A pre-Hispanic chiefdom in Barinas, Venezuela
Subtitle: excavations at Gaván-complex sites
By: Charles S. Spencer, Curator, Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History; Elsa M. Redmond, Research Associate, Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History ; with contributions by William N. Duncan, Eastern Tennessee State University; Emily L. de Berrizbeitia, Museo de Ciencias Naturales, Caracas; Ramón Sifontes G., Universidad Central de Venezuela; Carlos Schubert, Rafael A. Gassón, and Milagro Rinaldi, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas; Renée M. Bonzani, University of Kentucky
Contributors: Redmond, Elsa M., author; Duncan, William N., contributor; Berrizbeitia, Emily L. de, contributor; Sifontes G., Ramón, contributor; Schubert, Carlos, 1938- contributor; Gassón, Rafael, contributor; Rinaldi, Milagro, contributor; Bonzani, Renée M., 1962- contributor
Series: Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History -- number 100; Anthropological papers of the American Museum of Natural History -- no. 100.
Publisher: American Museum of Natural History
Published: 2014
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 530
ISBN-13: 9780985201647
Copyright date: 2014
Subjects: Politics and government; Chiefdoms; Indians of South America; Antiquities; Social archaeology; Excavations (Archaeology); Social structure; History
Other titles: Excavations at Gaván-complex sites
Description: Between 1983 and 1992, the authors conducted an archaeological project that involved five years of survey and excavation in a 450 km² study region that included portions of the high llanos (savanna grasslands) and adjacent Andean piedmont in the state of Barinas, Venezuela. Fieldwork (in 1983-1988) was followed by four years of laboratory analysis in the Departamento de Antropología at the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC) in Altos de Pipe, state of Miranda. Our project was designed to investigate whether during pre-Hispanic times the study region had witnessed the development of a chiefdom, which we defined as a regional (multivillage) polity led by a paramount chief who ruled from a regional center and presided over a chiefly administration that was centralized but not internally specialized.... Our fieldwork comprised three seasons of regional survey, during the summer months of 1983-1985, followed by two dry seasons (January-May) of excavation in 1986 and 1988. On survey we recorded a total of 103 archaeological sites in our study region that was centered on the Canaguá River valley, extending across the high llanos (savanna grasslands) and adjacent Andean piedmont. Site occupations pertained to two chronological periods: an early period dating to A.D. 300-1000 and a later period dating to A.D. 1000-1850, taking our coverage into the early historic period. We called the earlier of these occupations on the high llanos the Gaván complex, divided into the Early Gaván phase (A.D. 300-550) and the Late Gavaán phase (A.D. 550-1000), the latter of which exhibited many of the characteristics consistent with the expected archaeological manifestations of a chiefly society. There was convincing evidence of a regional hierarchy....
Notes: "Issued November 21, 2014."

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Table of contents: title: Volume 1.; title: Abstract ;; title: Acknowledgments ;; title: Introduction ; -- Chapter 1.; title: Research design ; -- Chapter 2.; title: Data structure ; -- Chapter 3.; title: Catalog of ceramic illustrations ; -- Chapter 4.; title: Ceramics ; -- Chapter 5.; title: Surface collections at Gaván-complex sites ; -- Chapter 6.; title: Excavations at B12 (El Gaván) -- -- Volume 2. -- Chapter 7.; title: Excavations at B97 (Potrero de Elías) ; -- Chapter 8.; title: Excavations at B26 and B27 ; -- Chapter 9.; title: Excavations at B21 (Buenos Aires) ; -- Chapter 10.; title: Excavations at B17 (Flor Amarilla) ; -- Chapter 11.; title: Conclusions ;; title: References ; -- Appendix A.; title: Gaván-complex burials  -- William N. Duncan and Emily L. de Berrizbeitia ; -- Appendix B.; title: A trial analysis of use-wear evidence on chipped stone tools  -- Charles S. Spencer and Elsa M. Redmond ; -- Appendix C.; title: Report on pollen samples 54, 114, and 442  -- Milagro Rinaldi and Elsa M. Redmond ; -- Appendix D.; title: Source identifications of stone artifacts  -- Ramón Sifontes G. and Carlos Schubert ; -- Appendix E.; title: Radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dates from Gaván-complex sites  -- Charles S. Spencer, Elsa M. Redmond, and Rafael A. Gassón ; -- Appendix F.; title: Analysis of misfired sherds and kiln wasters from B12, B21, and B97  -- Charles S. Spencer and Elsa M. Redmond ; -- Appendix G.; title: Macrobotanical remains from Gaván-complex sites -- Renée M. Bonzani.