(skull) is pliable and fl exible. Among the Zapotec, cranial
deformation was regarded as a sign of nobility. Typically, a
few days aft er being born a noble infant was placed on a bed
and its head was tightly compressed with boards. Th is gave
the head an elongated appearance. Th e key point about this
practice is that it shows hereditary rank. Clearly, an infant
is not able to achieve high status through skills or service,
so cranial deformation was practiced only on highborn
children. Cranial deformation is easily spotted in skeletons
found in tombs.
Diff erences in housing also suggest diff erences in sta-
tus. Excavations of Zapotec hamlets have uncovered diff er-
ent types of houses. Some of the houses were modest; they
were not very well made, the poles supporting them were
slender, and walls were not covered with whitewash. Arti-
facts found in these structures suggest a simple life and in-
clude sewing needles, a few modest ornaments, and little in
the way of minerals, pottery, and so on that would indicate
affl uence. Some other houses were larger, more elaborate, and
more solidly constructed and had whitewashed walls. Some
had lean-to roofs similar to the roof covering a deck or porch
on a modern house. More important, artifacts found in these
houses suggest a more affl uent life. Th ese artifacts include ar-
ticles for use in craft s, such as minerals, basket-weaving tools,
imported pottery, mother-of-pearl, jewelry, ceramic masks,
shells, jade beads, and so on. Th rough their skill in craft s, the
people who lived here occupied a higher status and thus had
more comfortable and elaborate houses.THE MAYA
One of the best-known ancient American civilizations is that
of the Maya, whose roots extended back into the fi rst mil-
lennium b.c.e. but who fl ourished from the fourth through
about the tenth centuries c.e. For a long time archaeologists
and historians believed that the Maya lived in an egalitarian
society. Th ey thought that Mayan rulers assumed positions
of leadership on a rotating basis and that heredity was not asource of power. Th at view, however, changed aft er excava-
tion of a major Maya site at Tikal, in modern-day Guatemala.
Th e archaeological evidence strongly suggests that Mayan so-
ciety was rigidly organized, with an elite class of rulers, a ser-
vant class, middle classes of artisans and civil servants, and a
lower class of laborers and peasants.
Archaeologists discovered, for example, marked diff er-
ences in housing, with elites commanding more space and
privacy provided by stairways, screens, and gates. Th ey also
discovered elaborate royal residences. Burial practices, too,
were stratifi ed, with the elites buried in larger tombs, oft en
engineered to keep earth from seeping in, and the tombs con-
taining a larger number of decorative artifacts.
Th e skeletons of people buried in these tombs also re-
veal indications of class diff erences. Working much like the
scientists who examine evidence at crime scenes, archaeolo-
gists have found diff erences in wear and tear on joints, diff er-
ences in bone length, and cranial deformation, all suggesting
an elite royal class that enjoyed a better diet, less physical la-
bor, and longer life. Evidence of certain inherited diseases and
other physical conditions suggests that certain families inter-
married, indicating, in turn, that these were elite families who
used intermarriage as a way of preserving power and status.See also agriculture; art; children; cities; climate and
geography; clothing and footwear; crafts; crime
and punishment; death and burial practices; econ-
omy; education; empires and dynasties; employment
and labor; family; foreigners and barbarians; gen-
der structures and roles; government organization;
hunting, fishing, and gathering; language; laws and
legal codes; migration and population movements;
military; money and coinage; nomadic and pastoral
societies; occupations; religion and cosmology; set-
tlement patterns; slaves and slavery; social collapse
and abandonment; towns and villages; trade and ex-
change; war and conquest; writing.BOOK IV
Th e Libyans dwell in the order which I will now describe.
Beginning on the side of Egypt, the fi rst Libyans are the
Adyrmachidae. Th ese people have, in most points, the
same customs as the Egyptians, but use the costume of
the Libyans. Th eir women wear on each leg a ring made
of bronze; they let their hair grow long, and when they
catch any vermin on their persons, bite it and throw itaway. In this they diff er from all the other Libyans. Th ey
are also the only tribe with whom the custom obtains of
bringing all women about to become brides before the
king, that he may choose such as are agreeable to him.
Th e Adyrmachidae extend from the borders of Egypt to
the harbor called Port Plynus. Next to the Adyrmachidae
are the Gilligammae, who inhabit the country westward
as far as the island of Aphrodisias.... Th e customs Herodotus, excerpt from Th e Histories
(ca. 430 b.c.e.) Africa(cont inued)social organization: primary source documents 10430895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1043 1043 10/10/07 2:30:52 PM