Are Social Networks Survival Networks? An Example from the Late Pre-hispanic US Southwest

Archaeologists have regarded social networks as both the links through which people transmitted information and goods as well as a form of social storage creating relationships that could be drawn upon in times of subsistence shortfalls or other deleterious environmental conditions. In this article, formal social network analytical (SNA) methods are applied to archaeological data from the late pre-Hispanic North American Southwest to look at what kinds of social networks characterized those regions that were the most enduring versus those that were depopulated over a 250-year period (A.D. 1200–1450). In that time, large areas of the Southwest were no longer used for residential purposes, some of which corresponds with well-documented region-wide drought. Past research has demonstrated that some population levels could have been maintained in these regions, yet regional scale depopulation occurred. We look at the degree to which the network level property of embeddedness, along with population size, can help to explain why some regions were depopulated and others were not. SNA can help archaeologists examine why emigration occurred in some areas following an environmental crisis while other areas continued to be inhabited and even received migrants. Moreover, we modify SNA techniques to take full advantage of the time depth and spatial and demographic variability of our archaeological data set. The results of this study should be of interest to those who seek to understand human responses to past, present, and future worldwide catastrophes since it is now widely recognized that responses to major human disasters, such as hurricanes, were “likely to be shaped by pre-existing or new social networks” (as reported by Suter et al. (Research and Policy Review 28:1–10, 2009)).

Sanctuaryscapes in the North American Southwest

This article reclaims the historicity and sanctity of sanctuary as a dynamic cultural and spiritual practice and Indigenous survival strategy cultivated in regions of refuge and rebellion in the Americas. Tracing heterogeneous configurations of sanctuary in the North American Southwest during the Spanish colonial period, it compares the institution of church asylum with cross-tribal Indigenous sanctuary place-making and traditions of radical hospitality. As Indigenous people became refugees in their own homeland they capitalized on their knowledge of the landscape and banded with other persecuted and displaced peoples in “sanctuaryscapes,” vast autonomous regions and insurgent urban centers where new pan-Indigenous solidarities and identities emerged. Locating sanctuary practices within specific regional cartographies and social relations substantiates diverse autochthonous traditions of sanctuary that dramatically reorient and revitalize the origin stories that animate and also validate contemporary sanctuary movements and practices.

Each One the Same

This study examines the social significance of extreme processing and performative violence at the massacre site Sacred Ridge in the North American Southwest. The analysis of the skeletal remains demonstrates that all of the victims were similarly processed and that processing of the body did not vary based on the age or sex of the victims. The similar processing indicates that this entire group of victims was viewed as the dehumanized other. This othering led to a lack of empathy among the perpetrators for the victims, leading to their ability to perform the massacre. The psychological and emotional factors affecting the different groups (victims, perpetrators, and witnesses) are explored and highlight how these dynamics can impact power relations.