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Political Offices and Political Structure: Ethnohistoric and Archaeological Perspectives on the Native Lords of Apalachee
Author(s) -
Scarry John F.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
archeological papers of the american anthropological association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.783
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1551-8248
pISSN - 1551-823X
DOI - 10.1525/ap3a.1992.3.1.163
Subject(s) - chiefdom , politics , prehistory , scope (computer science) , archaeology , power (physics) , variety (cybernetics) , political authority , history , ethnohistory , political structure , political anthropology , political science , law , physics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science , programming language
Ethnohistoric accounts of the Apalachee provide information about native political structure, and describe offices with a variety of political, military, and religious duties. Unfortunately, the Apalachee were transformed by incorporation into the Spanish colonial system, and the degree to which named offices correspond to precontact offices is unknown. Archaeological data suggest the existence of several offices in the late prehistoric Apalachee chiefdom, although we cannot address the nature and scope of authority and power tied to those offices. Although archaeological data provide little insight here, theoretical models suggest that the historic offices could have existed in similar form before contact.