Product Continuity and Change in Persistent Household Ceramic Production

Theories regarding craft specialization and state emergence have long posited a relationship between the two, with state intervention expected in the production of elite culture. The Late Postclassic West Mexican Tarascan state (AD 1350–1525) seemed to be a perfect case in point, as fine wares are highly identifiable and provide a strong temporal marker for the emergence and duration of the state. Yet ethnographic data from the descendants of the Tarascan state (called the P’urépecha), along with archaeological and chemical evidence for the region indicates that ceramic production did not undergo a significant reorganization with state emergence and that even Tarascan fine wares were apparently made and used within commoner households. As household ceramic production is commonly characterized as technically and stylistically conservative, the “how” and “why” of the production of new ceramic Tarascan state markers indicates that the relationships between households and the state were far more complex than originally anticipated.

Ancient palace complex (300–100 BC) discovered in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico

Recently completed excavations at the site of El Palenque in Mexico’s Valley of Oaxaca have recovered the well-preserved remains of a palace complex dated by associated radiocarbon samples and ceramics to the Late Formative period or Late Monte Albán I phase (300–100 BC), the period of archaic state emergence in the region. The El Palenque palace exhibits certain architectural and organizational features similar to the royal palaces of much later Mesoamerican states described by Colonial-period sources. The excavation data document a multifunctional palace complex covering a maximum estimated area of 2,790 m2 on the north side of the site’s plaza and consisting of both governmental and residential components. The data indicate that the palace complex was designed and built as a single construction. The palace complex at El Palenque is the oldest multifunctional palace excavated thus far in the Valley of Oaxaca.

Friends in High Places: International Politics and the Emergence of States from Secessionism

State emergence is an essential dynamic of the international system, yet international relations scholars pay it little attention. Their oversight is all the more unfortunate because international politics ultimately determine which aspiring system members will succeed in becoming new states. Existing models of state emergence rely exclusively on internal or domestic-level explanations. However, the international system is inherently social; therefore any aspiring state's membership also depends on the acceptance of its peers. I present a novel, international-level model of state birth that suggests state leaders should use decisions regarding new members strategically to advance their own interests, not passively abide by domestic factors. I test this argument using a new data set on secessionism and Great Power recognition (1931–2000). I find that external politics have important, underappreciated effects on state emergence. Furthermore, acknowledging the politics of recognition's centrality to state birth alters our understanding of civil conflict dynamics and conflict resolution and suggests important implications for system-wide stability.