William Rathje's Study Of Mayan Civilization

Despite the fact that archaeology has been a long-standing area of scientific study, one of the most seemingly basic questions in the field is still unanswered: how do civilizations arise? Although the great nations of the past have left scientists clues and indicators as to their existence, history is still laden with inconsistencies and discrepancies. These irregularities have created a plethora of theories that attempt to explain how civilizations were born and how they developed. Margaret Murray, a British anthropologist who studied witch culture in Western Europe, attempts to explain the variety: "Archaeology has in it all the qualities that call for the wide view of the human race, of its growth from the savage to the civilized, which
William Rathje, in his study of Mayan civilization, realized that in ancient times, Mesoamerica was a network of trading groups, in which scarce goods were able to overcome distance barriers. In his theory, Rathje identifies certain areas within these networks as the "Core Area," or the area, which consumes the majority of the resources in the region. The "Core Area" is surrounded by "Buffer Zones," regions with a multitude of resources. This system produces a centralized, trading hot-spot in which the resources are pooled to one area. As the system progresses, however, the "Buffer Zones" become more complex and autonomous. Slowly, the former "Core Area" fades out, and a number of new trade networks are born from the former "Buffer Zones." In the context of Mesoamerica, the lowlands – deficient in vital resources – needed to draw important goods from the resource-rich highlands. As trade continued, luxury goods began to pass between the regions, apparent in the presence of similar ceramics styles throughout Mexico. These transactions yielded an order in which only certain people – who, ultimately, formed the upper tier of society – could have access to the luxury goods; social stratification was a
German scientist Karl Wittfogel believed that Mesopotamian states needed extensive irrigation to survive, and that large, state-run irrigation was developed to control and stabilize water transportation. Wittfogel argues that because only complex, state-run organizations could manage such a large flow of water, irrigation forced civilizations to start up and develop. In many aspects, Wittfogel's assumptions are accurate; the emergence of large-scale irrigation prompts high levels of specialization, organization, and centralized rule. But Wittfogel's theory is weakened because his theory applies only to extremely arid regions, primarily Egypt and Mesopotamia. Actually, extensive irrigation is only apparent in some of the world's civilizations and