ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the spectacular sites in order to gain insight into the social life of pre-state complex societies. It examines the archaeological record of Stonehenge, Chaco Canyon, Cahokia, and Great Zimbabwe. Great Zimbabwe is understood as evidence of local development of political complexity in southeast Africa during the period between a.d. 1300 and a.d. 1450. The evidence from the site of Mapungubwe in northeastern South Africa puts Great Zimbabwe into a broader perspective and suggests that the rise of social complexity in this region was not simply the result of developing trade networks. Archaeological research at Pueblo Bonito has demonstrated that the massive Great House was built up over centuries. The location of the elaborate structures like Pueblo Bonito in the highly arid environment of Chaco Canyon has led archaeologists to look for a connection between fluctuations in climate and the rise and fall of the Great Houses.
