ABSTRACT

Monumental architecture has long been associated with the rise of the State and societal inequality, yet recent studies have shown some small and relatively egalitarian societies also built large-scale architecture. This study posits that some of these groups utilized ‘institutional flexibility’ – a strategy of creating and then dismantling hierarchical power systems during limited periods of time – as a means of harnessing group labor, establishing ritual cycles, and policing behavior during periods of gathering, but then reverting to more autonomous power relations for the remainder of the year when groups were dispersed. Poverty Point, a complex earthwork site in Louisiana (USA), built by hunter-gatherer-fisher peoples over a 500-year period (ca. 3600–3100 cal B.P.) exemplifies the use of ‘institutional flexibility’ and demonstrates how this strategy can result in extremely complex activities, while also preserving autonomous power relations by containing elite aspirations to particular temporal, spatial, and social contexts.

摘要

长期以来，纪念性建筑一直与国家的崛起和社会不平等联系在一起，但最近的研究表明，一些小型且相对平等的社会也建造了大型建筑。这项研究假设，其中一些群体利用“制度灵活性”——一种在有限的时间内创建然后拆除等级权力系统的策略——作为利用群体劳动、建立仪式周期和在聚集期间监管行为的手段，但随后在群体分散的剩余时间里恢复到更加自主的权力关系。Poverty Point，路易斯安那州（美国）的一个复杂的土方工地，由狩猎采集渔民在 500 年间建造（约 3600-3100 cal BP）