| Variable | Definition |
|---|---|
| Polity | The Seshat Polity ID |
| Year(s) | The years for which we have the data. [negative = BCE] |
| Tag | [Evidenced, Disputed, Suspected, Inferred, Unknown] |
| Verified | A Seshat Expert has approved this piece of data. |
| Variable | Definition |
|---|---|
| settlement_hierarchy_from | The lower range of settlement hierarchy for a polity. |
| settlement_hierarchy_to | The upper range of settlement hierarchy for a polity. |
| # | Polity | Year(s) | Settlement Hierarchy from | Settlement Hierarchy to | Description | Edit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 121 |
(Chandra Dynasty) |
Full Year Range of Chandra Dynasty is assumed. [900, 1050] |
None |
None |
levels. (1) Capital city (2) TownTowns were often emporiums of trade as well as political centres. What distinguished them from villages, according to Majumdar, was that while they may also have had some agricultural activity, they served a “wide variety of functions, commercial, industrial, political, judicial and military.” But the greatest distinction was the luxury and wealth of the towns and it’s citizens, which the Ramacharita describes as “a city of rows of palaces” and as possessing ‘an immense mass of gems’.” [Majumdar 1943] “the archaeological record indicates that urban centres came up as early as the fifth century bce. During the following centuries large towns would develop along major rivers rather than on the exposed sea coast.” [van_Schendel 2009] (3) VillageMajumdar writes that since the beginning of historical record for Bengal, there have been well-established villages, in which the fields, meadows and woodlands have been organised to serve the population’s needs. They varied in size but people tended to live in compact groups within them They would all generally include livestock. The villages also contained “pits and canals (garta and nala) which might have served the purpose of drainage, barren tracts (ushara), tanks, reservoirs and temples, besides cattle-tracks and ordinary roads and paths.” [Majumdar 1943] (4)Hamlet |
|
| 125 |
(West Burkina Faso Yellow I) |
Full Year Range of West Burkina Faso Yellow I is assumed. [100, 500] |
1 |
1 |
None | |
| 127 |
(Kingdom of the Huns) |
Full Year Range of Kingdom of the Huns is assumed. [376, 469] |
2 |
2 |
levels. On the steppe they were nomadic, living in tents with no permanent settlements. "At this time the Hunnic society "probably consisted of loose networks of kinship groups ruled by elite warriors whose status was based on their protection of their moving families and the booty they obtained in raids." [Waldman_Mason 2006, p. 396] |
|
| 129 |
(Late Greater Coclé) |
Full Year Range of Late Greater Coclé is assumed. [1000, 1515] |
3 |
3 |
levels. Both archaeological evidence and contact-period Spanish accounts suggest that the central Panamanian societies in this period had 'a settlement hierarchy of at least two levels. For the period from A.D. 1100-1550, large village sites, similar to Nata (estimated at 4 km2 in area), and large cemetery sites are contemporaneous with habitation sites that are much smaller, more numerous in habitation, and that lack surface architecture'. [Creamer_Haas 1985, pp. 744-45] Menzies and Haller write that 'At the height of the Coclé chiefdom during the Conte phase [700-900 CE], a three-tiered settlement hierarchy in the Río Parita valley indicates the existence of a local chiefdom with the large community of He-4 [El Hatillo] situated at its apex'. [Menzies_Haller 2012, p. 455] They extend this three-tiered hierarchy into the Macaracas phase (900-1100 CE), after the decline of the Coclé chiefdom, [Menzies_Haller 2012, p. 457] and even up to 1522 CE. [Menzies_Haller 2012, p. 457] 1. Large villages, e.g. Natá (1500-2000 inhabitants in the early 16th century) [Creamer_Haas 1985, p. 744], [Drennan_Earle 1991, p. 275] and El Hatillo. [Menzies_Haller 2012, p. 455] According to Creamer and Haas, these are 'believed to have been the central places of regional chiefdoms'. [Creamer_Haas 1985, p. 744] 2. Small villages. [Creamer_Haas 1985, pp. 744-45] 3. Smaller villages. | |