Papers by Morgan Maclachlan
American Anthropologist, Sep 1, 1989
Studies ofprehistoric settlement patterns emphasize resource distributions, production, exchange,... more Studies ofprehistoric settlement patterns emphasize resource distributions, production, exchange, and political relations as the determining factors of settlement locations. Settlement patterns are also influenced by social organization. The present study examines the interrelationship of social organization, specifically matrilocal/avunculocal residence and matrilineal descent, and the Lucayan Taino settlement of the Bahama archipelago (ca. A.D. 800-1500). The study involves an archeo-ethnological collaboration in which archeological questions of Taino kinship and politics and ethnological questions concerning the evolution of avunculocal chiefdoms are addressed. The results include a remarkably complete reconstruction of Taino social organization and a diachronic test of the evolutionary sequence proposed for the development of avunculocal institutions. WHEN COLUMBUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS REACHED THE NEW WORLD the peoples they first encountered were distinct but related Arawakan-speaking groups: the Lucayan Taino of the Bahamas, the Ciboney of central Cuba, and the Classic Taino of Hispaniola and eastern Cuba. The sudden ferocity of the Spanish invasion so overwhelmed the inhabitants that traditional patterns of social and political organizationin fact, the populations themselves-disappeared within about a generation (Cook and Borah 1971; Wilson 1986). Disease and enslavement combined to wipe out Lucayan societies in a matter of years, so documentary evidence is largely restricted to accounts of Columbus's Diario (Dunn and Kelley 1988). The more populous and complex societies of the Classic Taino persisted longer, and there is a good deal of information about Classic Taino social and political organization (Fewkes 1970; Las Casas 1951; Loven 1935; Rouse 1948; Wilson 1986). Archeological research has added considerable data on the chronology and pattern of Lucayan settlement, their use of the islands' resources, and their trade with the Taino in the Greater Antilles (Keegan 1985). This article combines ethnohistorical and archeological sources with ethnographic studies of other societies to reconstruct Taino social organization. This reconstruction is worthwhile for three reasons. First, the available evidence is sufficient to postulate a remarkably complete picture of Taino social organization. Second, these issues offer lines of inquiry for further archeological and archival research. Third, and most fundamentally, the Taino peoples represent a major, theoretically significant instance of matrilineal social organization. The emergence of matrilineal societies and their responses to changing social conditions have been the subject of an extensive literature based upon comparative study of
Eres Arqueologia Bioantropologia, 1992
Reviews in Anthropology, 1976
Dwayne Merry, Project Director. Dimensions in Cultures. Video Tape Series. Available from Coast C... more Dwayne Merry, Project Director. Dimensions in Cultures. Video Tape Series. Available from Coast Community College District, 1370 Adams Avenue, Coasta Mesa, California 92626. Price to be negotiated.
Journal of Asian and African Studies, 1966
Current Anthropology, 1982
En depit des sanctions religieuses attachees a l'abattage des bovins, en Inde et dans la prov... more En depit des sanctions religieuses attachees a l'abattage des bovins, en Inde et dans la province de Kerala la composition des troupeaux s'adapte systematiquement aux conditions demographiques, technologiques, economiques et ecologiques. Malgre l'influence du caractere sacre du betail sur l'exploitation des troupeaux, les croyances religieuses ne peuvent rendre compte des grandes variations locales et regionales de l'exploitation des bovins.
Contemporary South Asia, 1993
The Journal of Asian Studies, 1984
TThis article is concerned with the interplay of moral and political processes and the ways in wh... more TThis article is concerned with the interplay of moral and political processes and the ways in which they affect institutions that regulate access to food in South Asia. Several of the titles under review concern famine. Other titles concern issues related to the distribution of, control ...
American Anthropologist, 1990
... A partial so-lution was found in the deletion of a substan-tial section of our conclusions in... more ... A partial so-lution was found in the deletion of a substan-tial section of our conclusions in which we dis-cussed what we discovered about archeologi-cal/ethnological collaboration (archeo-ethnol-ogy) in the course of the project. ... This integrated archeo-ethno-1011 Page 2. ...
American Anthropologist, 1989
Lucayan Taino of the Bahamas, the Ciboney of central Cuba, and the Classic Taino of Hispaniola an... more Lucayan Taino of the Bahamas, the Ciboney of central Cuba, and the Classic Taino of Hispaniola and eastern Cuba. The sudden ferocity of the Spanish invasion so over-whelmed the inhabitants that traditional patterns of social and political organization-in fact, the populations ...
Journal of Asian and African Studies - J ASIAN AFR STUD, 1966
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Papers by Morgan Maclachlan