early Anasazi were indexed for OCM (Outline of Cultural Materials) codes. While there have been long periods of time with no evidence of conflict or warfare this can be contrasted with periods when sites have defensive locations, skeletal remains show evidence of violence, and warfare symbols, etc. appear in art. The authors also discuss who the enemy might have been and they favor internecine conflict. Architectural data, settlement patterns such as no-mans lands, artifacts such as weapons and shields, burned sites, skeletal evidence, and rock art are all examined for evidence of warfare. Lastly they discuss how other authors have been researching conflict and competition. They believe more research should be done to understand "the role of conflict or warfare in the evolution of Southwestern cultural systems. …[as it] can have rippling effects on many different aspects of cultural systems and the archaeological record. …[A] relatively low level of conflict does not necessarily translate into low societal impact." (page 235).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- War
- Settlement patterns
- Military installations
- Weapons
- Cannibalism
- Ingroup antagonisms
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Early Anasazi
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2012
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- North America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southwest and Basin
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry: 2011
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not specified
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 3000 BP-400 BP (1000 BC-AD 1600)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Arizona, Colorodo, New Mexico, and Utah, United States
- NotesAdditional notes
- David R. Wilcox and Jonathan Haas
- for bibliographical references see document 91:Gummerman
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 93020323
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Indians of North America--Antiquities