Settlement Patterns and Economic Rationality in a Pre-Industrial Society : Central-Place Analysis in Classic Maya Society

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  • 先産業社会における空間配置と経済効率原理 : 古典期マヤ社会についての中心地分析
  • センサンギョウ シャカイ ニ オケル クウカン ハイチ ト ケイザイ コウリツ

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<p>Althogh economic rationality is a dominant factor affecting the spatial configuration of human settlements in modern societies with developed market economy, its role in pre-industrial societies has been under debate. To demonstrate that economic rationality significantly regulated the spatial distribution of settlements at least in some pre-industrial societies, we take Classic Maya scociety as an example, and examine archaeological settlement data from the La Entrada region, Honduras. We apply central-place theory, which proposes that a regular hexagonal distribution of hierarchically ordered central places is optimal for minimizing the cost of travel and transport and for maximizing economic profits. Although the theory deals primarily with the distribution of retail markets, we believe that the essence of central-place theory can be legitimately condensed to the theoretical spatial distribution of nodes of human activities that minimizes the cost of travel and transport. Then, the theory may be applicable even to societies without market economy, since any society tends to minimize cost or energy expenditure to some extent in locational decisions for nodes of human activities. Our analysis of settlement data from the La Entrada region focuses on the Late Classic period, particularly the eighth century A.D., when the region was most densely occupied. The rank-size relation between centers shows a typical plural distribution, indicating that the central-place system of the La Entrada region is likely to have consisted of more than one center of the highest level. Most large centers are distributed fairly regularly along the rivers with the interval of 6 km. The three largest centers, El Abra, Los Hisos, and Techin, are roughly 18 km apart from one another, suggesting that they were central places of a higher level. Glyphic texts and stone sculptures found at Los Higos and El Abra also indicate the political importance of these centers. Thus, there appears to have existed a central-place system with a two-tier hierarchy. The distribution roughly corresponds to a central-place system based on the administrative principle. The presence of a central-place system demonstrates the strong tendency to minimize the cost of travel and transport. Yet, the pattern based on the administrative principle implies that political factors were also strongly operating, controlling certain areas of economic activities. We test the hypothetical central-place system against the intraregional distribution of obsidian artifacats. The La Entrada region is located between two different obsidian source-areas: Ixtepeque, 115 km to the southwest with high quality obsidian; and the San Luis area, 30 km to the east with low quality material. The distribution of obsidian from the two source-areas shows clear differences between the hypothetical sustaining areas of Techin, El Abra, Los Higos, and Roncador, indicating that the circulation of obsidian was politically controlled. Furthermore, the higher portions of Ixtepeque obsidian at large centers than at small sites within each area suggest that obsidian from this source was supplied mainly through redistributive channels. These data corroborate the existence of the central-place system based on the administrative principle. In central-place theory, distance itself is a significant factor, as compared with population density or the size of centers. Classic centers in other parts of the Maya area are spaced with intervals similar to those between Los Higos, El Abra, and Techin. Distribution with 15 to 20 km intervals was probably most efficient and effort-minimizing for local exchange. We further argue that basic factors underlying the regular spacing of Classic Maya centers are: (1) the ineffective transportation with a lack of beasts of burden and wheeled carts; and (2) the system of staple finace in political units, that involved obligatory payments of</p><p>(View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)</p>

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