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Macroregional View of Cycling Chiefdoms

in the Western Venezuelan Llanos

Elsa M. Redmond

American Museum of Natural History

Rafael A. Gasson

Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas

Charles S. Spencer

American Museum of Natural History

ABSTRACT

Complex chiefdoms are subject to oscillating cycles of regional political centralization under the

domination of a paramount chief followed by political dissolution, and frequently, the rise of a rival

paramou nt chiefdom . A ma croregional scale of investigation offers the best opportunity to exam ine

the development of centralized, hierarchical leadership and the trajectories of such regional control

at successive param ount cen ters. We present the results of recent archaeological investigations in the

tropical savannas of western Venezuela, which document the development of the earliest complex

chiefdoms that em erged here around A.D . 500. Regional and comm unity-level investigations in

neighboring river valleys of Barina s, Venezuela enable us to examine the dev elopm ent of the regional

polities centered at £1 Gavan and El Cedral from a macroregional perspective, and tentatively to

propose that they w ere subject

t

the cycling pattern of growth and dissolution ch aracteristic of comp lex

aramount chiefdoms.

INTRODUCTION spurred, in part, by European contact. Indeed, some

of the most powerful paramou nt chiefs of the circum -

On Columb us's initial voyage to the Am ericas Caribbean area had already been subdued—and their

1492 the first so cie tie s he en co un te re d on populations were well on their way toward extinction

iola w ere the Taino chiefdom s, ru led by — by the time Lucas Vasqu ezdeA yllon's expedition

ary paramount chiefs. The native chiefdoms pen etrate d southe astern No rth Am erica in 1521

by Colum bus and his followers througho ut (Ande rson 1994a:56). The Mississippian societies

circum-Caribbean area were large and com plex of the Southeast that were contacted and described

consisting of district chiefs and village chiefs by mem bers of Vasquez de Ayllon 's expedition, and

the

centralized regional authority of paramount later by memb ers of Hernando de Soto's exp edition,

Their popu lations were often estimated in were comp lex param ount chiefdoms of similar size

f the thousands o f warriors that

the

param ount and migh t. Hereditary param ount chiefs ruled over

ould summo n at the blast of a conch-shell vast populations by means of regional adm inistrative

n indicator of the widespread hostilities hier arc hie s of distric t chiefs and village chiefs

109



110

Elsa M . Redm ond, Rafael A. Gasson and C harles S. Spencer

(Hudson 1990:61). They too would succumb to the

colonial legacy wrought by foreign incursions and

eventually collapse.

These complex Mississippian and circum-

Caribbean societies can be recognized as chiefdoms

by the centralized and hereditary leadership wielded

by the paramount chief, with one or two levels of

administrative control above the many member

vi l lage s in thei r dom ain. Ac com pany ing the

central ized, h ierarchical , but nonbureaucrat ic

administration is institutionalized social ranking

dom inated by the chiefly hereditary elite. Overall

social and political control is vested in a hereditary

nobility that stands apart from the commoners, the

res t of the populat ion

1

(Wrigh t 1984 :42-43) .

Moreover , in tense compet i t ion ex i s t s among

members of the burgeoning chief ly el i te for

succession to a relatively small number of political

offices—and the privileged access to resources,

goods and foreign connections that those political

positions entail.

Seen in this light, complex chiefdoms are

inherently unstable and subject to oscillating cycles

of growth and dissolution:

the wise paramount will attempt to

reorganize production or to increase

his income by seizing productive

capacity from his neighbors; the

unwise param ount, especially one who

has been so foolish as to create more

than two levels of hierarchy, will face

assassination, fission, or rebellion led

by other nobles who bel ieve

themselves to have be tter claim to the

office of param ount. W hatever the

outcom e, nobility and comm oners will

be killed, political relations w ill break

down, and the building process will

start again [Wright 1984:50-51].

Complex chiefdoms can be characterized, then, as

societies with two or three levels of control hierarchy

[that] persisted for centuries, with intense competition

and much replacement of centers and no doubt of

paramounts , but wi th l i t t le or no increase in

sociopolitical com plexity (Wright 1986:357). The

cyclical pattern of regional political centralization

und er the rule of a para m oun t chief and his

descendants lasting a century or more, followed by

region-wide rebellion, destruction of the paramoun t

center, and the rise of a rival paramount chiefdom

should be detectable in the archaeological record of

prehistoric chiefdoms throughout the Americas.

Before we turn to the development of prehistoric

polities in the tropical lowlands of western Venezuela,

however, we need to consider the archaeological

research designs that should be implemented in order

to recognize and mon itor the sequential trajectories

of prehistoric chiefdoms.

A

MACROREGIONAL VIEW OF CYCLING

CHIEFDOMS

Since most com plex chiefdoms in the Americas

were snuffed out by the early 17th century, our

understand ing of these polities and their pre-Hispanic

forebears rests upon the archaeological record. In

order to investigate the development of centralized

regional leadership and the sequential trajectories of

such control by successive paramount centers,

comprehensive archaeological research designs

should follow a

macroregional

scale of investigation,

which entails the collection, observation and analysis

of diachronic data on the household, community,

regional, and interregional levels (Flannery 1976:5-

6).

Recognizing Complex Chiefdoms

Complex chiefdoms wil l be recognized

archaeologically on the regional level by a settlement

hierarchy of two or three levels based on settlement

size. The topm ost levels should exhibit evidence of

their position in the regional adm inistrative hierarchy

by having mo re public architecture than lower levels.

We would expect the paramount center to be the

largest in the region and to feature the most

impressive public architecture and monuments:

the center of each polity in a network

of interacting complex chiefdoms,

usually the seat of the paramount, w ill

become both larger than an,d

architecturally differentiated from

ordinary chief ly centers , both

phys ica l ly accommodat ing the

paramount's following and providing



Cycling Chiefdoms in the Venezuelan L lanos

111

a focus for major social rituals [Wright

1984:43].

At individual communities or sites within a

region, there should be evidence of that com mu nity's

position in the regional administrative hierarchy, in

terms of its size, its public sector and mounded

architecture, as well as other measures such as its

degree of linkage to the region's network of roads

(Earle 1991:12-13). The smallest sites migh t lack

public sectors and visible mounded architecture

altogether. Differences in size and architectural

elaboration among households and their artifact

assemblages reflect their members' relative social

rank and wealth (Drennan 1991:268; Spencer

1982:79 -149). The ascrib ed social statuses of

individuals in complex chiefdoms are manifested

archaeologically as well , most notably in the

elaborate burial treatment accorded to members of

the nobility, whose bodies are often preserved in

sacred precincts. Differences in mortuary treatment,

nutrition, and health are associated with individuals

of chiefly, commoner, and retainer statuses (Briggs

1986;

Hatch and Geidel

1985;

Linares

1977;

Lothrop

1937; Peebles andK us 1977:438-440; Powell 1988,

1992; Wright 1984:44).

The archaeological examination of complex

chiefdom development on a macroregional scope

should monitor key environm ental, demographic and

economic va riables that relate to the developm ent of

a chief ly pol i t ical economy, which involves

stimulating and mobilizing the production of surplus

from local producers and controlling manpower

(Drennan 1985:3-11; Earle 1978, 1987; Marcus and

Flannery 1996:120; Robertshaw, th is volume;

Steponaitis 1981). Accordingly, we would expect to

find evidence of intensified agricultural or craft

production beyond local or household subsistence

needs, together with the building of storehouses,

roads, public works, and other facilities that serve

the chiefly political economy (Brumfiel and Earle

1987; Earle 1991,1997:75-87). Public constructions

and monuments are erected in part to legitimize the

paramount chief's leadership over all activities,

including ritual ones (Steponaitis 1991:198-200).

Am ong them are large-scale feasts that the paramount

chief hosts on a seasonal and sometimes more

frequent basis in order to display his wealth and

power and consolidate his alliances with villages

within his domain as well as with neighboring grou ps

beyond (Hayden 1996).

Complex chiefdoms often emerge in the

context of a network of polities that interact with one

another through ceremonialism, exchange, and

war fare. The ir pub l ic sectors wi l l feature

monum ental buildings of a ceremonial nature, where

evidence of feasts and other forms of cerem onialism

should be present (Anderson

1994a:

126-127,136-

137; Blitz 1993:84-97; Earle 1997:174-179 ). The

nature and intensity of their long-distance exchange

relationships can be detected archaeolog ically in the

distribution of prestige goods, often in high-status

contexts (Flannery and Marcus 1994:387-390; Helms

1979,1987; Spencer 1982:152-197). The waging of

allied raids against rival chiefly polities on the

macroregional scale results in empty buffer zones that

separate the terr i tor ies of host i le paramount

chiefdoms. Individual communities—and especially

paramount centers that are frequently the major

targets of military campaigns—might show signs of

settlemen t nucleation, fortification, and armam ent as

well as the conseq uences of large-scale attacks in the

form of burning, destruction, and slaughter (Marcus

and Flannery 1996:123-130; Redmond 1994:94-102).

Cycling Chiefdoms

We would expect the developm ental trajectory

of a complex chiefdom to span a period of several

cen tu r ies (A nderson 1994a: 145-150 ; Wrigh t

1984:50). The centralized, regional leadership of the

paramount chiefdom should feature a regional

administrative hierarchy of lower-order centers and

villages under the control of the paramount center.

The paramount center is l ikely to experience

population growth and major mound construction

together with the characteristic packing-in of nearby

centers and vi l lages in the region and other

manifestations of their political unification (Anderson

1994a:

147;

Mclntosh, this volum e; Peebles 1987:27;

Rust and Sharer 1988; Steponaitis 1978). Forms of

intensified agricultural production and specialized

craft production may develop to fuel the chiefly

political economy, and to provision the paramount

chief's storehouses. Some of the surplus produced

might be used for the purposes of ceremonial feasts

hosted by the chiefly elite (Dietler 1990, 1996;

Hayden

1996;

Roosevelt, this volum e). The far-flung



112 Elsa M . Redm ond, Rafael A. Gasson and Charles S. Spencer

aspec ts of the chiefly political econ om y can be (And erson 199 4a:122, 125-126). Large buria l

revealed in the distribution of exotic prestige goods pop ulatio ns exist that hav e bee n the subject of

ex ch an g ed be tw ee n pa ra m ou nt ce nt er s in mortuary, dietary, and health analyses (Peebles and

neighb oring regions and awarded to lesser chiefs and Kus 19 77:438-440; Pow ell 1988, 1992).

allies (B acu s, this volum e; Pee bles 1987 :34-36; Mississippian researchers have documented

Spen cer 1982:160 -177; Welch 1991:176-190). the sequential cycling of three great Mississippian

In time, however, the paramount center might param ount chiefdom s centered at Cahokia (A.D.

be the targ et of m ilita ry att ac ks , w age d b y a 1000-1150) and Moundville (A.D. 1250-1500). The

disg run tled po pula ce or by am bitiou s cad ets in third one centered at Coosa was at its peak when De

alliance with rival paramo unts. Fortifications might Soto's expedition encountered it in

1540

and

is

known

be erected or strengthened and other measures taken largely from the Sp ania rds ' accounts (Anderson

by the regiona l leadership in the face of chronic 1994a:138-155, 1996:247-251; Hudson 1990). As

hostilities, but eventually the paramount center may to the factors that d eter m ined the em erge nce ,

be a tta ck ed for th e la st tim e, d es tro ye d, and expansion, and decline of these shifting paramount

abandoned. A region-wide population relocation ce nte rs, fac tion al co m pe tit ion am ong the

frequently accom panies the demise of a paramount M ississippian elites has been assigned a primary

center. Another paramoun t center elsewhere in the causal role (An derso n 1994 b:65-6 9, 199 6:236).

larger macroregion becomes a magnet of population C ha lle ng es to the re gio na l l ea de rsh ip at the

grow th and the center of the succeeding cycle of paramount center by subordinate elites took the form

regiona l chiefly develop me nt. Consequently, it is of refusals to render tribute or actual revolts, and rival

on the macro regiona l scale that we can best detect claims to chiefly offices. These episodes of factional

the developm ental trajectories of prehistoric complex competition pitted the elites of a single polity against

chiefdom s. one another, and often involved the chiefly elites of

The Mississippian chiefdoms that emerged in neighboring polities as well. Such pow er struggles

the So uth eas t betw een A .D . 900 -16 00 offer often disrupted the regiona l and interregional

unus ua l ly com preh ens ive e thnoh i s to r i c and p res t ige-good s exchange ne two rks be tween

archaeological data on the developmental trajectories param ount chiefs and the ir allies, and also led to

and sequential cycling of complex chiefdoms. For intensive warfare between rival factions and polities

our purp oses , these cycling chiefdoms can be used throughout the Mississippian period,

as a mo del for outlining the causes of sequential M ississippian archaeologists have been able

cycling and its effects on the macroreg ional sca le, to measure factional com petition and to mo nitor its

and can serve as a standard for how b est to mo nitor effects upon the macroregional landscape in a number

the behavior of cycling chiefdoms archaeologically. of way s. A change in the movem ent, volume, or

The Spanish accounts of the handful of param ount quality of prestige goods both within and between

chiefdom s that flourished here in the ea rly 16th polities is an indication of a paramount chiefdom's

cen tury are rich in detail about their reg iona l dom inance or dec line. So too are episodes of

adm inistrativ e and settlem ent hierarch ies, their population growth and major mound building at

poli t ical econom ies, their chiefly rivalries over chiefly c ente rs and the ceram ic eviden ce of

succession , and their interpolity warfare (Anderson intensified feasting therein. The devastating effects

1996:243-247). Moreover, the archaeological data of wa rfare are evid ent in the destru ction and

that have been recovered by archaeologists here since abandonm ent of param ount centers and dramatic

the turn of the century have yielded complete regional population relocations on the m acroregiona l scale

settlement pattern surveys and geographic catchment (Anderson 1994a: 132-13 6,1994 b:71-75,19 96:242-

analyses. Com munity-level investigations have been 248 ; Welch 1991:190-19 9). M oreover, factional

carried out at settlements representing all levels of co m pe titio n and its c on seq ue nc es ha ve bee n

their regional adm inistrative hierarchies, as well as monitored archaeologically and have been shown to

at spec ial-purpo se sites. Floral and faunal remains change during the M ississippian period. It seems

have revealed both local subsistence patterns and the that existing patterns of prestige-good s exchange and

flow of tribute in foodstuffs to the chiefly elite m ou nd bu ildi ng a nd ot he r form s of ch iefly



Cycling Chiefdoms in the Venezuelan Llan os 113

cerem onialism and sanctified authority diminished agricultural land. Victorious raiding parties looted

in the Late Miss issippia n period. In the Late enemy villages and gardens and seized captives

M issis sipp ian per iod w arfare incr eas ed on a (Federman 1958:63-64, 67-68; Gumilla 1963:241-

m ac ro reg ion al scale an d region al par am ou nts 242; Morey 1975:277, 282; Rivero 1956:429-430).

resorted to the use of force and more secular forms Archaeologists have begun to recover data on

of authority. To And erson (199 4b:75 -76), these the pre-contact forebears of the Caquetio chiefdoms

changes in prestige-goods exchange, ceremo nialism, and their neighbors in the western Venezuelan llanos

and warfare docum ented in the long-term trajectories of the state of Barinas. Alberta Zuc chi's pion eering

of the Mississippian param ount chiefdoms represent excavations at the mound sites of La Betania and H ato

changing strategies by which paramount chiefly elites de La C alzada (Fig ure 7.1) esta blis hed the first

soug ht to m ain tain the ir regio na l, centr alize d chronological sequence, the Osoid series, for the

authority. western llanos, compo sed of two phas es: the Cano

del Oso phase (230 B.C.-A.D. 650) and the La

CYC LING CH IEFD OM S IN TH E WE STER N Betania phase

(A.D.

650-1200) (Zucchi 1967,1972a,

VENE ZUELA N LLAN OS 1972b, 1973). Zucch i ' s or ig inal mapping and

excavations at the mound site of La Betania rev ealed

The investigation of pre-Hispanic chiefdoms that the site extends over 15-20 hectares and features

in Venezuela is still in the incipient stage of data five earthen mounds flanking an open plaza som e

collection and analysis and cannot yet address some 200-250 meters in length; the tallest mo und situated

of the detailed questions raised by M ississippian at the plaza 's northern end is 3.6 me ters high (Zucch i

archaeologists in their discussions of the cycling 1967: Fig. 4). Zucchi recovered a sample of burials

dynamics of paramount chiefdoms in southeastern from her 11 test excavations in mound and n on-

North Am erica. Yet the ethnohistoric record for mound contexts at La Betania that produced some

western Venezuela

is

rich in detail about the complex evidence of ascribed status differentiation (Zucchi

Caquetio, Achag ua, and Otoma co chiefdoms that 1967:117-120; see also Spencer 1998).

coexisted on the llanos at the time of contact in the Zucchi's subsequent investigations at the larger

early 16th century (Federman 1958; Gum illa 19 63; mou nd site of Hato de La Calzada, along the bank s

Jahn 1927; M orey 197 5; Oliver 1988; Sp ence r of the Cano El Oso in the lower llanos (see Figure

1991:137-141; Sp encer and Redm ond 1992:136- 7.1) produced partial but tantalizing evidence of an

137). The Caquetio inhabited numerous river courses early cycle of comp lex chiefly deve lopm ent in the

across a large area of the llanos in large, fortified western llanos. The site is the largest in the region

villages that were politically controlled by paramoun t and lies at the end of an earthen causeway or calzada

chiefs, who were reporte d to have been able to after which it

is

named. In the absence of a complete

mo bilize fighting forces of up to 30,000 warrio rs site map, Zucchi and Garson's estimates of its size

(Federmann 1958:67,108-109). Their maize- and vary betwee n larger than 15 he cta res (Garso n

man ioc-farming popu lations are known to have 1980:105,294), which is probably an underestimate

practiced intensive agriculture , including forms of for this center whose surface remains are reported to

irrigation and drained-field agriculture. The Caquetio be eroding from the Cano El Oso banks for several

chiefdoms maintained long-dis tance exchange hun dred me ters in both di r ec t io ns (Ga rson

ne tw ork s w ith n eig hb or ing and dist ant gro up s 1980:105), and Zucchi's overestimate of 800 hectares

through which they obtained a variety of utilitarian (Zucchi 1973:185). The four-hectare a rea of the

and prestige goods. Exchange relationships w ere center that was mapped during Zuc chi's field season

ena cted b y mean s of pub lic fea sts an d ritua ls, features three large mou nds, the tallest one at the

inc lud ing ce rem on ial dis co ur ses w he rein an northern end of a plaza reaching a height of 12.9

en or m ou s am ou nt of es ote ric and po lit ic al meters (Zucchi 1972a:Fig. 3). Zucchi's trench across

information was exchanged. The Caquetio were also the talles t m ound expo sed this m ou nd 's entire

pursu ing intensive allied military campaigns against stratigraphic sequen ce, capped by hearths at its base

neighboring groups in the early 16th century, in part and to p. Ch arco al sa m ples from those hea rths

to expan d their territories and their access to prime produced radiocarbon dates of A.D . 550±60 and A.D.



114

Elsa M. R edm ond, Rafael A. Gasson and Charles S. Spencer

Figure 7.1 Western Venezuelan llanos and adjacent Andes with the locations of major archaeological sites mentioned.

540±70 respectively, indicating a mid-6th century

A.D. construction date and Cano del Oso phase

occupat ion for th is regional center (Zucchi

1973:187).

Adam Garson's regional survey placed this

Cano del Oso phase regional center within a study

region of 120 square kilometers. He located 22 Osoid

series sites, 13 of which featured earthen mounds on

their surfaces. A regional settlement hierarchy

according to site sizes existed, with the Hato de La

Calzada center t its apex. Mo reover, many of these

settlements were linked by causeways that were

assigned to the Osoid series because they were all

associated w ith Osoid series sites (Garson 1980:122-

126;.

The major causeway w ithin the Hato de La

Calzada de Paez area begins at the regional center

and traverses some 7.8 kilometers of the savanna

before it reaches a likely second-order m ound site to

the south. Not only would the causew ays have

facil i tated transportation across the seasonally

inundated savannas here, but according to Garson,

the interconnection of settlements by causeways also

reflects an intensity of relationship suggestive of a

hierarchically organized society (Garson 1980:320,

323-324). Finally, Garson discovered a 10.3 hectare

area of drained fields in the floodplain of the Ticoporo

River, about 1.3 kilometers from an Osoid mound

site. Becau se the drained fields w ere discovered on

an enlargement of an aerial photograph after the

fieldwork period, Garson was reluctant to assign an

Osoid date to them without an on-site verification

(Garson 1980:129-130).

The resul ts of Zucchi ' s and Garson 's

investigations on the regional and comm unity levels

of analysis can be used to propose that chiefdoms

emerged in the lower llanos of Ba rinas by about A.D.

500-60 0 (Spencer 1998). One of these chiefdoms

was centered at

the

site of Hato de La Calzada, which

was linked by causeway to subsidiary centers and

smaller villages. Draine d fields were constructed

along the banks of the Ticoporo River, perhaps in

part to me et the needs of a regional, chiefly political

economy . The few exotic serpentine pendants from

sources outside the llanos that were recovered from

burials in mound contexts point to the interregional

prestige-good exchange networks that were probably

maintained by chiefly elites at this time (Garson

1980:149 , 320; Wagner and Schubert 1972).



Cycling Chiefdoms in the Venezuelan Llanos

115

Corroborating this Cano del Oso phase date for the

emergence of mound-building chiefdoms in the

western Venezuelan llanos are Jorge Armand's

limited excava tions at the small mound site of Batatuy

in the higher llanos (see Figure 7.1), where he

recovered two radiocarbon dates with midpoints of

A.D. 2201160 and A.D. 510+250 associated with

Osoid series ceramics from the site's two mounds

(Armand 1975:56-57, 74-75, 101-102, 115).

Recently, two archaeological projects have

been carried out in the higher llanos of Barinas w ith

the explicit goal of investigating the origins and

development of complex chiefly societies of the sort

that were reported in the area in the early 16th century.

Charles Spencer and Elsa Redmond carried out a pilot

survey of the high llanos in 1982 and chose to focus

their attention on the Canagua River, where the large

mound site of

El

Gavan is located (see Figure 7.1).

With the express intention of investigating this

impressive mounded settlement in its regional and

interregional context, in 1983 they began the first of

three seasons of systema tic regional survey of a 450

square kilometer study region that extended from the

high l lanos upstream to the adjacent Andean

piedmon t. A total of 103 archaeological sites were

located during this initial phase of research

(1983-

1985).

The second phase of fieldwo rk began in 1986

and consisted of test excavations at ten sites, seven

of them at mo und and no n-mound sites in the llanos.

In 1988 they began the third phase of horizontal

excavations at the mound site of El Gavan itself, the

region's primary center. The four-phase chronology

established for the high llanos begins around A.D.

300 and extends to the contact period (Spencer and

Redmond 1992:138-140).

During the 1984 survey season Spencer and

Redmond visited the large mound site of El Cedral

in the adjacent Acequia-Anaro River drainage and

returned to reconnoiter this major mound site with

Rafael Gasson in 1988 (see Figure 7.1). El Cedral

became the focus of Gasson's doctoral research,

which began in 1995 with a systematic regional

survey of the center's 60 square kilometer immediate

hinterland, as well as informant-based surveys of

other mound sites in the greater Acequia-Anaro

region (Gasson 1998:59-60). A total of 17 sites were

situated with a geographical positioning system and

located on

1:25,000

aerial photos and topographic

ma ps of the region. The second phase of Gasson's

investigations in 1996 involved m apping the primary

regional center of El Cedral and carrying out test

excavations there and at five other mound and non-

mound sites.

The resulting survey and excavation data from

these two regional centers and settlements in their

hinterlands allow us to consider the developmental

trajectories of two prehistoric polities that emerged

in adjacent r iver val leys from macroregional

perspective. This broade r macroregion, larger than

our combined study regions in portions of the

Canagua and Acequia-Anaro drainages, extends

across some 2,000 square kilometers of high llanos.

The El

Gavan

Polity

The site of El Gavan (B12) w as first occup ied

and littered with Cano del Oso style ceramics in the

Early Gavan phase (A.D. 300-550). A radiocarbon

date of

A.D.

455±80 from charcoal recovered in the

lowest level of Test 27 located west of the site's

center can be assigned to this founding period

(Spencer and Redmon d 1992:Table

2).

The available

survey and excava tion data for this earliest period of

occupation in the upper C anagua R iver valley do not

show evidence of a regional settlement hierarchy or

of mound construction. B12 was one of three Early

Gavan phase sites in the high llanos of the Canagua

River drainage (Figure 7.2). B12 extended over five

hectares, somewhat larger in size than the other two

Early Gavan sites B97 and B21, which were both

three hectares in size. No mounds can be dated to

the Early Gavan pha se.

By the Late Gavan phase (A.D. 550-1000), the

high llanos flanking the upper Canagua River

witnessed significant population growth and the

development of a complex regional organization. The

Late Gavan phase regional sett lement pattern

consisted of 32 settlements that varied according to

site area and am ount of mound construction, am ong

other features (Figure 7.3). Moreover, a clear regional

sett lement hierarchy of three levels could be

discerned on the basis of site size and mounded

architecture for the Late Gavan phase.

Occupying the top level of the regional

settlement hierarchy was the site of El G avan (B1 2),

which extended over 33 hectares and featured an

elongated open plaza lined by more than 130 mounds

and earthworks of varying sizes, most notably a 10-



116

Elsa M. Red m ond, Rafael A. Gasson and C harles S. Spencer

Figure

7.2 Settlement pattern for the Early Gavan p hase (A.D. 300-550) on the llanos of the

upper Canagua River drainage.

0 km

Curboti ' Complex Sitei

O Pctroglyphi

iovdn CompUi S«ttl»m«nt Hierarchy

lst-Ord

Ctnte

k 2neK)rd*r Sitei D Drained f i«W

. - • ' C a l z a d a

5 km

Figure 7.3 S ettlement pattern for the Late Gavan phase

(A.D.

550-1000) on the llanos

of the uppe r Canagu& River draina ge.



Cycling C hiefdoms in the Venezuelan L lanos

117

Figure

7.4

Topographic map of El Gavan (B12), showing the major mounds, calzadas and encircling earthwork, as

well as the housemounds, the numbered test excavations, and the three areas of horizontal excavation designated by

capital letters.

meter-tall mound at its northern end and a 12-meter-

tall mound at

its

southern end (Figure 7.4). The latter

mound or cerrito (small hill) had a maximum basal

diameter of 90 me ters and featured an 80-m eter-long

ramp that ascended from the plaza

floor

o its summit.

The B12 site was circumscribed by an enormous

oval-shaped earthwork that has been damaged by an

oxbow stream on its northwest side but that still

reaches one meter or more in height and varies

between six and eight me ters in width on its surface.

Three calzadas radiated out from this 950-meter-long

encircling earthwork to link the El Gavan center with

sites on lower levels of the regional settlement

hierarchy.

Below B12 in the regional settlement hierarchy

were five sites (B97, B21, B17,

B25,

and B30), which

ranged between 6-10 hectares in size and featured

two to four mound s reaching between 2-6 meters in

height. No t only did the elongated layout of their

mound ed architecture duplicate the community plan

at B12 on a sma ller scale, but also four—and possibly

all five—(i.e., 80-100 %) of these second-order sites

were l inked by

calzada

to the regional center

(Spencer and Redmond 1992:145, 1998:105).

The third level of the regional settlement

hierarchy consisted of 26 sites that varied between

0.5

to

4.4 hectares in size and lacked visible mo unded

architecture altogether. Nin e of these third-orde r

settlements (or 35%) were connected to the regional

calzada network.

El Gavan's (B12) regional prominence is

evident in its size, its 500-meter-long public sector

punctuated by m onumental mou nds, and its position

at the hub of the region's settlement hierarchy and

causeway network. We estimate that the El Gavan

polity thus defined extended over an area of

approximately 290 square kilometers.

Complementing this survey evidence of a

centralized, hierarchical regional polity in Late Gavan

t imes are excavated data from individual

comm unities that shed light on the developm ent and

organization of the El Gavan p olity and the nature of

its political economy. Am ong the 55 test excavations

2 m x 1 m) that were carried out at the regional center

itself was Test 183, which w as located at the w estern

base of the major mo und . In its lowest leve ls



118 _

Elsa M. R edmon d, Rafael A. Gasson and Charles S. Spen cer

ovan Locality

•-Archaeological site

O-Vego alluvium

Fig ure 7.5 The Gavan locality, showing the regional center (B12), an adjacent second-order site (B97), four neighboring

third-order sites (B52, B98,

B96,

B26), the drained-field facility (B 27), and the interconnecting calzada system (indicated

by the dotted lines).

associated with the earliest construction of the

mound , Tes t 183 recovered rad iocarbon and

thermoluminescence dates that have midpoints of

A.D. 650±100 and A.D. 41O±9O respectively; these

dates indicate that the initial construction of this

mound occurred around A.D. 500-600 (Spencer and

Redmond 1992:144, Tables 2, 3). That the mound's

function was ceremonial rather than residential is

suggested by its conical shape and small summ it, and

by the paucity of domestic debris in the six test

excavations that were placed in and around it. By

contrast the 134 visible housemounds at the center

were associated with abundant domestic debris

(Spencer 1998; Spencer and Redmond 1998:104).

It is likely that the other conical mound built at the

northwestern end of the plaza was also ceremonial

in nature, making for one and probably two public

buildings that served the seat of regional political

authority at El Gavan in the Late Gavan phase.

Evid ence of social status differentiation comes

from the excavation of two housemounds at El

Gav an. The house floor exposed in Area D atop a

0.55-meter-tall housemound revealed a rectangular

roofed structure containing some 16.6 m

2

of hard-

packed earthen floor space with a doorway that faced

the plaza (s ee Figure 7.4) (see Spencer and Redmond

1992:Fig. 9). The Late Gavan house floor exposed

in Are a A atop the one-m eter-tall housem ound at the

pla za 's midpoint reve aled a rectangular roofed

structure some 27.9 m

2

in area with a hard-packed

earthen surface lined by postholes, a doorway on the

plaza side, and an interior hearth (see Figure 7.4) (see

Spencer and Redmo nd 1992:Fig. 8). Buried beneath

the house floor were two extended burials of adults,

at least one of which was interred with ceramic

offerings and a malachite bead whose source area

could have been as distant as the Andes of southern

Colombia or Ecuador (Spencer and Redmond

1992:154), By contrast

the

only other extended burial

at B12, which was recovered in the housemound

context of Test 27, lacked non-perishable funerary

accompaniments. The differences in location, height,

and size of the two exposed housemounds, as well

as the funerary— and exotic— accom panime nts

associated with certain m em bers of the Area A

household, signal the latter's higher social position

in El Gavan society and their participation in long-

distance prestige-good exchange. Moreover, the Area

A house was clearly burned at the t ime of

abandonm ent, a point that we w ill return to later.

The El Gavan polity was engaged in intensive

agricultural production in Late Gavan time s. One of

the three calzadas that radiated from B12 led to the

southeast, passing alongside the third-order village

sites of B96 and B 26, before bordering B 27 (Figure

7.5). B27 was a 35-hectare area of drained fields



Cycling Chiefdoms in the Venezuelan Llanos 119

that were artificially c reated by digging

a

network of at B12 with distant paramo unt elites in the Andes at

canals between the Cano Colorado and two oxbow the same time that the flow of prestige goods from

lagoons on the floodplain of the Cana gua River. B12 to second-order centers like B21 reinforced the

Local farmers still recogn ized these drained fields alliances that existed betw een the regional and local

as an ancien t wa ter m ana gem ent facil i ty that eli tes.

promoted drainage during the rainy season as well In w art im e, the surp lus m ob ilize d from

as extended the effective growing season for maize sub ord inate villa ges like B 26 co uld ha ve bee n

cultivation by retaining water in dry periods at the stockpiled in order to feed the resident population

beginning and end of the rainy season. Two harvests during periods of chronic hostilities and sieges, and

of maize could be reaped here each year in contrast also to provision w ar parties of considerable size.

to the single harvests elsewhere on the floodplains. That warfare was a regular if not chronic occurrence

Consequently, annual maize yields reported by local dur ing the en tire L ate G ava n p ha se is evi den t

farmers at B27 were on the order of 3,600 kilogram s specifically at B12 in a num ber of way s. It appears

ofshelled maize per hectare (Spencer eta l. 1994:128- that the oval-shap ed earthw ork th at encirc les the

131). Tha t m aiz e wa s also the pri nc ipa l crop regional center was built at the beginning of the Late

cultivated on the drained fields in the Late Gavan Gavan phase. The Area B excavations atop and

phase was determ ined b y Milagro R inaldi's (n.d.) across the peripheral earthwo rk failed to recover any

palyno logical analysis of one of the soil samples ceramics and other artifactual remains in its earthen

excavated at B2 7, which revealed high frequencies fill, hence the earthw ork was probab ly built long

of Zea mays pollen. M oreover, Spencer, Redmond before B 12's growing pop ulation had begun to

and Rina ldi (1994:133-139) have determined that the expand within the encircled area and reside nearby.

drained fields at B27 were capable of producing a Furthermore, this oval-shaped earthwork seems to

considerable surplus, well beyo nd the subsistence have served as a defensive earthw ork on which a

needs of the nearby villagers at B26 w ho probably palisade of posts was erected, revealed in the Area B

farmed them. Both B27 and B26 were connected by trench b y the alignm ent of postm olds that w ere

calzada to the regiona l center at B1 2, allowing for exposed along its centerline (Spencer and Red mo nd

the expeditious mo vement of this agricultural surplus 1992:144, Fig. 5). Of the seven hum an skeletons

across the seasonally inundated savanna (Spencer and recovered at El Gavan , only three w ere articulated

Redmond 1998:101,105,109) and likely deposited in sk ele ton s laid to res t in ex te nd ed po siti on in

storage bins at the regional center. residential contexts. The rem ainde r were partial,

In times of peace the regional leadership at El disarticulated human skeletons that were reco vered

Gavan could have used the surplus mo bilized from in mou nd contexts: in the lowest construction level

B27— and probab ly from other such facilities in the of the major mound exposed in Test 183 (Burial 8),

region—to sustain its resident population as well as and from Test 17 (Burial 1) and Test 18 (Burials 2,

o reinforce alliances with the ma ny subordinate 3) in an elongated mound or earthwork construction

in its dom ain through periodic feasting. T he on the northwest side of the plaza. These pa rtial,

Gavan elite could also have used such agricultural disarticulated hum an skeletons devoid of funerary

us along with other lowland products for the accompaniments may well represent war captives

of exchange with groups in the Ande s. In who w ere sacrificed and deposited in m ounds or

we know that the El Gavan polity obtained earthworks at the regional center, a time -honored

jasp er from sources in the An des for making custom p racticed by victorious chiefly war p arties

thic tools. Polished stone ornaments made from throug hout northern South Ame rica (F ederm an

serpentinite, malachite, slate, amphybolite 1958:68; Morey 1975:349; Redm ond 1994:30-31,

phyllite have also been recovered in moun d and 37).

contexts both at the regional center B12 and N ot only did the re gio na l cen ter bu ild a

B21. S ketchy though the defensive fortification and practice hum an sacrifice

prestige-good exchange may be for the from the beginning of the Late Gavan phase, but it

Gavan polity, it supports a mo del of interregional also seems to have been a major target of hostilities,

exchange that linked the regional elite as revealed by the widespread evidence of burning



120

Elsa M . Redm ond, Rafael A. Gasson and Charles S. Spencer

Rio Canagua

Archaeological Site

Modern Town

0 5 10 Km

tsmer ld

astranto

nvidia

Figure 7.6 The greater Cedral region, showing the location of the regional center of El Cedral, the 60 km

2

area of

intensive survey, and other mound and non-mound sites located and sampled in the region.

there . Significantly higher relative quantities of

burned daub—by a factor of four to six—were

recovered in the excavations at B12 than in th e

excavations at four other G avan-polity sites (B9 7,

B21, 26, B17), and especially from the very latest

l eve l of o ccu p a t i o n (Sp en ce r and R e d m o n d

1998:106). Indeed, the abandonment of the regional

center seems to have been precipitated by a violent

conflagration, when both the high-status residence

in Area

A

and the defensive palisade were destroyed

by fire, alon g with m ost of the other structures at the

site.

The two thermoluminescence dates associated

with the burned residence in Area

A

have m idpoints

of A.D. 760±120 and A.D. 900 ±120, and suggest

that the final attack and abandonment of El Gavan

occurred not long after A.D. 760-900. Accompanying

the destruction and abandonment of the regional

center was the widespread abandonment of all the

secondary centers and villages that made up the El

Gavan polity.

The El Cedral Polity

Some 40 kilometers to the southwest of the El

Gavan polity, another com plex polity em erged in the

F i g u r e i n El

Cedral's immediate hinterland, with the

neig hbo ring high llanos that extend between the location of the regional center (C l) and eight village sites

Tico poro , Acequia and Ana ro rivers (Gass6n 1998). recorded within the 60 km

2

area of intensive survey.



Cycling C hiefdoms in the Venezuelan Llanos

121

I lOOOn

| C l EL CEDR AL

Figure 7.8 Topographic map of El Cedral (Cl), showing the locations of the major mounds, calzadas, housemounds,

and agricultural fields.

The 17 Osoid series sites within Gasson's study

region could be classified in a three-level regional

settlement hierarchy, according to their size, the

number and scale of mounded architecture, and their

linkage by means of

calzadas

(Figures 7.6,7.7) . The

first level of the regional settlement hierarchy was

occupied by the si te of El Cedral (Cl), which

encompassed an area of 135 hectares (Figure 7.8).

On its northern, western and southern sides the

settlement w as enclosed by a calzada some 1.80 to 2

meters in height; a stream borders its eastern side,

and may have served as a natural moat. Within the

enclosure 139 mounds were mapped, dominated by

a linear cluster of three conical mou nds. The principal

mound was m ore than 100 meters in diameter at its

base and measured 12 meters in height; directly to

the northwest stood two other conical mounds that

were nine meters tall. The site's many lower m ounds

of varying s izes are assumed to have been

housemounds, like those exposed in the horizontal

excavations at El Gav an. Population estima tes were

calculated for El Cedral on the basis of the number

of housemounds and hectares of occupation and

range d from a min imu m of 695 person s to a

maximum of 4090 persons (Gasson 1998 :74-75,7 8-

79). Finally, El Cedral seems to have been the hu b

for a number of causeways, which connected the

regional center to sites on lower levels of the regiona l

settlement hierarchy. The El Cedral polity, defined

by the regional settlement hierarchy and network of



122

E l s a M

- Red mo nd, Rafael A. Gasson and Charles S. Spencer

causew ays, extended over a hinterland measuring a probably represented

the

dwellings of

a

small fraction

minim um of 448 square kilometers. of the farmers who cultivated the fields (Gasson

The second level of the regiona l settlemen t 1998:65).

hierarchy consisted of eight sites with site areas of Gasson (1998:77, 80) has demonstrated that

38 to 42 hecta res an d mou nde d arc hitec ture — the drained fields at El Cedral could have easily

typically with one mo und eight to nine me ters tall, supported the regional center's resident population

Th ey are the sites of C erro M ijagua s, Lo m itas as well as the inhabitants of the eight villages in its

Floridenas, Mi Destino, Maria Luisa, M atade Palma, im m edia te hin terla nd and still hav e prod uced

La Esmeralda, La Envidia, and El Mastranto in the sub stan tial sur plus es. The r egio nal ce nte r 's

gre ate r C edr al reg ion co m pris ing El C ed ra l's dependence upon the drained fields for its sustenance

hinterland (see Figure 7.6). Several of the calzadas as we ll as for the benefits that could be gained from

radiating from El Cedral lead to these second-order the potential surplus production is evident in several

cente rs. wa ys. First, the drained field facility is directly

The third level of the regional settlement con tiguou s to the regiona l center itself, which

hierarchy was occupied by nine sites that extended sugg ests that the region 's param oun t lead ership

between 0.5 and 1 hectare in area and that lacked controlled its production directly. Secondly, the

visible mounded architecture. These correspond to multiple calzadas that traversed and bounded the

the nine sites that we re located by means of intensive drained fields would have been useful for transporting

survey in the 60 km

2

area surrounding El Cedral (see laborers and mobilizing produce to the regiona l center

Figure 7.7). throughout the year, across seasonally inundated

D ire ctl y eas t a nd adjac ent to C l wa s an terrain. Finally, the height of the causeway spanning

eno rm ous exp anse of dra ined fields, bou nded by the facility would have allowed an unobstructed view

causeways and streams {canos) (see Figure 7.8). A of the fields, suggesting that the causeways might

minim al size estimate for these drained fields is 416 have been used for the surveillance and defense of

hectares within which a network of canals and ditches this prime agricultural zone (Gasson 1998.72).

supplied water from several canos to a patchw ork of W hat might the potential surpluses generated

rais ed fields of va ryi ng sha pes and size s. A by the drained fields have been used for by the El

m onu m enta l causew ay reaching eight m eters in Cedral leadership? Ceremonial feasting may have

height and three meters wide on top led directly from been one purpose, in view of the evidence of C l' s

the cen tral cere monia l p recin ct of El C edral and central role in feasting—specifically serving food and

spanned this facility; the calzada was interrupted at drink on a big scale—w ithin the El Cedral polity,

various points by cuts that allowed water to flow G as so n' s a na lys is of ves sel f orm s, sizes and

acr oss it. Lik e the drain ed field system (B27) decoration amo ng ceramic samples from sites on

asso ciated w ith the Gavan polity, the netw ork of different levels of El Ce dral's regional settlement

canals would have served to channel excess water hie rar ch y sho we d significa ntly grea ter relative

during the rainy season and to retain water in the dry frequen cies of small serving vessels at El Cedral than

seaso n, thereb y facilitating the produ ction o f two at lower-order settlemen ts. By contrast, cooking and

harvests each year (Gasson 1998:70). In addition, storag e vesse ls were larger and relatively more

another one of El Ce dral's causeways led directly to abu nda nt at lo we r-orde r settlem ents than at the

the fertile floo dplain of the Acequia River, located region al center, a finding that ma y have implications

about four kilometers west of the regional center. for unde rsta ndin g the nature of produ ction and

G as so n's surv ey team lo cated two sh erd consumption within the El Cedral polity (Gasson

scatters less than one hectare in size within the large 1998:117 , 120, 124). Feasting was an imp ortant

area of drained fields at El Cedral. The ceramics elem ent in the ceremo nial excha nges of many

recovered from these surface scatters were similar northw estern S outh Am erican societies, where it

to the plain ceramics characteristic of the nine third- included the consum ption of food and enormous

order vil lage si tes rather than to the carefully qua nti t ies of chicha or mazato (maize beer) ,

burnish ed pottery recov ered at the regional center ceremonial dances, songs, and recitations (Gilij 1965;

and othe r mou nde d ce nter s. Th e sherd scatters Morey 1975; Rivero 1956; Roosevelt, this volume).



Cycling C hiefdoms in the Venezuelan L lanos

123

Q

1000

1100

1200

1300

1400

1500

1600

1700 -

CEDR L

G V N

BIS T.27

B 1 2 - 0 1 6 1

BETA-16646

B12 T.183

B 1 2 - 0 7 5 9

BETA-27258

Cl OP.2

60 -7 0 CM

BETA-117265

Cl 0P.2

80 -9 0 CM

BETA-117266

R a d i o c a r b o n S a m p l e s

Figure 7.9 Distribution of radiocarbon dates (expressed in radiocarbon years before present) associated with the El

Gavan and El Cedral regional centers.

Hosting feasts would have offered El Cedral's elite

the opportunity to display its wealth in food surplus

and reaffirm its poli t ical prominence, and to

consolidate al l iances with subordinate chiefs,

villagers, and allies. These social and ritual occasions

would have provided the context for exchange

relationships to be enacted and military alliances

established. At the same time , the exchanges and

alliances so created offered new opportunities for

social differentiation, and could have led to increased

competition, heightened feasting and/or warfare,

thereby placing addi t ional demands upon the

available surplus (Gasson 1998:163-164).

A l t h o u g h d o cu men t i n g E l Ced ra l ' s

ectory is amon g the goals o f future

Gasson recovered from one of

precinct.

Two of the samples from

Ana lytic Laboratory for radiocarbon

The resulting radiocarbon dates with

A.D. 680±50 and A.D. 690±50 can now

the regional center (Figure 7.9). These

dates are associated with deposits in the ceremonial

precinct, near the tallest conical mound, and their

stratigraphic position suggests that they can be

ass igned roughly midway during El Cedral ' s

occupation.

The Macroregional View

The results of these archaeological projects

carried out in neighboring regions of the western

Venezuelan l lanos enable us to make some

comparisons between the two regional hierarchical

polities centered at El Gavan and El Cedral, and to

consider their developmental trajectories on a

macroregional scale. At the presen t time, we can

compare their relative chronological time spans using

the handful of radiocarbon dates that we have from

the two regional centers (see Figure 7.9). W hile not

conclusive, the available dates suggest that the El

Gavan polity may have emerged some two centuries

or more before the El Cedral polity—or at least before

the major m ounds in El Ced ral's ceremonial precinct

were built. Following the procedu re outlined by

Thomas (1986:249-251), a two-tailed student's M est

compared

the

earliest radiocarbon date obtained from



124 Elsa M . Red mo nd, Rafael A. Gasson and Charles S. Spence r

Test 27 at El Gavan (1495 ±80 years BP with kilome ter imm ediate hinterland of El Gav an's

mid point of A.D . 4 55) and the earliest date obtained regional center featured both second-order mo unded

from Operation 2 at El Cedral (1290+50 years BP centers such as B97 and

B25,

and third-order village

with m idpoint o f A.D. 660) and indicated

a

significant sites such as B52 , B9 8, B96, and B26, all of which

difference between them at less than the 0.05 level were conn ected by causew ays to El Gava n. El

(t - 2.17; d f>

120;

p= 0.033). Ce dral's 60 square kilometer imm ediate hinterland,

The sequence of dates in Figure 7.9 indicates by contrast, featured o nly third-order village sites,

con sider able chro nolo gical overlap m easu red in none of which was directly linked by calzada to the

rad ioca rbo n years betw een the Late Gava n date regional center. Instead, the causeways radiating

(130 0110 0 y ears BP with midpoint of A.D . 650) from El Cedral linked the regional center to secondary

obtained from Test 183 (Provenience B12-07 59) at centers with considerable mounded architecture of

the base of El Ga van 's major m ound, and the two their own, all situated at distances greater than 10

dates obtained directly southeast of El Cedral's major kilome ters from El Cedral (Gasson 1998:59-60).

mound in Operation 2 (1290150 years BP with W hile the pa ck ing -in of low er-o rder

mid point of A.D . 660, and 1260150 years BP with settlements in the vicinity of the regional center is a

midpoint of A.D. 690). The available radiocarbon comm on phenom enon of complex chiefdoms, the

dates for the two neighb oring polities allow us to differential distribution and linkage of village sites

suggest that: 1) El Gavan probably emerged as a and s ec on d- or de r ce nte rs w ithi n El C ed ra l's

regional center before El Cedral; and 2) the two hin ter lan d has im por tan t im plic atio ns for

polities were probably contem poraneou s for a time, understan ding the territorial extent and the relative

Fu ture inve stiga tions sho uld clarify w hethe r El dominance of this centralized chiefly polity on the

Cedral persisted as

a

regional center after El Gavan 's regional scale. M oreover, the subsidiary centers

collapse. linked by causeway to El Cedral were somewhat

There are some notable differences of size and larger in size than the regional center of the El Gavan

scale betw een the El Gavan and El Cedral polities, polity. We suspect that El Cedral was the regional

beg inning with the sizes of their regional centers. A t center of a paramount chiefdom that

was

considerably

135 hectare s, the regional center of El Cedral w as greater in scale and political migh t during its heyday

over four times the size of El Gavan and its estimated than El Gavan. The El Cedral polity may have been

popu lation was also a fourfold larger. Although the formed from a num ber of previou sly autonomous

two regional centers were similar in their linear chie fdom s in the cyc ling proc ess ou tlined by

configuration of mo unded architecture along the Anderson:

central ax is of their elliptical enclosures, the scale of

El Ce dral's public works was grander. The major Com plex chiefdoms, formed from a

conical mound at El Cedral was more than

10

meters number of simple chiefdoms, are thus

broader in diam eter than the largest mound at El made up of entities perfectly capable,

Gavan and its original height was probab ly greater if given the chance, of usurping the

than the 12 me ters reco rded in 1996 (Gasso n role of the para m oun t cente r or,

1998:63). Both regional centers were at the hub of alternatively, operating autonomously,

radiating causeways, yet the calzadas at El Cedral Ac cord ingly, com plex chiefdoms

we re taller, a fact that cannot be exp lained by existed only as long as their elites

differences in elevation and seasonal inundations of could ma intain political control over

the savanna landscape since both regional centers are similar yet subsidiary elites in other

situated in the high llanos (150-20 0 masl) on natural centers. Struggles for political control

rises (bancos) that are not subject to seasonal flooding in the se soc ietie s we re typ ica lly

(Redm ond and Spencer 1995; Spencer and Redm ond between paramount and lesser elites

1998). and their retinues and only rarely

The El Gavan and El Cedral poli ties also enc om pas sed entire po pula tion s,

exhibit differences in the geographical distribution Com moners appear to have had very

of their low er-ord er settlem ents. The 30 square little powe r or influence in shaping



Cyc ling Chiefdo ms in the Venezuelan Llanos 125

chiefdom organizational structures, defending this prime agricultural zone from raiders

except through weight of num bers. (Gasson 1998:71-73). The construction of eight-

Maintaining the support of fellow and meter-tall causeways across the drained fields further

lesser elites was, therefore, crucial to reflects the interest shown by the inhabitants of El

the stability of a chiefdom [Anderson Ced ral in having imm ediate access to them. The

1994a:50-51].

fields' partially bounded perimeters also suggest that

A determination of the chronolog ical and functional warfare might have been endem ic at the time of their

relationships betw een the regional center of El Cedral construction and use.

and the large secondary centers within its domain

will enable us to monitor the development of the CONCLUSION

complex El Cedral polity as well as to assess the

operation of its political economy and the nature of Ou r ex am in ati on of the d ev el op m en ta l

its political control over its vast hinterland. trajectories of these neighbo ring polities of differing

At present, however, we can say that the scale size, scale and organization allows us to offer certain

of intensive agricultural pro ductio n w ithin the El conclusions about the nature of their relationship in

Cedral polity was certainly greater than that evident the macroregion. The fact that the El Gavan and El

within the El Gavan

polity.

The area of drained fields Cedral polities were at least partly contemporaneo us

associated with the regional center of El Cedral was raises the possibility that a compe titive dynamic ma y

significantly larger both in absolute area and relative have existed between their chiefly elites, perhaps not

to the regional center 's population than was the case so such much over land as over labor and access to

at El Gavan, which has implications not only for the exotic goods. Other sources of factional comp etition

organization and dep loyment of labor involved in and interpolity hostilities may also have been present,

their cultivation, but also for the mob ilization of the As it happens, there are some indications that warfare

considerable surpluses the drained fields could have was occurring on a mac roregional sca le. We have

produc ed. It is und oubted ly significant that the evidence that the regional center of El Gavan was

drained fields at El Cedral were just a stone's throw sacrificing hum ans; in view of the ethnohistorical

across a stream from the regional center, while the reports of the taking of captives in warfare to serve

drained fields associated with the El Gavan polity as laborers an d sacrif icial v ictim s (F ede rm ann

were loca ted two and a half kilometers from the 1958:62; Morey 1975:110, 277-282 ) it seems likely

regional center in the vicinity of a third-order village, that captives were seized in warfare for this purpose

This difference in the location of

the

drained fields in Late Gavan times. We also know that the regional

with respect to the paramo unt cen ter suggests that El center of El Gavan suffered a major attack and

Ce dral's chiefly elite was directly co ntrolling the conflagration at the time of its aband onm ent, which

production of the adjacent agricultural facility. The de str oy ed its de fen siv e pa lis ad e and ca us ed

proximity of the prime agricultural zone to the widesp read burn ing, including the high-statu s

regional center also suggests that El Cedra l's regional residence in the heart of the region al center. The

leadership may have been expen ding greater effort only dates we have for the abandon men t of El Gavan

overseeing agricultural production on the local level are the two aforem entioned therm olum inescen ce

rather than relying on the mobilization of surplus dates of A.D . 760+ 120 and A.D. 900±1 20 from

from subsidiary settlements (Gasson 1998:73). By ceramics recovered on top of the house floor of this

contrast, the regional chiefly elite centered at El burned-down elite residence (Spencer and Redm ond

Gavan seems to have pursued a political economic 1992:Table 3).

strategy that involved the mo bilization of foodstuffs It is possible that the El Cedral polity with its

from lower-orde r settlements to the regional center burgeoning population and greater territorial extent

(Spencer et al. 1994:137-139; Spencer and Redm ond may have persisted for some time after El Ga van 's

1998). collapse. If so, we wou ld hypothesize that the El

The pro xim ity of the drained fields to the Cedral polity was responsible for waging the final

regiona l center of El Cedral also raises the possibility attack that destroyed El Ga van 's regional center and

that there may have been a heightened concern for



126 Elsa M . Redm ond, Rafael A. Gasson and Charles S. Spencer

that precipitated the abandonment of all its lower-

order centers and villages. This is one of the many

hypotheses to be explored in our future investigations

in the Venezuelan llanos.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The radiocarbon samples from El Cedral were

submitted to Beta Analytic Laboratory thanks to

funding from the Department of Anthropology at the

American Museum of Natural History and the

Department of Anthropology at Columbia University.

The 1983-1988 Barinas Project received funding

from the National Science Foundation (BNS-85-

06192), the Connecticut Research Foundation (No.

00220-35-220), the Wenner-Gren Foundation for

Anthropological Research (No. 4798), and the

University of Connecticut Faculty Fellowship

Program. The 1995-1996 El Cedral Project received

funding from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for

Anthropological Research (No. 5781) and a Graduate

Student Field Research Grant from the Center for

Latin American Studies of the University of

Pittsburgh provided by the Tinker Foundation. We

wish to thank Maria Andueza, Lilliam Arvelo,

Francisco Javier Fernandez, Ines Frias, Damaris

Gasson, Ana Gomez, Pablo Novoa, Milagro Rinaldi,

Johan Rodriguez, Raiza Ron, Carlos Schubert,

Ramon Sifontes, Jesus Eduardo Vaz, Rona Villalba,

Erika Wagner and Alberta Zucchi for their assistance

and friendship. Tom Cuddy prepared Figure 7.9. We

also wish to thank the three anonymous reviewers

for their useful comments on the original manuscript.

NOTES

Commoners who made up the largest sector of Taino

society were the naborias, the rest of them (Redmond

and Spencer 1994:193).

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