Ancient Road Networks and Settlement Hierarchies in the New World

This 1991 volume describes past studies of prehispanic roads in the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central and South America.

Charles D. Trombold (Edited by)

9780521189804, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 3 March 2011

298 pages
24.6 x 18.9 x 1.6 cm, 0.54 kg

The presence of ancient road networks in the New World is a puzzle, because they predate the use of wheeled transport vehicles. But whatever their diverse functions may have been, they remain the only tangible indication of how extinct American societies were regionally organised. Contributors to this volume, originally published in 1991, describe past studies of prehispanic roads in the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central and South America, paying special attention to their significance for economic and political organisation, as well as regional communication.

List of contributors
List of tables
List of figures
Acknowledgements
Editor's preface
Section I. Theoretical Considerations: 1. An introduction to the study of ancient New World road networks Charles D. Trombold
2. Paths and roads in evolutionary perspective Timothy Earle
3. Roads, routes and ties that bind Ross Hassig
4. Observations about research on prehistoric roads in South America John Hyslop
Section II. Methodological Considerations: 5. Photointerpretation of Chaco Roads Margaret S. Obenauf
6. Analysis of prehistoric roadways in Chaco Canyon using remotely sensed digital data Thomas L. Sever and David W. Wagner
7. Prehistoric footpaths in Costa Rica: transportation and communication in a tropical rainforest Payson Sheets and Thomas L. Sever
8. Cross-cutting relationships: the relative dating of ancient roads on the north coast of Peru Colleen M. Beck
9. Network analysis and the study of past regional organisation Larry J. Gorenflo and Thomas L. Bell
Section III. Regional Studies: 10. Political, economic, and demographic implications of the Chaco road network Frances Joan Mathien
11. The prehistoric road network at Pueblo Alto, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico Thomas C. Windes
12. The Sonoran connection: road and trail networks in the prehistoric period Carroll L. Riley, and Joni L. Manson
13. Causeways in the context of strategic planning in the La Quemada region, Zacatecas, Mexico Charles D. Trombold
14. Xanhari: protohistoric Tarascan routes Shirley Gorenstien and Helen Perlstein Pollard
15. The influence and legacy of Teotihuacan on regional routes and urban planning Thomas H. Charlton
16. The structure of the Aztec transport network Robert S. Santley
17. Roads, thoroughfares and avenues of power at Xochicalco, Mexico Kenneth Hirth
18. Sacbes of the northern Maya William J. Folan
19. Prehistoric roads and causeways of lowland tropical America William M. Denevan
20. The association between roads and polities: evidence for a Wari road system in Peru Katharina J. Schrieber
21. The Chincha roads: economics and symbolism Dwight T. Wallace.

Subject Areas: Archaeology [HD]