Archaeological Perspectives on Political Economies

Gary M. Feinman is curator of Mesoamerican anthropology and archaeology at the Field Museum in Chicago.Linda M. Nicholas is adjunct curator of Mesoamerican archaeology at the Field Museum in Chicago.

• List of FiguresList of TablesPreface1. Archaeology and Political Economy: Setting the Stage2. The Evolution of of Chiefdoms: An Economic Anthropological Model3. The Economy of the Moment: Cultural Practices and Mississippian Chiefdoms4. Reflections on the Early Southern Mesopotamian Economy5. Structural Parameters and Sociocultural Factors in the Economic Organization of North Mesopotamian Urbanism in the Third Millennium B.C.6. Material Resources, Capital, and Power: The Coevolution of Society and Culture7. Roman Economies: A Paradigm of Their Own8. Early State Economic Systems of China9. Appropriative Economies: Labor Obligations and Luxury Goods in Ancient Maya Society10. Unraveling the Prehispanic Highland Mesoamerican Economy: Production, Exchange, and Consumption in the Classic Period Valley of Oaxaca11. Craft Economies of Ancient Andean States12. Political Economy in the Historic Period Chiefdoms and States of Southeast Asia13. Comparative Insights into the Ancient Political Economies of West AfricaReferencesContributorsIndex

"The study of ancient political economies has rightfully emerged as a major focus on modern archaeological inquiry, and this highly recommended volume, with its many case examples, is an excellent primer on current thinking about this key subject."—Jeremy Sabloff, University of Pennsylvania