2025/11/06 by L. Rodriguez, Juan Carlos Vargas · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #History and Politics in Latin America #Conflict, Peace, and Violence in Colombia #Geological and Tectonic Studies in Latin America
paper · doi:10.1080/00934690.2025.2578777
openalex publication_date 2025/11/06 · openalex created_date 2025/11/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/15
This article investigates how conflict influenced the socio-political organization and demographic centralization of Tairona chiefdom communities in the Río Frío Basin, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, during the Tairona period (10th–16th centuries a.d.). Drawing from European chronicles and geostatistical methods, we examine the Pocigüeica chiefdom, a political entity recognized for its belligerent character and warrior chiefs with segmented decision-making structures, which resisted Spanish conquest in the 16th century a.d. As part of an ongoing regional-scale survey and reconnaissance program, this study examines how political integration and demographic centralization related to territorial strategies linked to intercommunity conflict. Although ethnohistoric sources highlight Tairona belligerence, archaeological research has not explored the relationship between conflict, political leadership, and social organization. By integrating spatial analysis, settlement pattern data, and multivariate analysis, this paper provides an empirical framework to assess warfare’s role as both a disruptive and integrative force in complex society evolution.