Section: Social Complexity
Subsection: Bureaucracy characteristics

Specialized Government Building

these buildings are where administrative officials are located, and must be distinct from the ruler's palace. they may be used for document storage, registration offices, minting money, etc. defense structures also are not coded here (see military). state-owned/operated workshop should also not be coded here.   (See here)
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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]
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Variable Definition
specialized_government_building The absence or presence of specialized government building for a polity.

# Polity Year(s) Specialized Government Building Description   Edit
21
(Late Greater Coclé)
Full Year Range of Late Greater Coclé is assumed.
[1000, 1515]
unknown
Isaza Aizpurúa notes that most of the European accounts of Panamanian societies at the time of contact 'come from the Pacific coast, where the chroniclers encountered small villages with scattered houses on hilltops in the middle of forested areas as well as large nucleated settlements situated along the rich alluvial valleys. Although not much else is offered about site hierarchies or community organization, there is a constant reference to the bohío del queví, which could be interpreted as the place where the chief and his entourage happened to be when the Europeans arrived, the mortuary house where ancestors were kept, or the structures where chiefs would have presided [over] communal events.' [Isaza_Aizpurúa 2013, p. 116] It seems that we do not have a complete enough understanding of the uses of buildings in the Panamanian chiefdoms of this period to discern whether there were specialized buildings set aside for administrative purposes (separate from chiefly residences).
22
(Makuria Kingdom II)
Full Year Range of Makuria Kingdom II is assumed.
[619, 849]
present
"There was clearly also a civil administration with its own scribes separate from the Church." [Welsby 2002, p. 103]
23
(Makuria Kingdom III)
Full Year Range of Makuria Kingdom III is assumed.
[850, 1099]
present
"There was clearly also a civil administration with its own scribes separate from the Church." [Welsby 2002, p. 103]
24
(Mauretania)
Full Year Range of Mauretania is assumed.
[-125, 44]
present
None
25
(Monagrillo)
Full Year Range of Monagrillo is assumed.
[-3000, -1300]
absent
'No architectural remains are known from Mon[a]grillo, although excavators reported the presence of clay briquettes showing pole or reed impressions. However, the foundations of simple structures have been identified at the nearby site of Zapotal, which may have been a small village.' [Hoopes_Peregrine_Ember 2001, p. 112]
26
(Numidia)
Full Year Range of Numidia is assumed.
[-220, -46]
present
None
27
(Yemen - Ottoman period)
Full Year Range of Yemen - Ottoman period is assumed.
[1873, 1920]
absent
None
28
(Eastern Han Empire)
Full Year Range of Eastern Han Empire is assumed.
[25, 220]
present
None
29
(Five Dynasties Period)
Full Year Range of Five Dynasties Period is assumed.
[906, 970]
present
None
30
(Kamarupa Kingdom)
Full Year Range of Kamarupa Kingdom is assumed.
[350, 1130]
present
"The record office in the city was called as Adhikarana." [Baruah 1985, p. 144]
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