Household Production in Chaco Canyon Society

Abstract

The household is the most basic and flexible component of human social organization. It is through the household that we can understand the Chaco phenomenon from the point of view of agriculture and craft production. Households strive for autonomy and self-sufficiency and they spread themselves thin to meet basic subsistence requirements. As a result, scheduling of agricultural and craft activities is critical to the success of the household. Craft technologies must be complementary with agricultural activities; for example, pottery may be made during the heat of the day when agricultural tasks are at a lull. The concept of intersecting technologies suggests that technical knowledge, resources, and labor may be shared among crafts and other activities. Chacoan households probably specialized in the production of different crafts including pottery, jewelry, basketry, and other woven goods. Within the context of the Chaco regional system the mobilization of labor would have been through obligatory work assignments that complemented domestic autonomy in agricultural production and, as a result, would have been organized seasonally.

2 Craft Production, Household Diversification, and Domestic Economy in Prehispanic Mesoamerica

“…When the risk to craftsmen is high, part‐time production will be more stable and will provide more opportunities for economic growth and diversification than full‐time specialization. Part‐time craft production is more compatible with how the household economy is organized (Hagstrum 1999, 2001; see below). It was this compatibility that made domestic craft production the backbone of the ancient Mesoamerican economy (Feinman 1999).…”

Thinking about Production: Phenomenological Classification and Lexical Semantics

“…Miller's categories serve her well as commonsensical, empirical groupings of manufacturing processes, but they probably would not pass muster with more rigorous taxonomists (e.g., Clark 1995). What is more to the point-and more to Miller's credit-is that there is a growing literature dealing with the spatial associations among different crafts (e.g., Feinman andNicholas 2000, 2004;Hagstrum 2001;Topic 1982Topic , 1990, and Miller's analysis provides yet another example with which to think about why certain craft industries are found together.…”

“…A second typological approach to variation in production systems classifies them by their mode of production, not necessarily in the Marxian sense of historically related developmental stages with particular structures and elements (i.e., laborers, means of production, and the like) but rather by the sociopolitical contexts in which and for which production takes place. These include the "household mode of production" (e.g., Hagstrum 2001;Santley and Kneebone 1993) and the "ritual mode of production" (Spielmann 1998(Spielmann , 2002. Other typologies of this sort-which do not necessarily label their types as "modes of production"-would be systems of "staple" and "wealth" finance (D'Altroy and Earle 1985) and prestige economies (Frankenstein and Rowlands 1978;Hayden 1995aHayden , 1995bJohnson and Earle 1987:322-325;Junker 1993;Trubitt 2000).…”

An archaeological study of the Zimbabwe Culture capital of Khami, southwestern Zimbabwe

“…Over the years, archaeologists working on craft production have normally considered tangible goods and portable objects to be craft goods. However, consideration is now also being given to nonportable material like architecture (Hagstrum 2001). Examples of craft objects that have been recognised in various contexts include ceramics, stone tools, ornaments, baskets, textiles, structural remains and metal objects.…”

“…Studies of craft production have gained momentum over the years due to their importance in the broader study of material culture, economic organisation, socio-political organisation and exchange (Costin 2001;Hagstrum 2001;Bandama et al 2016). Costin (2005Costin ( : 1032 considers craft production as 'any transformational process involving skill, aesthetics and cultural meaning and consider the results of that crafting to be crafts'.…”