Richard Edward Blanton (born November 16, 1943) is an American

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, and academic. He is most renowned for his archaeological field and theoretical research into the development of civilizations in

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

, particularly those from the central Mexican ''plateau'' and

Valley of Oaxaca The Central Valleys () of Oaxaca, also simply known as the Oaxaca Valley, is a geographic region located within the modern-day state of Oaxaca in southeastern Mexico. In an administrative context, it has been defined as comprising the districts of ...

regions. Blanton taught at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

and

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

of the City University of New York before joining the faculty at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

in 1976. He is currently () Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Purdue's

College of Liberal Arts A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary education, tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding academic degree, degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further educatio ...

. Blanton helped to develop full coverage survey methods, which he and colleagues applied to the Valley of Oaxaca to help understand the evolution of the Monte Alban state. The particular method developed by Blanton and his students influenced a generation of archaeologists and are still widely used today. Due to his interest in regional survey, Blanton helped to introduce methods of spatial analysis into archaeology. In particular he took an application of graph theory used by architects evaluate movement through buildings and developed it into a method for analyzing prehistoric houses and communities. He was able to demonstrate that variation in the layout of houses and communities was associated with wealth differences. In addition, Blanton's method was used to develop a measure of prehistoric warfare frequency that has proven useful in a number of settings. Blanton was an early proponent of

world-systems theory World-systems theory (also known as world-systems analysis or the world-systems perspective)Immanuel Wallerstein, (2004), "World-systems Analysis." In ''World System History'', ed. George Modelski, in ''Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems'' (E ...

, and actively applied it to the evolution of Mesoamerican polities. Although this work was criticized at the time, it was further developed an employed by many scholars Blanton also helped to develop dual processual theory, Dual-processual theory posits that political leaders employ one of two basic processes to build and maintain power. Using the first, called a “network” strategy, political leaders use ties to other polities, supernatural powers, or sources of esoteric knowledge and goods to build power, and maintain it by excluding others from access to those sources of power. Using the second, called a “corporate” strategy, political leaders use the bonds of kinship and social groups to build power, sharing access to those groups broadly, but positioning him or herself as the “first among equals.” These are not intended to be seen as exclusive categories, but rather as ends of a continuum of political strategy. Dual-processual theory has had significant impact on archaeological thought.Barbara Mills, ed. ''Alternative Leadership Strategies in the Prehispanic Southwest'' (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2000)

Notes

References

External links

Faculty page
Purdue College of Liberal Arts, Anthropology Department {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanton, Richard E. American Mesoamericanists Mesoamerican anthropologists Mesoamerican archaeologists Zapotec scholars Scholars of the Aztecs 20th-century Mesoamericanists 21st-century Mesoamericanists University of Michigan alumni Purdue University faculty 1943 births Living people Rice University faculty Hunter College faculty