Introduction: Issues in the Archaeology of Tropical Polities

Abstract

The term "tropics" generally invokes images of sweltering heat, heavy rainfall, lush forest and exotic animals, and until relatively recently, small-scale societies subsisting on swidden farming and hunting. These areas of the world have often been perceived, vis-a-vis temperate regions, as presenting unique environmental conditions that constrain the formation and organization of complex polities. With the exception of a few regions, such as lowland Mesoamerica and Polynesia, polities located in tropical regions have generally been considered of little relevance to our theories of the formation and transformation of complex society. This may partially reflect the previous focus on the earliest cases of state formation, which primarily occurred in temperate regions, combined with the primacy, until recently, of the ecosystem approach in American archaeology. The emphasis on populationenvironment interaction to explain stability and change in behavioral systems (see e.g., Brumfiel 1992) may have facilitated a view of complex polities in tropical regions as less than relevant to understanding the earlier development of complex societies in temperate areas.

An Archaeologist Writes against the Anthropocene

“…Little agriculture was practiced during the dry season, but potable water was clearly still a necessity. In the tropics, people can lose up to 10 liters of water per day through perspiration, causing a need for more water than those living in temperate climates (Bacus and Lucero 1999). The rainy season also potentially posed problems, with too much water accumulating and flooding.…”

3 Water and Landscape: Ancient Maya Settlement Decisions

“…The need for potable water was critical in the tropics where people can lose up to 10 liters per day sweating and thus require more water than their counterparts living in temperate areas of the world (Bacus and Lucero ). Maintaining water quality in the humid tropics presents challenges, especially since standing water provides prime conditions for both water‐borne diseases and disease carriers such as mosquitoes (Burton et al ; Miksic ).…”

Agricultural Strategies

“…The increased reliance on intensive agriculture exacerbates this situation because land clearing creates conditions (open areas) for stagnant water to collect. Water quality issues are somewhat ironic in the humid tropics because people can lose 8 to 10 liters per day sweating and as a consequence need to drink more water than people living in temperate zones (Bacus and Lucero 1999). Because of these and other factors, Miksic goes so far as to suggest that "the unique problems connected with maintaining healthy drinking water supplies in a tropical environment help to explain why early urbanization in Indonesia, and in the tropical areas of the world in general, is relatively rare" (Miksic 1999:171).…”

“…Finally, the Maya also had access to diverse flora and fauna. Unlike their counterparts in temperate zones, the lack of large nucleated settlements meant that uninhabited jungles interspersed among farmsteads and centers were not necessarily denuded of wild animals, nuts, berries, medicinal flora, and fruits (Bacus and Lucero 1999).…”