ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the basic issues underlying the “complexity” controversy. It focuses primarily on interpretations of Pueblo societies, much of the discussion pertains to Hohokam archaeology. The early researchers were general anthropologists who viewed archaeology as simply “ethnography projected back into the past”. The manner in which archaeological research has been traditionally conducted in the American Southwest tends to obviate a consideration of complexity. A major reason some archaeologists have rejected “complexity” models has to do with the ambiguity surrounding many of the sociopolitical concepts employed by archaeologists. A next major reason for rejecting “complexity” models stems from the methods employed to interpret the archaeological record. The debate over sociopolitical complexity has a long history in the American Southwest. During most of that period Southwestern archaeologists have strongly maintained the perspective of simple, egalitarian Pueblo communities. The final issue concerns the identification of decision-making hierarchies using archaeological data.
